Business View Magazine | August 2020

211 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 shovel-ready projects. We need to matchmake between those two.” Key to making a lasting match is aligning an investor’s plans with each particular Opportunity Zone’s needs, suitabilities, and advantages. For example, in Fresno’s Transit-Oriented Development Corridor Zone, the most suitable projects include: large retail, multi-family housing, mixed-use development, entertainment, medical research & clinical treatment, and small business. The Transform Fresno Hub is most suitable for commercial offices, multi-family housing, medical research, hospitality, food service, grocery and retail food, entertainment, and aviation. The Industrial Zone is best suited for fulfillment & logistics, transportation & warehousing, manufacturing, food processing, and renewable energy projects, and the East Fresno and West Fresno County Zones both favor food processing, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and resource conservation. “The Fresno economy is more forward-looking than people may be imagining is happening here,” Whitmer notes. “And it aligns well with the industry that is already in place and reflects the energy and progressiveness that is already active here.” Some of that progressive development activity has already taken place in Fresno. For example, Bitwise is a nascent tech company that offers technological education, collaboration, and local services to Fresno’s growing tech savvy community and businesses. “They’ve grown from 5,000 square feet to 250,000 square feet, downtown, in a combination of about four different buildings,” says Perez. “Recently, they partnered with Google to get additional funding and so they’re spreading their wings out to the valley - to the Bakersfield and Merced areas, as well. So, they’re really growing.” Another local success story concerns Universal Meditech, a company that makes in-vitro diagnostic medical devices found in both FRESNO, CAL I FORNI A Strategy & Operations Expert, Clair Whitmer