In June 2021, Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group (ITV) released the Innovation Tri-Valley 2040 Vision Plan in partnership with the Bay Area Council Economic Institute. The report was a framework for the future. Its suggested priorities and initiatives over the upcoming 20 years were meant to expand and accelerate economic growth in the Tri-Valley while also ensuring the region maintained its high quality of life. Four years later, the report appears to be functioning as a useful and flexible framework for the future.

"Vision 2040 was a community driven effort created with input from over a thousand stakeholders across the Tri-Valley," says ITV CEO Katie Marcel. "It is owned by the region, not by any organization. It's really a guide for our regional leadership. As a playbook, it is also a destination with multiple ways of getting there. The document has been in existence for almost five years. It was designed to be fluid and responsive. It has been critical in influencing housing development because it's a living document that leaders can point to. It has been a critical piece in advocating on a local, state, and federal level for Valley Link, which is our transportation solution that has been proposed to connect the central valley to the Dublin/Pleasanton Bart station."

How it Began

The Tri-Valley region should be a place known for five qualities: globally recognized innovation, equity and inclusion, connections and collaboration, a balanced and diverse lifestyle, and being an epicenter of solutions, according to the report. The five priorities overlap. Globally recognized innovation refers to local breakthroughs in approaches to business, transportation, new homes, and education while equity and inclusion encompass everything from affordable housing to transportation to education to healthcare. Connections and collaboration are defined as partnerships that integrate private and public sectors at scale, while a balanced and diverse lifestyle is described as a diverse mix of suburban living with vibrant downtown areas. Becoming an epicenter of solutions refers to the idea of the Tri-Valley developing its own resilience and sustainability rather than waiting for or relying on outsiders to shape the region's future.

The report also makes 24 recommendations grouped under the five themes of world-class talent, critical connections, vibrant placemaking, opportunity for all, and green economy. "Many of the recommendations have overlapping aspects, and there are synergies across different topic areas," notes the report. "For example, housing policies and transportation investments are inextricably linked, and there are aspects of education policy that also tie into the innovation community."

Since the publication of the Innovation Tri-Valley 2040 Vision Plan, the region has reached $49 billion in gross domestic product, Marcel points out. Some significant housing developments have been approved since the adoption of the plan, which advocated for increased planning across the Tri-Valley municipalities. Moreover, elected officials, business groups, and nonprofits are increasingly working together as they tackle ways to strengthen the region economically while preserving and improving the qualities that make Tri-Valley communities so appealing.

"Our strength as a region has really evolved in the last several years," says Marcel. "A few weeks ago, all five of our mayors were in Washington, DC together advocating for the region, and we feel that Vision 2040 has really supported that collaboration."

Foundation for Progress

Debra Lam is the Founding Director of the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation, Enterprise Innovation Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology. According to Lam, "our analysis and research show an emerging trend with local governments engaged in private-sector collaborations – what we have come to describe as ‘community-centered, public-private partnerships,' or CP3s. Unlike traditional public-private partnerships, CP3s aren't just about financial investments; they leverage relationships and trust. And they're about more than just building infrastructure; they're about building resilient and inclusive communities."

Building a resilient and inclusive region with a strong economic foundation is exactly the future outlined by Vision 2040. Its suggested goals are appealing to many in the area. "Its attractiveness to young leadership today is what surprises me the most," according to Marcel. "This particular document really sparks interest in them. While it's an economic development strategy, it is very thoughtful about quality of life and growth at a manageable level. And that is very attractive to the next generation of leaders. That includes leaders of corporations and companies in the region. Some of the younger leadership really gravitates towards the idea of a strategy that is pro-growth and yet very thoughtful about quality of life and inclusiveness and opportunity for all. We understand that affordable housing and a diversity of housing is the greatest economic development challenge to our country. As a region, we feel that we have the ability to solve for some of that."

At the heart of the plan's goals and recommendations is the understanding that progress depends on groups working together for the common good. Four years later, that principle remains important. "Another surprising element of the plan is that the success of it is deeply rooted in the strengths of partnerships," says Marcel. "Accomplishing these goals is only possible through deep partnerships with the municipalities, with companies, and with other organizations. The i-Gate organization is one example. Several successful companies have been incubated out of i-Gate's Daybreak Labs, its incubation lab space. We are also very proud of our partnership with Three Valleys Community Foundation." 

ITV also leans heavily on its partnership with Las Positas College, she notes. "Through that partnership, we have become a part of an initiative called the Bay Area K-16 Collaborative, which is a Bay Area wide workforce development initiative. We have been focusing on the healthcare systems in our region and solving workforce development needs in that sector. We also partner deeply with economic development departments. Municipal economic development directors are regularly a part of Innovation Tri Valley's committee meetings. Together we look at the current needs of the business community, where current challenges are, what is in the pipeline, what is on the horizon, and what companies are looking at coming into the region."

In November 2024, a Green Economy Collaborative event on Decarbonizing Our Economy was held with speakers from the Livermore Lab Foundation, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, StartUp Tri-Valley, Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group, and the Chabot Las Positas Community College District. The discussion focused on how the Tri-Valley might become a leader in the clean energy transition and the technology and workforce solutions necessary for a more sustainable future. To create and drive such a transformative initiative has many ramifications. 

It "means policy, it means private investment,  and that also includes a big workforce development component," Marcel says. "What do these jobs look like? How can we be responsive regionally in our high schools and in our community colleges, and eventually with CSU and UC systems to offer training for these jobs? Advocating for Valley Link, a transportation solution for the region, is still very much a priority. Also advocating for innovative housing solutions, kind of showcasing the Tri-Valley as a prototype for forward thinking urban design. Those are the next steps for us. Also really branding our region from a healthcare standpoint. What does building a healthy community look like? And utilizing that holistic approach to community planning as the brand for our region, from our incredibly successful, award-winning public schools all the way up to the global impact of our national research lab contributions."

Marcel, who grew up in North Dakota, has lived in the Tri-Valley for 25 years. She has worked at ITV for nearly three years and became CEO about 18 months ago. It was a job she gladly accepted. "I absolutely love this region," Marcel says. "I think we have something incredibly special. We have the world's fastest supercomputer, El Capitan, in our region. For the most part, we still send our kids to public school. Usually, there are zero degrees of separation between people, even as we grow and diversify. There's a real open door ethos here. It is kind of like, ‘we've got something really great going here. Come on in.' I love how the region works together as a whole. Each municipality is a critical piece of the puzzle, and I love our elected leadership here. We've had really empathetic and yet economically savvy elected leadership. I love that most of our regional initiatives and their resulting impact are driven by people who not only are leading their companies, but also live here and really and truly believe in this quality of life, in this kind of culture, and in the value of innovation."

For more information about Innovation Tri-Valley Leadership Group, please visit innovationtrivalley.org.

To download a copy of the 2040 Vision Plan, please visit innovationtrivalley.org/about-itv/reports-overview.

For more information about I-Gate and Daybreak Labs, please visit www.igateihub.org.

For more information about Three Valleys Community Foundation, please visit 3vcf.org.

For more information about the Bay Area K-16 Collaboration, please visit www.bayareak16.org.

For more information about Bay Area Council Economic Institute, please visit http://www.bayareaeconomy.org.