For businesses located in or around the CA Salinas Valley Enterprise Zone, you have a champion in Andrew Myrick, Enterprise Zone Manager. In this Soapbox piece, published online today in The Californian, Mr. Myrick defends the enterprise zone against legislators who have been proposing changes to the program statewide.

While some modifications to the program are inevitable, legislators need to do all they can to preserve the Enterprise Zone program to encourage businesses to plant their roots in the state, increase job growth and get Californians back to work.

Here in the Salinas Valley, all of our communities struggle with unemployment, and we need to work to attract new businesses to the area while helping existing businesses stay in business or expand their operations.

Legislators have been debating changes to the state’s enterprise zone program for years. Amidst all the discussion of possible curtailments, most legislators, a host of local officials whose constituents are directly affected by the enterprise zones, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger himself have supported the program.
Even during the political firestorms of the past few years, the program has continued to expand. There are currently 42 active enterprise zones scattered throughout California.