Tuesday, May 10, 2022
Hybrid Meeting In-Person and via ZOOM
Minutes
Present: Deborah Barmack, Peter Barmack, Carole Beswick, Greg Bradbard, Sandra Cuellar, Michelle Decker, Kevin Dyerly, Otis Greer, Mark Kaenel, Lowell King, Pam Langford, Mike Layne, Bill Lemann, Darcy McNaboe, Jacquelyn Mercado, John Mirau, Tomas Morales, Dan Murphy, Bansree Parikh, Thomas Rice, Dan Schenkel, Kristine Scott, Paul Shimoff, Eric Ustation, Pete Van Helden, Ray Wolfe, Marisa Yeager, and Frank Zabaleta.
Guest: Michael Rivera.
Announcements: 1) All Inland Action members/alternates are invited to a reception and tour beginning at 4p.m of a World’s Fair Collection donated by the PonTell family. The event will be held today at the Wilson Library, University of La Verne. 2) Southern California Edison will hold a live stream on Wildfire Safety for San Bernardino County, Thursday, May 19th 6 – 7:30 pm. For more information, please visit https://www.sce.com/wildfire/Community-Safety-Events 3) OneLegacy will hold a walk/run on Saturday, June 4, 2022 beginning at 7:00a.m. at Azusa Pacific University. 4) Inland Action supported CARE Court earlier this year in advocacy (CARE Court would help those with mental health & substance abuse into support systems that will help with their recovery) although there was no current legislation. Since that time legislation has been introduced SB 1338 (Umberg/Eggman). As the Governor is a proponent, staff met with Mollie Wilshire, Chief Deputy/SoCal Regional Director, External Affairs (Director) to discuss. 5) The Community Foundation has teamed up with a national organization GiveGab to create a giving platform for non-profits in the Inland Empire. Called the IE Giving Hub, it is still in its silent phase, but all non-profits are encouraged/invited to join. Please go to https://iegivinghub.iegives.org/ or contact Darcy McNaboe for more information. 6) The first announcement of proposed new member Harvest, LLP law firm. They would be represented by Michael Rivera. For more information, please visit their web site at https://harvestllp.com/
Lowell King, Chair presiding.
Motion/Second/Passed: Minutes from May 3, 2022, with one abstention.
Kristine Scott introduced Jackie Melendez, Executive Director, Inland Economic Growth & Opportunity (IEGO) who joined us in-person. As one of the fastest-growing population and economic centers in the country, Inland Economic Growth & Opportunity (IEGO), a regional cross-sector, bi-county collaborative, is a network of businesses, institutions and stakeholders committed to growing middle-class jobs and pursuing inclusive economic development to improve the quality of life for all Riverside and San Bernardino County residents. IEGO’s work focuses on building industry clusters in Sustainable Logistics, Cybersecurity, Advanced Manufacturing, and Green Technology.
Jackie explained that it takes a region, and IEGO is focused on innovation, sustainability, and equity. Inclusive economic design includes diverse decision-making process, power sharing and human centered economic growth. Their mission includes policy advocacy, infrastructure investment, bi-county collaboration, message amplification and quality job generation. They are striving for a triple bottom line with job quality, environmental sustainability, and inclusive growth.
IEGO’s vision is “an Inland Empire economy that provides family sustaining jobs with upward opportunities, enables a high quality of life, and supports shared prosperity for all residents and businesses.”
- Promote inclusive economic development
- Attract public and private investment
- Create quality jobs
- Build space for regional inclusive collaboration across the entire county
IEGO will transform the region by strengthening research, wealth-building opportunities, training and serving as an interconnected innovation hub.
In 2021 IEGO regional partners came together to compete for federal funding as part of the U.S. Economic Development Administration Build Back Better Regional Challenge under American Rescue Plan Act. Their commitment and proposal are to invest in regional infrastructure and innovation projects that integrate equity and sustainability efforts.
The Community Economic Resilience Fund (CERF) program was developed by OPR, GO-Biz, and LWDA to support resilient, equitable, and sustainable regional economies. The CERF goal is to promote a sustainable equitable recovery from the economic distress of COVID-19 by supporting new plans and strategies to diversify local economies and develop sustainable industries that create high quality, broadly accessible jobs for Californians. Rather than a one size fits all, CERF is a regional approach which ensures equitable outcomes through inclusive planning. The CERF Leadership Team is responsible for the development of geographic regions and boundaries that can administer the program’s funding and work. The regions are defined in a way that promotes geographic equity and is consistent with existing economic development efforts, as well as other State definitions of regional economic and labor markets. The thirteen regions will each receive planning grants and implementation funds through a competitive process.
IEGO’s next steps include:
- Learning together
- Increased outreach: Cities, Community Based Operations, Businesses
- Working together to create one comprehensive application
A Q & A period followed.
Meeting adjourned at 8:33 a.m.