January: City Update

Chamber Business Update– January 2025

The revitalization of the Sequoia Mall continues, and Visalia is poised to welcome even more new businesses to town throughout the City. Exciting times like these, and a new year underway, often bring inquiries about the City's role in bringing in new retailers and industry.

Most concisely put, Visalia attracts business through a business-friendly climate, sound planning principles and practices, and thoughtful and appropriate land use policies. 

The City organization does not build or operate private business and does not decide who comes to Visalia. Decisions are made by property owners, developers, and business owners. The City creates an environment in which good business can operate with the least interference, but with appropriate controls. The key piece is the difference between a primary and secondary job in economic development terms, and how they are interrelated. 

A primary job is one that produces goods or services for customers that are predominantly found outside the local community. This imports new wealth into the local economy. Once an employer is paid for those products or services, they redistribute that new wealth into the community through wages and suppliers, which translates into local expenditures including consumer spending and housing.

Secondary jobs are those that serve the local community itself, such as automotive services, retail, dining, and entertainment jobs. Therefore, the goods and services produced are enough to serve a portion, or all, of the local community. However, because Visalia is a regional shopping and services hub, we benefit from a secondary jobs sector that truly serves a larger regional community and in certain cases acts as a primary job sector.

The common saying is that retail follows rooftops. As such, efforts prioritize attracting new and expanding existing primary jobs with the aim of growth. From business-friendly processes to partnerships, there is much more that goes into the work. For more details, visit visalia.city/ecodev or visaliaedc.com.

For more information, visit visalia.city or visit them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn @CityofVisalia.