Merced County is well-positioned to support the industry, being one hour from heart of Silicon Valley, Merced can provide test, development and production facilities that support nearby research operations. The automotive industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation and the role of a range of new technologies are reshaping the industry. The industry is being reshaped by new technologies in the areas of propulsion systems, autonomy, safety and infotainment and legacy OEMs, established tech suppliers and new-to-the-industry players are defining new product niches.

Commercial space systems is a relatively new industry sector. This sector has been dominated by the federal government and its spending since the 1960’s but with NASA retiring the shuttle fleet in 2011, the market was opened to the commercial sector to compete for the production of launch vehicles. While the US Government remains the largest customer, commercial space systems remain fully integrated with and a crucial element of the U.S. military power projection, but more companies are entering the space systems arena.

The food sector from food production through food service and retail remains one of the largest sectors of the economy and one that has continued to grow and create new jobs, but is in the midst of significant changes which are creating substantial new opportunities. Even though large companies control much of this industry, small companies can effectively compete by developing popular products. Merced County is consistently one of the top three counties in the state of California with the highest number of core agricultural manufacturing businesses and jobs. Merced County has a unique opportunity to leverage its agriculture resources, industrial capacity and location to catalyze the economic growth of an important value-added industry in California.

The Industrial Machinery sector is an umbrella that includes a wide range of large and important manufacturing sub-sectors that create end-products and typically employ multiple metal forming processes. Major markets served include agricultural, construction, energy, industrial, infrastructure, mining and transportation. Merced County is located in a rich sweet spot, being in-between Los Angeles and the Bay Area with easy access to key global logistics assets like the Port of Oakland and Los Angeles. The County offers very easy road and rail access to points north and south and onward into the US market, lower cost structure than metropolitan areas. Additionally, the county is a center point for a large commuting skilled labor shed and Merced’s leadership has established an extremely business-friendly environment, with easy permitting and low costs for investing businesses.

The US is the largest medical device market in the world with a market size of $155 billion and the medical supplies market is even larger at $350 billion. The US medical equipment and supplies manufacturing industry includes about 6,500 device companies and 11,000 establishments. Merced County is well-positioned to function as an extension of the Bay Area market as it is extremely close to South Bay and very proximate to the East Bay, allowing for easy operational efficiencies between Bay Area R&D and Merced production and distribution. Merced boasts the ability to support onsite cargo handling: world-class cargo airport infrastructure and access to both I-5 and CA99 for travel to the State’s large coastal markets in San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.

Merced County is strategically located in the center of California and well-connected to other important consumption and production markets and to important logistics hubs such as the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. With Interstate 5 and California Highway 99, the two prime North-South highway corridors running through Merced County, the county is directly connected to major markets in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego.

The U.S. specialty chemicals industry in the U.S. and California is thriving and growing and Merced County with its accessible location between Los Angeles and the Bay Area and its connectivity via rail and road to points north and south as well eastward into the U.S. market, position it well to serve its customer base. After a decade of lost competitiveness, the American chemistry industry is reemerging as a growth industry. There are growing end-use markets, strengthening employment numbers, surging exports, and an influx of tremendous capital investment. The chemical industry is one of the United States’ largest manufacturing industries, serving both a sizable domestic market and an expanding global market. It is also one of the top exporting sectors of U.S. manufacturing.