Building On Our Assets:

Economic Development & Job Creation in the East Bay

East Bay Strategic Planning Workshop

Title Sponsor: Bank of America

Signature Sponsors:
Y&H Soda Foundation

East Bay Community Foundation

Goals of the Workshop:

Convene diverse East Bay stakeholders who are working on the issues raised in the Building on Our Assets:  Economic Development and Job Creation in the East Bay report and who can help implement the report’s recommendations.         

Facilitate the development of an East Bay “strategy” for implementing actions related to the report’s recommendations and prioritize specific actions to be taken in the near term.

Welcome and introduction by Mary Peipho, Vice Chair of East Bay EDA and Supervisor in Contra Costa County

East Bay EDA’s Executive Director Karen Engel (below) briefly went over the Building On Our Assets Report findings and recommendations utilizing a PowerPoint presentation - a PDF copy is viewable by clicking here.

Participation in the event was at capacity!

Break-Out Sessions:
Attendees then participated in one of four break-out sessions in separate rooms, with a session chair(s) and facilitator guiding the session and to answer the following questions:

Innovation : Strengthening the East Bay’s innovation eco-system and technology clusters.

Chair:  Melinda Richter, Founder and CEO Prescience International, Director, San Jose BioCenter (seated at front); Facilitator: Rory Bakke, GreenBiz.com (standing)

Click here for more Innovation Breakout photos

Education & Workforce Development - Creating a highly networked workforce preparation system that engages the business community in adapting regional education to local and global labor market trends.

 Chair: Trina Ostrander, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals; Facilitator: Glen Price, The Glen Price Group (standing at front)

Click here for more Education & Workforce Development Breakout photos

Infrastructure and Land Use - Driving land use and infrastructure decisions with the imperative of regional economic competitiveness.

Click here for more Infrastructure and Land Use Breakout photos

Business Climate: Improving the regulatory environment and supporting small businesses.

Chair:  John McManus, Cushman & Wakefield (writing on easel); Jose Corona, Inner City Advisors (standing on the left); Facilitator  Mark Quinn, District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) (standing, addressing the group): 

Click here for more Business Climate Breakout photos

Innovation Breakout Report

Melinda Richter, Founder and CEO Prescience International, Director, San Jose BioCenter, reported on the Innovation Breakout recommendations

Education & Workforce Development Breakout Report

Infrastructure and Land Use Breakout Report

Cheryl O’Connor, Building Industry Association reported on the Business Climate Breakout recommendations

Business Climate Breakout Report

John McManus, Cushman & Wakefield (with microphone) and Mark Quinn, District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) reported on the Business Climate Breakout recommendations

Additional information on the results and on ways you can participate will be available the end of January 2012 and links to those pages will be provided on the website.

See more East Bay EDA event highlights