| The city of Milpitas, California, provides a prime example of a local government that not only uses today's technologies to work more effectively and efficiently , but one that truly supports the continued growth of the high-technology industry. While it is true that cities in close proximity to Silicon Valley have a greater opportunity than municipalities in most other regions to be considered by high-tech companies, the 15 cities in Santa Clara County actually compete for those businesses among themselves . They simultaneously cooperate across jurisdictions to provide regional advantage, such as with the online Smart permit system, which we will profile in this chapter. Dubbed the Gateway to Silicon Valley, Milpitas is located 45 minutes south of San Francisco, and serves as the crossroads of the Valley. Milpitas continues to draw high-tech expansion and support services into its 14 square miles. With a population of 65,000 people, Milpitas might be viewed as just one of the many small cities in California. Yet, the city has become a government entrepreneur in its aggressive pursuit of high-tech businesses. Milpitas hosts 350 high-tech companies, facilities, and offices, counting world-class Quantum, Solectron, and Cisco among them. The following are comments by Henry Manayan, mayor of Milpitas, who discusses how local government can play an integral role in the economic success of a region. Henry Manayan On the spirit of cooperation Silicon Valley started with a spirit of cooperation that has continued and amplified in recent years . Local government is intertwined with the private industries, and the businesses here are also connected through the spin-offs that are at the roots of the Valley. All these technologies need each other; they interact with each other, and their technologies feed upon each other. That's why our region has valued cooperation rather than competitiveness . The high-tech industry here understands that it needs to have a good relationship with the city in order to get its physical goals accomplished. For example, building a plant in a certain place, making sure the zoning is appropriate, or that health and safety codes are enforced. Most CEOs and facilities managers realize this is a very important part of doing well. In addition to being mayor of Milpitas, I am also the president of the Santa Clara County City Association, which comprises all 15 cities here in Silicon Valley. We are cognizant of the rule that three entities have to interact ” the three entities being government, private industry, and education. It's like a triangle where we all interact very closely with each other and we try to cooperate in a manner that I have really never seen happen anywhere else in this country. Government in partnership with business creates regional wealth Your healthiest cities, and the cities that offer the best services to its citizens , are cities that have a sound economic base. Without this economic base you cannot offer services to your residents, such as parks and recreation, police and fire protection, and the other amenities that come with being a city resident. So it's very important that we here in government focus on the high-technology industry, since this is Silicon Valley. Milpitas has one of the highest concentrations of high-tech companies of any Silicon Valley city. If you look around, within the 14 square miles of Milpitas, there are more than 350 high-tech firms among the thousands of businesses. Speed, flexibility, and service When a high-tech firm needs to move and establish a plant here, it needs to move very quickly. And if we as a government can't respond quickly enough, we will lose out also. First, we are going to lose the company because it will find another place that can meet its timing. But more importantly, from the company's perspective, two things can happen if it can't move fast enough. Number one, its technology will become obsolete; or number two, its competition will overtake them. Here is an analogy to help better understand how speed, flexibility, and good service can be compared with normal expectations. In this country the biggest hardware manufacturer of retail products is Sears, Roebuck and Co. When you order your refrigerator from Sears, they'll tell you what day they're going to come and deliver your refrigerator. But you won't know what time. You have to wait around all day just for a delivery truck to come by and bring you your refrigerator. When Pacific Bell, our largest phone supplier for Northern California, delivers your phone they'll tell you maybe morning or afternoon, so they'll narrow it down to a half-day difference, but you still have to wait around. That's a tremendous waste of time. If you're not there, you don't get your telephone. In the city of Milpitas we can schedule our building inspections in 15-minute increments. No other city in this Valley has ever been able to do that. Not only can we schedule our building inspections in 15-minute increments , we can schedule them seven days a week. You want it done on a Saturday or Sunday? Fine, we're there. We can do that. Not only can we do it seven days a week, we can do it 24 hours a day. Government can be customer focused and use the same improvement techniques as the private sector We went back and asked our own people in building and planning, what would it take for us to succeed beyond anyone else. Our own people came up with the ideas for being more responsive in partnership with their counterparts in the private sector. Of course, for the companies it isn't free. They'll pay a little extra for it. Our employees benefit; they will get overtime pay. The city benefits; we get more revenue. The company benefits, because they get their projects completed on time. The best example I have is that we had our city engineers on a national holiday, December 24, 1999 ” Christmas Eve ” doing building inspections at Quantum Corporation, the largest hard drive manufacturer in the world. We can offer a dedicated planner for a company, if they really have to move. We can expedite the permitting system for companies that are willing to pay the extra fees and where the urgency is very apparent. Regional wealth helps the city of Milpitas Milpitas has continued to grow despite other cities cutting back and that's because we're well diversified. In high technology we weren't dependent on the dot-coms like a lot of other places. We have a strong manufacturing base, we have telecommunications, some dot-coms, and a strong retail base. As a result of that, the city has continued to grow. We have added more staff members , more managers, and more departments. We have expanded departments of public safety. Crime has decreased every year for six consecutive years. We are building the most technologically advanced city hall in the nation. It will cost $35 million. We don't have to raise taxes or issue bonds to pay for this ” the money is in the bank. Work with your business partners to simplify the process The only thing that we continue to be a model for, and have people from all over the country studying and touring our systems almost monthly for, is that we have been able to cut through the layers of bureaucracy, cut through the paperwork and look to the bottom line. If a city wants to do this, it must reengineer its process by first asking its own people how they can improve upon what they are doing and then implement their suggestions. This works very much like the method of total quality control as implemented in places like Japan, where they have teams of workers putting their heads together to improve and become better. That's what makes us stand out. | Of course, government in partnership with business sounds good, but it is never as smooth and easy in practice as it sounds in theory. Next are the opinions of the president and facilities manager of one of the large businesses attracted to Milpitas in 1999. Their comments support the contention that government can be responsive. David Ferrari is the president of One Workplace, which focuses on improving efficiency, controlling costs, and increasing productivity through all the stages of office design and works with over 200 suppliers of furniture, fabric, lighting, carpet, and accessories to attain this goal. One Workplace's services include managing moves, performing feasibility studies to help find the optimal design for your workplace, project management, asset management, furniture liquidation, warehousing and storage services, installation of new products and reconfiguration of existing products as necessary, and providing both custom product and product repairs . The business generates $250 million a year in revenue and provides a good tax base for the city of Milpitas. Ferrari and his facilities manager, Dave Martinez, comment on how the Milpitas planning department and the Smart Permit program facilitated the process of relocation of One Workplace. David Ferrari and Dave Martinez We found the city of Milpitas flexible to deal with when we decided to move from San Jose. They streamlined the process and gave good incentives. In our case, we wanted to combine front offices with a warehouse. The Smart Permit system made it easier to get the job done and faster to get through the city process. The city is responsible with services and inspections, and the buildings are safe. In other cities, the permit process is a royal pain in the butt. Trying to get improvements is tough and time is money. Responsiveness is more important than just tax incentives. They value the people who are here; they want them to stay here. We have direct access to anyone in city government. When we moved to Milpitas, I met with the building department, and they were open to any issues. The facilities we moved into were already built. For the most part, Milpitas city government staff members were helping me to find a solution and were on my side. They were willing to spend time with me. This contrasts with other city experiences we have had where they put up obstacles. For city government to become a partner in the whole process, you need to work with them to try and develop whatever needs to be done quickly. They provided concessions in moving fees, making it affordable to move. What Milpitas is doing is the exception. My advice to facilities managers is to get in early so you can understand the city process and get them on your side. | |
