Morgan Hill has spent years talking about economic development. Now, the results are becoming increasingly difficult to miss.
The city is emerging as a significant hub for advanced manufacturing, clean technology and next-generation engineering. Major investments by Archer Aviation, Mir Mosaic and Heron Power are bringing hundreds of jobs, millions of dollars in capital investment and cutting-edge manufacturing to a community that has long sought to strengthen its economic base.
This is good news—not just for the companies moving into Morgan Hill, but for the entire community.
During the past four years, more than 1.5 million square feet of Class A industrial space has been built. That development has helped address a problem that once constrained Morgan Hill’s ability to grow: industrial vacancy was only about 3%, leaving little room for existing businesses to expand.
As of today, the industrial vacancy rate is at 6.5%, down from a high of 17% before the recent acquisitions.
Much of that new industrial capacity was developed by Trammell Crow Company, including the 410,000-square-foot Butterfield 5 Tech Park and the 501,000-square-foot Cochrane Technology Center.
Mir Mosaic recently purchased a 90,000-square-foot building at Butterfield 5, expanding its Morgan Hill footprint by 25,000 square feet and adding 15 jobs to its existing workforce.
Then came Heron Power’s announcement of a more than $100 million investment to create Heron Factory One. The company plans to transform a 286,000-square-foot former warehouse and distribution facility into a high-tech manufacturing plant. The project is expected to create 600 jobs.
And Archer Aviation is expanding its Morgan Hill presence by leasing the entire 500,000-square-foot Cochrane Technology Center. The facility will serve as a West Coast hub for tooling, component manufacturing and aircraft production, with an estimated 300 new jobs.
In just the past 60 days, nearly 900,000 square feet of Morgan Hill industrial space has been leased or sold.
But the real story isn’t measured in square feet. It is measured in people.
When the city adopted the economic blueprint in 2017, 28% of residents worked in Morgan Hill. Today it’s 36.5 percent. Bringing nearly 1,000 new jobs in advanced manufacturing, engineering and operations closer to home could give residents more opportunities to build careers without spending hours commuting.
And the benefits won’t stop with the employees who work in these facilities.
New workers will buy lunch at local restaurants, shop at local businesses, rent or purchase homes and use local services. Growing companies generate additional economic activity, strengthen the commercial tax base and create opportunities for other businesses that serve them. That is how economic development is supposed to work.
Morgan Hill should celebrate these investments while also recognizing that growth brings responsibilities. The city must continue investing in infrastructure, transportation, housing and public services so that economic success translates into a higher quality of life for all residents.
The temptation with major corporate announcements is to focus on the impressive numbers—$100 million investment, 600 jobs, 500,000 square feet.
But the bigger achievement is what those numbers represent.
Morgan Hill is no longer simply a place where companies can locate because there is available land. It is becoming a place where innovative companies want to build, manufacture and grow.
That didn’t happen overnight. It is the result of years of planning, investment and a community vision focused on creating a stronger local economy.
The new businesses are important additions to that story. So are the many existing manufacturers and businesses that have chosen to remain in Morgan Hill and expand here. The challenge now is to build on that momentum.
Morgan Hill has an opportunity to create something rare in the region: a community where people can live, work and build careers without having to leave town every morning.
That is a future worth investing in.
