California has always evoked dreams of new adventures and opportunities that couldn’t be found elsewhere. Those of us who are lucky enough to call it our home hold on to the dream of a wonderful future that only the Golden State can provide.
Many of the hallmarks that attracted millions of people are still present: fantastic climate, beautiful Pacific shores and majestic mountains. Early settlers flocked to the state in pursuit of gold and a new, prosperous future. Hollywood and the movie industry shared an elegance that was the envy of the world. In the 1980’s and 90’s aerospace and high tech manufacturing were plentiful and grew at record paces, providing much of the middle class with home ownership and a college education for their kids.
Now in 2019, almost two centuries after California became a state, we continue to lead the country in innovation but the production of our own inventions is falling short. New clean and exciting manufacturing facilities are simply growing quicker elsewhere. California is still the largest manufacturing state in the country but this doesn’t tell the whole story. Los Angeles County in southern California for example lost 7 percent of its manufacturing core since 2010 while the rest of the country grew by more than 12 percent. That means more than 25,000 southern California middle class families lost out on the dream that manufacturing could have provided.
This is why, as I embark on my new leadership role at the California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA), I pledge to turn the state’s Dream into a Promise. Dreaming that California will provide an environment for a strong economy, good jobs, sustainable environment and an infrastructure that supports its citizens made sense through most of our history, but now there is simply too much competition from regions fighting for the tremendous opportunity of manufacturing.
For starters, California needs a cost-effective and predictable regulatory system that encourages business to make long term investments. We also need to invest in an infrastructure for the immediate and distant future, including increased water storage and conveyance systems, roads that can accommodate commuter traffic and commercial activity and a power grid that provides safe, consistent and varied sources to meet the expectations of consumers.
It’s our responsibility to deliver opportunities for sustainable careers that are characterized by effective training and potential advancement through hard work and determination. The evolution from apprenticeship to managing highly technical and advanced equipment is just one of the unique offerings of the manufacturing sector – true personal and economic growth.
A decade from now we should be able to look back at this pivotal time as the turning point at which limitless possibility became our promise to all Californians.
I invite elected officials, civic leaders, environmentalists, labor advocates and other stakeholders to join CMTA in turning the California Dream into the California Promise. Everybody wins when we ensure a prosperous and sustainable manufacturing future for this great state.
Lance Hastings is the new President of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association. While a life-long Californian, he split the past six years between London and Washington, DC working in the beverage manufacturing sector.