One of the big questions facing Davis is the future of high tech economic development. It is one reason that companies like Sierra Energy and Fulcrum have invested millions into economic development locally.
While Davis has had a number of successes in the past year, a big question going forward is how the community will be able to expand its economic development, given severe space constraints.
It is that question and more we hope to answer on Wednesday at 6 pm (the event is free, tickets are here.)
The main speaker will be Danielle Casey, the executive Vice President for Greater Sacramento.
Two things she is going to talk about are the California Mobility Center and Aggie Square.
The California Mobility Center is based on a similar model, called the PEM Motion Model, based in Aachen, Germany. The hope is that it will provide infrastructure in order to support “a global network of private sector and academic innovators.”
Its counterpart in Aachen produces over 100 projects a year and creates a revenue of about $10 million in 2018. It has 350 engineers and partners and has spun out three companies totaling over 1,500 jobs within four years.
According to a release from Greater Sacramento, “The California Mobility Center will allow this network to develop, test and prototype future mobility technologies in Greater Sacramento. Future mobility focuses on the research, development and commercialization of electric, autonomous, connected, shared and micro mobility solutions.”
They believe it will “support, fund and commercialize new future mobility technologies and develop and promote new business and policy models for adoption on the international stage.”
This they hope “will create an international hub of innovation, new jobs and an education pipeline to support the Center and the surrounding industry.”
The California Mobility Center will create “workforce programs for Greater Sacramento residents as well as new educational programs in partnership with universities and community colleges to ensure that the workforce pipeline supplies the demands of the industry.”
We have discussed Aggie Square quite a bit on these pages. It is a mixed-used innovation district that will be located on the UC Davis Sacramento campus.
They note: “Aggie Square represents a bold vision for both UC Davis and the Greater Sacramento region in that it will serve as a major hub for high-tech innovation, research and development, student and faculty/staff housing and neighborhood services.”
According to their information, Aggie Square will provide “the opportunity to align UC Davis’ strengths as one of the top public institutions in research and innovation with the market goals of industry partners. This innovation district will allow Greater Sacramento leaders to better support the University, bolster growth in targeted innovation sectors and create jobs in STEM fields, in turn creating solutions for greater prosperity across the region.”
They add, “The combined innovation engines of UC Davis and the City of Sacramento will encourage collaborations across disciplines—in life sciences, food systems, mobility, government, civic technology, arts and communications. The entrepreneurial partnerships formed at Aggie Square will advance human health, enrich lifelong learning, enhance emerging technologies and set the stage for future collaborations in the Greater Sacramento region.”
Ms. Casey will be joined by the past and present on the city council, with Rochelle Swanson and Dan Carson. In addition, Jason Taormino, a past Chamber president, will join them.
What questions do you have about economic development? What do you want to know about a proposed project before you support it? Think about those questions because you’ll have 30 minutes at the end of the program to ask those questions.
Once again, the event is free and open to the public, but there is limited seating and you must get a free ticket in advance.
Tickets at: http://vanguard-tech-2019.eventbrite.com
—David M. Greenwald reporting
My question: how do we get Davis to get out of its own way?