californiareview . com
a positive resource for economic development practitioners in & around the Central Valley
 
In this issue...
Downtown Revitalization
Economic Trends, Forecasts
Business Attraction
Visitor-Serving Campaigns
Commercial\Industrial
Miscellaneous
Statewide EDOs 
San Joaquin Valley
Sacramento Valley
Surrounding Areas
University ED
Think Tanks, etc.
Business Media
vol. 003, nos. 006 Feb 10 - Feb 17, 2009

Greetings!

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
Sacramento Valley and Nearby Areas 
D'town Yreka improves parking (Siskiyou Daily News
 

EconomicDevelopmentNotes 
Nominate your city or EDO for an EDA "Excellence" award (EDA)
Nominate your city for "Fast Company" award (Fast Company
Former Rocklin assistant city manager honored (Cal City News
Oakdale named one of best "western towns" (Modesto Bee
CALED: stimulus summit: 2/19/2009 
CALED: annual conference: 4/15-17/2009
CRA:
annual conference: 4/1-3/2009

Stimulus News
Stimulus for high-speed rail (Merced Sun Star, Washington Post)
Main Street USA awaits stimulus dollars (
WSJ, NYT)
Not clear how stimulus will be awarded, say some (
Yahoo)
Stimulus lowers cost of borrowing for cities? (
Bloomberg)

Jobs Listing
. Economic Development Manager, Yuba City (CalOPPs)
. Economic Development Specialist, San Bernardino Co. (CB) 
. Planning Director, Calaveras Co. (CRA
  

 
 
Economic Trends, Forecasts 
Other states trying to steal our businesses (WSJ, SF Chronicle
Sacramento lost almost 24,000 jobs in '08 (Sac Biz Journal)
Activist talks about "buying local" (Christian Science Monitor
California exports fall with economy (Sacramento Bee)
D'turn affects Newman, Gustine retailers (Connect
Sacramento-area banks eye bailout (Sac Biz Journal
FDIC-shuttered County Bank back (Fresno Bee, Merced Sun Star)
WestAmerica to run County Bank (Sun Star, Mariposa Gazette
 
 
 
 
Economic Development Plans 
Tehama Co. commish review GP update (Press Register
Granite Bay updating community plan (Roseville Press Tribune
Turlock reviewing General Plan (Modesto Bee)
Strong turn-out for Taft rail road charette (
Independent
Activists get court to temporarily halt Tulare GP (Valley Voice
 
 

 
Business Attraction, Retention 
Chico mall expansion on hold for now (Chico ER)
700,000 sqft retail project for Shasta Co. (Searchlight)
Auburn excited about Trader Joes (
Auburn Journal
Wal-Mart buys land in Town of Paradise (Paradise Post
Home Depot opening in Auburn (Sacramento Bee
Manteca mom & pop grocer's key to success (Bulletin
West Sacramento bakery grows (Sac Biz Jrnl
Restaurants save by buying in bulk (Sac Biz Jrnl
Glenn Co. businesses get tech assistance (Press Register)
Third Fresh n Easy opens in Bako (Californian)
Sacramento mall reduces hours (Sacramento Bee
Bako Wal-Mart expansion gets okay (Californian)
Patterson concerned about new Wal-Mart (
Irrigator
Elk Grove concerned about 24-7 Wal-Mart (Elk Grove Citizen)
 

 
 
Visitor-Serving Campaigns 
Lodi winery scene growing (Stockton Record

 
  
  
Commercial\Industrial Projects 
Residential, mixed-use
Tracy limits itself to 600 permits per year (Press

  
 
 
Miscellaneous
Logging conference goes on despite d'turn (Searchlight
Central Valley eyes eco-friendly growth (Modesto Bee
Fresno area officials lobby D.C. (Reedley Exponent
Firebaugh city manager talks in D.C. about census (Fresno Bee
Chico alters how it funds economic development (ER
Wal-Mart is health care innovator (Washington Post
)
Land values fall around Fresno (Fresno Bee
Chico says it's a "fair trade" town (Chico ER)
 
Community "Third Place": Coffee Shops
Starbucks gets into instant coffee (Wall Street Journal) 
 
Internet Infrastructure, Access
"Do we need a new internet?" (New York Times)
Stimulus includes internet after all (
San Francisco Chronicle)
 
State of Cities, Counties
City of Taft sits on healthy reserve (Midway Driller
Furloughs in Tehama County (Redding Searchlight)
Folsom garners high bond rating (Folsom Telegraph
Manteca considers furloughs (Stockton Record)
Turlock wrestles with $5 million gap (Journal
Ceres lets go of 11 workers (Ceres Courier
Locals help Manteca, Sanger close gap (Sanger Herald, Bulletin
Fresno Co., cities debate tax apportionment (Bee
Lathrop mulls over budget situation (Stockton Record)
 
Municipal bonds, insurance, etc.
Moody's reviews taxable municipal bonds (Bloomberg)
Possible muni bond oversight (Bloomberg, Bond Buyer
Still more upside to munis, says analyst (Business Week)
 
Agriculture: A Way of Life
Poor returns make fruit growers eye other crops (Times-Delta)
One of largest rice producers goes solar (Appeal Democrat
Light wine crop in Madera Co. (Madera Tribune)
Dairy industry sells cows to beef farms (
Modesto Bee)
 
Community facilities
Makeover for Anderson amphitheater (Valley Post
Redding fixes bridge designed by famous architect (Searchlight
Brentwood's community center moving along (CC Times
Kingsburg starts planning skate park (Recorder
 
Alternative and Traditional Energy
Ethanol hits bump on road (New York Times, NBC News
Siskiyou Co. eyes hydro power (Siskiyou Daily News
High interest in equipment at ag-expo (Fresno Bee)
Ex-gang members install solar panels (
Wall Street Journal

AsiaWatch: global customers, global competitors 
IMF: rapid recovery for Asia (India Times)
Indian outsourcing company outsources here (NY Times)
 
 
 
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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