SAS helps Social Compact uncover San Francisco’s hidden economic development gems

SAS® Enterprise Intelligence Platform IDs opportunity in 12 neighborhoods

CARY, NC  (Apr. 01, 2008)  –  Nearly two centuries after the California Gold Rush turned a tent settlement into a boomtown called San Francisco, another kind of mining may usher in a new era of prosperity. Equipped with software from business intelligence leader SAS, data miners at Social Compact, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit, have discovered a potential economic gold mine in a dozen of San Francisco’s most densely populated neighborhoods. 

Social Compact’s findings, to be announced later today in San Francisco, will give bankers, retailers and other investors a clear, accurate picture of opportunities in the inner city – and explode myths about the economic vitality of lower-income communities. 

“The opportunities in San Francisco, as we continually discover in other cities, are far greater than conventional assessments show,” said Social Compact CEO John Talmage. “The San Francisco Market DrillDown, developed through rigorous analysis of traditional and nontraditional data sources using SAS software, reveals that there are more people in these dozen areas with more buying power than previously thought. There is also unmet demand for banks, groceries and retail stores – demand that the community has always intuitively recognized – but the DrillDown has now quantified and demonstrated the investment potential." 

Social Compact’s closer look at two San Francisco neighborhoods, Western Addition and Bayview/Hunter’s Point, reveal sizable undercounts in population and income by the census and traditional market studies commonly used by retailers. 

Some key findings:

• Western Addition’s total population is estimated at 22,100 – more than 30 percent higher than the 2000 census (16,300).
• Average household income in Western Addition is estimated at $94,000, 70 percent higher than the 2000 census figure (55,200), an increase of roughly $40,000 per household.

Similarly, the DrillDown report demonstrates greater market size and strength in Bayview/Hunter’s Point. Aside from higher population estimates (39,200 versus the 2000 census population estimate of 34,800) and household income ($66,400, a 30 percent increase from the 2000 census average income of $50,700), the DrillDown also shows that a third of Bayview/Hunter’s Point residents are currently without a documented credit history, signaling sizable opportunity to expand banking services. 

Social Compact this year standardized its Neighborhood Market DrillDown analysis methodology on the SAS Enterprise Intelligence Platform. DrillDowns analyze inner-city markets and create accurate, business-oriented profiles of “emerging” neighborhood markets. Drawing on business disciplines and community strength, DrillDown profiles have a strong track record of spurring sustainable private investment, benefiting both communities and businesses. 

Clark Abrahams, Chief Financial Architect at SAS, said the SAS BI platform allows Social Compact to scale to the current and growing demand for their DrillDowns, as well as extend the reach of their research service.

“SAS is an active and committed partner in the communities where we live, work and conduct business,” said Abrahams, a San Francisco native. “As the leader in business intelligence and predictive analytics, our objective is to proactively solve problems and identify opportunities. We apply this same objective to creating sustainable economic environments in inner-city communities. Whether highlighting economic opportunities not readily apparent or improving the production and delivery of goods, we enable our customers – like Social Compact – to do well and to do good.” 

Longtime SAS customer Citigroup, one of the world’s largest financial services companies with around 120 million customers in more than 100 countries, introduced SAS capabilities to Social Compact.

About Social Compact

Social Compact is a coalition of business leaders from across the country who are promoting successful business investments in underserved communities. Social Compact leverages its leadership’s combined business expertise to address key impediments to private investment in inner-city communities: negative stereotypes, poverty and deficiency data, a lack of dependable business-oriented market information and an absence of effective inner-city market analysis models. Through its research and analysis, Social Compact aims to fuel the long-term competitive strength of lower-income communities by attracting needed capital.

About SAS

Back to Recent SAS Press Releases

Copyright © SAS Institute Inc. All Rights Reserved.