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The City could also consider studying whether there are opportunities to target other <br />sectors that are becoming increasingly important in the region. but which have not kept <br />pace in San Leandro. There may be actions that the City could take to increase its share of <br />employment in some of these sectors. including: engineering and management services. <br />furniture and home furnishings stores. business services. wholesale trade -durable goods. <br />special trade contractors. food stores. miscellaneous repair services. and chemicals and <br />allied products. While these types of businesses did not perform as well locally, the City <br />should examine at least some of these sectors in more detail to determine if there are steps <br />that the City could take to address what may be a lost opportunity for business attraction in <br />growing regional sectors. In particular. the City should consider targeting two of these <br />sectors for study as potential attraction candidates. Furniture and home furnishings stores <br />and wholesale trade -durable goods are two sectors that were growing in the region. and <br />appear to fit well with San Leandro's location attributes. Given San Leandro's strength in <br />many other comparison shopping categories of retail goods, it is surprising that the Cite <br />showed such a large negative differential shift in furniture and home furnishings stores. <br />Also. with very strong growth in trucking and warehousing. which is an important support <br />service for wholesale trade. it is unfortunate that the City did not capture greater <br />proportions of the increase in durable goods wholesale trade. <br />The preceding discussion of sectors that could be targeted for additional study as potential <br />business attraction candidates was based entirely on the historic trends in the various <br />sectors. considering only changes in employment. As discussed in the business retention <br />and expansion section. the City's business retention. expansion. and attraction efforts will <br />ideally be augmented with additional study of the local prospects for individual industries. <br />generating a depth of knowledge that surpasses what can be inferred from historic <br />employment data. Particularly regarding business attraction. the Citv needs to consider <br />whether there are emerging business sectors that have not historically been important in <br />San Leandro. but may potentially present opportunities for economic development in the <br />future. Given the constantly evolving nature of the global economy. maintaining a <br />sustainable economy will require that the City be alert to opportunities to attract new types <br />of industries while recognizing that some existing industries may decline oriiie supplanted <br />altogether. <br />It is recommended at this time that the Cite initially direct its attraction efforts towards <br />businesses that would fit with the general criteria discussed above (already located in the <br />region. particularly northern Alameda County.- small to mid -sized: cost -sensitive users <br />seeking a location that is central to the region). Then. as discussed below in Action 1.16. <br />the City should conduct additional study to identify those specific sectors that are expected <br />to exhibit strong growth in the future and which have locational criteria that fit well with <br />what San Leandro has to offer. As part of this process. the City will learn about how to <br />enhance its competitive position to attract those types of businesses. <br />31 <br />23; <br />