Winter 2011 Yuba County, California E-Note

Winter Quarter 2011, Volume 4

The Yuba County E-Note Wishes You Happy Holidays!

Library Open House Unveils New Computers

2011 Champion of Yuba County Donates Funding

Naumes was recognized for its contribution of $18,000 for the purchase of 20 new computers at a Yuba County Library Open House December 8, 2011. Mike Naumes accepted a proclamation from Friends of the Library President Cynthia Fontayne and then proceeded to use giant scissors in a "virtual" ribbon-cutting ceremony displaying

Library Ribbon Cutting, December 8, 2011

Mike Naumes Digitally Cuts Ribbon

a ribbon being snipped on a large television monitor. The Friends of the Packard Library helped defray the sales taxes for the purchase and also paid to include DVD players in addition to the donation of $18,000 made through the Joe and Frances Naumes Family Foundation.

"The new computers have added a big spark to the services the library is able to provide to our residents," said Yuba County Library Acting Director Kevin Mallen. "This donation makes it possible for library patrons to access information they need for research, job hunting, and so much more."

The Yuba County Library is one of the longest-continuously operating libraries west of the Mississippi, starting its book lending in Marysville in 1855, just five years after California became a state and Yuba one of the founding counties. Tours provided by library staff during the open house featured the "California Room," a large collection of historical books and material about early statehood and accounts of its formation.

Naumes is a local fruit packing business honored as the "2011 Champion of Yuba County" at a luncheon held in April 2011. Click here to watch a video tribute to Naumes' rebuilding activities over the past year.

The Yuba County Library is located at 303 Second Street in Marysville. Call 530.749.7380 for more information or click here.

Yuba-Sutter Business Recognized by CAEZ

California Enterprise Zone "Business of 2011"

Wheatland Mayor Enita Elphick was honored at a California Association of Enterprise Zone (CAEZ) annual meeting and luncheon in Sacramento November 17, 2011. Elphick's business, Unity Forest Products, was the first manufacturing business to open in the newly formed Yuba-Sutter Enterprise Zone in 1988 and was named the "Business of the Year" by CAEZ.

"I'm honored to receive this prestigious award," said Elphick. "We've built this company from the

Enita Elphick Accepts CAEZ Award, Craig Johnson (L) and Mary Hansen (R)

ground up - literally at my kitchen table. We've seen sustained growth over the years and that's partly due to our involvement in the enterprise zone program. There's no doubt in my mind that benefits we've realized through the program have helped us grow our business and employ more local residents."

"Enita and her team have been at the forefront of the fight to preserve enterprise zones in California," said Craig Johnson, president of CAEZ. "She and her partners are committed to creating and retaining jobs in an area of our state that suffers from record unemployment and a stagnant economy. Unity Forest Products is an example of the type of small business that will lead our economy to recovery."

CAEZ established the "Business of the Year Award" to recognize a business within one of the state's 42 enterprise zones that focuses on sustaining employment for Californians in some of the most economically distressed regions.

To learn more about how the Yuba-Sutter Enterprise Zone can benefit your business, call Enterprise Zone Manager Mary Hansen at 530.741.6463 or visit here.

Focus on Beale Air Force Base

Liberty MC-12W Program Stays in Yuba County

Newest Beale Mission to Employ Hundreds

A proposal by the Senate Armed Services Committee to relocate the Liberty MC-12W from the Air Force to the Army was rejected in December 2011. The Air Force's newest spy aircraft will remain in Yuba County after seven arrived at Beale Air Force Base earlier in 2011. Another 30 of the Beechcraft twin-engine airplanes are deployed overseas.

U.S. Air Force Stock Photo of Liberty MC12

The Liberty MC-12W Program is the newest mission to arrive at Beale Air Force Base since the autonomous RQ-4 Global Hawk mission identified Beale as its new home in 2005. Since then, thousands of employees have been associated with the core reconnaissance mission of the base through the use and ongoing maintenance of these new aircraft, as well as the high-altitude U-2 aircraft, T-38 companion trainers, and related activities. The loss of the KC-135 refueling mission during the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process in 2008 has largely been absorbed through retraining existing personnel to accommodate the new incoming missions.

Beale Air Force Base has a long history in Yuba County, after being established as Camp Beale in 1942. Currently it is on the leading edge of training and refining the Air Force's future in technology, particularly as it relates to intercepting and collecting sensitive reconnaissance information and intelligence, including telephone and cell phone communication, and aerial video and photography.

In the 1970's and 1980's The record-setting SR-71 Blackbird first put Yuba County on the map as the home to the highest and fastest flying aircraft on the planet.

Learn more about current the Liberty MC-12W and missions at Beale Air Force Base here.

Beale Airman Receives Spirit of Hope Award

Beale is Best in Air Force Community Outreach

Sergeant Leray Smedley, representing the best in selflessness for the U.S. Air Force, was presented the Spirit of Hope Award by the Defense Department, the family of comedian Bob Hope, the namesake for the award, and the Wiegand Foundation, in a Pentagon ceremony held November 15, 2011.

Spirit of Hope Award

The award to Smedley was presented by Major General Earl Matthews, director of Cyberspace Operations, for Smedley's 300+ hours volunteered, $65,000 in funds raised, and leading 3,000 military and civilian personnel at Beale in community outreach efforts for 70 events and activities.

Many of the volunteer hours Smedley provided were at Edgewater Elementary School in a school readiness program. Other activities included a fashion show for breast cancer survivors, working with underprivileged families in the region and providing research for a Library of Congress veterans history project.

Four additional award recipients included representatives from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard. The Spirit of Hope is awarded annually to one outstanding individual in each branch of the armed forces, who exemplify honor, courage, loyalty, commitment, integrity and selfless dedication.

Learn more about about Beale Air Force Base's Spirit of Hope recipient here.

Posthumous Silver Star Pending for Powers

U-2 Hero Recognized for Cold War Incident

Francis Gary Powers will receive the Silver Star for "steadfast loyalty and sustained courage" 51 years after being shot down in a U-2 spy plane over the former Soviet Union May 1, 1960. In a defining moment of the Cold War, Powers was interrogated at Lubyanka Prison in Moscow by the KGB for 12-16 hours a day for 61 days. In February 1962 he was exchanged for Soviet intelligence officer Rudolph Abel in the first and most dramatic East-West spy swap to occur on the Glienicker Bridge in Berlin, Germany.

Although never stationed at Beale Air Force Base, Powers flew the aircraft that has been bedded down locally since the first U-2 arrived July 12, 1976, and is one of the most recognizable aircraft flying over the Sacramento region. Worldwide there are fewer than 80 U-2 pilots.

U2 Designer with Francis Gary Powers

Beale Air Force and 9th Reconnaissance Wing Commander in 1999 and 2000, and now U.S. Air Force Brigadier General, Kevin Chilton had this to say about Powers, "The mind still boggles what we asked this man to do: Fly in a plane over downtown Moscow, alone, unarmed and unafraid, then to suffer in prison during what indeed was a war, the Cold War."

During his short life Powers received the highest CIA honor, the Intelligence Star for Valor, and the Air Force's Distinguished Flying Cross. When asked how high he was flying on May 1, 1960 (70,500 feet), he would famously reply, "Not high enough."

Powers died while piloting a traffic helicopter in Los Angeles in 1977 at the age of 47 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, a request approved by President Jimmy Carter.

Boy Inventor Impresses Sikorsky

Local High School Student Develops Autonomous Helicopter Design

It's reported that Round Rock, Texas produces an impressive 1.7 patents per 1,000 residents, one of the highest patent-producing percentages outside of Silicon Valley. What Round Rock and Silicon Valley don't have is 15-year old Lindhurst High School student Tharon Trujillo, who has been inventing since gradeschool.

Trujillo, who developed the concept for a small, unmanned helicopter designed for carrying relief supplies

Trujillo Accepts Award from Judy Bankowski, Sikorsky VP/CIO

and electrical power to areas devastated by natural disasters, was flown along with his parents to Sikorsky's corporate headquarters in Stratford, Connecticut. The company presented the youth with a trophy and a $1,000 scholarship check during his visit December 5, 2011. Trujillo met with the company's rotorcraft designer and engineers to discuss his concept, the "FLEA," for Flying Logistics Electrical Assistance.

Trujillo's ideas were considered the best among 243 who entered the contest, according to Vern Van Fleet, a mechanical engineer at Sikorsky and also one of four judges evaluating the submissions.

At the age of 13, inventions like the "Lock N Block Sliding Door Gate" and the "Bathe-Aid" propelled Tharon Trujillo into the Museum of Education's Student Inventor Hall of Fame. The Lock N Block invention is currently selling online and in numerous retail outlets.

Read more about Trujillo's winning entry for an unmanned emergency helicopter concept here.

County Streamlines Zoning Rules

Economic Development a Priority in Comprehensive Overhaul

A grant from the California Strategic Growth Council was recently awarded to the Yuba County Planning Department to help update and bring together all development codes and related land-use regulations into one easy-to-read document. The 2030 General Plan, adopted June 7, 2011, includes action items to update the codes and create a resource efficiency plan.

The County's Zoning Ordinance was last fully revised 28 years ago under dramatically different building standards and development codes. In the newest update effort, the Planning Department's goal is to streamline processes in certain circumstances, improve older neighborhoods and encourage the expansion and retention of Yuba County businesses.

Stay on top of the process to combine and simplify the County's zoning codes here.

Business Financing Available

Loans to Boost Yuba County Businesses

Do you need financing options for building or land acquisition, working capital, inventory, equipment, supplies, marketing or other ongoing business or start-up costs?

Apply for a loan today by calling Loan Officer, Jackie Slade at 530.751.8555 or click here and review options under the "Business Loans" menu. If the business is located in Yuba County, including the towns of Marysville and Wheatland, has good credit, sufficient collateral and will be creating jobs, chances are the Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corporation's (YSEDC) loan program will be able to help finance your business activities.

The State of California, Department of Housing and Community Development announced the County of Yuba was awarded a new Enterprise Fund Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), which means $300,000 in potential business loan funds is currently available.

Since 1994, Yuba County has partnered with YSEDC to coordinate its lending portfolio program. Since then, YSEDC has successfully applied for and received eleven Enterprise Fund Grants totaling $4.4 million in available loan funds for Yuba County businesses.

1-Stop Saves Employers Money

Six-Month Grant Injects Cash into Business Payroll

Are you a private sector business or non-profit agency in Yuba County and planning to hire new employees?

Twenty hand-picked participants at the Yuba County One-Stop Center are eager and ready to go to work for your business in a program that reimburses your payroll up to $4/hour per employee for a six-month period with a minimum 32-hour per week job. To take advantage of this limited-time program, call the One-Stop at 530.749.6868 or 749.4973.

"Subsidized Employment" is a CalWORKS program in which employers use their own systems to teach participating employees new skills necessary for successful permanent employment within their companies.

Subsidized Employment greatly reduces the cost of hiring and training workers through direct reimbursement to employers of 50 percent of a participants total wages for the six-month duration of the program period.

Benefits of the Subsidized Employment Program to the employer include:

Referrals of pre-screened and assessed applicants
Interview candidates and make the hiring decision
Determine job-performance standards
Assistance with the upfront paperwork by CalWORKS representative
The right to terminate a participant
A 50-percent timely reimbursement of the employee's wages during the six-month program period
Prompt monthly payments with a minimum of paperwork

Learn more about services provided by the Yuba County One-Stop Center or visit the One-Stop Center at 1114 Yuba Street in Marysville.

Spotlight on Yuba County Art

Established and Emerging Local Artists

Western Prints, Bronze Sculpture & Oil Painting

After dabbling in art as a hobby and working in education as a high school teacher, Loma Rica native Keith

Keith Christie in Loma Rica Studio

Christie settled on his current career path nearly 40 years ago. Since then he has illustrated national magazines including Art of the West, Western Horseman and American Cowboy.

In 1972 Christie's art interests were jump-started when Wells Fargo Bank commissioned a set of 12 stagecoach sculptures, each with six horses. A prolific artist, Christie has produced over 160 bronze sculpture editions since. He has authored a book, "Jumping Cholla, Genesis of a Bronze Sculpture."

For more information on Keith Christie's exhibits and workshops, call 530.742.2188 or contact him by email.

Marysville Art Colony Launched

Local artists quickly filled 34 spaces in a new artists' gallery located in the heart of Marysville's historic downtown district at 419 D Street. Photographers Dean Tokuno and Joe Reusser, along with
equine and animal artist Megan Elaine Luis and fused-glass artist Paul Boehmke were among the numerous artists who placed and hung samples of their work in the building for an opening 350 attended December 3, 2011. The gallery is a project of the Yuba-Sutter Arts Council and is receiving free rent during its first year of operation.

Lily Noonan, the gallery's coordinator, is encouraging the community to visit the displayed artwork and to write a

Art Gallery Opens December 3, 2011

suggested name for the art gallery on a whiteboard inside the building. The artists will vote on the name in January 2012. Also coming in January will be workshops offered by artists, children's classes age 2-5 and 6-8 coordinated by the Yuba County Parks and Recreation Department, a poetry night, and possibly a small theater component.

The Gallery is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and features art being sold from $5 to $4,000. For more information about Yuba County's newest art gallery, call 530.742.2787 or click here.

By the Numbers

Unemployment Numbers in Yuba County Improve

There are 26 metropolitan areas in California collecting economic statistical data, and only five of these areas experienced gains in gross production from 2007-2010.

The Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) grew by $100 million during that timeframe to rank in the top 20% of statewide regions indicating positive economic growth. In recessionary times, the two counties of Yuba and Sutter stacked up well nationally at 106 out of 366 metro areas in the United States.

Yuba County's high unemployment rate also dropped significantly in November 2011 to 15.9%, the lowest since December 2008. The national rate improved to 8.2% and California's rate dropped to 10.9%.

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If you have any questions or suggestions, please call 530.749.7560.