Dr. Wallace Walrod, PhD

Vice President, Research & CommunicationsOrange County Business Council

Orange County Economic Development Overview

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World TradeE

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World TradeE

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Tourism & EntertainmentE

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High Tech Cluster Diversity

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2008 Workforce Clusters

• Business and Professional Services– Management and

Administration (sub-cluster)

• Construction• Finance, Insurance, Real

Estate• Healthcare• Information Technology• Logistics and Transportation

– Transportation (sub-cluster)

• Manufacturing– Advanced Manufacturing

(sub-cluster)• Hospitality and Tourism

– Hospitality (sub-cluster)

Emerging Clusters• Biotechnology and

Nanotechnology• Energy, Environment and

Green Technologies

Orange County Cluster Employment -- 2007

Patent Grants

Patent Grants

Venture Capital

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Seattle 89 109 73 101 62 20Austin 1 3 3 28 66 47Riverside/San Bernardino 95 79 111 133 110 78Orange County 72 40 27 58 70 92Dallas 9 29 19 25 111 93Minneapolis 20 19 18 71 106 103San Diego 27 17 25 61 92 106Los Angeles 126 116 106 147 159 154Boston 54 42 40 94 142 160San Francisco 76 81 81 167 175 166San Jose 96 97 50 166 183 174

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Business ClimateE

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Lowest RankHighest Rank

         

200-161 160-121 120-81 80-41 40-1

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Educational Attainment 29

Job Growth 64

Cost of Doing Business 184

Overall 92

Business ClimateOrange County Ranking by Business Climate Component, 2008

Linkage

Young Adult Exodus

Young adults continue to

leave Orange County, likely in search of a lower cost of

living elsewhere.

Cost of LivingE

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Total Index Value

San Francisco 171.7

San Jose 156.6

Orange County 155.8

Los Angeles 150.1

San Diego 139.9

Boston 135.6

Seattle 122.8

Riverside/San Bernardino 119.9

Austin 95.0

Dallas 90.8

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Orange County Business Council Core Initiatives

• Workforce Housing• Workforce Development• Infrastructure• …………….What’s Next?

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Recent Economic Challenges

• Orange County’s unemployment rate currently stands at 5.7% in September 2008, up from 4.2% a year ago and 3.4% in 2006

• The financial and construction sectors accounted for nearly 2/3rds of job losses in the last year

• Median home prices are down 28% in the last 12 months

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How Our Neighbors Have Fared

• San Diego County’s current unemployment rate is 6.4%, with median home prices down 33%. Orange County has nearly 200,000 more jobs with approximately the same population

• Los Angeles County’s unemployment rate is 7.8% versus 4.9% a year ago, with median home prices down 35%

• San Bernardino County’s unemployment rate is 8.5%, Riverside County’s is 9.5%, with median home prices down over 39%

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OC Has Been Here Before

• In 1990, Orange County’s unemployment rate stood at 3.5%, rising to 5.3% in 1991, 6.7% in 1992, and peaking at 6.9% in 1993

• From then on, the Orange County economic engine began to create jobs, jobs, jobs

• Beginning in the latter half of 1993, by 1999 Orange County created over 230,000 jobs taking the unemployment rate down to 2.7%

Thank You!