Doing business in the Bay Area? You might want to read this.
According to the San Francisco Business Times, the Bay Area is doing well… but could crash at any time if some key problems aren’t addressed.
Yikes.
So what are these areas of pains? We’ll go with bad news first.
A study was held by McKinsey & Co (we’ve all heard that name someplace or another) that showed some of the following problems:
- Unemployment remains above the national average at more than 9 percent;
- The K-12 education system has seen mild test score improvements but ranks in the bottom five of states;
- California has cut nearly 40 percent of the University of California system’s funding since 2002;
- Infrastructure spending is not keeping pace with needs; and
- California’s business climate remains among the most challenging in the country.
Let me pause here. Notice number two: “The K-12 education system has seen mild test score improvements but ranks in the bottom five of states”. That’s ridiculous. Looks like we’re in need for some change?
On a lighter note, here are some of the things McKinsey thought we’re doing well at:
- The Bay Area economy continues to display a remarkable resilience and innovativeness
- Information technology and high-end manufacturing have grown more quickly and productively than in the rest of the nation;
- The region’s universities and research institutions remain among the nation’s highest-ranked;
- Local venture capital deals continue to account for roughly one-sixth of the world’s total, and 40 percent of the national total; and
- The composition of the Bay Area’s top companies is diverse and balanced, spanning energy, networking, communications, consumer products, food and financial services.
For more info, read here!
