Partnership with national warehouse marketplace, Chunker, targets storage needs

SACRAMENTO – The Newsom Administration announced today that six California sites have been identified and leases have been signed to allow for the storage of shipping containers on state property to help alleviate congestion at California ports,

The effort is result of Executive Order N-19-21, which aims to  strengthen the resilience of California’s and the nation’s supply chains.

“California has taken swift action to keep goods moving at the state’s ports, leveraging our strategic partnerships to develop multifaceted solutions, including securing additional storage space for thousands of shipping containers,” said Governor Newsom. “These efforts are a vital investment to help meet the needs of not only Californians, but our entire nation, and we’ll continue advancing innovative solutions to address this global challenge.”

Chunker, the national warehouse marketplace, has leased the six sites from the state Department of General Services for one year, with an option for a second year. The sites include three armories (in Lancaster, Palmdale, and Stockton), a former prison site (Deuel Vocational Institute in Tracy), and two fairground sites (San Joaquin County and Antelope Valley Fairgrounds). Chunker will coordinate between California ports, shipping/trucking companies, and cargo owners to help move containers and free up needed space elsewhere.

“The unprecedented challenges we face to resolve supply chain issues require action, and today’s announcement is just one of the many ways the Administration is working to ease congestion to help keep goods moving,” said Yolanda Richardson, Secretary of California’s Government Operations Agency.

Department of General Services Director Ana M. Lasso said her department is continuing to build on partnerships to ease supply chain issues.

“California is on top of prioritizing the storage needs that have slowed distribution at ports on our coast,” she said.

Since the Governor signed Executive Order N-19-21 in October, notable actions have included:  

• A strategic partnership between the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation for up to $5 billion in loan financing to advance a comprehensive, statewide portfolio of freight, goods movement and supply chain resiliency projects.

• Issuing temporary permits allowing trucks to carry increased loads on state highway and interstate routes between the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and other statewide ports to expedite transport of international commerce between ports and distribution centers.

• Doubling the Department of Motor Vehicles’ capacity to conduct commercial driving tests to address the national shortage of workers in the industry.

• Securing a 22-acre pop-up site, in partnership with the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, located at the Port of Oakland to assist agricultural exporters in storing products and getting them onto containers. This site is expected to be operational on March 1.

“The on-going supply chain crisis requires an all hands-on-deck approach, as we work with our partners to meet the needs of California’s families and businesses,” said Dee Dee Myers, Director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. “By creating additional storage space for shipping containers, we can relieve some of the congestion at our ports, keep our imports and exports flowing and strengthen our economy.”

In addition, the Governor’s California Blueprint proposes $2.3 billion for supply chain investments next fiscal year, including $1.2 billion for port, freight, and goods movement infrastructure and $1.2 billion for other related areas such as workforce training and zero-emission vehicle equipment and infrastructure related to the supply chain.

This funding would improve supply chain resiliency and be used to leverage federal funding.

The state also worked with the Biden-Harris administration to implement a new 24/7 environment across the supply chain, to improve collaboration, and to explore policies to remove obstacles and improve the movement of goods.

“Container storage is a major component of the congestion at the ports as well as a part of the nationwide supply chain crisis,” said Brad Wright, CEO of Chunker.  “We are thrilled to partner with Governor Newsom and the state of California to create a solution that will have a major impact on the problem.  Having access to the state property will allow us to store 20,000 containers or more, which will free up a significant amount of space at the ports.”

About GO-Biz
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) serves as the State of California’s leader for job growth and economic development efforts. GO-Biz offers a range of services to business owners including: attraction, retention and expansion services, site selection, permit streamlining, clearing of regulatory hurdles, small business assistance, international trade development, assistance with state government, and much more. For more information visit the GO-Biz website.

Heather Purcell
Deputy Director of Communications
Email Heather, HERE

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Sacramento, CA – The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) is pleased to announce the awardees of the Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Consumer Awareness Grants.

The purpose of the grant program is to improve consumer awareness of ZEV technologies and their benefits and to increase access to ZEVs in priority communities by helping convert this awareness into decisions to drive or ride in ZEVs.

“The ZEV Consumer Awareness Grants will help California reach new audiences,” said the Governor’s Chief Economic and Business Advisor and Director of GO-Biz Dee Dee Myers. “These awardees will take two different approaches—one broad scale and one focused at the community-level—but both aimed at improving knowledge and providing tools for individuals to be able to switch to a ZEV in communities where these opportunities have been more limited.”

Valley Clean Air Now will receive $2.5 million to scale up community-based solutions that help low-income and minority community members learn about, purchase, and fuel zero-emission vehicles and connect to ZEV-related workforce opportunities. According to Executive Director Tom Knox, “The GO-Biz award creates an opportunity to directly address some of the barriers to zero-emission vehicle adoption in the communities where they are most needed. Our partners have developed a slate of innovative projects, and we expect to create quantifiable progress toward making zero-emission vehicles more accessible to low-income residents of priority communities, making EV charging more convenient for residents of all types of housing, and helping to create ‘green collar’ jobs for tomorrow’s transportation innovators.”

Veloz will receive $2.5 million to expand the Electric For All campaign, making key investments to raise zero-emission vehicle awareness in hard-to-reach communities through strategic partnerships and community outreach efforts that complement targeted, multilingual media messaging.

“We are thrilled to be a recipient of the GO-Biz ZEV Consumer Awareness Grant,” said Veloz Executive Director Josh D. Boone. “Our Electric For All public awareness campaigns are designed to bridge the gap between the perception and reality of driving ZEVs. Consumers are often surprised by how affordable and accessible ZEVs have become over the years and we’re excited to leverage this funding, alongside our community-focused partners, to reach our Electric For All goal.”

With $5 million in available funding, more than $23 million was requested with nearly $35 million in match funding proposed by applicants.

“The interest in this grant program demonstrates the untapped potential and rich opportunities that remain to advance ZEV consumer awareness in California,” the Governor’s Chief Economic and Business Advisor and Director of GO-Biz Dee Dee Myers said. “There is much to do to reach our 100% ZEV targets and we are proud of these projects we were able to fund to help get us there.”

About GO-Biz
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) serves as the State of California’s leader for job growth and economic development efforts. GO-Biz offers a range of services to business owners including: attraction, retention and expansion services, site selection, permit streamlining, clearing of regulatory hurdles, small business assistance, international trade development, assistance with state government, and much more. For more information visit the GO-Biz website.

Heather Purcell
Deputy Director of Communications
Email Heather, HERE

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Sacramento, CA – Today, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) announced $35 million in grant funding through the Cannabis Equity Grants Program for Local Jurisdictions.

The purpose of the program is to advance economic justice for populations and communities harmed by cannabis prohibition by providing support to local jurisdictions as they promote equity and eliminate barriers to entry in the regulated cannabis industry for their equity program applicants and licensees.  Jurisdictions will use this funding to develop their cannabis equity programs and assist their equity program applicants and licensees by providing low/no-interest loans or grants, reduced licensing fees or waived fees, and technical assistance, including one-on-one consulting and training, and navigation assistance with cannabis licensing and regulatory requirements.

Over $29.5 million of the funding, in the form of low/no-interest loans or grants, will be allocated to cannabis equity applicants and licensees specifically identified by local jurisdictions as being linked to populations or communities that were negatively or disproportionately impacted by cannabis criminalization.

“Cannabis Equity Grants will help level the playing field for those that have borne the brunt of past federal and state anti-drug policies while striving to make California’s Cannabis Industry more equitable and accessible to those individuals,” said the Governor’s Chief Economic and Business Advisor and Director of GO-Biz Dee Dee Myers. “These awards bring the state’s commitment to local equity programs to $90m since the program launched.”

Local Jurisdiction Funding for Cannabis Equity Applicants/Licensees

Local Jurisdiction Funding for Cannabis Equity Assessment/Program Development

To learn more about the program, click here.

About GO-Biz
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) serves as the State of California’s leader for job growth and economic development efforts. GO-Biz offers a range of services to business owners including: attraction, retention and expansion services, site selection, permit streamlining, clearing of regulatory hurdles, small business assistance, international trade development, assistance with state government, and much more. For more information visit the GO-Biz website.

Heather Purcell
Deputy Director of Communications
Email Heather, HERE

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Sacramento, CA – The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) today announced $150 million in tax credits that are projected to create more than 7,600 new, full-time jobs in California. The funding, from the California Competes (CalCompetes) Tax Credit program will bring more than $1.2 billion in new investments across the state over the next 5 years. CalCompetes plays a pivotal role in helping innovative startups to grow to scale and to choose California for their long-term home. 

“California Competes is an important program that attracts and retains employers, who in turn create good-paying jobs and economic opportunity for California workers.” said Dee Dee Myers, Senior Advisor to Governor Newsom and Director of GO-Biz. “These tax credits will incentivize the creation of thousands of new, quality full-time jobs and much-needed investment across our state.”

Infinity Energy Inc., of Fresno, received a $2.5 million credit to establish a manufacturing facility in Fresno for solar powered electric vehicle charging stations that will entail the creation of 209 new, full-time jobs. In exchange for a $25 million credit, EnerVenue, Inc. of Fremont, will be creating at least 1,692 full-time jobs to develop and manufacture super high-capacity nickel hydrogen batteries. These batteries could be used by large venues such as hospitals to keep electricity flowing during power outages. The batteries also can store large amounts of solar or wind-generate electricity to enable homes, businesses, and other venues to rely 100% on green, sustainable energy even when the sun isn’t shining, or the wind isn’t blowing.

“Companies like EnerVenue are the epitome of the California entrepreneurial spirt” said California Governor Gavin Newsom. “Starting as a Stanford University incubator, EnerVenue will play a pivotal role in helping California achieve its zero-carbon emission goals.”

VinFast, a Vietnamese EV manufacturer, received a $20,500,000 credit to establish its United States headquarters in California. It will make over $200 million in capital investments and create at least 1065 new full-time jobs.

“VinFast is planning to bring its all-electric SUVs to the US next year – and we wanted to make sure that it chose California for its US headquarters,” said CalCompetes Deputy Director, Scott Dosick. “The CalCompetes Tax Credit is one of California’s greatest tools for recruiting businesses to California when they are being actively courted by numerous states. We are proud that VinFast will call California home.”

“VinFast was established to bring affordable luxury electric vehicles to the U.S. market, and we are already building a world class corporate team in the US center of advanced transportation and smart technology,” said VinFast US CEO Van Anh Nguyen. “We greatly appreciate the support of the State of California as we prepare to launch a brand that will significantly increase EV adoption worldwide and help California and the U.S. meet important environmental goals.

The complete list of approved companies and award amounts is available online.

The California Competes Tax Credit was created in 2013 to focus on helping businesses grow and stay in California. GO-Biz evaluates the most competitive applications based on the factors required by statute, including total jobs created, total investment, average wage, economic impact, strategic importance and more. In 2018, the program was extended for an additional five years with at least $180 million in tax credits available for allocation to business each year through 2023.

About GO-Biz
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) serves as the State of California’s leader for job growth and economic development efforts. GO-Biz offers a range of services to business owners including: attraction, retention and expansion services, site selection, permit streamlining, clearing of regulatory hurdles, small business assistance, international trade development, assistance with state government, and much more. For more information visit the GO-Biz website.

Heather Purcell
Deputy Director of Communications
Email Heather, HERE

Explore more articles by category:  GO-Biz News  |  CalOSBA News  |  Press Releases  |  Opinion Editorials  |  Statements