How GSEC Got Applied Spectra To Relocate From Fremont

Source: Sacramento Business Journal, Ben van der Meer
Photo: Barry Broome is president and CEO of the Greater Sacramento Area Economic Council. (CHRIS LOOMIS)

A Silicon Valley presentation by the Greater Sacramento Economic Council helped lure a firm from there to here, said GSEC CEO Barry Broome.

“We’re constantly meeting in Silicon Valley,” Broome said. At one of those meetings, representatives of analytic manufacturer Applied Spectra expressed interest in relocating from Fremont.

GSEC made a pitch directly to the company soon after, setting the stage for Monday’s announcement of Applied Spectra moving its headquarters to West Sacramento.

Broome said Applied Spectra executives wanted out of the Bay Area’s traffic congestion and higher costs. The council’s representatives offered the evidence and analytics, and then assisted the company in finding a spot. The company also worked with a broker from CBRE Sacramento.

“This is a company that did not go to Texas,” Broome said. “We see this as showing the ability to demonstrate we have hardware companies.”

In West Sacramento, Applied Spectra is still close enough to draw Bay Area talent coming out of universities, he said. Though the company may also have looked elsewhere, Broome said, Applied Spectra considered both Rancho Cordova and West Sacramento before deciding on the latter when the real estate was the right fit.

Applied Spectra plans to have about 30 local employees in its first year. The exact timing of the relocation is not clear, though the company has signed a lease. Broome said Applied Spectra is the kind of company that hits a sweet spot for the Sacramento region: still close enough to the Bay Area, but with the ability to potentially grow dramatically on a local level.

“It can also create a cluster effect,” he said, with one company’s move serving as a potential example to others to join it.

Leaders in West Sacramento and Rancho Cordova also deserve credit for being engaged during Applied Spectra’s exploration of possibilities, he said. “It just speaks to treating a company like a customer,” he said.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2019/03/20/how-gsec-got-applied-spectra-to-relocate-from