Excellence in Rural Economic Development: Extreme Economic Makeover, Rural Edition - Yuba-Sutter EDC

by Tim Johnson, Executive Director, The Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corporation

Members of the Yuba-Sutter community welcome the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft - and new autonomous technology workers - to the region.

The northern California counties of Sutter and Yuba for years have faced challenges typical of other rural areas – but have taken additional hits from both Mother Nature and the media.

The Yuba-Sutter region, 1,250 square miles in size with a population of 150,000, has long suffered from double-digit unemployment rates (consistently one of the top ten highest rates in the nation) and low incomes (the incomes of 80 percent of the population are below the state median). This is due partly to the seasonal nature of our agricultural economic base. But in addition, multiple natural disasters have occurred over a 20-year period: Two major floods (one in 1986 and another in 1997) and nine wildfires have forced community efforts to focus on ‘putting back together,’ rather than growing the economy.

Adding insult to injury, Rand McNally and Money magazine named the region the worst place to live in the nation, not once, but twice. This label did not help the community’s morale, but it did spur a committed, results-driven economic development program to sustain, diversify and grow the economy.

The community response

Although there had been several previous community-based economic development efforts over the years, these attempts failed to gain traction for a variety of reasons: the lack of either public or private-sector support; weak financial resources; no strong business model; or lack of experienced staff. But in 1994, efforts restarted in earnest with the formation of the Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corporation (YSEDC), a partnership comprising local and state elected officials coupled with private-sector stakeholders from key businesses and industries.

Like so many organizations, YSEDC’s early progress was slowed by a variety of growing pains, besides having to respond to natural disasters. Thus its efforts did not excel until late 1999 with the formulation of a new economic development strategy, “Blueprint for Success,” along with the introduction of new management. Together, YSEDC’s board and staff, along with the region’s businesses and residents, embarked on an effort that has made us the “little rural region that could” achieve economic development success.

The strategy

YSEDC’s strategy included new mission and vision statements, goals and objectives and corresponding budget requirements. The strategy was completed in less than 90 days through a series of community outreach meetings in which residents and businesses were asked to help identify the region’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats through a series of exercises. This information helped identify new programs, projects and services that would catalyze market-driven efforts to attract business, create jobs and enhance the tax base in an environmentally friendly way.

The strategy then was formulated and presented to the public in a major community presentation and broadcast on the local cable network. From this presentation came further community input, yielding subsequent refinements and a completed strategy. The region’s stakeholders affirmed “Blueprint for Success” and implementation began shortly thereafter.

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