The top three sources of non-retail jobs in Manteca and Lathrop for the past 10 years?

Distribution. Distribution. Distribution.

Gone are the glory days of heavy manufacturing such as Simplot - which is still thriving - and Spreckels Sugar. Manteca tried to make headway as a satellite for Silicon Valley lower-end high-tech manufacturing but they lost to Mexico and Southeast Asia.

The savior for Manteca-Lathrop during the past 15 years in terms of non-retail job generation has been distribution and its accompanying trucking jobs. And it’s not just straightforward distribution. Standard warehouses create jobs but logistics operations where items are accepted in large quantities and then repackaged and reshipped are creating even more employment opportunities.

The fact Manteca-Lathrop is located at the epicenter of 18 million consumers in 100 miles with unparalleled rail, freeway and even air service and seaport availability strengthens the mix.

Bill Filios and his partners, though, are banking on another trend to emerge that takes advantage of Manteca’s growth plus it being at the heart of what has been identified by state commerce officials as the top region in California for growth for the next 20 years - the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

That is the premise behind Yosemite Square. The 217-acre mixed use development on the northeast corner of the Highway 120 Bypass and Highway 99 interchange consists of business park/offices and housing.

But it isn’t the typical business park they are taking aim at. They see a strong future in medical and back office-style of operations to take full advantage of Manteca being almost a perfect 15 miles equal distance from Tracy, Modesto, and Stockton with a million consumers between in a 30-minute drive.

“It is a great location for offices and medical,” Filios, an ANF Development partner noted.

It has good access now and even better when the new Austin Road interchange is put in place and ultimately the eastern extension of the 120 Bypass moves forward.

The traffic count is in excess of 110,000 vehicles a day that passes by on Highway 99.

Yosemite Square, if the vision is correct, will lure companies with business in Modesto and Stockton and would benefit from a centrally located office. The same is true of medical specialties which would have a million potential patients within an easy drive from Stockton, Modesto and Tracy anchored by 100,000 people in the immediate Manteca-Ripon-Lathrop triangle.

New plans for Yosemite Square are currently going through the review process at City hall.

It will have 30 percent less housing than the original proposal and no retail. It is moving forward with 761 envisioned housing units as well as 475,675 square feet of office space.

It is expected to provide Manteca with a source of white collar jobs as opposed to the heavily blue collar employment opportunities in Spreckels Park and the Austin Road Business Park.