Economic Resource Council

Gil Mathew Joins ERC

Gil Mathew has joined the ERC as President and CEO. Gil was the founder and President of Benchmark Thermal, a Grass Valley export manufacturer, designing and manufacturing industrial heating elements and applications for a variety of industries from aircraft galleys to semiconductor tools. Benchmark grew from 2 employees to 60 employees over its 23 years under Gil’s direction. He sold the business with the caveat that it must remain in Grass Valley for a minimum of 7 years.

 

Latest findings on Consumer Behavior

Russ Steele

Annenberg School for Communication has been surveying Internet users and have published their lastest findings in  2008 Digital Future Project – Year Seven Report. They have published a summary of key findings on more than 100 major issues here.

The 2008 Digital Future Project found the following about Consumer Behavior:

Who Is Buying Online? -- The number of online purchasers has increased to the highest level in the history of the Digital Future Project, increasing 16 percent since 2006.
Purchasing On The Internet: Spending Per Month -- Sixty percent of Internet users age 18 and older bought online and spent under $100 a month, a large increase over 2006.
How Often Do Online Purchasers Buy Online? -- The average number of annual online purchases for those age 18 and above increased to its peak thus far in the Digital Future Project -- now more than 36 purchases per year.

How Does Buying Online Affect Traditional Retail Purchasing? -- A large percentage of online purchasers reported that their Web purchases have reduced their buying of similar items in retail stores. After a small decline in 2006, the percentage who said that Web purchasing reduced their local retail purchasing somewhat or a lot grew to 67 percent of online purchasers, up from 65 percent in 2006.

Browsing For Products: Retail Stores Vs. The Internet -- Large percentages of respondents report using both the Internet and retail stores for browsing and purchasing. Seventy-one percent of Internet purchasers said they sometimes or often browse in traditional retail locations and then buy online. Even higher percentages of respondents said they use the Internet as a merchandise browsing tool before buying in stores.

Privacy: Concerns When Buying Online -- Privacy and security online have been found to be major concerns in each of the seven Digital Future studies. Almost all respondents have reported concerns about the privacy of their personal information when or if they buy on the Internet. The percentage of all respondents who reported the highest level of concern increased in 2007, and overall concern was the highest since the first year of the Digital Future Project.

Privacy: Comparing Concerns Among Non-Purchasers Vs. Purchasers -- Although the percentage of all users who report the highest level of concern continues to be quite large, comparing Internet purchasers to non-purchasers shows that online buyers report much lower levels of concern.

Credit Card Information: Are Concerns Stabilizing? -- Concerns about credit card security when or if buying online continue to remain high among respondents in the Digital Future Project.
Although the percentage of those with the highest level of concern about credit card information increased slightly to 57 percent, the overall levels of concern have stabilized over the four most current years of the study -- and at a much lower level than when this issue was first tracked in 2001.

As the ERC struggles to develop an economic development strategy, they need to understand these changes in consumer behavior.  More people are going on line to chose what to buy and where they will buy products of interest. You can down load the full summary of the report here.

Open Thread to discuss the Siefel Economic Strategy Report

Russ Steele

I have opened a thread for people to comment on the Siefel Report: Western Nevada County Economic Development Strategy which can be down loaded here.

Home Construction Slows to 27-Year Low

Russ Steele

In a study done by Chico State Professor for the Nevada County Contractors Association in 2006, Construction contributed 17 percent to the local economy. The home construction industry has been severely curtailed in Nevada County and according to a recent report by the Commerce Department this week that new homes and apartments construction in 2007 was down 24.8 percent from 2006. I saw on KCRA last night that Nevada County's housing market was down only 15 percent while some of the valley counties it as down about 26 percent.  A declining market means fewer home starts.

Money News writes: For December, construction fell by a bigger-than-expected 14.2 percent. The drop in construction in December was bigger than economists had been expecting and reflected weakness in all parts of the country. Housing construction fell by 30.8 percent in the Midwest and was down 25.8 percent in the Northeast and 19.6 percent in the West. The decline in the South was a smaller 3.3 percent.

Many economists believe the housing sector will remain weak through 2008 before starting a rebound in 2009.

The important thing to remember as Nevada County crafts an economic recovery strategy, it that the Construction industry made up 17% of our local economy. That is a big chunk and it will take a while to recover, with not much chance it will get better real soon. When one of the SDA projects are approve over the next five years, it is unlikely that the construction will be done by local contractors, but by large out of town firm, just like the hospital expansion was and the Sierra College Expansion is now.

Data Bank Resources

Russ Steele

The Sierra Environmental Studies Foundation has a Data Bank where they post relevant reports on current issues being discussed by the public, or being evaluated by governments in Nevada County. Here are two examples:

Looking Beyond the Horizon: Investment Planning for the 21st Century - State of California Debt Affordability Report,  October 2007. Discussion of the the State’s debt and fiscal policy, has long term impact on local economic development planning.

Business Location Decisions and Employment Dynamics in California, 2007 by Public Policy Institute of California. Chapter Five covers intrastate relocations important to Nevada County economic development strategy.

New Downtown Association Web Site

Russ Steele

I got an e-mail this morning announcing the "Official" Grass Valley Downtown Association's web site. Check it out!