by Rob White
As I reflect on the first 30 days of my time with the City of Davis as the new Chief Innovation Officer, there are many exciting things to enumerate. Though I really started my efforts for the City in mid-March – I took time off from my previous job in Livermore to attend meetings with key partners and City leadership – it is obvious there has been a lot packed in to April and I am eager to share some of these activities.
It has been my priority to meet with businesses and community member and work with our partner organizations to redefine how economic development is conducted in Davis. Much of this work capitalizes on activities that started several years ago, and we can thank the Davis Chamber, current Council members, and University and Yolo County leadership for their continued efforts.
They started to pave the way, and we are now taking full advantage of that work to meet the Davis vision of a robust economy, sustainable community and high quality of life.
Some early metrics and activities by the City to ponder:
- Met with over 30 local business owners to discuss their current views, hear their ideas for success, and identify opportunities for the future.
- Had meaningful dialogue with community groups (like the Davis Chamber, Davis Downtown, and UCD) to discuss shared objectives and ways to partner.
- Established a frequent communication effort with local media to create transparency in the efforts to grow the Davis brand and the knowledge-based economy.
- Implemented the use of social media tools like Twitter to create more frequent communication with the community (start following us at #InnovateDavis for current efforts, or review our Washington DC efforts at #DavisinDC and #Cap2Cap2013)
- Met with regional organizations like Sacramento Metro Chamber, SARTA, and SACTO to discuss Davis’ efforts to grow its technology sector and encourage business growth across the City.
- Worked with research institutions like UCD, UC Berkeley, Chico State, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Sandia National Labs, and China Lake Naval Air Command to identify opportunities for shared activities to bring focus on Davis and explore advanced manufacturing and AgTech research.
- Played a central role in developing policy papers and Guiding Principles for the Davis/Yolo County portion of the Cap-to-Cap trip to Washington DC and worked with our local and regional partners to develop handouts, set meetings with high ranking federal officials and identify action items from the trip.
- Discussed with federal officials and elected representatives the knowledge-based economic development activities in Davis and the region and began defining potential federal funding opportunities.
One of the best examples of forward-looking activities is the City of Davis’ central role in the state-wide discussion around advanced manufacturing. In late March, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) held a state-wide conference at the Capitol to discuss efforts in advanced manufacturing and opportunities that might exist currently and in the future.
There were over 90 people in attendance at the Governor’s offices and over 150 people engaged through remote video feeds. Adam Hansel, COO of Mori Seiki, was a morning panelist to describe the business perspective about this sector and I led an afternoon workshop on governance and policy for the sector. Other Davis-specific partners participating that day included Meg Arnold of SARTA, several representatives from UCD and leadership from the federal labs that are part of our i-GATE Innovation Hub consortium.
The advanced manufacturing sector is important because it is leading the way in maintaining high quality, high-wage jobs in the US and is an evolution of what manufacturing was even just a decade ago.
This sector uses robotics, new materials, and new processes to conduct business and the ‘factories’ are full of high tech equipment and clean room environments. Companies in Davis that are great examples of the use of advanced manufacturing processes include Mori Seiki/DTL and FMC Schilling Robotics.
Advanced manufacturing has promise for the future that stretches our old perceptions and notions of manufacturing being dirty and wasteful, with the advent of technologies like 3D printing.
This technology is being actively researched for applications in areas like medical transplants, including printing organs and bone replacements. 3D printing is leading the way in research in to new material combinations at the molecular and atomic levels, as well as changing the way we think of consumer goods delivery. Imagine one day being able to completely customize your smart phone with online ordering – the case, the features, the size – and then printing it at a local kiosk for pickup in a matter of hours (or maybe even minutes!).
The discussions across the State about advanced manufacturing are significant and we found during the Cap-to-Cap trip that they resonate at the federal level as well.
Congressman John Garamendi has sponsored or co-sponsored several pieces of legislation that is important to the sector, including the Make it in America legislation package. Other federal legislation and actions that support this sector include Startup 3.0 and the President’s State of the Union and recent Budget Agenda.
The City of Davis is also a founding member of the state-wide advanced manufacturing consortium known the California Network for Manufacturing Innovation (CNMI). This collaborative group includes our own UCD, Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, NASA Ames, and a host of other federal labs, universities and community colleges, federal agencies, and business organizations across the State. CNMI recently submitted a proposal to the Governor’s Office to be selected as the lead innovation hub for advanced manufacturing in California, putting CNMI (and Davis) directly in to the national and global conversation in this sector. We hope to hear positive news by the end of May or early June.
As you can see, we have been busy.
With the City elevating economic development efforts to the City Manager’s Office, redeploying existing staff to work on these activities in a much more visible way, and instituting the first Chief Innovation Officer position in the Sacramento Region (and one of very few across the State or nation), the City Council and City Manager have implemented the beginning of a strong partnership with Davis business and community organizations.
We have a lot to do, but we are working hard to turn the previous efforts and meaningful dialogue in to action and to send a strong message to the tech, research, business and investment communities – Davis is open for business!
We have strong community assets that have demonstrated that sustainability and business are compatible and we have a quality of life worth protecting and enhancing. Davis has led the way for many years, and we plan to claim that future once more by demonstrating that our efforts to build the knowledge-based economy will lead to the economic vitality we cherish as a community.
thanks rob white for continuing to communicate. i continue to be baffled that teh same people who criticize david for being too negative are no-shows in articles like this.
And, how much is the City compensation (salary and benefits) for this new position? Not on the City’s webpage, as far as I can discern.
Don’t recall seeing what the City paid for those on the ‘Cap-to-Cap trip’… asked before… no response that I picked up on. What are the “metrics” to determine if the CIO is generating a positive cash flow?
The City has eliminated several positions when the previous occupants left (retirement, etc.). Argument is we have to do more, with less. Why wasn’t a current employee charged with this work, or alternatively, who can the City do without to afford the Innovation Officer?
HPIERCE: Rob on Tuesday said the city only paid for him and Rochelle to go. He told me personally it was like $4500 for him and reminded me that his salary received was the salary he would have received had he stayed in Davis. And you’ll recall that Rochelle gets a travel allowance, I forget what it is, but her expenses came out of there. The city spends that money, which isn’t much, on every councilmember and it doesn’t begin to reimburse all of their expenses for the year. So I think the answer is $4500.
” What are the “metrics” to determine if the CIO is generating a positive cash flow? “
That’s the same question some councilmembers asked. Obviously one month in is a little early to measure. It’s basically a three year pilot program and by the end of that time, the city will need to be able to show something. Now I’m not convinced it has to be a positive cash flow, but it does need to be tangible.
“And, how much is the City compensation (salary and benefits) for this new position? “
He received $240,000 in total compensation, half from techDavis and half from the city of Davis.
” Why wasn’t a current employee charged with this work, or alternatively, who can the City do without to afford the Innovation Officer? “
A current employee frankly could not do this work.
The city basically is having to clear out another $120K in cuts for it. They believe it is worth it – I actually think in the long run it will pay for itself and then some. I tend to be a skeptic about such things, but there is a real buzz right in the region about this. When you are convincing a spin off to stay in Davis rather than go to Roseville, this is the type of hiring will make that difference.
Thank you for the information and clarification, David.