Stories
Department of Energy Awards $125 Million
to Consortium of East Bay Labs
On Tuesday June 26, the Department of Energy awarded $125 million to a local consortium of six research institutions led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to establish the Joint Bio-Energy Institute (JBEI).
Over a year ago the East Bay EDA, at the
request of the national labs, began
collaborating on the JBEI project, helping
to find a site, and rallying support around
bringing this important research center to
the East Bay. JBEI marks the East Bay’s second major victory in four months in attracting world class biofuels
research and development centers. In
February, following an international
competition, BP awarded $500 million to a partnership of UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to establish the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) which will be headquartered on the campus of UC Berkeley.
The news of the JBEI award shows there is little doubt this region has
become the nation’s foremost biofuels
research and development center. Having won
the first round, the next challenge will be
for the region to capture the growth in commercial products and
services that will result from this
research.
For more information about this tremendous
investment in our region, read the
official press release from Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory.
Panel Discussion Focused on Solutions for
Business, Government and Non-Profits
A panel of experts gathered June 14th at the
Hayward City Hall’s Council Chambers to
discuss the implications of climate change
on business, government and non-profits. The
event was organized by the East Bay EDA in
partnership with the
Contra Costa Council,
Tri-Valley Business Council, and the East
Bay's chambers of commerce and business
associations. The event was sponsored
by
Pacific Gas & Electric
Company.
Jon Elliott, President of Touchstone
Environmental, provided an overview of state
requirements including AB32, signed into
legislation in September 2006. Ana
Sandoval, Principal Environmental Planner
for the
Bay Area Air Quality Management
District spoke on the District’s role in
reducing the impacts of climate change and
what regional agencies are doing to address climate
change. Gary Lucks, Principal of
Beyond
Compliance spoke on the carbon reduction
strategies being adopted locally including
the assessment tools available through the
International Council on Local Environmental
Initiatives. Jasmin Ansar, Manager of
Environmental Policy at
Pacific Gas &
Electric Company discussed what PG&E has undertaken to
lessen the impacts of climate change and
provided attendees a list of resources
available through PG&E to improve energy
efficiency and help companies become carbon
neutral through its new ClimateSmart
program.
For more information, the panelists'
presentations can be downloaded at
eastbayeda.org. In addition to the
panelists' presentations, Sue Sakaki,
Principal of The EnviroSystems Group, put
together a comprehensive document detailing
a variety of information on climate change
including website links and recommendations
which can be downloaded
here.
Upcoming workshops, events and resources:
Climate Protection Leadership Group,
9/18/07, 7:30-10:30am, Oakland Marriott
Hotel, to register contact Wendy Mathews at
Beyond Compliance, 510-268-9210
2007 Environmental Management System
Implementation Program, September 2007,
Sustainable Earth Initiative,
www.sustainableearthinitiative.org
How to Keep Your Green Building Green,
10/12/07, 1-4 pm
Northern California Chapter US Green
Building Council,
http://www.usgbc-ncc.org
Climate Change and AB 32: What It Means
for You, 10/19/07, 8:30am-5pm, UC
Extension in Silicon Valley,
www.ucsc-extension.edu
Pacific Gas and Electric Company – resource
and grant information as well as
ClimateSmart program for PG&E customers:
www.pge.com
www.pge.com/climatesmart
Bay Area Air Quality Management District –
resource and grant information
http://www.baaqmd.gov/pln/climatechange.htm
Meeting Offered Real-World Examples of
Economic Development Successes
The region's Economic Development
Professionals met June 20th to discuss "best
practices" of local economic development
tools, programs and resources.
Presentations focused on why and how
specific programs worked and how similar
tools could be accessed,
utilized or replicated by other economic
development programs in the East Bay.
The
meeting
started
off with
business
retention
information
shared
by Dave
Johnson,
Executive
Director
of the
Oakland
Commerce
Corporation,
the program recognized throughout California
as the most
successful
and
modeled
business
retention
program
in the
State.
The
cities
of
Alameda,
Emeryville,
Fremont,
Hayward,
Oakland,
Richmond
and San
Leandro
all
contributed
some
surprising
and
invaluable
information
and
PG&E,
Alameda
Power &
Telecom,
and the
Bay Area
World
Trade
Center
also
shared
their
tips.
The
success
tips
generated
at the
meeting
are
being
circulated
to
attendees
so that
more
detail
and
information
can be
added
and the
resulting
document
will be
distributed
to all
of our
economic
development
members/partners
as well
as
incorporated
into the
website.
Because
the
program
was so
successful
and a
number
of city
and
resource
members
were not
able to
attend
or
share,
the
program
will be
continued
to the
next EDD
Council
meeting, August
22,
2007.
High-Tech Industry Tradeshow Offers
Opportunities to Promote and Network
There is still time to sign up to participate in the East Bay EDA booth at the upcoming SEMICON West Tradeshow, July 16-20 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. East Bay EDA public and affiliate members are welcome to participate in the booth at no charge. For up-to-date information about SEMICON West 2007, you can visit the
SEMICON West 2007 website. Contact
Keith Sutton at (510) 272-3885, if you have any questions or are interested in participating in the booth.
If any
East Bay
EDA
member
would
like to
get into
the
SEMICON
West
Exhibit
Hall and
see
what’s
happening
in the
very
important
high-tech
industry,
you can
register
for free
(a $75
value)
here. To
redeem
the free
registration,
please
use the
priority
code
"EAST
BAY".
Your
free
Exhibit
Hall
badge
gives
you full
access
to:
• More
than
1,300
exhibitors
• All
keynotes
on the
SEMICON
West
Center
Stage
• More
than 30
hours of
technical
presentations
at the
TechXPOTs
•
SEMICONNECT—your
personalized
search
engine
and
event
planner
• 5 days
of
programs
and
events;
3 days
of
exhibits
– 1
complete
show
experience!
Free Workshops and Seminars Cover a Range of
Topics and are Open to the Public
The cities of Fremont, Hayward and Union
City are currently hosting free business
assistance workshops and seminars to small
business in their communities. These
workshops are open to business owners
throughout the region and offer
opportunities to gain valuable information,
connect with city Economic Development
staff, and to network and learn from other
business owners.
Union City's free workshops are located at local business
facilities.
Upcoming summer workshop topics include
“Mediation Skills” (July 11) and
“Branding Your Business”
(July 25). Advanced Registration is required. For more information contact
Christine Friday, (510) 675-5396.
The cities of
Fremont and
Hayward have each contracted with the East Bay Small Business Development Center to provide these valuable free training opportunities to local small businesses. Workshops in Fremont and Hayward are hosted at city facilities.
In Fremont, this summer’s workshop will be "Expansion and Growth Capital" (July 19). In Hayward, summer workshop topics include “Successful Advertising, Marketing and Promotions” (July 25) and “Legal Considerations in Forming and Operating Your Business” (August 22). Advanced registration is required. More information about the Hayward and Fremont workshops can be found at the
Cal State East Bay Small Business Development Center Website.
For more information about workshops in Fremont and in Hayward, and for full schedules and details, please contact the appropriate city Economic Development Staff. In Hayward contact
Sally Porfido, (510) 583-4236; in Fremont contact
Lori Taylor, (510) 284-4024.
Updating your Links and Printed Materials
will Increase our Online Visibility
Please use
eastbayeda.org for all of your membership information and communications. While there are still a few features being added (the calendar should be operational before the end of July),
eastbayeda.org
is where the most current East Bay EDA news and information
can be found. We are no longer updating the edab.org website.
We are
also
beginning
the
process
of
adding
comprehensive
data to
the new
website
as well,
so
please
change
the
referral
link on
your
website
and in
your
written
publications
from
edab.org
to
eastbayeda.org.
Your
link to
our new
URL will
not only
point
people
and
businesses
directly
to
information
and
resources
on the
East
Bay, but
it will
also
help
increase
our
website's
visibility
to
search
engines
and thus
help
those
who are
searching
for East
Bay
information
on the
internet
find it
in their
top
results.
Eventually,
edab.org
will
just
become a
referral
page to
eastbayeda.org,
but
because
it has
been
around
since
the
early
days of
the
internet,
it will
be
continue
to be an
important
forwarding
URL.
Thank
you for
your
patience
and
support
as we
make
this
transition.
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