Tracy: Shaping the Next Frontier for Smart Logistics and Innovative Automation

Tracy already has the location and scale that attracts new businesses to the region.

Now the community is investing in the amenities, infrastructure and economic diversity that makes companies want to locate here… and people want to build their lives here.

As the second largest city in San Joaquin County, the City of Tracy is actively positioning itself as the next frontier in smart logistics, advanced manufacturing, and innovative automation.

From downtown revitalization and entrepreneurship programs to a more diversified economy with global reach, we’re presenting the city as an ideal location to build a business, but also, as a fantastic place to build a life. 

Choosing Diversification Over Widespread Development

Our strategic plan has acknowledged community concern about becoming overly dependent on “warehouse development” and calls for differentiating lower-value warehouse uses from higher-value advanced manufacturing in our zoning and attraction efforts.

That’s why our current economic development strategy specifically targets advanced manufacturing, technology, smart logistics, innovative automation, health care education, professional services, and retail to create more opportunities in support of our 100,000 residents. 

Creating an Industrial Ecosystem With Global Reach

On any given day, you’ll find us actively working with community stakeholders to help shape a more sophisticated story for Tracy’s next chapter of growth, including an emphasis on industry diversification with a global reach.

This includes the recent announcement that Tesla received approval to add a 25-acre facility on Arbor Avenue, plugging the city into a worldwide supply chain and signaling the kind of sophisticated industrial activity taking root within our county limits.

That’s important.

It creates another compelling reason for more suppliers and service providers to consider locating to Tracy, supporting an already robust industrial ecosystem with the presence of industry leaders such as Thermo Fisher Scientific, Medline, GlassFab Manufacturing, and Contract Metal Products. 

Building a Workforce Infrastructure That Supports Advanced Manufacturing 

And with more and more advanced manufacturing and technology companies locating to Tracy, the City has taken an active role in facilitating a partnership with VOLT Institute to provide free, hands-on training to professionals and students in the areas of PLC’s, automation, and industrial technology.

By preparing and upskilling workers for industrial, technical, and logistical jobs, the partnership between VOLT-on-the-Go and the City of Tracy will strengthen the technical workforce in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, making the area even more attractive for an industry that’s driving the California economy.

It also piques the interest of a new generation of skilled workers who want good paying jobs and upward mobility, but aren’t necessarily interested in pursuing a traditional, four year degree or taking on significant student loan debt.

When area students graduate from high school or a trade school like VOLT and begin working for a manufacturing company in Tracy, within a few years they’re often making more money per paycheck than the average household in the United States. 

Growing the Next Generation of Businesses

We also know that today’s entrepreneurs are tomorrow’s job creators.

So instead of just trying to recruit someone else’s jobs, we’re also trying to grow some of our own.

By putting the infrastructure in place to support entrepreneurship, we can help foster the growth of the next generation of locally owned businesses in our city.
An example of this are the pitch events created by Open Innovation Centers in partnership with Amazon Web Services, Cloud Kinetics, the SBDC and the California Innovation Hub.

These special events, held in Tracy, are aimed at people with ideas that aren't even fully formed yet as well as businesses with less than two years of operating history.

Through March 2027, ten selected entrepreneurs will get a shot at presenting their idea to a panel of business and tech partners. Each of the top five participants receive $500 each to help turn their ideas into reality. 

But that’s not all. Participants of the Pitch Events also receive: 

• Business guidance
• Connections to business and technology resources
• Opportunities to develop their ideas
• Exposure to potential partnersPotential proof-of-concept funding

Interested? To learn more or to register for an upcoming event, visit www.openinnovationcenters.com.

Creating a Downtown That’s Part of the Economic Development Strategy 

But Tracy’s next chapter doesn’t focus solely on facilitating the development of huge industrial projects on the edge of town. We’re also prioritizing a reinvestment in our historic, downtown corridor.

We want to make Tracy a place where people want to spend time and money.

By viewing downtown as an economic asset, not just a place to spruce up, we’re better positioned to optimize the use of vacant properties and create an area that appeals for investment, new businesses, and increased economic activity.

Giving Tracy an economic center also gives our residents a place to gather, dine, shop, work, and experience our vibrant, local culture.

By building the commercial places that a growing city like ours needs, we can offer a lively downtown area to companies who are increasingly asking, “Where would my employees want to live?”

We’re Not Waiting to See What Comes Next… We’re Building It 

As the City of Tracy continues to leverage our strategic location, invest in infrastructure and workforce, strengthen our downtown, and support entrepreneurs while also creating new opportunities for businesses across a broader range of industries, we’re no longer defined solely by growth.

It’s more about what we’re doing with that growth.

Are you a business looking toward your next opportunity? Tracy is a community worth watching.

Let’s start the conversation.