It turns out that what’s good for Silicon Valley is good for America.
Nearly 60 percent of companies responding to our recent survey expect to be growing their employee presence in Silicon Valley, but nearly the same percentage see growth in other regions of the U.S. And the destination regions are not what you think.
There are some of the usual suspects, to be sure. Southern California does well: Nearly a quarter of companies in our survey expect to grow their presence in the Southland. Denver/Boulder is also a strong player, particularly among the ~10 percent of respondents in this survey who expect to shrink their Silicon Valley footprint.
But more than half of respondents planning to expand outside of Silicon Valley are looking past Austin and Seattle and New York and Denver. And while we did not ask for specific place names in our survey (a mistake we’ll not make again), that’s likely good news for places like Detroit and Des Moines, Columbus and Columbia.
And, by the way, for Silicon Valley. More regions invested in the tech economy mean more Members of Congress meeting knowledge workers in their home districts – and, perhaps, a few more folks on the Hill testifying that what’s good for Silicon Valley really is good for America.
– Brian Brennan, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and State and Federal Coalitions, Silicon Valley Leadership Group | April 25, 2019
