SWOT takes a swipe at Yuba-Sutter

You may have missed all of the buzz, but the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy is ready to go. Aren’t you excited? The CEDS, as it’s called, pops up frequently. It’s prepared by the Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corp. so the local area can qualify for federal funds.

It has all sorts of stuff about Yuba-Sutter – primarily economic development – and this year’s version has an interesting SWOT analysis. SWOT? What? SWOT is strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

It one way for the local movers and shakers to assess where Yuba-Sutter is and where it may go. This SWOT was developed in 2015.

The strengths are pretty much chamber-of-commerce type stuff. It’s the weaknesses that really hit home.

For example, take this: “Both counties underutilize most of their resources in a number of ways such as lack of promotion, community awareness, and an overall nogrowth attitude by some citizens of the counties.” Ouch. “No-growth attitude.” Or this: “Both counties suffer from a lack of diversity in the region’s industries. Reliance upon a few major industries such as medical, agriculture and a military base leave the region at risk HaroldKruger isaveteran reporterand copyeditorfor theAppealDemocrat. Call749-4774.

and vulnerable in the event of a major disaster such as flooding or base closure.”

And then there’s this: “Both counties experience terminal education migration and has a large unskilled labor force. The community is too dependent upon two major industries in the area, agriculture and the military.”

And when it comes to health, public education and safety: “Both counties are experiencing a severe problem with the homeless, homeless encampments and the attendant problems with this issue, generational poverty, and high unemployment.

“There is a distinct lack of behavior and mental health services, high levels of health issues and medical care leakage in the region.

“Safety in terms of strong police presence is an issue due to the financial woes of the cities within the region and of the counties themselves. There is also the leakage of law enforcement to other areas for better pay.

“There is a mixed understanding within the region of what cooperative services should entail. For example, shared responsibility of air control, animal control and water quality.

“Although Yuba-Sutter is above state levels in associate’s degrees, the K-12 districts are performing under national levels, and there is no four-year university or satellite campus in the immediate area.

“Regional values are not in alignment with the state as well as a lack of alignment between business, community leaders and public.

And transportation? “Highways into the towns and cities often create choke areas which often cause travel within the city limit areas long, congested, and frustrating. Public transportation is limited in terms of routes and frequency requiring riders to spend an hour on the bus to a destination that would normally take 15 minutes by car.”

And here’s one more: “The region’s inability to allocate capital toward promotion of regional resources and infrastructure has created a poor image of the area. Local investor mentality is at an alltime low. The image of the area and previous poor funding judgments are causing reticence in investment.”

Wow. There’s no place to go but up.