Clovis Emerges as a Tech-based ‘Technopolis’
Published Jul 08, 2008
Clovis is redefining itself as a gateway to entrepreneurship.
Creating the city of the future is no small task, yet Clovis residents are embracing the challenge.
Organized for action as the Technopolis Clovis Core Committee, known as TC3, citizens are envisioning a progressive community economy – and then working to make it happen.
“ ‘Technopolis,’ by definition, is a city of knowledge. So we want a revenue-generating city of knowledge. We’re linking innovation and technology with entrepreneurship and business generation for quality of life in our community,” says City Manager Kathleen Millison, who works in tandem with the city’s community and economic development director, Mike Dozier.
Mayor Bob Whalen calls it democracy at work. “If there’s a democratization of research and development, and we think there is, then there also ought to be a democratization of economic development. The citizens should be included in the process of determining how it is that the local economy should grow,” he says.
That notion was the genesis of TC3, which aligned itself with the International Association of Science Parks, a network of communities worldwide with a common technopolis mission. In 2007, Clovis submitted four papers outlining its efforts; all were accepted, and the one on democratization was presented at the association’s world conference in Barcelona, Spain.
At a grassroots level, Clovis’ concept means the city “just needs to get out of the way” to let businesses thrive, Whalen adds. Two city-conducted surveys revealed that newcomers to Clovis, which is near Fresno and has doubled in population over 15 years, boast more skills than existing jobs require – a sure recipe for successful entrepreneurship. Thus, the city offers fast-track permitting processes, utility support and strong K-12 education.
As a success story, the mayor points to Pelco, a world leader in security-camera assembly, which has grown in Clovis from 100 employees to 2,500. In 2007, the business was sold to a France-based international conglomerate for $1.5 billion.
Now that’s a technopolis at work.
Story by Sharon H. Fitzgerald
Photo by Jeff Adkins
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