Watch CBS News

Greater Sacramento Economic Council Seeing Increased Interest From Companies Moving To Sacramento

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — More companies are making the move to Sacramento. The Greater Sacramento Economic Council says compared to this time last year, its connection with potential companies has increased six-fold.

The tech company Reviver is reviving itself in a place they never really considered before the pandemic, the greater-Sacramento area.

"It's all kind of under the premise that you got to be in the Silicon Valley if you're high tech," Robert Wood, President & CEO of Reviver, said. "And when I took over the company as CEO earlier this year, it was like, no we don't need to be. We can be in Sacramento."

The company makes digital license plates. Things like lower cost of living, better access to resources and cheaper real estate are some of the reasons why Wood and Reviver recently left the Bay Area for the Sacramento area.

Wood said approximately 20% of his employees live in the Sacramento area, which played a factor in the relocation decision. And he's not alone.

READ: Roseville Man Suing Starbucks After His Genitals, Hands Burned With Tea

"With this independence on teleworking, you can sit in Sacramento now and take a job in Boston and never leave your house," Barry Broome, President & CEO of Greater Sacramento Economic Council, said.

The Greater Sacramento Economic Council said that virtual meetings are making the ability to recruit and bring new business to Sacramento easier and faster.

The Economic Council has talked with 152 targeted companies in 2020 compared to 68 last year over the same period. Since the beginning of July 2020, in the midst of COVID-19, the organization has connected with six times the number of potential companies than during the July and August period of 2019.

Broome said that he believes several companies have either relocated or expanded to Sacramento since the pandemic.

"As they evaluate stay orders and reopening orders, now is really the time to move your company. So the increased activity is due to our own hard work and improvements and there's been a shift within the thinking of the market," Broome said.

Get our news app: Download the updated CBS Sacramento News app for iOS and Android

As all markets continue to pivot with the pandemic, Wood thinks others could make the call to move.

"They might be in downtown San Francisco, for example, or downtown Silicon Valley and they don't need the big offices," Wood said. "Now, they're rethinking 'where would we put a smaller campus or a satellite office,' like you said. Maybe put it where our people are living? A lot of people are living in this area."

The non-profit also told CBS13 that 18 businesses have left the Bay Area for Sacramento in the last two years (2018-2020) totaling 1,025 jobs.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.