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Greetings!
SEPTEMBER MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN
"Towards a 21st Century Industrial Revolution"
After four plus years of economic stagnation, or outright recession, depending on your point of view, it ought to be obvious that America prospering as a "consumer based economy" is as unlikely as a Labor Day snow storm in Chico. For a good portion of the past decade, many people thought appreciating home prices equaled prosperity. The scenario was; (1) buy a home, (2) mortgage it to the hilt; (3) pull out cash and buy boats and big screen TV's then sell your home at a profit and repeat steps one through three. How did that work out for us? The truth is using your home like an ATM doesn't create wealth because, without irrational and unsustainable escalation in home prices, there are only two ways your home can create wealth for your family. One way is selling the family home, moving and repurchasing in a community with significantly lower cost housing and pocketing the difference. The other way is to die and leave your home to your heirs.
 | Steve Gonsalves
Chairman of the Board,
CEPCO |
How about we try a 21st century industrial revolution instead? How about we focus on creating new entrepreneurial enterprises which generate high wage jobs exporting goods and services and importing cash? How about we create new taxpayers and correspondingly reduce the demand for social services? This has been CEPCO's mission for over twenty-five years. Although our implementation strategies have changed with the times our vision has remained steadfast.
At this point in time, innovation, which is the commercialization of advanced technology, is our best hope of creating a green and growing economy. For the past few months CEPCO has been working with successful entrepreneurs and business leaders in our community to determine Chico's current ability to foster innovation. We refer to the results of this process as "our innovation scorecard." Not unexpectedly our strengths are a great quality of life and the presence of the "entrepreneurial incubators" CSU, Chico and Butte College. The primary obstacles faced by innovative companies in our community are; inadequate access to venture capital, too few seasoned advanced technology mentors, the lack of affordable high speed internet service and difficulty in getting into or out of Chico by land or air. We will have complete results for our innovation scorecard process available soon, but based on preliminary results, we have great innovation potential.
During the process we identified fifty companies in our region with the potential for innovation. Some are small start-ups while others are established and facing the challenges identified in our scorecard process. All these companies produce goods and services that are highly scalable, meaning that with the necessary resources, they can grow very quickly. In the coming months we will reach out to these companies and others we learn of to see if we can help remove their obstacles to innovation. By bringing attention to these companies we also hope to expand the culture of innovation in our community. This is CEPCO's mission critical because you will not have a successful 21st century industrial revolution in a community that doesn't believe they are a center for innovation.
Sincerely,
Steve Gonsalves
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Innovation Scorecard Presented to CEPCO Board of Directors
Chico's readiness to support innovation and impediments to the innovation process discussed at dynamic meeting on August 25th
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On Thursday, August 25, the CEPCO Board of Directors heard a series of presentations focusing on Innovation in the Chico area. First and foremost was a discussion of the readiness of our community to support innovative entrepreneurs and the various impediments we face in cultivating the growth of economically scalable enterprises. Jon Gregory, Bob Linscheid and Rick Hubbard of GROW-California brought the initial findings of their "Innovation Scorecard" before the Board for discussion. The initial findings suggest, perhaps unsurprisingly, that Chico struggles in some areas deemed essential for innovation (access to industry veterans, capital/venture investment potential, infrastructure) yet excels in some ancillary areas (quality of life, childcare, recreational opportunities). Beyond anything else though, Chico is seen as having enormous innovative potential due to our educational centers (CSU Chico and Butte College, even K-12). What lies before the community is the task of maximizing the effectiveness of the resources at our disposal to create unique advantages for local innovators and combat our impediments.
Bob Linscheid reminded the board that old models of economic development, even when supported with significant resources and data, have failed to secure our economic future and have led to substantial job loss. 2007 marked the beginning of a new model with the creation of the CEPCO Tech Group to analyze and support the burgeoning local tech sector. These jobs feature scalable business models, high wages, and liquidity potential. Jon Gregory sees a "path we should be following" to ensure a financing "food chain" for growth oriented innovative companies. The Scorecard is an on-the-ground practicum for evaluating a community's economic potential and progress by sustained focus and real attention on improving the impediments to fostering innovation. For a detailed discussion of the impediments to Innovation in Chico, download the Chico Scorecard Project Key Findings.
Also on the agenda was a presentation from a home-grown innovative entrepreneur Robert Strazzarino. Robert's company College Scheduler, started when he was a CSU Chico student, produces fully pre-made schedules for college students. College Scheduler is a "software as service" company, in which universities pay a yearly subscription fee for the service. Robert has proven successful adapting his revenue and corporate structure to find the appropriate combination of factors for success. It is a dynamic process, and tools like Salesfore.com, Jira, and GoToMeeting have helped. College Scheduler represents exactly the type of locally grown, growth-oriented, first to market companies that CEPCO is looking to develop here in Chico.
Rounding out the presentations was Rory Rottschalk of the Community Alliance for Educational Excellence presented. His organization is looking to bring one-on-one tutoring to the roughly 40% of Chico students who cannot perform at grade level. Part of the Alliance's objective is to decrease pressure on teachers to focus on underachieving students, leaving educational resources free to help advanced students continue to excel and push them. The focus is on reading skills, with math shortly behind. They are also overhauling K-12 tech offerings, and John Shepherd solicited the Board for advice on thus measure, distributing a Fresno school's course offerings and requesting the board's input on if Chico should adopt something similar, and if so, what the courses should be.
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SAVE THE DATE!
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Recology and Tri Counties Bank
When: October 27th, 2011
Time: 5:15 p.m.
Location: Bell Memorial Union, Chico State
Title Sponsors
 
Corporate Sponsors
         
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Inaugural Wondrous Women Conference
"Embrace YOUR Wonders" - September 22-23, Sierra Nevada Brewery
Join us September 22, 2011 for our Wondrous Women Beer Tasting & Networking Seminar and September 23, 2011 for a day of transformation at our Women's Conference. Both events are at Sierra Nevada Brewery.
The Wondrous Women 2011 Conference will provide two days of education, connecting, motivation, inspiration, and empowerment with women within our community and beyond. Women are the gems of the world, but the daily grind takes a toll and can lessen our sparkle. This conference is sure to remind all women of the wondrousness that lives deep within each of us and will empower every person in attendance to remember, "If you can dream it, you can do it, so dream big ladies!" All participants will leave feeling refreshed, renewed, and better equipped with the tools necessary to be the change they wish to see in our community and beyond!
The Wondrous Women Beer Tasting and Networking Seminar is from 4-7 pm on September 22, 2011 and costs $30 to attend. All participants will enjoy sampling of Sierra Nevada Beers & appetizers, while learning realistic tips and skills for networking for professional growth and advancement. This is a 21 and over event.
The Wondrous Women Conference is from 8-4 on September 23, 2001 and costs $60 to attend. Registration costs will include breakfast, lunch, and dessert. Attendees will hear from motivational experts on various topics such as: self love-self respect, finding your passion, self defense, creating your reality, and more.
Participants that intend to participate in both days may purchase tickets for $75.
For more information please email: wondrouswomen@gmail.com or visit our website which includes a complete line-up of our speakers at: http://www.wondrouswomen.com/conference
To register for the Conference: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1745696425/efblike
Follow us on Facebook or Twitter:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Wondrous-Women/138178316212612
http://twitter.com/wondrouswomen
This event is made possible by our generous sponsors:
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Sincerely,
Bob Linscheid,
President/CEO
CEPCO |
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--September--
Thursday, Sept. 1st
Chico Innovation Council
7:30 a.m.
Chamber of Commerce Conference Room
300 Salem Street
Special Guest Speaker:
Derek Sine of Roomeo Thursday, Sept. 22nd
Chico Innovation Council 7:30 a.m.
Special Guest Speaker: Angela Casler of Sustainability Management Consulting
Chamber of Commerce Conference Room
300 Salem Street -------------------------------------
Stay up to date with CEPCO's Meetings and Events by using the CEPCO Google Calendar 
Click the calendar to get access, then simply add it to your calendar and reference events at your leisure! |
Carol Thomson
Weddings North Valley.com
I got my BA from Chico State in 1964 - MA in 1967. My husband and I lived in Martinez, CA until we moved to the south shore of Lake Tahoe in 1967. I worked in hospitality and tourism industry until in 1999 we decided it was time to "get off the hill" which is code for NO MORE SNOW! I was head of the Gilroy Visitors Bureau, followed by a stint in dot com marketing in the Silicon Valley. We moved back to Northern California, following 9/11 and the crash of my industry... To read the rest of Carol'sstory CLICK HERE Visit Weddings North Valley.com online Keep up with
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