Silicon Valley is hotter than ever, according to the Wall Street Journal. Web 2.0 companies from all over the country continue to migrate to Silicon Valley, attracted by the easy access to venture capital money as well as a pool of highly-skilled tech workers and seasoned Internet executives. Even if it means packing up an office and moving across the country, it appears to be worth it:

“From early in the Web boom, there have been predictions that the Internet eventually would erode Silicon Valley’s pre-eminence in nurturing start-ups as entrepreneurs found it more attractive — and much cheaper — to do business online from other regions. Instead, companies like VideoEgg [founded by a Yale grad in Connecticut] are now migrating to Silicon Valley and environs. The trend shows how the San Francisco Bay Area continues to possess a unique mix of venture-capital money and skilled workers that tech firms — especially those that get to a point where they want to grow quickly — can’t afford to pass up.

Of course, pockets of tech remain active elsewhere in the country, notably around Microsoft Corp.’s home base near Seattle and also in Boston. But many companies — typically tech start-ups headed by entrepreneurs in their 20s, often with staffs of less than five people — are still heading to Silicon Valley. Mobius Microsystems Inc., a maker of technology that regulates timing pulses in microchips, relocated from Detroit to Sunnyvale, Calif., in March. LicketyShip Inc., an Internet firm that facilitates local deliveries, moved from New Haven to San Francisco last September. Meetro Inc., a maker of mobile social-networking software, transferred from Chicago to Palo Alto, Calif., in January, while Box.net Inc., an online file-storage-and-sharing site, jumped from Seattle to Silicon Valley that same month. Other companies are moving from overseas: Internet video company Metacafe Inc. is currently shifting its main office to Palo Alto from Tel Aviv.”

Not surprisingly, the start-up influx is helping to revitalize Silicon Valley. Many of the new companies are moving into offices that had been left empty by the tech bust of 2000. They are also ramping up their hiring and creating jobs. There’s a burgeoning social scene as well as a vibrant venture capital environment. For young companies early in their development, perhaps the only drawback of moving to Silicon Valley is the high cost of labor (see graphic):

“Moving to Silicon Valley has its complications. The cost of doing business in the area remains steep, particularly due to high labor costs. According to a recent report from the American Electronics Association, a trade group in Washington, D.C., and Silicon Valley, high-tech workers in San Jose, Calif., made an average annual wage of $126,700 in 2004, the last year for which data are available. That compares with the national average for high-tech workers of $72,400.”

[image: Peaks in the Valley]

In a presentation for students and faculty members at the University of California-Berkeley, Google’s director of machine learning, search quality, and research discussed some of the search giant’s newest innovations as well as the future of data analysis. In addition to developing a more accurate and human-like computer translation program, Google is also creating a number of other tools to help users deal with the ever-increasing complexity of the Web:

“The translation program is an example of how the ability to utilize large amounts of data is helping to expand the resources available to users. Google is also currently developing what Peter Norvig described as “sets”, in which the user types in a few different words and receives a list of related words. This technology would help searches be more accurate, he said.

Another new project that Google is developing is one that Norvig said he hopes will help them better understand users. It is the creation of user trend graphs that track the volume of different searches at different times of the year. “This is only an idea of new things we are working on, and the ways in which technology can be used. There is so much data and there are so many things you can do with it,” Norvig said.”

[image: Peter Norvig via The Daily Californian]

In an interview for IDG News Service, Xerox chairman and CEO Anne Mulcahy discusses the importance of innovation to the company:

“I would say the most important way that we foster innovation is our funding of research, which so many companies have walked away from. We have four global research centers around the world that do everything from very upstream futuristic kinds for research, like [in] Palo Alto, to a media research center, like we have in Canada. There’s a pipeline that has to be supported to get to innovation in the marketplace, and the commercialization of it begins with the stimulation of innovation proposals, and that’s been a huge focus.

We have a head of technology today, her name is Sophie Vandebroek; she runs an innovation process in the company that I think yields really extraordinary results. She has upped the ante on the amount of innovation proposals, the amount of patent applications…”

Usually, the word “innovation” connotes some type of world-changing technological innovation. Yet, innovation occurs within each and every industry in deceptively simple ways that can impact hundreds of millions of consumers. For example, Pilgrim’s Pride - the company that came up with such innovations as the world’s first-ever boneless whole chicken - is celebrating a 60-year history of innovation and thought leadership within the processed poultry industry:

“Over the years, Pilgrim’s Pride has established a reputation for industry-leading innovation. It was one of the first in the poultry industry to produce individually quick-frozen cooked and fresh chicken products. In 1984, the Company developed the world’s first boneless whole chicken. In 1997, after years of research into the role of certain vital nutrients in fighting heart disease and promoting wellness, the company introduced EggsPlus, a healthier alternative to the ordinary egg that contains extra Vitamin E, Lutein and Omega-3 essential fatty acids.

More recently, Pilgrim’s Pride introduced its EatWellStayHealthy Kids line of heart-healthy products, the first in the industry to feature the USDA-regulated word “healthy” on its packaging, as well as the American Heart Association’s “heart check-mark” seal of approval.

These innovations have earned Pilgrim’s Pride numerous awards for quality and service from its customers, as well as accolades within its industry. Recent awards include the Distinguished Supplier Award from Darden Restaurants, the 2005 Vendor Partnership Award from Jack in the Box; the Poultry Supplier of the Year Award from Zaxby’s, and the Outstanding Vendor of the Year Award from Fry’s Food Stores, a division of The Kroger Co.

In addition, Pilgrim’s Pride has been named among the “Most Admired Companies in America” by Fortune magazine for four consecutive years.

[image: Pilgrim’s Pride]