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• CEOs
• Successes
• Statistics
Butte County Tourism
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Sunday, May 11, 2008 |
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Location
Butte County, located in the northern region of California's Central Valley, is just 60 miles north of Sacramento. Bordered by the Sacramento River on the west and the Sierra Nevada mountains on the east, Butte County is a short drive from the San Francisco Bay area and Reno, Nevada. Butte County's idyllic setting offers abundant business, educational, recreational, and cultural opportunities to expanding and relocating businesses.
Workforce
Butte County's labor availability rate of 7.5 percent offers an affordable workforce ready to meet the demand at every level of staffing. "The labor market has been great for us," says Sue Haggerty, manager of UnitedHealth Group. "We have five to ten weeks of technical training and we found our new employees to be both well-educated and enthusiastic."
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COMPARATIVE MEDIAN WAGES (per hour) |
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Butte
County |
San Jose/
Bay Area |
Los
Angeles |
| Data Entry Keyers |
7.07 |
11.07 |
9.97 |
| Switchboard Operator |
8.18 |
10.97 |
9.04 |
| Receptionist/Info Clerk |
8.97 |
10.78 |
9.63 |
| General Office Clerks |
9.90 |
11.16 |
10.18 |
| Medical Records Technician |
8.18 |
8.57 |
11.05 |
| Computer Operators |
11.33 |
11.43 |
12.28 |
| Computer Support Specialist |
11.79 |
23.96 |
20.23 |
| Computer Programmers |
15.43 |
35.26 |
27.03 |
| Computer Engineers |
22.04 |
27.21 |
29.93 |
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Occupational Wage Data: EDD |
Information Management Training
California State University, Chico offers one of the best computer science programs in the nation. When Hewlett-Packard examined its employees to find out where its best-trained computer people graduated, CSU, Chico topped the list.
With a Butte County address, Landacorp can tap into the university's intern program. "Outstanding interns become permanent employees," says Stephen Kay, CFO/COO. "People like to stay in Chico. We probably have one of the lowest churn (turnover) rates in R&D of any company in the industry."
Butte Community College offers a variety of continuing education and customized training programs to meet local business needs. The Private Industry Council recently joined efforts with the college to launch a Business Services Academy, specializing in teleservice training, office skills and customer service. Butte County also provides companies with labor statistic & research information, employee recruiting and screening assistance, and hiring incentives.
"We have an excellent staff," says Judy Sitton, executive vice president of SUNGARD Bi-Tech, developer and manufacturer of fund accounting software. "Most of our staff obtained their core backgrounds at the university, and about 85 percent of our officer base graduated from Chico State."
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Transportation
State Highway 99 provides north/south access through the county, while Highway 70 offers access south to Sacramento and east to Reno. Highways 149, 32 and 162 provide efficient east/west connector routes. Daily commuter flights and charter airlines shuttle passengers to major metropolitan areas, while overnight couriers offer immediate worldwide transport of merchandise.
Power
Butte County offers businesses options when purchasing power. Pacific Gas and Electric has traditionally supplied power to Butte County, however, businesses may opt to purchase power from competitive suppliers. Companies can be assured the county's power infrastructure will provide safe and reliable delivery, regardless of the power source.
Telecommunications
Butte County's state-of-the-art communication systems provide businesses with high-quality voice and data transmissions. Companies requiring digital switching, fiber optics, ISDN and Centrex will find many commercial areas ready to connect.
There are several Points of Presence to choose from, including: AT&T, MCI, Sprint, LCI, Quest, Frontier and WorldCom, to name a few. High-speed data access is easy as well with T1, DS3, ADSL, and ISDN lines. Fiber optics is in place in several business parks and can be installed upon request. Companies will find easy access to digital switching centers in every community of Butte County.
Real Estate
With a generous supply of properly zoned land and available buildings, Butte County can quickly accommodate any business. Average lease rates for Back Office range from $0.65 to $0.85 per square foot.
"The cost of doing business is considerably lower than metropolitan areas, and there's plenty of available commercial space," says Claire Ragle, Blue Shield of California.
Pro-Business Attitude
When it comes to promoting commerce, Butte County can't be beat. In addition to a long list of incentive programs, government agencies work closely with businesses to make things happen.
According to Stephen Kay, CFO/COO of Landacorp, "The much higher access to government officials in Butte County has definitely helped us with our expansion."
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