Sacramento Mayor Hails Success, Brighter Tomorrow With More High-Tech Jobs

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — In his final State of the City address, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson predicted there would soon be more high-tech jobs and a Major League Soccer team in Sacramento.

He described his speed afterward as emotional.

"No. 1, it was just really emotional. It was such an honor to be mayor the last seven years. No. 2, there's still 284 days left, still a lot to be done," he said.

Using a massive video screen behind him, the mayor told this capacity crowd inside the Crest Theatre he wants to finish his term bracing against a possible economic rollercoaster by diversifying business here.

He unveiled a new Shanghai-based company that had chosen Sacramento as its U.S. headquarters.

Dr. Chris Yu is the founder of Anpac Bio—a cancer research and treatment company.

"We were thinking about Silicon Valley, but then we looked into Silicon Valley and we find a lot of advantages to be here," he said.

He named cost, affordable housing, and education as three of his keys to choosing sacramento for his company he says he hopes to have publicly traded within two years.

Johnson also announced a company called Flipbox will move its headquarters to Sacramento from Florida, and he unveiled a innovation partnership a highly-regarded Silicon Valley investor

We'll help train promising local entrepreneurs right here in sac, so we won't lose our talented workforce to the Bay Area," he said.