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Article Last Updated: Wednesday, March 10, 2004 - 4:21:36 AM PST

OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS SECTION 4/1/2004 - Quarry back in county's court - S.F. State to offer courses at Indian Valley - Novato schools want to keep drug dogs - Owls find homes after trees mistakenly cut - New principal joins Novato High - Santana guitar, Hanks script to benefit Ross School Experts see good, bad in Marin's economy By Keri Brenner, IJ reporter Preventing loss of firms among the concerns Supporting local stores, attracting businesses that historically thrive in Marin and halting an exodus of companies are among the ingredients needed to bolster the county's economy, community leaders were told yesterday. On a positive note, Marin's real estate and banking industries are going strong and the office vacancy rate is declining, according to local industry panelists who spoke at the inaugural Marin Economic Outlook Conference. About 260 people attended the event at the Embassy Suites Hotel in San Rafael. Bob Giacomini of Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. in West Marin urged county residents to spend more for local products if they want to help keep the county's economy vibrant. Giacomini, cousin of former Marin supervisor Gary Giacomini, noted that Marin's median family earns $91,500 annually - almost twice the national average. "One of the things you can do is buy your meats, vegetables, dairy and other produce locally, at local supermarkets," Giacomini said. "You can buy your paper products at the (large discount chain stores), but get your produce at the Mollie Stone's, the Andronico's, the United Markets." Speakers pointed to a business survey from the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce - the event co-sponsor along with the Marin Economic Commission - that found a majority of Marin business owners don't plan to hire in the next six months, even though they expect the economy to improve. "It appears the jobless recovery is well under way in Marin County as well as elsewhere," said Robert Eyler, keynote speaker and director of the Center of Regional Economic Analysis at Sonoma State University. "The jobless recovery is a byproduct of the way we've grown technologically - labor has been left behind as we've become more technologically efficient." Eyler urged the Marin leaders to take the advice in the Marin Economic Commission's recent Targeted Industries Study. The study says Marin should try to attract more of the same type of businesses that are already successful here - such as financial services, tourism-related enterprises such as restaurants and multimedia firms. "Is there a real identity to Marin's business community?" Eyler said. "If so, business and government need to partner with each other to lead the county down that path." Several speakers warned that Marin will get dangerously out of balance and become even more of a bedroom community if companies continue to exit in search of affordable housing for employees. Staff at Marin companies already are commuting long distances to work here, they said. "We are seeing more employees look for homes in American Canyon, Vacaville and Vallejo," said Doug Martin, of Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. in Novato. "They can pay $400,000 and get a nice home there. Hopefully the transportation (on Highways 37 and 80) will get better." Most of Fireman's Fund's 1,300 Marin staffers already commute from Sonoma County, he said. The company, he added, has downsized from 2,400 employees in Novato four years ago to 1,300. Four years ago, the company wrote $4 billion worth of insurance policies with 8,100 employees nationally; this year, the company will write $5 billion worth of business with only 4,700 employees across the nation. The insurance industry, hard hit by twin blows of declining stock market investments and escalating claims after the Sept. 11 tragedy, is especially struggling in California with its skyrocketing workers' compensation insurance costs, he said. Martin said he is hopeful the state Legislature will pass reforms this year. "The cost of workers' compensation insurance in California is $6.33 per $100 (of payroll)," Martin said. "But it's only $2.50 per $100 elsewhere -it's so bad we can't figure out how to sell it to you." But some industries in Marin - such as real estate and banking - are having no trouble staying here. "The Marin banking market is extremely healthy," said Mark Garwood, president of San Rafael-based Tamalpais Bank. "There is $6.5 billion in deposits in Marin, and that's for only about 260,000 residents." Garwood said Marin's 2003 median family income was $91,500, compared with a $60,300 median in California and $56,500 nationally, according to the federal Office of Housing and Urban Development. Marin's 21 banks and their 75 bank branches are the beneficiaries of that affluent customer base, he said. Bill McCubbin, chief executive of San Rafael-based Orion Partners Ltd., said commercial leasing is picking up as interest rates remain low. Orion's 2003 office vacancy survey showed a decline in the vacancy rate to about 17.5 percent last year, compared with about 22 percent in mid-2002. However, McCubbin said the high cost of doing business and the lack of affordable employee housing in Marin will continue to cause companies to leave. Even with the economic rebound, high-tech companies may not want to locate in Marin because of those factors, he said. "Local industries that provide goods and services to Marin residents are doing well," McCubbin said. "But among traded industries that produce goods and services for people outside of Marin, many are leaving due to the high cost of doing business here." Giacomini said Marin residents should continue to support county-sponsored programs that benefit agricultural preservation, such as the Marin Agricultural Land Trust and diversification options on the county's ag lands. Five years ago, Giacomini's family discovered that California dairy farmers were not manufacturing bleu cheese, so they began producing it. Now it is sold in 30 markets across the country. That success has allowed the family to stay in farming. "Marin farmers are now producing grapes, grass-fed beef and olives," Giacomini added. "This gives us hope that the next generation of farmers will be able to stay on the farm." Contact Keri Brenner via e-mail at kbrenner@marinij.com Copyright and permissions

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