Bay Area Council & Bay Area Economic Forum Agree to Merge

The Bay Area Council and the Bay Area Economic Forum today announced their merger as a single organization to create one of the strongest advocacy and research organizations in the history of the Bay Area. Since 1945, the Council has been the regional voice for Bay Area business. Using the combined clout of its CEO members, the Council has conceived of and shepherd through solutions to many of the region’s most pressing challenges in the areas of transportation, housing, water, education, infrastructure, environment, and global competitiveness. The Economic Forum, founded in 1988 as a joint venture of the Bay Area Council and the Association of Bay Area Governments, has served for 19 years as a highly-respected source of independent, fact-based analysis and opinion on Bay Area economic issues, and has framed the debate on key state and regional public policies.

“The combination of our respective advocacy and research strengths will form an organization able to drive public opinion and political leadership to enact solutions to regional and state challenges with much greater speed and efficacy,” said Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of the Bay Area Council. “The acceleration of global economic competition demands this merger to best serve our region.”

The newly created Bay Area Council Economic Institute, the successor to the Forum, will become a chartered program of Council, operating as a public-private educational and policy research body. The Institute will continue to support and manage the Bay Area Science and Innovation Consortium (BASIC), a partnership of the region’s leading science and technology research and development institutions and laboratories.

According to Dr. Sean Randolph, the President of the new Institute, “We plan to build on the longstanding reputation of the Bay Area Economic Forum as a credible and respected source of agenda-setting information, analysis and leadership on issues affecting California and the region’s economic future. This merger will allow us to pursue a broader, more integrated vision for the region’s future.”

The Bay Area Council Economic Institute will be responsible for economic policy research and analysis, and related forums, under the oversight of a public-private board of trustees appointed by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and the Bay Area Council, that will include elected officials, business and Bay Area leaders representing higher education, labor and the community.

“The combination unites the institutional resources of the business community with government, higher education and labor communities, building a potent alliance for fact-based advocacy,” said Lenny Mendonca, Director of McKinsey and Company, and Chairman of both the Bay Area Economic Forum and the Bay Area Council.

Henry Gardner, Executive Director of the Association of Bay Area Governments, added, “The complex problems this region faces – and its many opportunities – call for new partnerships that reach across communities and jurisdictional boundaries. To do this we need to find new and creative ways to work together, with government as an active partner.”

Bay Area Council

Founded in 1945, the Bay Area Council (www.bayareacouncil.org) is business-backed public policy organization for more than 275 of the largest Bay Area employers. Led by its CEO members, the Bay Area Council presents a strong, united voice for hundreds of major employers throughout the Bay Area region who employ more than 500,000 workers, or 1 of every six private sector employees in the Bay Area.

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For more information visit www.bayareacouncil.org.

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