Tuesday, June 14, 2015
Open Board of Directors Meeting
San Bernardino Community College District
114 S. Del Rosa Drive
San Bernardino, CA 92408
Minutes
Present: Don Averill, Deborah Barmack, Peter Barmack, Carole Beswick, Ann Bryan, Mike Burrows, Louis Goodwin, Dick Hart, Scott Hofferber, Jay Jimenez, Al Karnig, Lowell King, Pam Langford, Ed Lasak, Bill Lemann, Sue McKee, John Mirau, Dan Murphy, John Prentice, Brian Reider, Jan Remm, Kristine Scott, Paul Shimoff, Wendy Strack and Hassan Webb.
Announcements: 1) The regular meeting with Mayor Davis scheduled for July 17, 2015 has been canceled due to a conflict in his schedule. 2) A Completion Ceremony for the San Bernardino Transit Center will be held at 599 W. Rialto Ave., San Bernardino on Monday August 24, 2015 at 9a.m. The project represents more than a decade of visioning partnership between Omnitrans and SANBAG.
M/S/P: Minutes from July 7, 2015
Louis Goodwin introduced Mary Jane Olhasso, Assist. Executive Officer, San Bernardino County.
As the County vision states, “The economic development objective is to create, maintain and grow jobs and the economic value of the County”. The County is working on business attraction and outreach leveraging relations with industrial brokers and corporate site selectors.
Testimonials from Trident Case and R & B Machine are positive examples of growing and attracting higher level jobs. Trident Case manufactures rubber and plastic impact cases for electronics and has created 75 new jobs in the county. R&B Machine specializes in the precision machining, fabrication of metal alloy components for the satellite, aerospace, defense, energy, medical and other high-tech related sectors.
Unfortunately economic development budgets are meager since the State dissolved Redevelopment funding. Additionally regulations from the SCAQMD continue to increase which severely hinders and is a disincentive to manufacturing facilities. Assisting existing business is critical and Ms. Olhasso stated that the County reaches out to Companies that have received SCAQMD penalties/fines to assist them thru the process.
The County has a surprisingly robust program funded thru budgeted discretionary funds that incorporate the following 6 areas of focus and the tools they use.
Attraction: Public relations, marketing/advertising, media relations and networking
Foreign Direct Investment: Foreign trade zones, EB-5 and International Trade
Site Selection: Location assistance, research, site tours and permit assistance
Retention: Business visits, workforce incentives and business services
Tourism: International, domestic and Film Commission
Collaborative: Alliance for Education and Innovation Hub (Inland SoCal Link)
Based on studies, labor costs and labor availability are consistently in the top 5 site selection factors when businesses are considering a site. Our County needs the labor force desired and the Alliance for Education is San Bernardino County’s partnership between businesses and education communities, fostering Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) learning both in and out of the classroom. They are dedicated to preparing today’s local youth from our 33 districts for successful STEM careers with the end goal of having local businesses hire our graduates. Families, educators and businesses make an equal investment and commitment to achieve the goal of producing an educated and skilled workforce that will ensure the economic well-being for San Bernardino County. Businesses partner with education to create real world situations for students where they need to use classroom skills to problem solve.
Recently funding from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and ALCOA Foundation provided 3D printers and training of 27 teachers in 9 middle schools. These and other types of programs are cost effective and successful. The STEMapalooza Student Conference is sponsored by Auto Club Speedway and held annually in the spring. This event hosts booths providing students with exposure to numerous industries and jobs to gain a better understanding of how to incorporate this in the learning experience.
Mary Jane Olhasso stated that San Bernardino has the best collaborative attitude in Southern California. The local people are strong and we will work hard to make the county vision a reality.
A Q & A period followed.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30a.m.