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The integration of strategies for business development, built environment, workforce attraction, and economic health will allow the city to maintain and strengthen its economic competitiveness over the five years and beyond. In addition, in recognizing that the city's economic development activities have always required robust partnerships, the Plan also emphasizes the need for deepening existing collaborations with the local businesses, property owners, educational institutions, workforce development agencies, regional agencies, and other stakeholders, in order for effective implementation. BACKGROUND REPORT FINDINGS The findings of the Background Report are organized into three main topics: business development and communication, built environment and workforce, and economic health and resilience. Business Development and Communication This describes advantages and disadvantages related to the analysis of the city's historical job growth by industry,trends in business creation and expansion, and venture capital investment. The city has a strong and rapidly growing job base. Pleasanton is a highly-competitive employment center, with long term growth outpacing the Tri-Valley and East Bay. Pleasanton's total employment grew 63% between 1995 and 2009, outpacing the Tri-Valley (53%) and surpassing the East Bay's growth (20%). Despite a rapid drop in employment during the recent economic downtown for Hacienda — the largest concentration of employment in Pleasanton and a bellwether for the city's economy — indicators show a rapid recovery began in 2012. Pleasanton's economy is characterized by heavy concentration in high-technology sectors that draw highly-educated workers. The city's economic base is driven by Information, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, and Manufacturing —which include the sub-industries of software, information technology, medical technology, and life sciences. The businesses within Pleasanton's Information, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, and Manufacturing sectors are inter-related and indicate Pleasanton's increasing specialization in innovation and knowledge-based industries — i.e., an economy with growth driven by industry sectors focused on the creation and production of breakthrough technologies and processes. These sectors are experiencing increasing amounts of entrepreneurial activity and venture capital investments. Pleasanton led the East Bay region in venture capital attraction in 2011, garnering 28 percent of the sub-region venture capital investments. The city has a high jobs-housing balance, and firms rely heavily on in-commuters from outside of the city. The city has about two jobs to every employed residents, a far higher ratio than other Bay Area cities. This jobs-housing imbalance means that most of Pleasanton's workers commute from outside of the city and Tri-Valley region. Over time, as employment in the Tri-Valley continues to grow, it will be important to consider expanding Pleasanton's capacity to grow housing near jobs. Furthermore, it will also be critical to ensure that commuters can continue to access jobs in Pleasanton by a variety of modes including highways, transit, walking, and biking. Pleasanton's dependency on labor from outside the city and Tri-Valley poses a potential long-term competitive challenge as economic growth becomes increasingly constrained due to long commutes and increasing local housing costs, thus reducing labor access. Pleasanton offers strong business networks that have allowed firms of all sizes to thrive. Pleasanton's largest employers, such as EMC, Oracle, Safeway, Roche Molecular Systems, Thoratec and Workday reflect the city's major industry sectors and are economic anchors that attract talented employees and additional business activity through the growth of the supply chain network and the Pleasanton Economic Strategic Plan DRAFT -6-