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Manzana Products is among three companies closing locally 

A scheduled discussion of economic headwinds facing local business before the county board of supervisors took on more importance this week after word that three big local employers are closing or moving. 

Just in the last couple of weeks La Tortilla Factory, Manzana Products and Camelbak, three fairly large employers, all announced they are throwing in the towel locally.

Other than federal and state grants and referrals, county officials had few definitive suggestions for ways to shore up the three or other faltering businesses.

Aid can prove critical to commerce, but Supervisor David Rabbitt told colleagues that there are also limits to what the county can do.

"When these things do happen, whether it's the business cycle in general or if there's any pro-active things that the county can do. I think the county can do certain things, but the county cannot keep a business in business," Rabbitt said.

Supervisor Lynda Hopkins suggested local officials take a more pro-active approach to saving firms finding themselves in financial trouble.

"How creative can we get? yes, we have workforce training and helping people get new jobs but for Manzana this is potentially the nail in the coffin for an entire industry. This is a mainstay in western Sonoma County and my understanding is that it is the only apple processing plant of that sort of commercial scale and size between here and the Oregon border," Hopkins said.

Hopkins said a group is working on a plan to convert Manzana into a co-operative of some sort, and is preparing to meet next week.

She also drew attention to a Bodega Bay ice plant, that she said is in urgent need of upgrade. She said its failure would prove as disastrous to fishing and crabbing as Manzana's planned closure will be to apple growers.

Hopkins said she and her board colleagues must initiate reform.

"If there are any ways that we can assist in terms of streamlining bureaucracy, sort of reducing requirements for the kind of uses that we want to see, which is we want local food security, we want diversified agriculture. I hope we can incorporate that into our general plan update process," Hopkins said.

Supervisor James Gore agreed, but any re-evaluation of fees or permits costs likely won't come soon enough for companies in trouble now.

"We are seeing far too many industries, too many announcements. While we can't subsidize or do a micro-loan for everything, what we can do is consider what we are charging, what we are doing," Gore said.