The Center for Economic Development at California State University, Chico will hold its
13th annual Economic Forecast Conference at the Gold Country Casino in Oroville on
Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013. The conference has grown well beyond the original tri-county
area and serves as the leading economic forecast conference of the North State.
Attendees will be traveling from as far north as the Oregon border and as far south as the
Central Valley region.

It's Official: Per CENIC's press release (12/12/12)---Click Here---Golden Bear Broadband (GBB) LLC has been formed, and will submit next month, Jan., 2013, a large application to the CA Advanced Services Fund (CASF) for broadband infrastructure deployment funds. Upon successful grant award, GBB will deploy and manage a robust, greatly expanded and improved fiber-based infrastructure network that interconnects CA's 16 northern counties.

To date, I have received twenty (20) letters of support from a wide variety of entities, businesses and residents for GBB's Infrastructure application. I NEED YOUR LETTERS. They really do work (as evidenced by your letters for our consortia planning grants, Summer of 2011). Click here for our "Draft Template, Letter of Support", file/save as, edit as necessary, copy to your letterhead (if don't have a formal letterhead, just include your name, address/email, etc.) then print, sign, scan and email back to me @ cmemerson@csuchico.edu. no later than Jan. 15th, 2013. Also, please mail the hard copy to me at my CED/CSUC address below (all letters will be included with the full application to the state).
 
Better Broadband for CA's Northstate: Here We Come!
 
Cheers - and happy holidays, everyone!
CathE

From A CED Student Research Assistant: Alyssa Caldwell, CSUC, Class of 2013

 

I was hired at the Center for Economic Development as a Student Research Assistant in May of 2012. As a Geography major and Business Administration minor in my senior year at CSU, Chico, I am excited to apply my knowledge and skills to a job that will help me gain valuable experience for the future. I specialize in Geographical Information Systems (GIS), analyzing geographical and spatial data to create a visual output, typically a map. Use of GIS technology is valuable to businesses and government agencies alike, as seen in a variety of projects on which I work here at CED. I also assisted in writing the recently released California Broadband Report, located on the CPUC website.
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We are pleased to announce an opportunity to participate in teleconferences with U.S. Ambassadors from around the world as part of the State Department's Direct Line to American Business Program. The goals of these calls are to highlight upcoming business opportunities from around the world, in the fields and industries in need of these foreign markets. You are invited to provide any questions that you would like addressed in the message box of the registration form to help make the call most productive. An opportunity for additional questions may be given during the calls. Please note, because of the large volume of callers we encourage all to dial in 10 or more minutes in advance. We look forward to productive discussions with you on one of the below teleconferences.
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A California manufacturing company that specializes in the die casting of aluminum and zinc alloy products suffered from a shrinking market share due to import competition from Canada and the Asia Pacific Rim region, primarily China and Taiwan.

As a result, aluminum casting sales decreased (12%) and employment decreased (21%) during this period. When they entered the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms (TAAF) program, the Western Trade Adjustment Assistance staff worked with the company to become certified and to develop an Adjustment Plan (AP) that focused on high volume output, the development of more complex die cast parts, and expanding and diversifying its customer base. The Western TAAC provided $66,609 in matching funds for production engineering projects to bring online high volume machinery, update furnaces and train their staff. The company graduated from the TAAF program in 2011 with an increase in employment to 26 employees (4%) and an increase in sales (37%).  In 2012, this company experienced a positive trend in on-shoring where die casting is returning from India due to their quality of work, competitiveness and cost effectiveness. Because of this company's commitment to recycling and reusing (100%) of its aluminum and zinc alloy materials, and their energy conservation with the installation of a clean and renewable solar energy system, they witnessed lower aluminum and zinc die casting operating costs, and remain competitive both nationally and internationally and create more U.S. jobs. For information about the TAAF program please contact (213) 821-1404. Visit our Web site: Click Here