You have an opinion. It matters. Be heard.

Join the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley and over 500 Valley opinion leaders at its 2011 Summit | ELEVATE, presented by Kaiser Permanente, on October 7. The Summit is being held in Bakersfield, Calif., at the Rabobank Arena, Theater & Convention Center, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The purpose: Elevate Our Valley by attracting renowned speakers and attendees to discuss and strategize on key challenges and opportunities for our region. Engaging in discussion, maybe even discourse, the Summit is an opportunity to learn, be heard and network with the people that make things happen for the Valley.

The Summit will include a luncheon with Mayor Swearengin, who will give her State of the Valley Address, and three panels with question-and-answer sessions; topics for the panels will include:

Job Development
Historically plagued with high unemployment rates and poverty, innovative partnership models are aligned to decrease these challenges within our Valley

Infrastructure Development
Certain things just don’t stop at the city and county boundary lines. Our planning and strategic partners can’t either!

Smart Development
Wicked messes that require a holistic approach to solving root problems across multiple jurisdictions.

To learn more and register for the event, please visit www.sjvpartnershipsummit.org.

EMPOWER | ENGAGE | ELEVATE

Preparing tomorrow’s leaders, today

Register for the Intro to Economic Development certificate program

The Intro to Economic Development certificate program is offered once a year through California State University, Fresno. This program is for both new professionals entering the field of economic development and existing professionals, including elected officials, who want to advance their career and better serve their community. Now in its second year, participants of the program have the opportunity to learn emerging economic development concepts while developing a network of connections and resources throughout California. In addition to receiving accreditation by the International Economic Development Council, the course offers cutting-edge economic development tools and trends.

To register, view the course schedule and find out more information, visit www.csufresno-econdev.org.

Valley’s ‘Blueprint’ for the future

Working together since 2006, the eight San Joaquin Valley Regional Planning Agencies have been developing the San Joaquin Valley Regional Blueprint to establish a vision for a sustainable land use and transportation scenario in the Valley. As part of this effort, the Regional Planning Agencies have developed the Planners’ Toolkit, an online resource of best practices, case studies, California planning law, and other material applicable to projects within the San Joaquin Valley.

To learn more about the Planners’ Toolkit and to view available resources, visit toolkit.valleyblueprint.org.

Mark your calendars for the 11th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference, Feb. 2-4, 2012, in San Diego, Calif. For more details in the coming months, visit www.newpartners.org

Sustainable communities: not just a fad, it is work

The Sustainable Communities Work Group focuses on promoting regional coordination and building a transportation system that improves mobility and increases travel choices for San Joaquin Valley residents. Work group priorities include improving goods movement within the region, as well as, supporting the implementation of the San Joaquin Valley Regional Blueprint.

The adopted mission of the work group is to build innovative transportation systems to increase travel choices, improve mobility, bolster regional and state goods movement, improve air quality and facilitate economic prosperity. Support and promote regional consensus on future land use through the implementation of the San Joaquin Valley Regional Blueprint Roadmap’s smart growth principles. Identify appropriate areas for growth and economic development, while protecting the natural resources and sustainability of the region.

To learn more about the work group, visit the Sustainable Communities Work Group page located on the Partnership website.

Clean energy has great potential in our Valley

Have you ever wanted to learn more about clean energy and its potential?

The Valley Legacy Project for a green workforce has created a site that seeks to provide a window to the emerging clean energy industry to educators, students, employers and job seekers.

The industry – solar, wind, biofuels, biogas, water and geothermal – provides a bright spot in a troubled economy. Projections show it will add hundreds of thousands of jobs to the national work force over the next decade.

The Workforce Investment Act project of the San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization is doing its part to make the Valley the center of that trend. Analysts have called our region a ‘Petri dish’ for clean energy. It has all the attributes: sun, wind, agriculture – and entrepreneurship.

www.wiasjvceo.com

Eliminating the Valley’s ‘digital divide’: Partnership initiates regional broadband consortium

There is universal agreement among economic developers, businesses and investors that utilization of Advanced Communications Services (ACS) and Broadband is an essential part of doing business and accessing services in the 21st century. In spite of great progress and rapid deployment in some areas, affordable ACS is not universally available in all areas of the region. Surveys taken by the Public Policy Institute of California show a clear digital divide within regions and populations in California. Their data indicate that the more rural the community, the less likely to have access; and the less affluent, less educated, or less English proficient the community, the lower the use of the Internet, even if access does exist.

The Partnership, along with the Great Valley Center, convened stakeholders from throughout the eight-county San Joaquin Valley and developed an Advanced Communication Services Strategic Action Plan (Plan). The Plan outlined recommended actions and objectives for the region to “Facilitate the deployment and utilization of advanced communication services and technology throughout the region.” Since its creation in 2005, the Partnership has remained committed to helping extend broadband and communication services, most notably with the implementation of a telemedicine program in six rural areas that consisted of a partnership with the California Emerging Technology Fund, AT&T and the University of California, Merced; and the creation of a computer literacy program at three San Joaquin Valley high schools. As the Advanced Communications work group convener, Great Valley Places was instrumental in the overall success of the work group. The Partnership’s regional focus and proven outcomes with Great Valley Center, makes them the ideal choice to serve as the Regional Broadband Consortium, which it is applying for this month.

Advanced communications services, aka ‘ACS’

In this day and age, not having basic computer literacy skills or access to broadband telecommunications can make life pretty difficult. The Partnership’s Advanced Communications Services Work Group, partnered with Interim Executive Director Dejeune Shelton at Great Valley Center, is dedicated to ensuring that high school students graduate with basic computer literacy skills and bringing affordable high-speed broadband service to underserved San Joaquin Valley residents. Its mission is to facilitate the distribution and use of advanced communications services (ACS) and information technology throughout the region.

One of 10 work groups associated with the Partnership, the Advanced Communications Services Work Group has had numerous accomplishments during the past year. It has identified and received funding from the California Community College Foundation to provide digital literacy training in 18 counties of the Central Valley; increased the use and availability of ACS in small rural communities throughout the Valley that previously had no access to digital literacy opportunities; began launching a program that brings telecommunication access, education, and training to underserved San Joaquin Valley residents; and increased awareness of telemedicine – the use of information technology with clinical medicine – through a Valley PBS documentary which thousands of people watched. Click here to view the video.

The work group is moving forward with other goals they would like to accomplish in the years to come. Senate Bill 1040 will make available funding to support a Valley Regional Broadband Consortia, which will promote and support region-specific cost-effective broadband deployment, access and adoption activities. The Partnership’s application to serve as the host agency for the Valley is directly connected to the already-established Advanced Communications Services Work Group, making the Valley eligible for funding and well-positioned to prepare an application. In anticipation of the upcoming application deadline, the Partnership is making strides to bring the Valley’s broadband action into alignment with the California Public Utility Commission’s application requirements, and will be ready to start implementing plans to reach its goals in early 2012.

Some of these goals will be discussed in an infrastructure panel at the upcoming 2011 Partnership Summit, www.sjvpartnershipsummit.org. Goals include: raising awareness of the importance of ACS to both the public as well as to elected officials; increasing affordability and availability of high-speed broadband services in rural areas that do not have access; expanding and replicating successful model programs to increase access to ACS and IT to bridge the digital divide; increasing the number of collaborative partners and developing community partners; seeking funding to support ACS initiatives and programs; identifying community champions as advocates; and developing and promoting programs to ensure all high school students graduate with basic computer literacy skills. The infrastructure development panel at the Summit will be a great opportunity to learn, be heard, and network with renowned speakers and attendees about the Valley’s foundations: water, transportation and broadband.

Staying connected, sharing information: ‘link in’ to the Partnership

To promote better communication among our eight counties, the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley has created a group on the professional network website, LinkedIn. We ask that you join our group and join in the discussion to evaluate best practices and find regional solutions to regional problems.

Stay up-to-date on upcoming meetings, events and issues affecting the San Joaquin Valley by joining the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley group on LinkedIn.

Submit a Valley Event

Do you have an event you’d like to see in the Partnership Newsletter? Tell us about it. Click here.