-February 29,2020-

700k sf project gets Fresno County approval

Diversified Development Group (DDG) developer John Brelsford got unanimous approval earlier this month to rezone 42 acres of ag land in Malaga for industrial use by the Fresno County Board of Supervisors

On a 5 to 0 vote the board OKd the project the could mean about 700,000 square feet of new warehouse space ( 3 buildings) will be constructed on the land at at E Central Ave and S Willow about half mile outside  the city limits of Fresno. Supporters argued that site is surrounded by industrial uses and was once used for a junkyard. Brelsford has built many such projects in Fresno,Clovis and in Visalia.Fresno County EDC president Nick Audino, a realtor with Grubb and Ellis says demand is high for such projects in the Central Valley.Wearing his EDC hat Audino said ”We wish we had more of them” he told the supervisors.

Kingsburg call center may use old Kmart building

City of Kingsburg sources say the plan to open a T-Mobil call center in town later this year is focusing on the vacant Kmart building just off of Hwy 99. The building is owned by grocery owner Mufid “Mike” Alamsi of State Foods who is reportedly negotiating to lease the space.The center could employ 1000 based on a merger between T-Mobil and Sprint announced in 2018 and approved by a judge in recent days.Kingsburg Economic Coordinator Jolene Polyack says T-Mobil has made no decision on where in Kingsburg they will set up”but they do have options” including constructing a new building. She says the company has applied to the CPUC who must bless the plan before anything else happens. The CPUC could vote on the deal at its March 12 meeting according to reports

T-Mobile serves about 8.8 million customers in California, while Sprint has about 6.6 million in the state, according to the California Public Advocates Office.

Kings Co weighs sales tax measure

Last week a special meeting between Kings County and local cities discussed a possible sales tax referendum. A one half cent increase would mean local transportation funding would increase by $214 million over a 20 year period says KCAG executive director Terri King.

”You can better leverage your money.”The county would qualify for other self-help funding amounts through the state. King says the meeting  that included public officials discussed the need to raise local funds for projects adding that a new interchange costs $45 million a pop.”This is a 18 month process”  she says, adding that polling of the public would proceed before any measure was put on the ballot.”We agreed to keep talking about it” says King.

Other counties like Stanislaus recently approved a similar measure. Tulare and Fresno counties have long been self-help counties with local tax overrides.

Cotton farmers face low price-before virus issue

U.S. cotton producers intend to plant 13.0 million cotton acres this spring – down 5.5% from 2019 (based on USDA’s February 2020 estimate) – according to the National Cotton Council’s 39th Annual Early Season Planting Intentions Survey. Upland cotton intentions are 12.8 million acres, down 5.6% from 2019, while extra-long staple intentions of 224,000 acres represent a 2.7% decline. It’s worse in the West where Arizona /California upland growers plan to plant 20% less than last year.

So what’s eating cotton growers?

Cotton farmers have faced relatively low cotton prices coupled with higher production costs. ”Prices are not enough to cover all production expenses for many producers” say one industry watcher.

The top reason-  the multi-year trade war with China, our biggest customer.That opened the door for Brazil,Australia and India to sell their cotton to China.Now the coronavirus promises to extend the pain. Cotton futures have been down in the past few weeks even as growers decide how much to plant.