Collaborative Effort between the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Cindy Chavez leads to re-opening of manufacturing in Santa Clara County

San Jose, CA, June 1, 2020 — Today, following weeks of collaboration and dozens of conversations between the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Board of Supervisors President Cindy Chavez, and numerous manufacturers in the region, Santa Clara County announced the re-opening of manufacturing operations in Santa Clara County.

“The Leadership Group has been honored to work with Board President Chavez on this critical effort, and to secure an important win for workers, employers, the Silicon Valley economy and the broader community” said Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino.

Manufacturing is a critical source of middle income jobs in a region where the middle class has been steadily hollowed out in recent years. Manufacturing accounted for 172,400 jobs in Santa Clara County as of April 2020, or more than 15% of all civilian jobs.

Some manufacturing operations have been classified as “essential” in previous orders, or have been allowed to resume operations under the County order last month which re-opened manufacturing that directly supports local retail. These operations have represented a small share of total manufacturing in the County, but the practices that have proven effective in their ongoing operations significantly influenced the development of the guidelines announced today.

As with past orders, the new orders prioritize the safety and well-being of employees, their families and the broader community. The order requires employers to develop a return-to-work strategy that gradually reintroduces personnel in the workplace, taking into account the safety and health of their employees, scientific/medical data, official guidance from the County and State, and business/economic needs.

The Leadership Group also provided critical support to the County in the development of other thoughtful recent orders enabling the re-opening of construction and solar installation operations in the County.

“The spirit of public private partnerships has never been more evident than during this COVID-19 pandemic,” said Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino. “Our innovation economy community, workers and families, are indebted to leaders like Board President Chavez, who are placing safety first, while never losing sight of the economic security of hard-working families.”

Health, safety and operations leaders from Silicon Valley Leadership Group member companies provided important expertise in the process. Companies lending their support to the guidelines include FUJIFILM Dimatix, Genentech, Infinera, Intuitive Surgical, Lumileds, Micron, SunPower, Super Micro, Transpak, Varian Medical Systems and Western Digital. Matthew Quevedo and Brian Brennan helped lead the effort on behalf of the Leadership Group.

Today’s orders are the latest accomplishment by the Leadership Group and its member companies, which have pivoted in the last ten weeks to respond to COVID-19 by bringing together public and private sectors in service of the community. The Leadership Group’s partnership with the Valley Medical Center Foundation led to more than $8.1M in cash donations and in-kind contributions of personal protective equipment for our region’s frontline healthcare providers.

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About Silicon Valley Leadership Group

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, founded in 1978 by David Packard of Hewlett-Packard, represents more than 340 of Silicon Valley’s most respected employers on issues that affect the economic health and quality of life in Silicon Valley. Learn more at svlg.org.

Contacts: Carl Guardino, CEO

cguardino@svlg.org

(408) 838-4848

Pam Kelly, Sr. MarCom Manager

pkelly@svlg.org

(408) 483-2410

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