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The Leading Voice of Business in Orange County |
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
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OCBC TAKES LEADING VOICE OF BUSINESS TO D.C. - JOIN US!!!
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 Register today! Help make the voice of business heard and advance Orange County's competitive advantage by joining OCBC for the annual advocacy trip to Washington, D.C.
OCBC, in partnership with local
government officials and chambers of commerce, will lead an annual delegation of
business leaders and public officials to Washington, D.C., to
advocate for Southern California. Participants
meet with members of Congress and the president's administration on key issues.
The trip includes a welcome reception, two breakfasts with high ranking
Congressional leaders, a marquee evening event, and unparalleled business
networking with fellow participants. Sponsorships still available!
Program Highlights Include:
- High level meetings with the Obama Administration and Congressional Leadership.
- Special briefings and advocacy meetings on regional issues at the Willard InterContinental Washington Hotel.
- Southern California Congressional Transportation Reception.
- Dinner with Orange County Congressional Delegation
- Orange County Issues Lunch
- Unparalleled business networking.
OCBC joins with Southern California on the Hill and more than 20 business organizations with over 200 business leaders and elected officials from Southern California to highlight the region as an economic engine for the nation.
For
questions and more information on registration and
sponsorships, please contact Kate Klimow 949.794.7210 or Alicia Berhow 949.794.7215.
Event Highlights | Event Schedule | Sponsorships Form | Registration Form | Online Registration
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OCBC AND PUBLISHER OF FORBES MAGAZINE DEFINE NEW NORMAL FOR SOLD OUT CROWD
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Publisher of Forbes Magazine, Rich Karlgaard, gave a sold out
crowd solid insights on what to expect as businesses face a "New Normal" during
Orange County Business Council's 2010 Annual Dinner last week.
Over 650 community leaders, business executives and elected officials
joined to hear Orange County Business Council's 2010 theme: "Defining the New Normal."
The night included the installation of OCBC's 2010 Board of Directors,
including Chair Linda Martin, Vice President and
Managing Director at Porter Novelli. Martin assumes the post held in 2009 by Larry
Buster, Vice President County Manager at First American Title,
who received honors from Special Olympics of Orange County and
proclamations from Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, Congressman John
Campbell, State Senator Lou Correa and Assemblyman Jose Solorio on
behalf of the California Legislature and Bill Campbell on behalf of the
Orange County Board of Supervisors.
"OCBC's key
initiatives are the heart of this county's ability to attract and retain the
best businesses and workers in an increasingly competitive global market," said
Martin. "It is an honor to take an increased leadership role in advocating that
message and I look forward to a very prosperous 2010."
Keynote speaker Rich Karlgaard highlighted that all consumers, corporations,
non-profits and governments must learn to do more with less. "There is reason to have hope in an economic downturn," says Karlgaard. "U.S. markets have bounced back from worse," comparing today's recession to the great depression and great recession of the 70's.
Click here for event photos!
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DUNN AND DONE: SQUIRREL!
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Have
you seen Disney's animated movie, UP?
It's a great story about Carl, a 78 year old retired salesman who ties
balloons to his house and flies away with Russell, an 8 year old stowaway, and
his faithful dog, Dug. It's a wonderful
story, very touching.
The
dog, however, really caught my attention.
Dug has a special collar that allows him to speak! He helps Carl and Russell on his adventures
throughout the film, but does have one tragic flaw: Dug gets distracted by squirrels. He may be on the most important mission of
his life, but when he sees a squirrel out of the corner of his eye, his
attention is completely diverted and-"SQUIRREL!"-he says. Off he runs to chase it.
Doesn't this remind you of some of our state
leaders? The mission is jobs
creation--private sector jobs creation--pure and simple. It's about getting folks employed who can pay
taxes, and businesses that hire, grow and pay taxes, that will help Sacramento
get its house in order. How can a state
leader help create jobs? In one of three
ways: reduce taxes and fees; reduce the
glut of regulations business faces every day; and reduce opportunities for
frivolous lawsuits... [READ MORE]
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CALIFORNIA JOBS INITIATIVE LOOKS TO SUSPEND AB32
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 The
Government Affairs Committee hosted Assemblymember Dan Logue at its recent
meeting to learn more about the "California Jobs Initiative." The purpose is to
suspend the operation and implementation of AB32, also known as The Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006.
Assemblymember Logue has teamed up with
Congressman Tom McClintock and
Ted Costa of People's Advocate to
introduce an initiative to suspend AB32 until the unemployment rate in
California
drops to 5.5% or lower for four consecutive calendar quarters. The California
Job Initiative believes that the implementation of AB32 will be ineffective and
counterproductive.
California produces only 1.4% of the world's
greenhouse gas emissions, so our efforts to address climate change cannot be
successful alone. However, the state's "go-it-alone" approach will impose
significant cost increases on business, and further reduce California's ability to
create a competitive economic climate. The campaign is currently gathering
petitions and has until April 12, 2010 to achieve its goal of 685,000. More
information can be found at www.getcaliforniabacktowork.com.
The committee
was provided information on the other 80 ballot measures currently in
circulation, with those being tracked by OCBC staff as being most impactful to
business highlighted. Further updates were provided by representatives from the
County of
Orange, the Sheriff's
office, and the office of Congressman John Campbell. For more info, please contact Kate Klimow.
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HOW WILL THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE REFORM AFFECT YOUR BUSINESS?
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 Last week, OCBC was pleased to welcome Mr. Dean Rosen, a partner at Mehlman
Vogel Castagnetti Inc. as he addressed the
Health
Care Task Force on the future of Health Care reform on the national level. Mr.
Rosen spoke to the question of "How
will the future of Health Care reform affect your
business, and
why you should care." He stated
that,
to date, 45 million Americans are uninsured and the rising cost of health care
is squeezing the consumers. In fact, 20% of the United States GDP will be over
the cost of health care.
Mr. Rosen spoke to the
current state of the economy and the nation's mood over Health Care reform.
In short,
business should care about the health
care system because ultimately it will impact the economy and workers if some
sort of solution is not reached. In addition, the funding of the comprehensive
plan includes taxes and fees imposed on "wealthy" individuals and, in some
cases, certain sectors of the health industry.
The White
House on Friday issued its formal invitation to Republicans to attend a health
care summit on Feb. 25, calling it "the next step" in the process of reforming
the country's broken health insurance system. Democrats have passed two very
different bills through the House and Senate and had been working to reconcile
them in the days before Republican Scott Brown emerged victorious in the
Massachusetts Senate race last month.
White House
aides had indicated that work on that reconciliation had continued and that
Obama would come to the table on Feb. 25 with some version of a merged bill.
Republicans have said the only way for the president to show he is serious about
bipartisanship is to scrap the two Democratic bills and start
over.
The latest Post-ABC News poll shows
that only 44% of American support the proposed changes in the health-care system
being debated in Congress, while 51% oppose them. Despite this mandate from
the public, Congress seems eager to push through a reform bill regardless of
public support. For more info, please contact Alicia Berhow.
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OCBC RECEIVES UPDATE FROM CALIFORNIA STATE TREASURER BILL
LOCKYER
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California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer was a featured speaker for a
packed house at OCBC's Workforce Housing Committee Meeting held last week.
Known for his plain talk and common
sense approach, Mr. Lockyer did acknowledge that housing priority has
fallen by the way side for the state. At the same time, he felt that investing
in education is the long term solution for jobs creating and higher personal
wealth. Unfortunately, due to the challenging economy, the state will once
again have to make very difficult decisions when it comes to housing, education,
and infrastructure. All three are key to California's economic
recovery.
Mr. Lockyer
shared his view of California's budget crisis, highlighting the
volatility of our revenue. "California's economy is very schizophrenic,"
said Lockyer. "When we're up, we're up and when we're down, we're down. The
problem is that we didn't fix the roof when the sun was
shining."
Treasurer Lockyer has continually
admonished the legislature to provide a balanced budget and be more disciplined
in their spending. He would like to see some modest reforms to the process
including the establishment of a significant rainy day fund, mid-year budget
correction, and performance-based budgeting. He went on to mention that 6,000
projects over the last two years have been frozen because of budget issues.
They were restarted with bond sales
last Spring and Fall, but new bond sales are needed to keep those
projects going and to start new ones. "We need $3.5 billion more in order to
complete projects that are already in the pipeline," he said. "I think we can do
that."
Although many of
the state's statistics - unemployment, personal income levels, credit rating,
etc - are bleak, Treasurer Lockyer did offer a few rays of hope for the
attentive audience of Orange County business leaders. "California is the eighth
largest economy in the world and the diversity of [this] economy is amazing."
In conclusion, the Treasurer made a statement not often heard from our elected
leaders, he thanked the business community for creating jobs and building the
economy, "Without what you do, we [government] could't do what we do." For more info, please contact Kate Klimow.
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BE COUNTED!!! PARTICIPATE IN THE CALIFORNIA COMPLETE COUNT
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The State of California is partnering with the U.S. Census Bureau to organize and implement the decennial census outreach effort. Working together, California's goal will be to have a complete count of California residents on April 1, 2010.
In an effort to support the Census Bureau, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger created the California Complete Count Committee to ensure Californians get
their fair share of federal resources and Congressional representation
by encouraging the full participation of all Californians in Census
2010.
In March of 2010, census forms will be delivered to every residence in
the United States and Puerto Rico. When you receive yours, just answer
the 10 short questions and then mail the form back in the postage-paid
envelope provided.
The 2010 Census will help communities receive over $400 billion in federal funding each year for things like hospitals, schools, job training centers, senior centers, emergency services, and public works projects.
The data collected by the census also helps determine the number of
seats California has in the U.S. House of Representatives. For the
first time in the our 160 year history, California may lose an existing
congressional seat if we do not have a complete count in 2010.
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ANAHEIM PROGRAM OFFERS INCENTIVES FOR MAJOR PURCHASES
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In a move to benefit consumers
and bolster the local economy, Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle together with the
Anaheim City Council approved the Anaheim Purchase Incentive Program (API),
which provides for a partial rebate of local sales taxes to encourage major
purchases within the City of Anaheim. The City will give half of its
collected 1% sales tax back to the consumer on purchases of $20,000 or more,
from businesses located in Anaheim. This offer is open to anyone making a
single purchase or a combination of items purchased at one time, and is
available multiple times from a business within the City, whether or not the
buyer is based in Anaheim, for the duration of the program. Mayor Curt Pringle has said that the goal with API is to stimulate the local
economy and give something back to the consumer. "A small incentive can make a
big difference in today's business climate."
Both individual consumers and
businesses will be able to apply for a rebate of sales taxes paid on qualifying
taxable transactions. The program will be implemented through the City's Web
site, www.anaheim.net/api. Complete details
and forms are located online and at the Finance Department at City Hall. Qualifying purchases made in Anaheim between Feb. 10, 2010 and June 30, 2010
are eligible for this rebate program. For more information please visit www.anaheim.net/api or send an e-mail to
api@anaheim.net.
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OCBC MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: LAER PEARCE AND ASSOCIATES
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As one of Orange
County's leading public affairs firms, Laer Pearce & Associates specializes
in difficult and mission-critical communication assignments for business,
industry and public agencies. For 26
years, Laer Pearce &
Associates has helped clients achieve their highest objectives: winning
approval for controversial projects, educating the public, campaigning against
over-regulation and protecting our clients' reputations.
Laer Pearce &
Associates was founded in 1983 with a simple mission: "To do important work for
important clients." They have done just
that, winning 55 of the 57 public affairs campaigns managed for water
districts, business coalitions, cable companies and land developers; helping
government agencies and corporations weather crises, and creating branding
efforts as diverse as introducing a new, post-bankruptcy Orange County and
building the world's largest burrito.
Laer Pearce &
Associates has deep roots
in Orange County and is committed to supporting the OCBC's efforts to secure
the county's ongoing success. For more information on Laer Pearce &
Associates, visit their website at www.laer.com.
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BUSINESS COUNCIL UNVEILS NEW ADVOCACY ACTION CENTER
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The Business Council now makes it easier to take action and get involved on the issues that matter most to businesses in Orange County. With the new Advocacy Action Center you can:
1. Track key legislation that OCBC is following.
2. Gain access to the most up-to-date legislative directory.
3. TAKE ACTION! As issues unfold, OCBC's Advocacy Action Center is your one stop shop to send letters to your legislators.
Click here to tour the new Advocacy Action Center! For more info, please contact Kate Klimow.
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OCBC COMMITTEE MEETINGS
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March 2010
 Latino Educational Attainment Committee
Friday, March 5, 2010 from 9 - 10:30 a.m.
Infrastructure Committee
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 from 7:30 - 9 a.m.
Economic Development Committee
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 from 9 - 10:30 a.m.
Workforce Development Committee
Wednesday, March 24, 2010 from 7:30 - 9 a.m.
Community Colleges Working Group
Thursday, March 25, 2010 from 3 - 4:30 p.m.
Committee meetings are open to
OCBC members and invited guests only. All committee meetings are held
at the OCBC offices unless otherwise specified. For more information on
upcoming committee meetings for 2009 check out OCBC's Committees.
Looking to get more involved?
Click below to receive specific committee notices.
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| COMMUNITY EVENTS |
The State of Education in Orange County 2010 - February 25, 2010Join the Orange County Department of Education for informative presentations on national, state, and local issues geared toward increasing awareness of relevant topics affecting the economic and community well-being of Orange County. Orange County Superintendent of Schools, Bill Habermehl, will present Orange County's 2010 State of Education Report. Additional speakers include OCBC's Lucy Dunn, and Ronald Bennett from Schools Services of California. Click here for more event information and to register. 2010 Annual Good Neighbor Awards Dinner - February 25, 2010
The 33rd Annual Good Neighbor Awards is presented to
individuals or organizations for their outstanding dedication and innovation to
providing housing solutions for working families in Orange County. The
honorees are committed to the helping working families invest in themselves and
their community through homeownership, financial management and civic
engagement. It is with Good Neighbors that NHS OC is able to continue to serve
so many families in Orange County.
The Good Neighbor Awards Dinner is an opportunity for
the housing community to celebrate outstanding individuals or organizations as
well as raise needed funds to continue to provide programs to working families
to transform lives and strengthen communities through homeownership.
NHS OC
is proud to announce that State Controller John Chiang will be the emcee. The Annual Awards Dinner will be held on Thursday, February 25th
at the Nixon Library from 6 pm - 8 pm.
For more info and to register, visit
www.nhsoc.org. Orange County Forum 2010 State of the County - March 18, 2010Will Orange County remain the high tech and innovation hub over the next 10 years? The release of the 2010 Orange County Community Indicators Report will serve as a catalyst for discussion and an assessment of Orange County's future economic growth in this increasingly important sector of our economy. This in-depth report includes a 10-year retrospective that can guide the discussion of what is necessary for Orange County to continue its growth in this vital business sector. The Orange County Forum is pleased to feature representatives from OCTANe, Orange County's premiere innovation network, as part of this year's panel. We also are excited to welcome back Lucy Dunn, President of the Orange County Business Council who will serve as the moderator for what has historically been a lively discussion of the report and what it means for the future of Orange County. Click here for more info and to register. |
IS IT NEWS TO YOU? THEN IT'S NEWS WE CAN USE!
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Have an event coming up? Was your company just
highlighted in the news? Are you doing something great in Orange
County? The Business Council wants to know about it. Now OCBC members can submit news stories for OCBC's E-Update Indicator
Newsletter.
Click here and fill out the submission form for one of Orange County's premier business news source. Not a member? Click here for more information on how to get involved and join the leading voice of business in Orange County.
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SPREAD THE WORD! IMPACT THE WORLD! FORWARD YOUR COPY TO ASSOCIATES!
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Forward OCBC's E-Indicator to friends and colleagues by clicking on the "Forward Email" link at the bottom of the email and encourage them to sign up for one of Orange County's premier business publications!
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TUNE INTO OCBC-TV WEBCASTS AND GET CAUGHT UP ON THE LATEST EVENTS
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BUSINESS MEETS SOCIAL MEDIA
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 Do you tweet? Have a Facebook page or surf YouTube? Then follow the latest news
and information from OCBC online! The leading voice of business is connecting
you to business in Orange County like never before.
If you
have questions on how to get connected with the Business Council online, please
contact Director of Communications, Matt Prince at 949.794.7221. | |
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2 Park Plaza, Suite 100, Irvine CA 92614 | www.ocbc.org | PH: 949.476.2242 | FAX: 949.476.9240 | |
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