The State of the City is typically a self-congratulating affair, with the mayor and other city officials singing the praises of Tracy. But at this year’s function at the Grand Theatre, it wasn’t just city insiders saying Tank Town is on the track to prosperity.

Hamid Moghadam is the chairman and co-CEO of Prologis, one of the world’s leading developers of industrial real estate and a big player in Tracy’s business world. And his question-and-answer session with Comstock’s business magazine editor Christine Calvin left the impression that the city’s repeated statements about being business-friendly are more than just talk, and that Tracy is trying hard to shake the old saw that it’s a tough-to-do-business, pay-to-play town.

Moghadam compared the business-forward outlook of Tracy’s leadership with that of booming cities in China and said, in his world, it’s rare for Californians to be so primed to capitalize on job creation and commerce.

He also talked about Tracy’s natural “competitive advantages” — more space, cheaper costs and more affordable housing than in the Bay Area, but a location close enough to serve that area, the Central Valley and Sacramento.

We’ve heard such statements from the city for a long time, especially in the annual State of the City addresses. But it’s more telling to hear them from a man with Moghadam’s background.

His words give weight to the notion that after so many years of talking about job growth, City Hall is indeed taking action to make Tracy an attractive place to do business.