The city’s economic czar announced this week that he will leave
next month for a comparable job in Tuolumne County.
The city’s economic czar announced this week that he will leave next month for a comparable job in Tuolumne County.
Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Larry Cope has been with Gilroy since July 2005, and the corporation’s seven-member board of directors will host a partner luncheon March 23 to discuss the matter further, according to Jane Howard, director of the Gilroy Visitor’s Bureau.
“I’ve always loved the Yosemite area,” Cope said. “It’s just a personal preference. I have no issues here.”
The job Cope will take in Tuolumne County, which has a population of about 54,000 – comparable to that of Gilroy – is a new position resulting from a recent Joint Powers Agreement. Cope’s last day will be April 5, a day before he starts in Tuolumne County. While the Gilroy EDC has slashed 20 percent of its $100,000 budget this year thanks to cuts at City Hall, officials remain confident Cope’s replacement will continue his four-year legacy, particularly the inroads built with Solena Group – an East Coast bio-energy company blazing the way in aviation technology that last year announced plans to build the world’s first commercial-scale, renewable jet fuel production plant using biomass and trash in Gilroy.
Beyond that, Cope – who flew to Washington, D.C., Thursday to spend the next week meeting with Solena representatives and federal officials striving to channel President Obama’s stimulus dollars to Gilroy – has enlivened Gilroy’s Web presence by partnering the EDC’s Web site with the Chamber of Commerce’s and the Gilroy’s Visitor’s Bureau’s sites, something he sees helping Gilroy through the future.
“I see the future being great for Gilroy,” Cope said. “It’s in a great location that continues to grow – and there’s opportunities to combine the technology from Silicon Valley with Gilroy’s agricultural nature.”
As for cultivating the downtown – a longtime passion of Mayor Al Pinheiro and other council members – Cope described that as a “long-term process no matter what town you’re in.”
Mayor Pinheiro acknowledged that Cope taking care of his family is also a long-term process – one that “he needs to protect,” though “he’s going to be missed.”
Cope came on board in July 2005 after exhaustive interviews by the EDC board and relevant businesses groups that will occur again for his successor. Cope replaced Bill Lindsteadt, who died in 2005 after nine years as the city’s first economic development director. That was a tough act to follow given Gilroy’s retail-based boom years, but Cope carved out his own niche during his time, officials said.
“Larry (Cope) certainly took that lead and brought it to the next level,” Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Susan Valenta said. “He added a new dynamic to that position technologically. He brought tremendous enthusiasm and he’s extremely bright and articulate.”
Valenta added that Cope’s successor should have a strong network of regional and federal resources and she said she will always miss her congenial colleague across the street at 7471 Monterey St., where both the EDC and Chamber have offices.
“When you’re next door to somebody for that period of time, you certainly feel a sense of loss,” Valenta said.
The EDC’s board, led by South Valley National Bank Vice President Kurt Michielssen and also directed by Pinheiro and Councilman Bob Dillon, will meet April 10 to discuss the body’s future.
“We’re evaluating where we are, but we have no time frame,” Michielssen said. “We want to do this right.”
