Welcome to Jeff Rainforth for Sacramento City Council, District 3
- Open K Street to traffic (businesses on K street need traffic to survive)
- Free Parking in Downtown Parking Garages - nights and weekends (drives business)
- Free Parking 24/7 at the Downtown Plaza (A Mall that charges for parking? Helps attract customers & keeps employers in business)
- Traffic Guards for Second Saturdays (Downtown residents who are not attending find it difficult to get across town to shop, and run errands because of the crowds and traffic etc)
- Reduce Parking Ticket fines (Parking tickets are now $50 including a $10 state surcharge)
- No Red Light cameras (Cameras are more about money, not keeping us safer)
- Explore Backyard Poultry options (Many residents want to have a few chickens for fresh eggs in the morning)
- Become Known for Something (What is Sacramento known for? How about the best public schools? Helps attract employers and young professionals)
- Work to attract Businesses, not drive them away (With unemployment over 12%, we need to attract employers)
- Become a "Creative Class" City (Cities with a strong CC are generally believed to thrive economically. Creative Class occupations include: Science, engineering, education, computer programming, arts, design, media, healthcare, finance, and legal)
Unemployment
In December of 2009 unemployement for the entire Sacramento region stood at about 12.3%. The number of persons unemployed in the region was around 127,000. The California Employment Development Department forecasts unemployment reaching as high as 13.9% in September of 2010. Cleary, the region's leaders have their work cut out for them when it comes to attracting employers to the area, and retaining the employers that are already here. As a member of the Sacramento city council it will be my top priority to help attract employers to the area (and keep the ones we already have) so that unemployed residents have a better chance at finding work.
As a member of Best Buy's Competitive Strategy Group (CSG), it's my job to gather all available data on our competitors in the Sacramento region. Our group collects information such as competitor market share, budget information, sales strategies, finance offers, reorganizations, acquisitions, pricing, merchandising, expansion, layoffs, and much, much more. It's our job to know everything about our competitors, and to keep the head office apprised of any movements that they are making. The information we gather, and analysis we give, helps the company stay ahead of the competition. In the Sacramento region, our work helped the company increase it's market share by 7% in consumer electronics in the final quarter of 2009. It's one of the reasons why the company is the number one consumer electronics retailer in the United States. Whatever you think about the company itself, one thing is sure, they know their competition.
Now, one might ask, "what does this competitive 'stuff' have to do with Sacramento or a city council race?" And I would answer, it has everything to do with Sacramento, and who's making decisions for the city. Every city is in a competition against other cities. Sacramento is no different. We are in a competition for jobs... employers to be exact. In the current economy, it is especially important to know what your competitors are up to. There are a few questions one wants to ask about one's competitors such as: Are they doing something that's working? If yes, then emulate them. Are they doing something we can't do because of budget constraints, location etc? If so, then innovate. Are our competitors doing something that isn't working? Then we negate that option. Know your competitors inside and out. Learn from their mistakes without making them yourself, take advantage of their successes by emulating their actions, and if there are no good examples to follow, get creative. By doing this, Sacramento can fast track past its competitors, and hopefully become a city that attracts employers, and not one that loses them.
Another element in competition and selling people on your product (city) is knowing your VPE's, or Value Proposition Elements. Basically, Value Proposition Elements (VPE's) can be summed up as:
1. Your target market
2. Why your target market would want to buy your product (in this case, why businesses would want to move to Sacramento)
3. What differentiates your product (Sacramento) from your competitor's (other cities)
So, what market (businesses) should we be targeting? Businesses that are hiring to be sure, but it's not quite that simple. We don't want just any business. We want businesses that can hold their own even when the economy is doing poorly. This way they're not laying off workers at the first signs of trouble. I'll go into this more later.
Next up, long term strategies, industries to attract, becoming known for something (i.e. creating a VPE) such as "best public schools," the Creative Class, and attracting young professionals to help build Sacramento's future.
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