News
ECG Leads Four Key Clusters of The Oakland
Partnership
In May, 2007, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums launched The Oakland Partnership, a public-private collaborative effort focused on Oakland's economic development. The goal of the Oakland Partnership is to create a thriving, innovative, equitable, globally competitive regional economy that creates 10,000 new jobs in the next five years by tapping into the creativity and talent of all segments of the population and providing benefits to all Oakland residents and businesses.
Building from a study conducted by McKinsey & Company to establish a clear picture of the current state of Oakland's economy, its relative competitiveness and attractiveness, and the issues hampering economic growth and continued improvement in the City's quality of life, the Oakland Partnership hired ECG to facilitate the process of convening four key industry clusters: Trade & Logistics, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Green Technology; and Art, Design & Digital Media. Since May 2007, ECG has helped the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Dellums' Office to organize a broad-based group of companies, educational institutions, government representatives, labor leaders, and community members around each of these key industries. The four cluster working groups are business-driven and geared toward action. With ECG's help, each cluster has identified top priorities, strategies for the growth of the sector, and is well on their way to implementing between 5-15 action initiatives that will enhance the cluster's competitiveness.
The first year of work will conclude with Mayor Dellums' Second Annual Economic Summit on May 2, 2008 and mark the transition from the development of strategy into the implementation phase. ECG continues to support Oakland Partnership participants in building relationships, making connections, and implementing the identified action initiatives.