Farr urges collaboration of Monterey Bay area industries

Monterey Bay's economy can grow if industries realize all the opportunities for collaboration, Rep. Sam Farr told government and business leaders Monday in Marina.

There are significant opportunities for cooperative ventures in such areas as agriculture, ocean research and defense, Farr said at the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments' "Envisioning the Monterey Bay Area 2035 Regional Blueprint." The event was sponsored by the Marina Technology Cluster.

Farr, D-Carmel, said he gathered leaders of local defense agencies a few years ago, and the people didn't realize what all the other groups did. He then formed Team Monterey, a group of 10 agencies that looks at ways to cooperate.

That idea can be expanded to other fields, Farr told a group of about 20. The Monterey Bay area, he said, "is a center of excellence in marine science. The brainpower for the ocean lives here."

Agriculture is a nearly $4 billion industry in Monterey County, Farr said, predicting that research into food and health will be "huge."

Farr said he would like to see "a census of what we have."