Solving puzzles is Don Smail’s specialty.

His job is to take all of the economic pieces Manteca has to offer and work with the private sector to secure the missing pieces in the form of new jobs, additional retail, and more services such as health care.

At the same time his charge is to do whatever possible not to lose any existing pieces by current businesses relocating to other cities.

Smail is Manteca’s economic development manager. He’s the city’s go to guy who works with the private sector not only to make them aware of what Manteca has to offer their business but to cut through red tape to find ways to make things work in a timely manner.

His success is measured through increased sales tax, business retention, and job growth.

“Manteca is getting a lot of attention,” Smail said of corporations actively looking for expansion of operations or to locate new stores. He noted a lot of that has to do with not just simply Manteca’s location being at the heart of the third largest 100-mile-radius market in the country with 17 million consumers after Long Island and New York but what is already here.

Smail networks on a routine basis with commercial real estate representatives that are looking for location options for clients that don’t want their names used while they explore not only what market is a good fit but whether there are potential sites to move to within a city.

The 120 Bypass with its large swath of undeveloped freeway frontage with quick access smack dab in a smaller Northern San Joaquin Valley market of almost a million people within 30 minutes grabs attention thanks to heavyweight traffic generators such as Bass Pro Shops and the Big League Dreams sports complex.

“It (the 120 Bypass) offers great freeway access and ease to get to from many areas of Stockton and Modesto,” Smail said.

Kohl’s, Costco, and Orchard Valley lure a growing share of consumers from nearby cities due not just to easy freeway access but the fact the key stores are close to each other and aren’t separated by miles of stop-and-go surface traffic.

Ease of access is also what works in Manteca’s favor when it comes to distribution centers.

The key north-south West Coast truck corridor - Interstate 5 - is within three miles of Manteca via the 120 Bypass that connects it to Highway 99 that is often referred to as California’s Main Street due to the large amount of trucking commerce. At the same time the 120 Bypass to Interstate 205 connection accesses the Bay Area market.

Making that even sweeter for firms such as Ford Motor Co. that located its small parts distribution center in Manteca is the fact it is within equal distance of San Jose, San Francisco, and San Jose.

Trucking is only part of the equation. Within 10 miles of Manteca are two major railroad intermodal operations for truck-to-train operations, the Stockton Seaport, and Stockton Metro Airport.

“Having an intermodal expansion going from a capacity of 200,000 trucks to 750,000 trucks a year dropped in our lap in our own backyard (Union Pacific Railroad facility in Lathrop) makes it even better,” Smail said.

Location alone isn’t going to snare employers.

Smail noted Manteca has put in place a long list of key pieces to an economic development puzzle:

• An expanded state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant that can easily double in size without a major reconfiguration.

• A secured source of surface water that ultimately could support the equivalent of a city with 140,000 to 160,000 residents depending upon water consumption by various employers.

• Unparalleled freeway access with adjacent developable commercial and business park property with three interchanges within three miles along the 120 corridor connection between Interstate 5 and Highway 99 with a fourth one being planned to make it four interchanges within miles.

• Two modern and up-to-date hospitals.

• Amenities that appeal to a workforce such as 52 municipal parks, golf course, and recreation sports complex.

• Existing business park space that runs from fairly small to medium size spaces at places such as the Manteca Commerce Park on Moffat Boulevard to 550,000 square feet of ready-to-use space available in Spreckels Park.

Smail noted there is already an interested party making a serious inquiry about the 550,000-square-foot space that is working with the city to determine if it is a good fit for them.

“It (the future) looks good for Manteca,” Smail said of catching the future wave of economic growth. “Manteca is well positioned and well known.”