The Central Valley faces a series of economic and social challenges that are likely to increase, according to a study released Friday.

Issued by The Great Valley Center, a public policy think tank in Modesto, the 44-page report titled "The State of the Great Central Valley" is an update of a similar 2005 assessment of factors like population growth, income, housing, agriculture, transportation and government spending.

The indicators didn't look good then, and the nation's economic woes aren't helping now.

The reported noted that the population has increased faster than in other parts of California even as job growth has lagged and housing growth has fallen through the floor. The report noted a 400 percent drop in residential building from 2005 to 2008.

Per capita income in 2007 was 29 percent lower than the state average.

Unemployment, foreclosure rates and several other indicators are worse than in the rest of the state and the nation as a whole, according to the report.

That's put greater pressure on local government and other agencies to care for the poor. Nonprofit organizations like churches face increased pressure as fiscal problems continue in Sacramento.

But nonprofit groups have seen many of their revenue sources dry up -- witness the trouble at Hand-in-Hand Family Resource Center, a key provider to the poor and disadvantaged of south Hanford that is hanging by a financial thread.

Nonprofit organizations remain a key partner with government in addressing the needs of low-income people, the report stated.

"There is no way that nonprofits or those kind of organizations have ever been able to handle the social problems of the poor, much less in the poorest congressional district in the U.S.," said Tony Oliveira, a Kings County supervisor and farmer.

But local government resources are getting scarcer as agriculture fights water shortages, the dairy industry struggles and high unemployment keeps manufacturing and retail spending down.

More federal spending and stimulus dollars need to be directed to the underserved Central Valley, the report stated.

The report noted that agriculture remains the backbone of the Central Valley economy. As lead author Amy Moffat put it, "If the Central Valley itself were considered a state, its agricultural value would still rank as the No. 1 state in the country."

But Moffat also noted that if the Valley were a state, it would "rank 48th in the nation in per capita income."

Agricultural jobs tend to be lower paying than construction and manufacturing positions, but they are also better insulated from wild boom and bust cycles, according to the report.

Moffat pointed to the rapid growth and equally rapid decline in housing and construction.

"Ag is not going to tank like these other kinds of sectors," she said.

Agriculture must be supported as a regional economic base, but the area needs a balance of other industries and a better educated and more skilled workforce, the report stated.

Local leaders pointed to water shortages as perhaps the biggest problem Kings County faces, since nearly 20 percent of the county's jobs are in agriculture.

"Our recovery is based on time, but more than that, if we have a super wet year, I think people will be surprised how quickly we recover," Oliveira said.

"The water situation has to be taken care of ... We do rely so much on agriculture," said Larry Spikes, Kings County administrative officer.

Spikes said he thinks county leaders have done a good job of working to bring in non-agricultural industries to diversify the local economy. He used Adventist Health as an example. The nonprofit health care provider is one of the county's largest private employers and is building a new hospital in Hanford.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2432.  

(Oct. 24, 2009)