Civil Municipal Magazine - Dec 2023

156 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 12 opens the way for Pittsburg’s renewal. “While they’ve had extensive history here, we’re seeing a shift that presents a lot of great opportunities to reinvest in that area of town and retain it as an industrial center and employment hub,” he says. “What exactly it’s going to look like is not set in stone, but I’m very excited in seeing how the 21st century industrial jobs are going to form.” Currently, there are still some important industrial occupants in Pittsburg with the potential of others to come. “Right now, we have K2 Pure Solutions, which provides chlorine products to local businesses,” notes Davis. “We’re currently processing an application for a company called H Cycle to produce clean hydrogen fuel, which will also potentially support some of the bus fleets in the region.” Other local companies, which are important employers in Pittsburg, include Praxair Linde, which provides industrial gasses to a lot of businesses in the region; Bishop Wisecarver, which works with manufacturers to engineer, produce, and build custom complex assemblies, linear motion solutions, and optimal embedded intelligence systems; and Ramar Foods, the largest Filipino food manufacturer west of the Mississippi. Also in Pittsburg is Los Medanos Community College, which offers 35 associate degrees and 23 certificates of achievement to almost 9,000 students. Attracting new business Pittsburg has many attractive characteristics that both Carrera and Davis believe will help it attract other new industries and employers: it’s close to the major economic centers of the Bay area, it has two Class 1 railroads going right through it, it has land available for new housing, and it has a healthy reserve fund balance with over $6 million dedicated towards infrastructure projects and roadways. Regarding housing, Davis says that the city is on target to build 8,000 additional housing units over the next 20 years. “We have room to grow and we have great development partners,” he states. “We’re seeing that growth in housing,”