Spring 2010 Great Valley Newsletter

8/3/2019 Spring 2010 Great Valley Newsletter

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/spring-2010-great-valley-newsletter 1/6

Spring 2010

KVPT Airs Great Valley Public

Affairs TV Series exploring so-

lutions to the economic, social

and environmental challenges

facing the Central Valley.

Volume 12, Number 1

GREAT VALLEY shines a spotlight on regional issues

The fertile Central Valley boasts therichest agricultural economy on earth,yet bears the burden of rampant un-employment, low education levels

and pervasive poverty. Over the next four decades, the region’s populationis expected to double to nearly 8 mil-lion people. Without action now, theseproblems will only grow in size.

To shine a spotlight on these issues,The Great Valley Center and KVPT-Valley Public Television have joinedforces on a new public affair seriescalled GREAT VALLEY. The programsare now playing Friday nights at 7:30 p.m. on KVPT, and will also

air on KIXE in Redding and KVIE inSacramento in the coming months.

In each weekly half-hour episode, thisnew series explores solutions to theeconomic, social and environmentalchallenges facing the Central Valley.The series is hosted by Great Valley

Center President David Hosley andfeatures an impressive line-up of re-gional experts.

Topics for the series’ irst season in-clude population growth, healthcare,land use, the environment, education,employment, civic and social engage-ment, agriculture and the arts. Thoughwide-ranging, each topic is an issuethat cities across the Central Valleyare grappling with every day.

In addition to the weekly show, theseries features a companion websiteat GreatValley.tv, where viewers canind additional resources and post comments after each episode.

Miss an episode?

Watch past episodes online atgreatvalley.tv. You can also

join the blog discussion, and

find more resources about

each show’s topic.

Watch Great Valley

KVPT (Merced to Bakers-field) 7:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.Fridays; 10:30 a.m. Sundays

KVIE channel 6 (Sacramento,Stockton, Modesto) 7:30p.m. Fridays start ing May 7

KIXE channel 9 (SacramentoValley) 6 p.m. Thursdaysstarting in April

Tune into KVPT on thefollowing channels:

KVPT Channel 18.1 - Fresno – Visalia

Comcast Channel 8 - Los Banos –

MercedDish Network Local Package - Grape-vine – Merced

Direct TV Local Package - Grapevine – Merced

KVPT-LP Channel 18.1 – Bakersfield

Cox Channel 2

Bright House Cable Channel 18



Visit GVC Onlinewww.greatvalley.org

Shop at the GVC Store for our

Valley-promoting items. Check out

our color changing coffee cup, that turns white with a beautiful Central

Valley scene when hot liquid is

added.

Download publications for free

Our newest publication, Assessing

the Region via Indicators: The

Economy (third edition) is now

available online. While you’re there

take a look at our other outstanding

publications.

Other Ways to Connect to GVC

Become a fan on Facebook , check

out our photos on Flickr, ind us

on Linkedin, follow us on Twitter,

visit our Youtube video channel, or

read about what’s happening on our

Great Valley News Blog.

Around the ValleyEconomic Development Training

Citi is sponsoring a training certiica-

tion program for economic develop-

ment professionals who work for

mission-driven CDCs. It’s free of

charge and there are some spaces

left in the Northern California class.

This National Development Council’s

4-course training series includes

topics such as business credit and

real estate inance analysis, loan

packaging, and the art of deal struc-

turing. For more information con-

tact Mona Masri at mona.s.masri@

citi.com.

The Great Valley Center’s 13th

Annual Conference takes place

May 6 & 7, 2010, at the Gallo

Center for the Arts in Modesto,

CA.

Under the theme Valley Up: Ideas, In-

novation, Inspiration, presentations

and activities will focus on Central

Valley business opportunities, re-

newable energy, water resources,

air quality and entrepreneurial suc-

cesses in both the civic and business

sectors, as well as bring to light ar-

eas where effective actions could

yield positive results to help posi-

tion the Valley more on par withother regions of California.

One of six keynote speakers is noted

pomegranate and pistachio grower

and author of Rubies in the Orchard ,

Lynda Resnick, who will present her

ideas on value added agriculture

through innovative marketing.

Known for drawing attention to is-

sues affecting our region, including

air quality, community health, eco-nomic development, and education,

the conference will feature special

speakers, breakout sessions, and

interactive activities meant to give

attendees a framework from which

to view solutions and see success

stories from the Central Valley and

beyond.

The Great Valley Center presents

the only regional conference of its

kind, highlighting the uniqueness o

the Central Valley of California andproviding a forum for the discussion

of Valley issues as well as a platform

for networking with Valley policy

makers, elected oficials, business

leaders and heads of nonproit and

community organizations.

Register on line at www.great

valley.org/conference. Register

before March 24 and save $90 over

the full registration price. Registra

tion includes lunch both days, a net

working reception, all conference

sessions, and a free copy of the new

ly released book 2020: The Valley in

a Decade.

For more information contac

Heidi Arno at (209) 522-5103 or

[email protected].

Learn more about Gallo Center for

the Arts at www.galloarts.org.

Valley Up: Ideas, Innovation, Inspiration



In addition to revising development

patterns, city and county govern-ments can lead communities by

example and take steps to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions from ve-

hicle leets and municipal facilities,

such as landills, wastewater treat -

ment plants and administrative

buildings.

Within the Central Valley, large cit-

ies like Sacramento, Stockton and

Fresno have already started plan-

ning for climate change. But smaller

cities often lack the inancial re-

sources or staff time to commit to

these programs or can’t afford the

cost of hiring outside consultants.

In fact, of the 135 California cities

that have signed the U.S. Conference

of Mayors Climate Protection Agree-

ment only eight are in the Central

Valley.

To address this problem, the Great Valley Center Energy Program, in

partnership with PG&E and the Cal-

ifornia Public Utilities Commission,

plans to provide climate change as-

sistance to local governments over

the next three years. The program

will help cities and counties devel-op a greenhouse gas emissions in-

ventory, an important irst step for

addressing climate change which

quantiies baseline emissions from

local government sources.

Working with Local Governments

for Sustainability (ICLEI), the Great

Valley Center will offer a series of

technical trainings for local govern-

ments and provide hands-on assis-

tance to develop the inventory. GVC

will recruit and employ local col-

lege interns and recent graduates

to assist cities with the inventory

development, which will provide

valuable job training experience

while also reducing the staff time

and resources required of partici-

pating municipalities. The program

will allow many local governments

to at least begin the process of ana-

lyzing local emissions data. Eventu-ally, the baseline data will be used to

set emissions reduction goals and

develop strategies to achieve these

goals.

The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) calls for an ambitious reduction in California’s

carbon footprint and local governments have an essential role in achieving these goals.

Source: Stock Xchng

GVC to help local governments tackle climate change

About AB 32

In 2006, the Legislature passed

and Governor Schwarzenegger

signed AB 32, the Global Warm-

ing Solutions Act of 2006, which

mandates the state reduce carbon

emissions to 1990 levels by 2020,

a 25 percent reduction. It directed

the California Air Resources Board

(ARB or Board) to begin develop-

ing discrete early actions to reduce

greenhouse gases while also pre-

paring a scoping plan to identify

how best to reach the 2020 limit.

The reduction measures to meet

the 2020 target are to be adopted

by the start of 2011.

For more information, contact

Energy Program Representative

Lindsay Buckley at (530) 321-

0817 and Stacey Shepard at (661)

861-7962, or Energy Program

Manager Tim Fisher at (209) 522-5103, ext. 102.

Photo by Victoria Belanger, Source: Flickr/Creative Commons Photo by Ian Britton, Source: Flickr/Creative Commons



Gus &

Velma’s

Column

Dear Gus and Velma,

I just moved to the Central Valley

from Bullhead City, Arizona and

I’m surprised to nd everybody has

grass lawns incorporated into their landscaping here. Shouldn’t people

be using alternatives considering the

water situation? ~ Water Warrior

Dear Warrior,

Gus: Nothin’ beats a beautiful well

maintained green lawn!

Velma: Yes those green lawns are alovely idea of what suburban land-

scaping should look like, however there are a lot of alternatives that

people may not be aware of that could

give them that same manicured look

without all the water.

Gus: Like what?

Velma: Things like groundcovers,clover, ornamental grasses, and many

other water-wise plants. People can

just ask about water-wise landscapingoptions at their local nursery and theywould be amazed at the variety.

Gus: I don’t know… I really like my

lawn, and so does my dog! It is partof the American Dream.

Velma: Okay, but I bet you don’t like

all the effort it takes to maintain it,like all the watering and mowing.

Gus: No, I don’t like that part! Iwould much rather spend my Sunday

afternoons drinking lemonade in my

backyard instead of mowing it!

Velma: Often water-wise plants

require less maintenance than lawns

as well. If you don’t care about water

conservation you may just want tolook into it in the interest of conserv-

ing your time!

An international executive leadership program for leaders managin

national parks, from government, corporate and nonprot sectors.

joint effort by UC Merced and the National Park Service.

Our national parks are undergoing

massive changes, such as who is vis-

iting them and the kinds of challeng-

es facing those who manage them.A decrease in backpackers and an

increase of multi-generational visi-

tor groups present new opportuni-

ties for education and connecting

with nature.

Everything from climate change

to illegal marijuana growing and

poaching is competing for resources

at a time when the leaders of our

parks are rapidly moving toward

retirement. Many of these same is-sues are affecting preserved open

lands and national parks around the

globe.

The University of California at Mer-

ced and the National Park Service

are creating an executive leader-

ship program designed

speciically for senior

leaders from government,

corporate, and non-proit sectors. They will come

together for 11 days this

spring to focus on pro-

active, collaborative ap-

proaches and strategic leadership

for use in complex, real-world chal

lenges in land management.

This seminar draws on the Univer-

sity of California’s academic leader

ship, and pairs it with the unparal-

leled opportunity for ield study and

experiential learning in Yosemite

National Park, UC Merced, the Delta

and Golden Gate National Recreation

Area. Stanford University Graduate

School of Business faculty will kick

off the inaugural seminar, which wil

include a talk by President Jimmy

Carter at UC Merced on creation ofthe Alaskan Wilderness.

Fifteen U.S. participants will join 15

leaders from abroad to learn to lead

strategic change by anticipating

change, reinvigorating their organi

zations, and incorporating innova

tive thinking into their

park management. A

practical framework wil

be applied to real-worldcase studies and take-

home action plans. The

institute runs from Apri

27th to May 8th.

National Parks Institute

Photo by Koen Schepers, Source: Flickr/Creative Commons



Eating food that is grown locally

has become a phenomenon. Con-

sumers are interested in the social,

environmental, and economic

beneits of eating food from local

sources. Throughout California mo-

mentum for this movement is at a

peak and continues to build. Today,

more than ever, consumers want to

know where their food is from; they

want transparency from the farm totheir plate.

The California Department of Food

and Agriculture recently funded

the Great Valley Center to lead an

effort to increase the amount of

locally grown (within 150 miles)

and identiied agricultural prod-

ucts making their way into the

City of San Francisco. GVC will be

working with committed partners

Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust,

Community Alliance with Family

Farmers, Marin Organic, and Om

Organic to conduct internal agri-

The California Department of Food and Agriculture recently funded the Great Valley Center to lead

an effort to increase the amount of locally grown and identied agricultural products making their

way into the City of San Francisco.

Specialty Crops Growers partner with the City of San

Francisco for healthy people and bottom lines

cultural trade missions such that

relationships are established and

distribution infrastructure is devel-

oped between growers and buyers

of specialty crop products resulting

in an increase of the availability of

regionally grown product to San

Francisco residents.

Through these trade missions buy-

ers from within the city will havethe opportunity to travel outside

the urban area to locations where

food is grown locally, including

the Central Valley. On the reverse

side growers from outside the city

will have the opportunity to travel

into the city to learn about retailer

demand and requirement. These

trade missions will be an effective

tool in connecting retail, institu-

tional and restaurant buyers with

local growers, in turn helping to

develop relationships that support

sales of locally grown produce.

However, this project goes beyond

the trade mission, recognizing

that a pivotal component of ensur

ing local product purchasing is an

infrastructure system that allows

buyers and growers to eficiently

purchase and distribute needed

volume and varieties of commodi

ties. Through this project a robus

grower database will be develope

to ensure that as product is de-manded, buyers in the City of San

Francisco will have a larger variet

of commodities that are grown

within the region that will meet

their sales volume needs. Grower

participating in the project will al

be provided training and access to

information on food safety, pur-

chasing requirements, pricing, an

product consolidation.

For more information, contact

Lila McIver at (209) 522-5103 ext

123 or [email protected]

Photo by Wally Gobetz, Source: Flickr/Creative CommonsPhoto by David Gallagher, Source: Flickr/Creative Commons Photo by Shannon Ritter, Source: Flickr/Creative Common



MODESTO

201 Needham Street

Modesto, CA 95354

Phone (209) 522-5103

Fax (209) 522-5116

CHICO

630 Salem Street Suite 110

Chico, CA 95928

Phone (530) 321-0817

Fax (530) 343-2696

BAKERSFIELD

2000 K Street, Suite 300

Bakersield, CA 93301

Phone (661) 861-7962

Fax (661) 861-7952

Email: [email protected]

www.greatvalley.org

The mission of the Great

Valley Center is to support

activities and organizations

that beneit the economic,

social and environmental

well-being of California’s

Central Valley in partnership

with the University of

California, Merced.

President’s Message: How Can We Soar?By David Hosley

There are people and organizations doing

extraordinary things in the Valley, breaking bar-

riers and putting thousands on a path to suc-

ceed. Some are dreamers whose ideas result in

new ways of doing business. Some are applying

technology to ind solutions to old problems.

And some are prospecting for new resources

and inding nuggets, even in the most dificult

era of our lifetimes.

This year’s Great Valley Center annual conference is going to be a place to

share ways to take the Valley on an upward arc. You will be able to talk to

people who see these times as an opportunity. On two days in May, you will

be able to ind approaches that can work for you, meet people who can help

you accomplish your own goals for improving the quality of life in the Valley,

and interact with others who are thinking big and moving mountains.

You might be surprised to ind out about an organization that is helping very

poor kids read at grade level by third grade (one of the most signiicant mile-

stones in predicting success for adults), and preventing that same population

from illing our state prisons 20 years from now. What did this one Fresno

nonproit do that all of the others working on family literacy have missed?

In a bad economy, why are parts of our agriculture industry able to expand

their markets? How does research about their products and the ability to

link with trends to healthy living result in opening new markets? And in your

work, how could you adapt their approach to what you do?

When I’ve attended conferences in the past, I felt my time was well invested

when I came away with one idea that I could apply to my work. This year’s

Valley Up theme promises to supply many ideas and the inspiration to help

you make a positive difference in your life and what you can do to make the

region a better place.

How can we soar above the very real challenges

in the Central Valley’s economy and move our

region toward a better future?

Thanks,

Date post:	06-Apr-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	great-valley-center
View:	217 times
Download:	0 times

Spring 2010 Great Valley Newsletter

Documents