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In “Rios de Oro”, the Sacramento
Region is able to achieve the balance necessary to create a region
that works. Investments on a variety of fronts are made in a coordinated,
strategic plan to position the region for success on a global scale
while meeting the needs of residents on a local and neighborhood
scale.
"“I heard someone call you the architect of a regional
economy. Why that title?” asked the young reporter.
“That’s a question I’ll be happy
to answer,” responded John Singh, leaning back a bit, “But
first, let me ask you one,”
“Sure, but I’m not much of a business
mind. I just got assigned this story. I’m generally on sports,”
the reporter responded.
The successful business leader stood up and walked
to the open door. Everything in the small, pleasant room suggested
a relaxed familiarity. Most visitors were surprised by the modest
office of a man of this stature in a neighborhood that, until a
handful of years ago, had been simply given up on by most. “Maria,
could you please bring us copies of the 2024 annual report?”
Stepping back to his chair, Mr. Singh continued, “This will
just take a moment, and may help in our conversation.”
A young woman delivered two nicely bound documents.
“Thanks, Maria,” said John Singh, “Would
you care to join us for the interview?”
“Sure,” she replied, sitting in the
third of the three chairs set by the window around the small coffee
table.
“Maria, I was just turning the tables on
our reporter friend, as I was about to ask him a question,”
Mr. Singh said, turning to the reporter, “What has been the
most important success of our region over the past 25 years?”
With a nod to the reports, he stated with a rather
assured voice, “The performance of your company-Rios de Oro—the
largest private employer.”
Mr. Singh smiled and nodded, “I am flattered
that you think so, and while I am proud of the enterprise we have
created, there is another answer within the room.”
The reporter saw Maria smile in oblique acknowledgement.
He wished that he had been somewhere far away when they needed the
interview covered.
A SUCCESS LIKE MARIA
“The most important success of the region
in the last 25 years—or at least the evidence of one of them—is
sitting in front of you: Maria Ly.
“Maria, perhaps you could tell John a little
about yourself?” prompted the businessman.
With slightly flushed cheeks she laughed and began
as if she had done this before, “Well, I’m not unusual.
I’m 27 years old, I live in Sacramento—just down the
street actually—and like most of my friends, I was raised
here. My parents left the Bay Area in 2003, as soon as my mother
and father were both able to get jobs in the Sacramento area. I
was five.
“Mom, as a teacher, got very involved in
educational reform both locally and on the state level. Dad worked
for an emerging biotech company so together they had lots of opinions
on what role education should play in preparing for the future.
As a result of their efforts in a very well publicized campaign,
they successfully supported the partnership through which Sacramento
State and UC Davis were able to jointly plan an international campus
in Roseville to explore worldwide technology markets.
“Dad always said the fun part of his job
was being the liaison between the company and other community groups.
When he and Mom paired up on the connection between industry, education,
and the community, watch out! Mom was always saying, ‘How
can you help prepare grades K-12? They need to understand what the
future will be like too. We have to coordinate systems to maximize
the opportunities and experiences for our youth.’
“The campaign was driven by the image from
The Sacramento Bee of me standing by my Mom’s side as she
questioned the School Board. She asked ‘What career options
are we preparing my daughter for?’ I went to the Roseville
campus after finishing at McClatchy High.
“Now I coordinate much of the communication
between our affiliated companies in the area and their global—especially
Chinese—partners and customers, to whom many companies in
the area export products such as fruits, nuts and rice. I came to
work for John after meeting him during the Games. He was very involved
in the 2020 Olympic bid, and of course, he held the community chair
on the Arena Joint Powers Authority.
“Are you an A’s fan?” Maria asked,
somewhat abruptly.
“Sure,” the reporter responded, “that’s
usually my beat, though I wish they’d get a new pitching staff
after that last game.”
“Well, drawing them to Sacramento from Oakland
was really his doing,” she said, pointing at Mr. Singh and
then her watch. “I gotta run. It was nice meeting you,”
she said as she left the room.
A REGION WORKING
“Let me pick up where Maria left off,”
Mr. Singh began. “First, it wasn’t my doing at all.
It was the collaborative work of the jurisdictions that created
the Arena JPA. They created the lure for a ball club by creating
a welcoming environment—and the project paid its own way.
Between that and other improved amenities collectively created as
part of Olympic Games preparation, many tourism dollars from around
the world have been attracted to the region.
“Maria has a bright career ahead of her because
of the groundwork done by her parents. The region’s successes
have all been connected in one way or another. Because of her preparation,
the strong economy, and the quality of life in the region, Maria
chose to stay here, despite unlimited opportunities in other parts
of the country and world. This is not by accident. It was planned
for. Each investment in the future flows into others and their confluence
is a point of great opportunity. As a result, the sense of potential
we experienced over the past two decades grew as large as that created
by those “Rivers of Gold” discovered by earlier settlers.
“Your paper played quite a role in creating
that sense of opportunity. The Bee was filled with forward-looking
articles-features on the possible consequences of different growth
projections; stories about industrial development in places like
Austin, Texas; editorials on transportation needs; op-ed pieces
on residential in-fill. Simply by focusing on the future and framing
the issues, it and other local media helped to raise public awareness
about the coming boom, its opportunities for current residents,
and the possible costs if mismanaged.
“The efforts got all of us—including
elected officials, excited about what the region could be. The progress
we have achieved has never been about one person or one idea, but
about creating a plan that met the needs of many. There has been
no one architect of this regional success, but hundreds.
“Because of the foundation set by the Sacramento
Region Blueprint Transportation and Land Use Study, the region’s
cities and counties agreed that with a lot of community discussion
they could reach a regional consensus on questions like, what farmland
and resources should be conserved? Where should the houses go? How
could we improve air quality and transportation? The Mayors and
the Chairmen of the Boards of the six counties achieved some important
understandings on land use and investments in the region. ‘Nothing
binding or official yet,’ they said on emerging from their
first session. But clearly there had been some agreements that,
with a lot more talk among relevant players, could lead to a historic
regional consensus on issues ranging from transportation and housing
to education, industrial development, the environment, and farmland
preservation.
“And that thinking spread. In health care,
the six counties around Sacramento were able to float the necessary
bonds for a new medical research center, teaching hospital and nursing
school, all organized around a vision for health care that de-emphasized
high cost heroic medicine and re-emphasized prevention, timely intervention,
and education for healthier lifestyles.
“Following months of public debate, and a
series of seemingly endless meetings involving public officials,
transportation planners, environmentalists, residential real estate
developers, representatives of agricultural interests, citizens’
groups, business leaders, educators, transportation planners, representatives
of different ethnic groups...and virtually anyone else who might
later complain that they’d been left out of this ‘politics
of inclusion,’ the Sacramento Region had a comprehensive plan
for how it wanted to look in the year 2025.”
THE PAYOFF
“Because Blueprint was so comprehensive,
and the process that led to it so inclusive, the Sacramento Region
was able to attract big chunks of federal dollars for its parks,
for research in its hospitals and universities, and for its transportation
infrastructure, which balanced transit and roads.
“By 2015, Sacramento’s light rail metro
system linked to high-speed rail running north, south and west.
The region was close to completing a beltway system that rivaled
the best in the world. Businesses saw the benefits of locating in
an area where energy was cheap, workers plentiful, and the quality
of life superior.
“We have the talent that attracts capital.
Maria’s success is not atypical. Because of her parents’
commitment to their low income neighborhood that had received such
little public investment in the latter part of the last century,
most of her friends are from much less affluent families. They too
are successful and well-prepared. I’ve hired several of them.
“The miners and early settlers saw opportunity in the area
and its rivers of gold—Rios de Oro. As we mature and consider
the tradeoffs-the costs and benefits-of our decisions, we are engaging
in a grand experiment in balance.”
John Singh paused, glanced at the clock and asked,
“Now what was your question?”
The reporter looked up from his notebook,
in which he had filled pages, took a breath, and responded with
a smile, “I think you answered it.”
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