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Health & Fitness

Redevelopment Helps Watsonville Businesses Grow and Thrive

In discussing Redevelopment with a number of individuals, it's clear most people don't know what Redevelopment is or what RDAs do – and funded entirely through local property taxes.

As most people know, the Redevelopment Agencies in California are under attack by the State of California legislature and governor.  In discussing this situation with a number of individuals and in reading news stories about Redevelopment, it occurs to me that most people don’t know what Redevelopment is or what RDAs do – or that it is funded entirely through local property taxes.  Admittedly, we don’t spend much time tooting our own horns, so if you will indulge me, I would like to talk about some of the things that Redevelopment has done to make Watsonville a better place.  This is going to be a multi-part blog, so first let’s talk about some successes in directly helping businesses grow and locate in Watsonville.  The first two success stories I would like to share involve one way RDAs help businesses – by helping them with their financing needs.

Fox Racing Shox is one of Watsonville’s largest employers, but it hasn’t always been so.  In 2000, Fox had a small fraction of the employment base that they have now, but were growing quickly and out of space at their San Jose headquarters.  The Watsonville RDA contacted them as their CEO lived nearby and asked them if they would be interested in their current location.  They agreed.  The uncertain nature of their venture, combined with the aggressiveness of their expansion made it nearly impossible for Fox to finance the purchase of their headquarters building on Hangar Way and to outfit the factory inside to meet their expected demand.  The Watsonville RDA stepped in to help, providing Fox with a loan to finance that move.  It worked and now Fox is one of the largest manufacturers of mountain bike, ATV, motorcycle and truck shocks in the United States – and the only one that manufactures and assembles most of their product in the US. 

“The City of Watsonville Redevelopment Agency was of great assistance at a critical time in the company’s history.  We were expanding and there was a fair amount of uncertainty about the future.  The loan from the Watsonville RDA has allowed us to expand our annual sales by a factor of more than eight from 2000 to today.  We are just one example of how important the tools afforded to Redevelopment Agencies are in creating a strong local economy with growing businesses.” –Larry Enterline, CEO Fox Racing Shox.

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Another example of the Watsonville RDA directly assisting a business was last year when Whole Foods' produce buying operation outgrew its space on Westridge Dr.  The only large, modern office space available in Watsonville was built at the peak of the market and had lost enough value that banks were unwilling to lend the owner enough money to do the needed tenant improvements.  Recognizing that Whole Foods would probably relocate out of Watsonville if no space was available, the Watsonville RDA made a loan to the property owner to configure an office space downtown.  This resulted in Whole Foods expanding their presence in Watsonville and moving to a space where their employees support a number of businesses downtown such as cafés, restaurants and coffee shops.  The space Whole Foods vacated was immediately leased by another Watsonville company, Driscoll’s.  The net increase in total full time jobs is expected to exceed 30, and the Watsonville RDA will be paid back for this investment in full.

In the next couple of days, we will post another issue of this multi-part story – this one will be about our ongoing Downtown Revitalization efforts.  Thanks for reading and please visit our contact page if you have questions about this blog.  If you would like to support Redevelopment – please visit the Protect our Local Economy page here.

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