Employment during an economic downturn is one of the hardest battles to win, and our Super Heroes have been fighting hard to close the gap between the rich and the poor. Despite their valiant efforts, the gap “ between those succeeding and those struggling grows wider and wider,” Russell Hancock, CEO of Joint Venture said. “It’s as if we’re becoming two valleys.”
However, due to the tireless efforts of our Super Heroes, the tide is slowly beginning to turn, and their homebase in Silicon Valley is experiencing greater economic growth than the national average. The Valley added 42,000 jobs in 2011 and the unemployment rate fell 1.4%, ending 2011 at 8.3% as compared to California’s 10.9%. Additionally, per-capita income rose 4%. Venture capital investment saw a significant increase (17%) and those in the clean tech industry doubled since last year!
One of the strategies our Heroes have developed to keep the local economy growing is to invest in small start-ups and local businesses. In fact, a novel approach that both supports a start-up as well as many other local businesses is the new Silicon Valley trend to keep their employees happy by getting them lunch for free – they have it delivered from nearby local restaurants through EAT Club, a Palo Alto based start-up which served more than 60,000 lunches to over 750 companies in the last year. Other start-ups, such as ZeroCater, Waiter.com and GetQuik offer a similar service.
But our Super Heroes don’t want to limit this type of entrepreneurship to their own home town. They are trying to spread these success models across the nation.
Silicon Valley Bank is opening an information technology center in Tempe, Arizona, creating over 400 new, high-paying technology based jobs over a 7-year period and will pay employees an average annual salary of at least $88K. The State and Maricopa County are contributing funding to this relocation. The grants from the state and county will be based on evidence of successful job creation, and officials are confident the financial institution will contribute significantly to the local economy.
EMPLOYMENT EMPOWERMENT
How to Complete Your Mission:
- LEARN – Learn about your city. What are the city’s resources? What kind of labor force does it have? What do area businesses think would help them thrive? What place-consciousness strategies can we build upon?
- ACT – What can you do about it? What projects and groups are already working for your city’s economic future? Are there any projects or goals you find particularly compelling? Tell us about which group you help out by using your own self-described super powers to give a micro-loan to, helping them kickstart your city’s economic future. Show us how you fought for economic empowerment with a photo and a recounting of your heroic deed.
- IMAGINE – Click here to unleash your creativity and take your chances dodging downsizing giants!
- Ask A Mentor for Help
- See how our Round 1 Superheroes fought for employment empowerment!
Learn – Merced, Califorrnia is one of the hardest-hit areas when talking about the economic downturn. Merced has topped the unemployment rate at times from time to time, and currently stands at over 17 percent; along with being ratnked in the top “most miserable cities”, Merced has not been an easy place for people to live. The area’s economy is centered around agriculture. Area businesses feel that they would thrive if Merced had more community events that would bring people out to spend money locally. One place-conscious strategy I have heard of is large groups of people gathering on a planned date and eating at a local restaurant in what they call a “flash-buy”. There is also a weekly farmer’s market downtown.Act – I feel that I can help in this way by encouraging people to dine at locally owned restaurants. Another project going on in the area is the high-speed rail system, which will bring permanent and temporary jobs as well as tourists. I did my part by buying a meal at a local Mexican restaurant.
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