CONNECT eNEWSLETTER - January 8, 2010
Policy NEWS
By Camille Sobrian, COO, CONNECT
Jessie Womble, Business Development & Public Policy Manager
Federal recovery dollars for your business
Chamber members should tap into the federal government’s On-the-Job Training Subsidy Program. This initiative, managed by the San Diego Workforce Partnership and Manpower, reimburses employers for 50% of wage costs for new hires recruited through the OneStop career center network. There is absolutely no cost to participate, and additional funding is available to cover associated expenses such as tools, uniforms, training certificates – any cost employers might incur with hiring and training a new employee. This program is open to virtually any company and covers most industries and skill sets. Contact Trevor Blair, Business Development Manager at Manpower for more information at (760) 889 2707 or tblair@manpower-sd.com.
The ultimate source of these funds is the $787 billion ARRA package the Obama Administration is still distributing. $4 billion of that was earmarked for workforce development initiatives, and allocated to the counties based on a formulation for population and unemployment levels. Here in San Diego, all of our workforce development funds are managed and distributed by the San Diego Workforce Partnership, which decided to allocate $2 million of our County’s ARRA allocation to this OJT program.
CONNECT is pleased to introduce CALinnovates.org
A partnership to strengthen the voice for California start-ups on innovation issues
CONNECT has formed a strategic partnership with CALinnovates.org. CALinnovates.org is a new statewide technology coalition whose mission is to connect California's innovators with
policy makers and candidates for public office. Based in San Francisco, but with a statewide membership, CALinnovates.org is formally launching in February 2010 with the release of a statewide survey about technology policy in California.
CONNECT is partnering with CALinnovates to help promote positive technology policy in Sacramento, and throughout the state, as well as in the nation’s capitol to support California's innovators. In this challenging economy, it is important that the tech sector has effective coalitions to voice the needs of start-up operations.
California is widely renowned as the birthplace of the innovation economy. Policy decisions made by state legislators in the upcoming sessions will determine California’s ability to stay competitive in the global marketplace. The innovation reflected in CONNECT’s membership and the greater San Diego start-up community as a whole is one of California's most valuable natural resources. CONNECT is pleased to have CALinnovates.org join in the effort to help protect and promote this often overlooked resource.
Beyond being a champion for early-stage technology with policy makers, CALinnovates.org will look to sponsor both formal and informal networking events in San Diego and across California to build awareness of their mission.
CALinnovates.org is a membership based organization and is currently working to build its membership. There is no cost to join the coalition, though the coalition is hopeful that all of its members will contribute to the coalition is some way such as helping to develop policy positions; blogging; participating on panel discussions; or attending informational sessions and meetings to inform policy makers of the current state of innovation and start-up companies in California.
Companies interested in join CALinnovates.org should contact Erin Lehane at erin@CALinnovates.org for more information regarding membership.
U.S. Secretary of Labor, Hilda L. Solis, announces $99 million in green job grants
The money is authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This $99 million follows the nearly $50 million in roll out grants that were authorized in November 2009. These grants will be used to support job training and labor market information programs for workers, many who are in underserved communities find jobs in expanding green industries and other related occupations. Read More >>
Governor announces proposal for a constitutional amendment to Increase Higher Education Funding
While this budget year will pose many challenges, the Governor drew the line at education and called for a historic realignment of California's priorities. He announced that he would work to protect California's schools and to shield higher education from further cuts. The Governor called on the legislature to help him make California's education system a higher priority than prisons. Specifically, he proposed a constitutional amendment to ensure California cannot spend a greater percentage of General Fund (GF) dollars on its prisons than on higher education.
Under the Governor's initiative, no less than ten percent of GF dollars would be allocated to fund public institutions of higher education and no more than seven percent would be allocated to support the state prison system. These mandatory limits would begin in the 2014-15 fiscal year.
The Governor announced that the amendment will include a provision that allows the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation the authority to contract with private entities - while retaining all authority - to build or operate prisons and manage or transfer inmates. This would save the state billions of dollars per year.
To learn more about the Governor’s proposal Click Here >>
Letter of support for the Governor’s proposal by University of California President Mark Yudof Read More >>
San Diego Wireless Ordinance Update
The first meeting of the Stakeholder Review Committee has been set for Wednesday, January 13, 2010, from 8:00 am to 10:00 am. An agenda for this meeting has not yet been released.
To read CONNECT's Wireless Ordinance Opinion Piece, published in the SDUT Read More >>
NY Times article says if health care reform fails, America’s innovation gap will grow
In the midst of a thriving innovation atmosphere, employees are making career decisions based on what their healthcare benefits will look like. Not on where their skills are best put to use and where they are most likely to succeed, but what the price of their co-payments will be and whether or not be higher they will be accepted because of pre-existing medical conditions. Read More >>
Funding NEWS
Taylor Peterson, Director, Innovation Programs
Steve Hoey, Senior Program Manager
| CONNECT FrameWorks Workshops: |
Licensing Essentials
In partnership with Jones Day LLP |
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January 20, 2010 |
Capital Efficiency in Drug Development
In partnership with BioCrossroadsLINX |
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February 11 , 2010 |
The Venture Capital Process
In partnership with McDermott Will & Emery LLP |
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March 2 , 2010 |
Deciphering Term Sheets
In partnership with McDermott Will & Emery LLP |
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March 17 , 2010 |
CONNECT Scrubbed DEALS
By Ruprecht von Buttlar, Director, Business Creation and Development
Springboard graduate and VRT presenter Zuumcraft is displaying at the CES Show on January 13, 2010.
Ridge Diagnostics, a Springboard graduate, VRT presenter, and 2009 MIP finalist, has promoted San Diego diagnostics veteran Lonna Williams from COO to CEO and added Karen Klause and Charles Cashion, Sr. VP and CFO at Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. to its board of directors.
Member NEWS
By Moya Gollaher, Executive Vice President, CONNECT
CONNECT welcomes new member BDO Seidman
 BDO is a U.S. professional services firm providing assurance, tax, financial advisory and consulting services to a wide range of publicly traded and privately held companies. The firm serves clients through 37 offices, including a San Diego office located in the UTC area, and more than 400 independent alliance firm locations nationwide. As an independent Member Firm of BDO International Limited, BDO serves multi-national clients through a global network of 1,138 offices in 115 countries.
In 2010 BDO will celebrate its 100 Year Anniversary. Read More about BDO Seidman >>
CONNECT Interviews Dr. Gary S. Firestein, Director of UC San Diego’s Clinical and Translational Research Institute
CONNECT recently spoke with Dr. Firestein about CTRI, its history, its mission and its entrepreneurial character. Read More >>
The San Diego Daily Transcript covers Jones Day announcement that Kenji L. Funahashi is a new partner.
Kenji L. Funahashi has joined Jones Day as a partner in San Diego, where he will be part of the firm's mergers & acquisitions practice. He comes to Jones Day from Baker & McKenzie, where he was a partner in that firm's corporate and securities practice group. Read More >>
From the Bench updates readers on current research at the Salk Institute Read More >>
Burnham Institute for Medical Research releases their Winter 2009 edition of the Burnham Report Read More >>
SDUT covers strategic crossroads faced by Scripps Institution of Oceanography
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography has become known for its research in marine science. The institution is facing new challenges as they try to evolve and stay competitive through budget crunches. Read More in SDUT >>
Windward Ventures Managing Director David Titus joins EDC Read More >>
The biotech sector will make it in 2010
With signs of hope for 2010 people are hoping that the challenging times for the biotech industry have begun to level off. Read More in SDBJ (login required) >>
Better business tips: mastering marketing core to more: converting marketing expenses into revenue Read More >>
San Diego News Network aligns with Los Angeles Times Read More >>
Google announces the release of Nexus One smartphone equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip
Google hopes with the release of Nexus One, announced Tuesday, that they will be able to protect their online advertising empire. As the technological world advances they are aware that more people are using phones instead of computers to search the web. This phone will be thinner than the iPhone, run on a 1 GHz Snapdragon chip, have no keyboard, two microphones and a high resolution super touch screen. Read More >>
The Eighth International Conference on Creating, Connecting and Collaborating through Computing
Calit2@UCSD is hosting Eighth International Conference on Creating, Connecting and Collaborating through Computing in late January. Read More >>
Innovation SPOTLIGHT
The Most Innovative New Product Awards is recognized on local TV stations
San Diego 6 News >>
Fox 5 San Diego News >>
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CONNECT Newsletter Editor:
Ashley Strange
Assistant Editor: Diana Rodriguez |
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