News and Events

Panel of Leading Economic Experts Offer Insight, Data and Forecasts

At a “standing-room only” Real Estate Symposium entitled:  “The Inland Empire:  Commercial Development and Economic Realism,” four prominent economic experts offered insight on the region’s history, growth and economic future to an audience that included real estate professionals, alumni from all the Claremont colleges, administrators of the consortium and the press.

Ira Jackson, Dean of the Drucker School, moderated the February 1^st event which was co-hosted by The Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management, The Claremont Alumni Network (CAN) and The Drucker Institute.

Reporting on key distinctions that define the Inland Empire’s importance, speakers traced the history of San Bernardino County and cited growth in commercial developments, housing, jobs and positioning in international trade as vital links to the region’s rapidly growing stature.

Speaking first was panelist John D. Stiles, long-time real estate brokerage firm owner with an expertise in the Coachella and Palm Springs Valley areas.  He traced the history and development of the region, reporting  on its rapid growth from  agriculture to large-scale commercial developments.   “The evolution (of the region) into the 1990’s was that all of a sudden we started to build buildings,” he said.  “And people were taking them as fast as they could be built.” Stiles believes that the next growth surge will be increased office building projects as businesses in Orange County and Los Angeles seek an established labor force and lower rental rates.  “As you stand back and look at the Inland Empire, you will continue to see growth and you will continue to see opportunity,” he said. 

The second speaker was Dr. John Husing, president of Economics and Politics, Inc., who is also an economist with expertise in the region.  Husing  provided data that offered insight on forces driving the region’s growth.  Speaking on the employment market, he reported that for the past 16 years, nearly half of all jobs created in southern California were in the Inland Empire.  He said from 2000 to 2020, an expected 800,000 more jobs will be created—double what is expected to occur in Los Angeles County. Tracking the region’s unemployment rate, he reported that unemployment in the area has never been as low as it is today. Husing presented his view of the region’s projected prosperity growth in three stages, with the first stage being the actual building of homes and influx of population resulting from affordable housing; the second stage as an increase in the building of industrial infrastructure which brings in additional blue-collar jobs unrelated to the housing boon; and the third stage, which he describes as “the final maturing of the economy,” as the influx of higher skilled labor and expensive housing.  He said that skill and housing drive the high end of the economy. 

Third panelist, James Flanigan, business columnist for the New York Times, LA Times and other business publications, offered his perspective on the economic success of southern California--referring to the area as “an economy of technology and ideas.”  He discussed the entrepreneurial spirit of the region, citing as examples the invention of the refrigerated rail car and naval orange—both products of Riverside.  In speaking about the region’s innovation and brain power, he pointed to the creativity of Walt Disney, Ruth Handler of Mattel, those in the film industry and inventors at Cal Tech.  “I’ve concluded that the real industry of southern California is innovation and brain power.”  The economy of this region is the product of imagination,” he said.

The last speaker was Brain McGowan, Economic Development Agency Administrator for the County of San Bernardino, who spoke on the impact of international trade and globalization.  He said that his Agency is creating a common union for each County Department with a creed to, “believe in, act like and talk like a global organization.”  He stressed the need for local governments to pursue “tactical and strategic” economic programs.  Speaking on the unique advantages of the area, he reported that San Bernardino County is doing $16-billion in international trade business and that international trade supports 45,000 jobs in the region. He discussed the importance and responsibility of municipal governments to maintain and increase the value of property through services—making a comparison to a private company and its shareholders.  He said property owners are shareholders as well.

Underscoring the timeliness of the symposium, Dean Jackson said, “Our location here in Claremont, at the edge of the Inland Empire, gives us a great window into one of the most dynamic and least understood regions in the country.  With a population the size of Oregon’s and a growth rate comparable to Phoenix, the Inland Empire is an increasingly important political, cultural, and economic reality.” 

Additional data by panelists revealed that by 2020, 2-million people are expected be added to the region—compared with only six states that are projected to add more, and that the area’s employment growth in the past 16 years of 1,200,000 jobs is 200,000 more than San Diego or Orange County.