Each spring East Bay EDA's Board of
Directors meet to review the organization's
accomplishments over the previous year and
to discuss the work plan for the coming
year. This year's retreat was held at
the beautiful Martinelli Center located in
the Livermore Valley Wine Country. The
retreat keynote was provided by the Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory Director,
George H. Miller and was followed by a tour
of the Lab's nearly-complete National
Ignition Facility. See event
highlights.
During
the work session portion of the retreat, Board members broke into small groups
to discuss three of East Bay EDA's program areas for the coming year: Business
Development, Workforce Development, and Regional Infrastructure. Staff has compiled notes
from the discussion groups on what will soon be a grouping of interactive pages
at eastbayeda.org. These pages will soon feature discussion boards that
will allow members to interact and contribute to the discussion of East Bay
EDA's priorities in these three major areas.
CTC awards a total of $8.4
billion to infrastructure projects
The California Transportation Commission (CTC) awarded over $3 billion
to infrastructure projects from the
Proposition 1B Bonds that were approved in 2006.
These funds, matched by other public and
private funding, amount to a total of $8.4
billion that will go toward 79 goods
movement infrastructure projects in
California. “The CTC’s action represents a historic step forward for California to improve the movement of freight in and out of ports and along key highway goods movement corridors”, commented Dave Ciesco, Vice President and Controller at New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. “This is significant for our economy and is essential for business if we are to remain competitive in today’s global markets”.
Northern California will receive $825 million to improve rail service at the Port of Oakland, including key improvements in the central rail corridor from the Port though the Sierras. In addition, key improvements to I-880 (29th street) and I-580 (Altamont truck climbing lanes) will reduce congestion and increase through-put for time sensitive freight. The approved projects will next go through project scoping and environmental review. East Bay EDA will be working with the regional transportation agencies, port and member Cities along these key corridors to meet the CTC-approved project delivery schedule and mitigate environmental impacts on local communities.
Meeting to feature economic forecast from UCLA Director, Ed Leamer
It's that time of year again... Registration is now open for members and their guests to attend the annual East Bay EDA Spring Membership Meeting & East Bay
Economic Forecast. Our members will be happy to know that the UCLA Anderson Forecast's Director, Dr. Ed Leamer, will be returning this year to
once again give his forecast for the East Bay. This year's event will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Union City, and
has been generously sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Don't miss this informational event and excellent networking opportunity - register today!
New Green businesses were
recognized at event
The Alameda County Green Business Program
hosted a Green Business Recognition Ceremony
and panel discussion
at the new StopWaste.org headquarters in
downtown Oakland on April 16th. The
topic of the panel discussion was green
industry trends and featured Patrick
McIntyre of Blue Sky Bio-Fuels, Gary Gerber
of SunLight & Power, James Nixon of
Sustainable Systems and Brian Back of
Sustainable Industries magazine.
The event also featured business networking, tours of StopWaste.Org's
platinum LEED certified building, and a
recognition of two Green Business Program
members that happen to also be East Bay EDA
members: StopWaste.org and The City of Livermore
Departments of Facilities Maintenance,
Parks & Trees and Streets. Congratulations to both
organizations! Interested in more
information about the Alameda County Green
Business Program? Contact Pam Evans at
(510) 567-6770.
BIO 2008, the world’s most important biotech conference and trade show, will be opening in San Diego the week of June 16. There will be over 2,200 exhibitors representing companies, organizations, states and countries from around the globe. This show expects over 22,000 attendees with nearly 7,000 visitors from over 65 countries. Typically, a number of state governors and high ranking foreign dignitaries attend to demonstrate their interest in the industry.
East Bay EDA will be among those in the exhibit hall. We will be in the California Pavilion representing Team California, the East Bay and our members. We are also one of five regional co-sponsors of a special pre-BIO bus tour that BayBio is putting together June 13 and 14 for between 80 and 90 company representatives, site selection consultants, and other foreign visitors with an interest in Bay Area foreign investment opportunities.
If you have a strong opinion about a company, facility, site or institution that should be included on the bus tour, please contact Bob Sakai by phone at (510) 272-3881 as soon as possible. Unfortunately, a major factor in what gets scheduled will be time constraints and geographic proximity. Even if the bus is not able to visit your site, however, East Bay EDA may be able to include information you wish to convey in regional marketing materials we will be preparing for both the bus tour and the trade show. Space permitting, we may also be able to include some EDA member marketing materials and we would be happy to distribute your promotional gifts. Please contact Bob Sakai right away if you are interested in discussing any of these possibilities. Please don’t miss the bus, so to speak.
Event will be held July 15-17 at Moscone Center in San Francisco
Tradeshows are the most cost effective way to reach businesses in targeted industries – especially when the East Bay EDA is picking up the booth costs.
SEMICON is the flagship annual event for the global microelectronics industry
and participation will enable you to connect face-to-face with businesses from the Bay Area and the East Bay.
Our region competes very well in the
microelectronics industry, with over 100 businesses in the East Bay employing over 7,000 people and sales exceeding $3.78 billion.
Not to mention the contract manufacturers, suppliers, distributors,
wholesalers and business to business and retail
sales supporting this industry in the East Bay.
The East Bay EDA is sponsoring a booth at
SEMICON where public and non-profit business resource member organizations are
invited to participate at no charge. Organizations
that offer to staff at least one shift will be able to have their collateral material on display in the
East Bay EDA booth.
This is a very large tradeshow that occupies virtually all of the Moscone
center. 1,200 exhibitor booths host over 11,600
exhibitors, while over 14,000 attendees ( 62% of
which were from California). Because
SEMICON West is a local tradeshow, there will be
many other exhibitors from the Bay Area, who
often make the best prospects!
Our booth can handle 4 people a shift, so 27 openings are available (East Bay
EDA staff will work each shift to provide support). Please don’t delay in signing up – we really do need your help to make this work. Sign up for a shift
today! We look forward to working with each of you to take advantage of this great opportunity.
Popular calendar program offers free
advertisement opportunities
If you have not already, now is a great time
to take advantage of the promotional
opportunities available to you as an East
Bay EDA member and list your organization's
events on the Regional Events Calendar at
www.eastbayeda.org.
Both member and non-member visitors to www.eastbayeda.org from around the region are viewing the calendar on a daily basis. It can be accessed through the
website's Business Resources and Incentives section, or
under "Event Information" in the East Bay Economic Development Alliance section
To
utilize the posting feature, East Bay EDA members will first be required to log-in
to the Members Only section
of the East Bay EDA website. Both members and non-members can also post to
the calendar by logging in directly to the calendar program
and following the step-by-step instructions outlined in this PDF.
|
