NORTH BAY -- The slideshow presentations of speakers at yesterday's Economic Outlook Conference are available on the Resources page of the Business Journal Web site in PDF format.
The event put on by Sonoma State University's School of Business and Economics in collaboration with the Business Journal focused on a call to action for the North Bay to create a regional economic development corporation to leverage "cooperative competition" in creating industry clusters that will support and sustain job growth.
The slide presentations include a local economic analysis by Rob Eyler, chair of the SSU Economics Department, giving a clear picture of where the North Bay economy is right now and where it's headed; a national economic overview by Brian Pretti of Mechanics Bank that suggests businesses prepare for greater volatility and shorter economic expansions; an overview of how the green economy is structured and how policymakers can best foster job growth in that area by Tracey Grose of Collaborative Economics; details on the economic impact of SCEIP by Naheed Ali of the Sonoma County Independence Program; examples of economic development strategies that have been successful in Solano by Mike Ammann of the Solano Economic Development Corp.; and a summary of the initiatives and strategies of Sustainable Napa County in increasing energy-efficiency as well as improving the county's economic advantage by Jeri Gill of Sustainable Napa County.
