UC Davis Biz School on Global Map?

New Graduate School of Management Dean thinks Davis can be a hub for start-ups in the Sacramento Metropolitan Area.

by David Chan

This past Sunday I read an article in the Sacramento Bee about the new UC Davis Graduate School of Management Dean, Steven Currall. The Sac Bee article writes about Mr. Currall’s quest to bring the Graduate School of Management onto the global stage. Mr. Currall comes to Davis after having been a professor at the London Business School and University College London.

I applaud Mr. Currall for his vision in galvanizing this region as a “magnet for new business talent.” I’ve often thought about this very idea since moving to Davis seven years ago. Scores of high tech professionals, like me, moved to Davis and the surrounding areas to escape Bay Area traffic and crime. We also found that the open community, greenbelts and sense of family refreshing from the “me” culture of Silicon Valley.

Mr. Currall believes that the Sacramento region can be a hub for startups and that UC Davis can play a critical role in helping shape these businesses. I agree with the Dean that the venture capital community in Silicon Valley have a myopic view of technology startups and leaders. Like, Mr. Currall I believe that the region is full of entrepreneurial talent, as well as people with vision, leadership and experience to drive successful businesses.

Witness a company called Big Stock Photo. Serendipitously, I found this company by accident when I responded to a Craigslist posting for an electronic device. I met one of the founders when I went to her house to purchase the device. It turns out that they are one of the largest digital stock photo companies on the Internet. And, yes, they live here in Davis.

In addition the Sacramento region was at one point fifth in creating the most number of high tech companies nationwide. This was a report written in the Sacramento Business Journal last year. The rate of high tech company growth was apparently double the national industry rate of 3.8 percent.
Mr. Currall wants Davis and the school to be the bridge between the Bay Area and Sacramento.

According to the article one of his biggest challenges is that Sacramento is largely a government town, which apparently has been difficult for entrepreneurs. The reason cited was because this community has far less resources than Silicon Valley.

I disagree that this region lacks the resources of Silicon Valley. In fact, I believe that the region has an abundance of intellect, skill set and experience. The advances in high technology infrastructure: broadband speeds, collaboration software (a lot of it for free) and a balanced live / work environment is ripe for entrepreneurial explosion.

Having left Silicon Valley to live in “remote” Davis, I know firsthand how these technologies can be the foundation of a successful startup. My company, AD Publishing.org, LLC, was global from its inception. We manage a worldwide team of web developers, content writers, SEO managers, graphic artists and virtual assistants. Our clients are far and wide from Silicon Valley to Los Angeles to New York and will soon grow internationally, as well.

Like Mr. Currall I believe Davis can be a hub for the next generation of entrepreneurs and that UC Davis might well be mentioned in the same breath as Stanford. I think the future looks bright, indeed.