A Challenging Momentum

Who says there’s no good news?

Within the past week Ventura County has enjoyed encouraging reports that employment is up, crime is down and home sales are booming. Now, a national business magazine has ranked Ventura County as No. 4 on its list of the nation’s most economically dynamic metropolitan areas.

The latest issue of Forbes ranks 162 successful and business friendly metropolitan areas. The magazine based its survey on statistics compiled by the federal government and analysis by the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute. A high ranking indicates strong economic success and business potential.

The magazine’s Los Angeles bureau chief described the article as “a momentum story,” and indeed it reflects the burgeoning of high-tech industry in Ventura County. Although agriculture remains a billion-dollar industry in the county, biomedical and other high-tech companies have surpassed that mark and show no signs of slowing down.

Throughout the 1990s, employment in the county has grown at a steady rate of 3.5%. Median family income increased from $57,900 in 1995 to $63,100 in 1998. Nonfarm employment, an indicator of overall economic vibrancy, has grown consistently since the statewide recession of the late 1980s and early ‘90s.

We congratulate the Ventura County Economic Development Collaborative, its various industry clusters and the numerous other groups that are working to broaden and deepen the county’s economic base. We hope their task will become a little easier in the next few years as the county opens its long-awaited first four-year public university, Cal State Channel Islands.

We also recognize that Ventura County’s lack of a major airport is an obstacle to some firms that might be drawn to locate here. (Forbes somehow gives the county credit for already having two such airports, which seems beyond optimistic.) When or whether Ventura County residents will consider the convenience and economic benefit of a major airport to outweigh the disadvantages of noise, traffic and population growth inducement remains to be seen.

So, although the Forbes recognition offers cause for a salute and modest celebration, there’s plenty of progress yet to be made. The key word is indeed momentum. The challenge is to continue attracting companies that add to the county’s economy without undermining the public safety, natural beauty and quality of life that appeal to newcomers and longtime residents alike.