Sacramento Region
The Sacramento region is the 26th largest metropolitan area in the United States.
Of the 49 metropolitan areas in the U.S., with more than 1 million people, the Sacramento region ranks 5th in terms of population increase from 2000 to 2002 as Silicon Valley executives and other Bay Area technical talent migrated in huge numbers to the area.
The Sacramento Region's population is projected to grow to 2.4 million by 2010 (with expectations to outpace nearly all other metropolitan areas in California).
This growth is also greater than many other major metropolitan areas in the Western U.S. including Salt Lake City, Denver, and Portland.
Given that Sacramento draws a surprising low 0.4% of total U.S. venture capital spending each year compared to these other regions that have historically drawn more than 10 times this amount, we believe Sacramento is dramatically undercapitalized.
We expect to be a catalyst, improving the amount of funding that companies in this region secure in the future.
The Region
The region has been nationally recognized by multiple sources as having all the entrepreneurial infrastructure and talent required for building valuable technology companies.
The regional ingredients include large technology corporations with engineering talent, first-class universities, government innovation centers, non-profit incubators and other start-up support resources, seasoned management talent, seed sources of capital, and experienced professional service organizations.
Technology Hubs
Some of the largest employers in the Sacramento region are technology-related companies. The companies listed below employ more than 15,000 engineers, executives, and other staff:
University Infrastructure
The region has three major universities in the area: California State University of Sacramento, University of California -Davis, and University of the Pacific. These universities have more than $400 million in annual research budgets and graduate more than 5,000 engineers each year.
Los Rios Community Colleges have nearly 80,000 students enrolled at their colleges and the administration works closely with local corporate technology executives to develop curriculum that helps to support the growth of local companies.
Government Innovation
Aerospace and defense have emerged as markets of significance and the Sacramento region has a number of firms focused on innovation in this area including:
- Aerojet/Gencorp
- Northrop Grumman Mission Systems,
- Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory
- Composite Engineering, Inc.
Management Talent
Since 2000, an on-going trend has been the migration of Silicon Valley executives to the Sacramento region.
Upon the downturn in the technology sector in 2000, many technology executives have been drawn from the San Francisco Bay Area to Sacramento by the attractive home prices and the quality of life, including the proximity to Lake Tahoe.
These newcomers are filling the growing need for experienced executives, Board members, and seed investors.
Along with valuable skill sets, these executives bring with them Silicon Valley relationships--both corporate and venture--that are potential assets for local companies.
Facilities
In addition to traditional technology incubators, local real estate developers subsidize office rents in support of technology companies.
The Sacramento business community provides direct support to the technology sector to further diversify the local economy beyond its historical strengths in government and real estate.
Professional Service firms
In addition to the well qualified home-grown local executives at Sacramento service firms, these organizations have successfully attracted seasoned attorneys, accountants, recruiters, and bankers from the Silicon Valley to the region to support local start-up companies.
In recent years, well established Silicon Valley and San Francisco professional service firms have discovered our emerging market, and they now offer local entrepreneurs a variety of options for legal, accounting, banking, and other services.