Report Recommends Joint Action by Government, Business, Philanthropy

Oakland, CA, December 2, 2010 – New data about the East Bay -- released today by the East Bay Economic Development Alliance and the East Bay Community Foundation -- highlight economic hardships faced by families even before the recession and contain recommendations for new joint efforts to improve the region’s economic health.

According to the 16-page report, “The East Bay faces serious challenges. Foremost among these is the need to promote sustainable economic growth to compensate for the jobs lost to the Great Recession and to long-term structural shifts in the region’s economy. We are also challenged to advance economic opportunity for the one East Bay household in five that faced serious economic hardship even before the recession.”

Entitled “East Bay Indicators 2010,” the report tracks a number of economic and social indicators, including: population growth, household income, home values, construction, child-care services, education issues, public services, the non-profit sector, and arts and culture organizations. The report is the result of a first-ever collaboration between the organizations to combine their data and analysis.

It urges new joint efforts by government, business, the philanthropic sector and the nonprofit sector to address the East Bay’s major challenges by creating jobs, helping people acquire job skills, starting new small businesses, improving access to high-quality child care, ensuring young children acquire reading and math skills, providing resources for critical public services, and supporting the region’s important non-profit sector, as well as arts and culture organizations.

“By combining into one resource data that the two of us hitherto researched, produced and published separately, we have a full picture of our economy and the quality of life in the more than 30 cities within Alameda and Contra Costa counties,” said Karen Engel, Executive Director of the East Bay Economic Development Alliance.

“We are convinced that the conditions and challenges revealed in this report will be most effectively addressed through leaders and organizations working together rather than working separately --collaborations, partnerships, and other joint efforts undertaken by the public, private, and philanthropic sectors,” said Nicole Taylor, President & Chief Executive Officer of the East Bay Community Foundation.

Highlights of the report:

One in three Bay Area residents lives in the East Bay.
Population growth is most pronounced geographically among the newer and smaller cities of southern Alameda County and eastern Contra Costa County and most pronounced demographically among non-whites and among of those over age 65.
Despite a rising median income, many households continue to experience economic hardship, with household incomes inadequate to meet basic household expenses.
The East Bay economy remains well diversified across industries, including its largest employers: health care and social assistance, retail trade, manufacturing, and professional and technical services. Other strengths include educational services, transportation, utilities, and management of companies. Together, all these industries offer a fairly balanced concentration of lower- and higher-wage employment opportunities.
Of particular potential importance to the East Bay is the emerging “green sector,” which has produced a higher percentage of jobs and start-ups here, compared to other industry sectors.
Vehicle emissions from the region’s heavy commute traffic and commercial transport, along with industrial sources, are the region’s major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.
Despite dramatic gains and losses over the last five years, median home values are only slightly below where they were at the start of the decade. Home foreclosures have been pronounced as a result of the recession, especially in the East Bay’s fastest-growing communities.
Residential construction declined dramatically since 2005. Non-residential construction has endured peaks and valleys since 2001 that have mirrored commercial real estate vacancies during the same period.
In a region of so many families with children, the opportunity for parents to become wage earners is influenced by the quality and availability of childcare. Both its quality and availability remain uneven in the East Bay, with cost a continuing barrier for many families in need.
Education excellence continues as a major issue. While there have been steady gains in third-grade reading proficiency for the past six years, one-half of all East Bay students are still not proficient in reading at the all-important third-grade level.
The state’s on-going budget crisis, decreasing local revenues due to the recession, and a looming public employee pension crisis may jeopardize public services that promote community health, safety and economic vitality in the East Bay.
The East Bay’s large non-profit sector provides support for critical human service, education, and health programs. National data indicate the recent recession has most recently taken a toll on this sector.
Arts and cultural organizations have grown steadily in numbers, contributions, and expenditures during most of the past decade, resulting in a significant contribution to the economic, social, and cultural vitality of the region.

To view the entire report, click here.

See the story on KTVU Channel 2 News below (download Windows Media Player if needed.)