californiareview.com . . . a positive resource for local economic development practitioners in and around California's Central Valley

Californiareview.com is a free weekly resource for economic development practitioners in and around the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley regions. This positive resource helps practitioners stay on top of regional economic news and trends.

/s/ Tony Daysog

Downtown & Neighborhoods

San Joaquin Valley and Nearby Regions

D'town Clovis launches free wi-fi (Fresno Bee)

Fresno gets aggressive for d'town (Bee, Bee)

Sacramento Valley and Nearby Regions

Redding transforms d'town, alters mall (Searchlight)

Corning to renovate theater (Corning Observer)

Oroville restoring its d'town Pflueger theater (MR)

Loomis planning its downtown (Loomis News)

D'town Sac will weather d'turn well, says expert (Sac Bee)

EconomicDevelopmentNotes

Economic crisis from POV of literary author (Fast Company)

Taft: county's climate-smart city (Independent, Midway-Driller)

Guv appoints Valley economic development leader (Bee)

Kings Co. readying for Amgen bike race (Sentinel)

Women-friendly planning boosts d'town (Sac Biz Jrnl)

Loomis celebrates 25th birthday (Loomis News)
Profile: San Joaquin Co. PW director (Stockton Record)

CALED: stimulus summit: 2/19/2009

CALED: annual conference: 4/15-17/2009

CRA: annual conference: 4/1-3/2009

Economic Trends, Forecasts

Sac State issues economic forecast (Sac Biz Journal)

Keys to growth discussed at Tri-County conf (Chico ER, ER)
SF Federal Reserve leader's sobering picture (SF Chronicle)

Fewer travellers through Fresno airport (Fresno Bee)
Supermarkets doing ok despite d'turn (Fresno Bee)

Roseville, Rocklin businesses handlng d'turn (Tribune, Herald)

Redding unemployment hits a high (Searchlight)

State economy worse than initially thought (Sac Bee)

Placer Co. unemployment up (Auburn Journal)

Butte Co. joblessness high (Chico ER)

Difficulties ahead for Shasta Co. builders (Searchlight)

Kern County unemployment up, up, too (Californian)

Auto row, auto woes. . . not all bad news

Sacramento redeveloping former auto row (Bee)

Bakersfield dealers getting innovative (Californian)
Ag equipment sales dipping, too (Modesto Bee)

Jackson Ford dealership hanging on (Ledger-Dispatch)
Modesto Mazda dealership closes (Modesto Bee)

Economic Development Plans

Taft considers urban village concept for key site (press release)

Riverbank GP update moving along (Modesto Bee)

Elk Grove to study annexation impacts (Sac Biz Jrnl)

Biggs' forum on planning growth (Gridley Herald)

Orland reviewing its General Plan (Press-Register)

Business Attraction, Retention

Lodi mulls over incentives options (Stockton Record)
Manteca angling for large Wal-Mart distribution ctr (Bulletin)

Wal-Mart eyes supercenter for Patterson (Irrigator)

Lodi supercenter battle on-going (Stockton Record, Bee)

Galt planning for a Wal-Mart (Galt Herald)
EDD, Stanislaus Co. aid job seeker (Modesto Bee)

Central Valley shareholders watch Gottschalks (Bee)
Manteca successsfully re-uses closed plant (Bulletin)

Losing Gottschalks, Mervyns worry malls (Fresno Bee)

Woodside monitoring Gottschalks situation (Daily Dem)
Cost Plus down sizing in San Joaquin Co. (Record)

Fresno retailers handling d'turn (Business Street)

Unplugged . . . Circuit City . . Gottschalks too?
Two San Joaquin Co. Circuit Cities to close (Record)

Five closures in and around Sacramento (Sac Bee)

Bakersfield to lose one Circuit City (Californian)

Central Valley shareholders watch Gottschalks (Bee)

Filling emptied stores a challenge (Valley Voice)

Gottschalks files for bankruptcy (Times-Delta, Bee, Californian)
Modesto businesses concerned about Gottschalks (Bee)
Redding concerns about possible loss, too (Searchlight)
Losing Gottschalks, Mervyns worry malls (Fresno Bee)

Tracy not sure what's next: Gottschalks (Press)
Woodside monitoring Gottschalks situation (Daily Dem)
Yuba Sutter mall on edge too (Appeal-Democrat)
Chico Gottschalks okay thus far (Chico ER)

Visitor-Serving Campaigns

Bird-watching a draw for Galt (Galt Herald)

Chico celebrates birds, too (Chico ER)

Red Bluff chamber eyes visitor-serving events (Searchlight)
Salmon season ok for Valley region (Sacramento Bee)
Colusa holds 23rd annual gun show (Sun Herald)

Artists discuss economic impacts (Reedley Exponent)
Lake Co. attends Bay Area tourism show (Record Bee)

Commercial\Industrial Projects

Industrial/Commercial/Civic Projects

Court ok's Yolo Co. plant re-use decision (Sac Biz Jrnl)

Funds for West Park industrial (Turlock Journal)

West Park developer fronts money (Irrigator)

Manteca after large Wal-Mart distribution site (Bulletin)
Fresno commish passes on asphalt (Fresno Bee)

Chevron eyes offices in Lathrop (Stockton Record)

Small retail center opening in Tracy (Record)

Residential, mixed-use

Smart growth home builder facing difficulties (Sac Bee)

West Sac considers 2,600 units/3 million sqft (Sac Biz Jrnl)

Miscellaneous

Woodland gets Costco to pass on tobacco (Daily Democrat)

Nestle, McCloud continue h2o talks (Siskiyou Daily News)
Mayors across US lining up for stimulus (WSJ)

NYC getting $3.4 billion stimulus? (New York Times)

Chico preparing for Obama stimulus plan (ER)

Visalia also eyeing stimulus (Times-Delta)

Amador Co.'s "shovel-ready" projects (Ledger-Dispatch)

Retailers seek stimulus, too (Business Week)

Manteca lobbies for federal aid (Bulletin)

Manteca Mayor discusses budget (Bulletin)

Orland planning April business expo (Press-Register)
Redding manufacturer cuts force (Searchlight)

Community "Third Place": Coffee Shops

Starbucks encourages volunteerism (Fast Company)

Internet Access, Infrastructure

Congress considering dollars for high-speed (WSJ)

Broadband part of imminent stimulus? (NYT)

Broadband bill not enough, says expert (Business Week)

"Obama: go slow with broadband," says writer (Business Week)

Youth, Education, Workforce Development

Butte College's job-track program for youths (Chico ER)

State of Cities, Counties

Kingsburg cuts budget by $160,000 (Recorder)

Stockton tackling budget deficit (Record)

Manteca mulling over two-person fire truck (Bulletin)

Manteca finds ways to reduce budget (Bulletin)

Shasta Co. cautious about capital projects (Searchlight)

Brentwood cuts $2.5 million (Contra Costa Times)

Sanger discusses possible lay-offs (Herald)

Gustine balancing its budget (Westside Connect)
Chico discusses state of city (Chico ER)

State budget crisis affects Reedley agencies (Exponent)

Ripon deals with budget shortfall (Bulletin)

Lincoln's tough decisions, making cut (Lincoln Messenger)

Folsom's tough choices, too (Folsom Telegraph)
Rocklin trying to avoid lay-offs (Placer Herald)

Municipal bonds, insurance, etc.

Expert discusses pros, cons of current market (Forbes)

Downturn "squeezes" municipal bonds (Sac Biz Jrnl)
Muni bonds enjoy good run, cooling off now (LA Times)

Treasury-backed muni bonds ease concerns (Market Watch)
MBIA, Ambac eye TARP (Bond Buyer)

Agriculture: A Way of Life

42nd annual World Ag Expo on track (Manteca Bulletin)

D'turn affects Fresno Co. farmers (Kingsburg Recorder)
Sacramento Valley rice doing . . nice (Bee)

Honey bee shortage - maybe (Chico ER)

Federal dollars to help clean air (Modesto Bee)

Mendocino Co. hops is bumper crop (Daily News)
Tulare County plums (Porterville Recorder)

Mooo over . . . dairies eyeing stimulus (Valley Voice)

Central Valley dairies feeling pinched (Stockton Record, VVoice)

Community facilities

Elk Grove planning community center (Citizen)

Almost $500M in Valley projects halted (Sac Biz Jrnl)

Rancho Cordova highway moving forward (Grapevine)

Riverbank re-assessing its d'town purchase (Fresno Bee)

Lindsay's new indoor skatepark (Exeter Sun, Times-Delta)

Skate parks: make way for "ham boards" (LA Times)

Alternative and Traditional Energy

PG&E discusses wave power off Mendocino (Beacon)

Alternative energy growing (Wall Street Journal)

Madera ethanol plant temporarily closes (Modesto Bee)

Pixley ethanol plant also temporarily shutters (Valley Voice)

Alternative energy manufacturers see growth (Site Selection)

"Cloudy outlook" for solar (Oakland Tribune)

Fresno manufacturer adopts solar (Fresno Bee)
Del Monte might pass on solar (Modesto Bee)

Asia watch: global customers, competition

Japan, South Korea to step up? (WSJ)

China economy slowing down -- still 8% (WSJ)

About Us
Californiareview.com is produced by Tony Daysog, a Senior Associate with an economic development consulting company, called Applied Development Economics. He earned his Master's degree in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley, where he also earned a Bachelor's degree in US History. You can reach him by e-mail at tony_daysog@alum.berkeley.edu.

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