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Place Matters

Does place matter any more?  It’s a hard question to answer at first.

Research shows that regardless of whether you are rich or poor, virtually everyone has a smart phone today.  It’s today’s essential lifeline.  Having a fast and reliable Internet connection is another matter, but most of us can get online from  almost anywhere.  Anytime.  Day or night.  We are completely mobile and connected, 24×7.  So it really shouldn’t matter where we are, right?

In fact, place matters more than ever.

While technology can make us feel globally connected and empowered in one moment, in the next we live with the consequences of being permanently “tethered,” unable to escape its web.  At once, it is a very connected yet very solitary “place.”  As technology continues to advance and lines blur between “virtual” and “real,” let’s not forget an essential truth.

Where we truly connect is in physical spaces.

Words that describe certain touchstone places like “home,” “office,” or “school” stir up powerful emotions in us.  Some places bring us calm and refuge.  Others we associate with regimen and productivity.  Still others inspire us and connect us to something larger.

As many of you know, Valley Vision just moved into a new “place” this week.  A single story building in Oak Park in the heart of Sacramento and the Greater Sacramento region.  3400 3rd Avenue, to be precise.

After just a few days working from here I can tell you that place absolutely matters.  While we loved our old office on Broadway, this space is even livelier, with better energy and more places to connect.  There are bright colors on the walls.  Light streaming in from long windows.  Views out on homes and businesses and people and bikes and  dogs going by.  And let’s not forget the new Ping-Pong table in the middle of the office.  It has already brought together former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and Ruben, our communications intern, in a fun match up.

This is what place does.  It creates memorable, one-of-a-kind experiences.  Humanizing connections we all want.  This is pretty important for an organization like Valley Vision that is constantly seeking out ways to unite our region and improve lives.  We are thankful that we have an even better place to do this work from today.

Come by and play a game.  We hope to see you soon.

Bill Mueller was Chief Executive of Valley Vision.

How Does Idaho Innovate?

“So…what is JUMP?” Joe Gagliardi, CEO of the Folsom Chamber of Commerce, spoke for our entire delegation as we stood atop the 6-story monolith in downtown Boise, Idaho.

JUMP – or “Jack’s Urban Meeting Place” – is a bizarre, Jetsons-inspired building built by J.R. Simplot, the billionaire farmer most famous for supplying Idaho and Oregon-grown potatoes for use in McDonald’s fries. The building serves as a towering public hangout spot, tractor museum, classroom, and features a 5-story-tall spiral slide down to the ground floor. I still don’t know what it is, but it’s pretty cool!

For 12 straight years, the El Dorado County and Folsom Chambers of Commerce have collaborated to bring local leaders to pioneering cities and towns across North America. The goal of these “study missions” is to see firsthand new ideas for advancing livability and economic growth, and to take these learnings back to the Sacramento region. In 2018, our group of 24 participants – current and former elected officials, businesspeople, and community leaders – headed north to Boise and the smaller resort town of McCall over four days to see how Idaho is innovating.

My major takeaways:

  • GROWTH: The Boise Metropolitan Area is the fastest-growing in the entire U.S., currently home to around 700,000 people (half of Idaho’s population).
  • The City of Boise has some great things going for it – it sits in close proximity to mountains and agricultural land with a vibrant riverfront, is home to the second largest Basque population outside of Europe, and has an entire City Department dedicated to Arts & Culture. Boise is the most geographically isolated of all mid-size cities in the contiguous U.S., which has resulted in a burgeoning creative culture (“because there is no other place to go!”) among other unique qualities.
  • HOMELESSNESS: The homeless population in the Boise region is about half that of Sacramento County on a per capita basis, but these folks were nearly invisible downtown and throughout the trip. The police department aggressively arrests those who sleep outdoors, have open containers, or who commit minor infractions. It is unclear what the continuum of care looks like or how many homeless individuals fill Boise’s jails.
  • EDUCATION: Boise State University has a College of Innovation & Design campus downtown, which is building programming around virtual reality (VR), “pop-up majors,” cooperative education, and new ways to make college affordable in partnership with local credit unions.
  • One Stone School in Boise is a tuition-free alternative nonprofit high school that allows students to design their own education. In fact, two-thirds of their Board of Directors are students! Revenue is generated from sponsorships, hosting classes, providing creative services to clients, and other community-facing work that students lead. They have yet to have a graduating class, but are building ad-hoc partnerships with colleges and universities so that students can still be accepted into top-flight schools despite non-standard testing.
  • RURAL-URBAN CONNECTIONS: McCall, Idaho is a 3,000-person mountain town two hours north of Boise that expands to over 10,000 during ski season and peak summer. The town is grappling with a deep housing crisis, with service workers commuting in daily from as far as the Boise suburbs.

Boise and McCall should be commended for innovating despite little to no support from the deeply austere State of Idaho. These municipalities are experimenting with creative approaches to financing, public-private partnerships, securing federal grants, and more to bring housing, broadband, skilled workers, and investment to their areas.

I want to thank the El Dorado County and Folsom Chambers of Commerce for putting this trip together and bringing amazing people along. It’s important to leave our region – physically – to learn how other areas are excelling and sometimes failing within their unique circumstances. The community that is built while doing this important work is an added, awesome bonus.

All things considered, the lessons of Idaho will help the Sacramento area become a more livable place. To keep up with Valley Vision’s work to advance livability in our region, subscribe to our Vantage Point email newsletter!

Adrian Rehn is a Valley Vision Project Manager overseeing the Cleaner Air Partnership and Valley Vision’s online communications.

Tesla Model S Makes Meg’s Week

In mid-May I had a birthday. Birthdays aren’t usually something I get all that public about, because it can seem really self-centered, and so I’ve certainly never written a blog about a birthday before. But here’s one! Although it’s not mainly about the birthday itself. It’s mostly about what happened as a result of my birthday: I got to drive a Tesla Model S for an entire week!

If you know me well, you probably know that I have coveted Teslas for years, well before I got to lead Valley Vision’s work in the Clean Economy and was able to get involved with the region’s Plug-in Electric Vehicle (PEV) Collaborative. So this birthday gift (from an inspired husband and some teenage co-conspirators) was superlative.

I’d driven a Tesla once, briefly, almost exactly four years earlier, in a ride-and-drive event in Napa. But this was an entire week. So, what did I take away from the experience?

  • It accelerates like a bat out of hell. For someone (me) who was trained as a driver in the assertive New Jersey style of driving, this is a dream come true. The acceleration will truly snap your head back if you want it to. (I demo’d that for CEO Bill Mueller one day; he liked it too!)
  • Auto-pilot is really remarkable, and a harbinger of the autonomous future to come. And it performed exceptionally. I used auto-pilot on surface roads in Davis and Sacramento, on our freeways, on the merge onto the Causeway in rush hour, in the rain (yes, rain), in heavy and variable traffic, and on highway 49 up to Grass Valley one day, as the road transitioned from undivided four-lane to a twistier and hillier two-lane.
  • Auto-pilot can even change lanes on the freeway, which was freaky when I discovered it by accident. I turned on my signal for a lane-change before disengaging auto-pilot as I thought was necessary. Feeling the car begin to change lanes on its own was a little more exciting than I was ready for! But after that first surprise, it was just amazing.
  • It will charge when plugged directly into house power overnight. But it will not charge quickly! We’d gain 30-40 miles in a ~10 hour overnight period. If I ever own a Tesla, of course we’ll install the special home chargers to get close to full overnight recharging.
  • Tesla Superchargers are good. And easy. And free. There’s one in Natomas, which I frequented, and also one in Rocklin that I used on the day I went to Grass Valley.
  • “Range anxiety” is a thing, even with a convenient Supercharger. I usually drive a Prius, with 500+ miles between fueling. The Model S would charge to a 200 mile range, but if one drives or accelerates assertively (ahem), that compromises your total range. I’m sure if I owned the car, I’d get accustomed to driving it closer to “empty,” but the relative scarcity of Superchargers and the slowness of charging on a regular outlet made me conservative and a little twitchy whenever my range fell below 75 miles.
  • If you’d like this same experience for yourself, there’s an app for that, of course. It’s called Turo, and it’s just exactly like Airbnb, except with cars rather than homes. We regretfully returned our lovely Tesla to the home of its owner, in the Pocket, on a Saturday morning.
  • There are more of them out there than even I’d noticed. One afternoon I left the parking garage behind the library in downtown Sacramento, and waited at a light to turn left, with one black Tesla Model S behind me, and a second one in the lane to my right. We were like a little Tesla flock.
  • I’m not the only one who stares (and sometimes points) as a Tesla goes by.

Having meetings in Sacramento, Davis, Grass Valley and places in between, I drive significantly more than some. The Tesla enabled me to do that driving with a clearer personal conscience and in tight alignment with my professional life at Valley Vision – including the Cleaner Air Partnership, focused on air quality and transportation emissions, and the Capital Region Climate Readiness Collaborative, focused on climate and impacts. Keep up with Valley Vision’s leadership in these areas by subscribing to our monthly Cleaner Air News email newsletter!

Meg Arnold is Managing Director of Valley Vision, leading the Clean Economy and Innovation and Entrepreneurship Strategies.

Avenues for Equality: Lessons Learned from the Trailnation Summit

Four flight delay notifications, two layovers, and a red-eye flight later, I found myself walking along Lake Michigan on a sunny Tuesday morning. I was already far too late to make it to the first plenary of the Summit, but I was happy to take the time to chug a quick coffee. A pristine walkway took me along the water, with an immense, lush park on the other side. There wasn’t a person in sight. I was the only one enjoying this view and in that moment, I felt so spoiled – to be in this city, in this park, to appreciate this trail and why I was here.

I attended the TrailNation Summit on June 5th-7th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Over 150 participants from across North America shared their passion and motivation for trail-building. Their stories inspired me to reflect upon our approach to the EPIC Trail, a project led by Valley Vision and SACOG to connect the Sacramento region via a 100-mile recreational trail.

Several speakers’ messages stood out to me in their discussions on equitable development and a desire for greater inclusivity, not only in the communities in which we build these trails, but also amongst the populations at the forefront of trail activism. By my estimate, at least 80% of the Summit attendees were white and 70% were over the age of 40. Sterling Stone, Executive Director of Gearin’ Up Bicycles in D.C., made powerful statements about race and equity that seemed so obvious and yet, weren’t mentioned earlier in the conference. How are we trying to engage with the local residents as we move forward with this project? Are we patting ourselves on the back for throwing around words like ‘equitable development’ and ‘implicit bias’ without having the tough discussions around how to help underserved communities?

Mr. Stone told a story of a young black man who was stopped by a cop while riding his bike with his friends on a recreational bike trail. He was neither breaking any laws, nor disturbing the peace.

“That kid didn’t say, ‘oh, that road wasn’t equitably developed for me’. No – he said “that cop was racist.”

We have to face these difficult truths and realize that top down strategies to “connect communities” will only get us so far in this process of advocating for equitable development. “It’s great if you all want to do this work forever, but we need to create a new generation of activists that reflect the communities we work for.”

Try as we might to improve connectivity and inclusiveness in our regions, our work needs to go beyond trail mapping, fundraising strategies, and branding. We could stop at recreation and improved tourism, but is that all we’re trying to accomplish with the EPIC Trail?

We tell people that this trail is for regional connectivity, to promote healthy lifestyles, and to improve quality of life. But for whom? Perhaps we could focus more on the disadvantaged communities in our region that have little access to green space. Or maybe, the rural counties that are often forgotten and have little representation among our regional leadership. What about the lower-income population with little time for recreation between working multiple jobs and caring for their children?

While we have really amazing trail groups like the Friends of El Dorado Trail, the Folsom Auburn Trail Riders Action Coalition, and American River Conservancy, our region doesn’t have a unified trail activism group that can meet regularly to improve trail access for these target populations. Many of the inspiring trail groups that I had the honor of meeting in Milwaukee were able to make monumental progress because of their network of other likeminded organizations. Together, they were better able to interact with these persistent community issues at a grassroots level.

It’s with this goal in mind that we continue in our process of fundraising for an alternatives study which will prioritize community engagement and inclusivity. Valley Vision’s purpose is to serve the region and this Summit was a great reminder of the power these trails can have – beyond recreation and connectivity – to making lasting social impacts in our neighborhoods and the Sacramento region at large.

Chloe Pan was Valley Vision’s Executive Assistant to CEO Bill Mueller and Project Lead for the EPIC Trail.

Building Business Resiliency in Wildfire-Risk Communities

Business resiliency is of vital importance to businesses themselves, and to the communities of which they’re a part. Recognizing that, Valley Vision and partner Sierra Business Council recently brought business resiliency workshops to small businesses in two rural communities in the Sierra Nevada, Sonora and Grass Valley. The workshops, funded by a grant from PG&E, are designed to inform and motivate small business owners and leaders to put plans in place for their businesses in the event of wildfire (or other) disasters.

The workshops are based on Valley Vision’s existing Business Resiliency Toolkit, which provides an easy-to-use, step-wise process way for small businesses develop their own business resiliency plan. Throughout, the Toolkit directs business owner/operators to respected existing resources, such as Kaiser’s Hazard Vulnerability Assessment tool, to most effectively get their disaster planning work done.

The resilience of small businesses is increasingly important to communities for several interconnected reasons:

  • First, thirty-years of national data show that natural disasters are increasing in frequency, severity, damage, and unpredictability. And as we saw all too clearly with events in late 2017, the drought and pest damage to our wildlands is resulting in wildfires of greater intensity and ferocity than ever before.
  • Next, research consistently shows that small businesses are the least prepared for, and the least able to recover from, disasters that strike, whether community-based, like a wildfire, or localized, like a building fire. After an event that causes small businesses to close unexpectedly for five days, 40-60% never reopen.
  • Additionally, small businesses contribute the majority of employment and wages in communities across the country. Particularly in more self-contained rural towns, the small business community is the backbone of local economies – so broad-based small business closures can have significant and long-lasting impacts to the economic health of those communities.

For these reasons, and others, Valley Vision and Sierra Business Council teamed up with local chambers of commerce, and PG&E’s financial support, to bring the Disaster-Proof Your Business Workshop to Sonora and Grass Valley.

In a half-day format, small business owner/operators learned from experts about the five steps of the Business Resiliency Toolkit.

  1. Understand Your Risks and Your Environment
  2. Assess Your Readiness
  3. Take Action
  4. Test and Update Your Plan
  5. Engage with Community Resiliency Efforts

Because the Toolkit is designed to help businesses prepare for a disaster of any type, Valley Vision and Sierra Business Council also developed wildfire-specific recommended actions.

For more information about the Toolkit or the Disaster-Proof Your Business workshop, please contact us!

Meg Arnold is Managing Director of Valley Vision, leading the Clean Economy and Innovation and Entrepreneurship Strategies.

Valley Vision Takes the #MyCleanAirPledge

At Valley Vision, we recognize the importance of clean air to the communities we serve.

Air pollution is everyone’s problem – from low-income neighborhoods burdened by diesel truck emissions to homesteads in the rural Sierra foothills, which face dangerous woodsmoke and wildfire risk. According to the American Lung Association, the Sacramento MSA in 2018 has the #5 worst ozone pollution (“smog”) and #19 worst short-term particle pollution (soot, smoke, and exhaust) in the country. Further, the region does not meet federal and state clean air standards, risking harm to our economy and the potential loss of millions of dollars in transportation funds. We also risk harming our environment, our health and our wellbeing.

This is why seven Valley Vision team members joined Breathe California Sacramento Region, each taking an individual #MyCleanAirPledge during the month of May. Below are their thoughts on the successes, challenges, and lessons learned in following their respective clean air commitments:

  • Valley Vision Managing Director Meg Arnold will encourage the Cap-to-Cap 2018 Air Quality team to use bikeshare in DC! #MyCleanAirPledge

“#MyCleanAirPledge benefited from the very willing members of the Air Quality team at Cap-to-Cap. In fact, I didn’t really have to do any “encouraging,” as I had committed to. As of the very first day we were in DC, we were on bikes for the almost-three-mile ride from Union Station back to the Mayflower Hotel at the end of the day’s meetings at the Capitol. We enjoyed a variety of DC’s well-thought-out bikes lanes, team co-captain John Lane’s knowledgeable history of DC bikeshare’s success and fast growth — and also DC’s unseasonably chilly, cloudy, and windy weather that day. Bike sharing continued through the rest of the trip — even including a meeting at EPA that John had to miss, because he was babysitting the group’s bikes, which we’d been unable to dock and return due to the docks all being full! Thanks to my Air Quality team-mates who made #MyAirQualityPledge really easy to succeed at!”

  • Valley Vision Communications Intern Ruben Moody will bring his reusable bags with him when grocery shopping! #MyCleanAirPledge

“Keeping myself accountable for bringing reusable grocery bags has been a great exercise in remembering commitments and taking steps to reduce waste. The first time I went shopping in May I did not bring my bags, but since then I have brought my large bags each time! Because I go to a smaller grocery store, the cashiers have taken notice of me getting better about bringing my reusable bags. I look forward to keeping my pledge going after Clean Air Month wraps up!”

  • Valley Vision Project Manager Adrian Rehn takes the #MyCleanAirPledge to commute to work via bicycle at least 2x per week during the month of May! #MyCleanAirPledge

“I’ll admit it – I have a history of getting a little lazy each Winter when it comes to biking to work and to meetings. This transgression is compounded by the fact that I reside a mere mile and a half from Valley Vision’s Broadway offices. May turned out to be a great month to break my bad habit, as Sacramento’s mythical “Spring” actually lasted more than 3 days, resulting in minimal rain and moderate temperatures – perfect for biking. I have now completed my pledge and even gone further – playing around with those new JUMP Bikes about half a dozen times. I will continue to keep the bike riding momentum going as best I can. See you out there!”

  • Valley Vision Executive Assistant Chloe Pan will force her parents to go to Refill Madness with her this month! #MyCleanAirPledge

“I became more aware of my carbon footprint and how much waste we produce when I was going to school in Santa Barbara. However, I moved back to Placer County after graduation and was tossed back into my parents’ lifestyle – where you don’t think twice about buying chemical drain cleaners, having meat in every meal, or throwing recyclables together with the trash (“They sort it out, sweetie!”). The opportunity to make a Clean Air Pledge gave me the push I needed to introduce my parents to Refill Madness. I can’t say that they were convinced to change their way of life, but it was nice to show them that there truly are concrete, practical, convenient ways of making a difference in our local community.”

  • Valley Vision’s Director of Strategy and Evaluation Evan Schmidt will carpool at least once per week during the month of May! #MyCleanAirPledge

“I’ve kept up my clean air pledge to carpool once a week by carpooling every Monday with Linda Cloud, a friend and neighbor who works at Local Government Commission in downtown Sacramento. Carpooling every Monday has been a great way to connect with a friend every week in addition to reducing air pollution. Also, I drive my electric Leaf (all the time) and so get even more benefit when I’m able to drive with someone else.”

Valley Vision’s Thousand Strong Intern Anessa Chacon and Project Leader Tammy Cronin also took the #MyCleanAirPledge. Anessa committed to reducing pollution in the air by walking to work and Tammy rode the Big Blue Bus (aka El Dorado Transit) to work instead of driving!

Valley Vision, Breathe California Sacramento Region, and the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce anchor the Cleaner Air Partnership, a diverse coalition of business leaders, environmental advocates, regulators, and others who have been helping the Sacramento region protect public health and promote economic growth for 30 years. Keep up with this important work by subscribing to our monthly ‘Cleaner Air News’ email newsletter, or by contacting Project Manager Adrian Rehn at (916) 325-1630 or emailing adrian.rehn@valleyvision.org.

Adrian Rehn is a Valley Vision Project Manager overseeing the Cleaner Air Partnership and Valley Vision’s online communications.

Cleaner Air Partnership Tracking EPA’s Moves on Vehicle Emissions

The Sacramento region’s longstanding Cleaner Air Partnership, anchored by Valley Vision, Breathe California Sacramento Region, and the Sacramento Metro Chamber, has been keeping an eye on the Trump Administration’s moves to potentially roll back vehicle emissions standards.

Sources claim that the U.S. Department of Transportation has drafted a proposal to freeze vehicle requirements at 2020 levels through 2026, pulling the plug on progressive emissions requirements put in place by the Obama Administration, and adopted by California leaders. In a region heavily impacted by vehicular, or “mobile source” pollutants, this could deal immense damage to public health and economic vitality in communities across the 7-County Sacramento region.

Alberto Ayala, Executive Director of the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD), penned an Op-Ed in the Sacramento Bee on this very subject last month, when it became apparent that the EPA was seriously considering these changes. “Rolling back the standards ignores reality – cleaner, more efficient cars are already abundant on our roads — and wastes large investments by automakers. Beyond innovations to gasoline engines, electric vehicles are improving battery life and charging times. And hydrogen fuel cell cars are coming up fast right behind. These advances are reflected in growing sales in California and other leading markets. Electric cars are the superior, no-compromise, and cheat-proof alternative to combustion.”

Erik White, Air Pollution Control Officer for the County of Placer, echoed these concerns. “Cooperative federalism does not abdicate EPA from its responsibilities to protect public health and address climate change. The federal government cannot selectively choose when it wants to support state’s rights and take when it wants to abrogate them. EPA must stay the course on the technologically feasible light duty standards already on the books such that it supports American leadership on automotive standards and the right of California to enact its own standards when necessary.”

These and other experts at the Cleaner Air Partnership will keep you apprised of this conversation as it develops. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to Valley Vision’s Clean Economy newsletter, share this piece through your networks, or email me if you want to be involved in clean air efforts (or know someone who does). Join us! Together we can ensure a more healthy, prosperous, and equitable Sacramento region.

Adrian Rehn is a Valley Vision Project Manager overseeing the Cleaner Air Partnership and Valley Vision’s online communications.

An Epic Day of Giving

Valley Vision joined over 500 of the region’s nonprofits to participate in the Big Day of Giving (BDOG)! BDOG is coordinated by the Sacramento Regional Community Foundation, and assisted nonprofits with raising over $7 million this year, and over $30 million since its inception. We started by snapping photos of our office dogs Kasha and Lily, pondered our best dog related puns, and fine-tuned our messaging. Standing out in a region full of exceptional nonprofits is no easy task, but I drew from my previous experience supporting Big Day of Giving communications. The excitement for BDOG inspired us to put our best communications foot forward to make sure Valley Vision stood out among our region’s impressive nonprofit ecosystem.

Although Valley Vision has previously participated in BDOG, this was the first time that we decided to dedicate all of the funds to a specific project. This year we raised funds to continue to the development of the EPIC Trail, an initiative to connect over 100 miles of biking and walking trails from the Sierra Foothills to Yolo County. The trail could also contribute to a larger regional trail, and link existing paths in the Bay Area and Northern San Joaquin County. Studies have shown that recreational trails increase tourism, boost community health, helps attract new businesses, and are desired by residents of our region. Valley Vision’s own 2017 Public Opinion Survey on Amenities found that a majority of Sacramento region residents view parks and trails as the single most important amenity to their quality of life.

To mobilize the staff around the fundraising campaign, I created a large wall tracker with locations along the proposed EPIC Trail. The day started with the tracker being located in Davis, and as more donations were received, we were able to move the bike along the trail to West Sacramento, Sacramento, and beyond. Every time the tracker was able to be moved was exciting because it was simultaneously representing us raising funds and also visually moving along the trail. With every donation, it became clearer that the region strongly believes in building a contiguous path for recreation. Throughout the day, we were sure to thank our donors on social media, and maintain a steady stream of content.

Assisting with the development and execution of the Communications plan, I learned more about the complexities, and importance of managing an effective fundraising campaign. Asking people to imagine themselves at specific locations on the trail, showing them the existing trails, and emphasizing the flexibility for trails to be used for exercise, recreation, and the arts added the human element of our efforts. My key takeaway is that a communications strategy to support fundraising is a year-round process that does not start when BDOG comes along, but increases and culminates on the Sacramento Region Community Foundation’s annual Big Day of Giving.

Ultimately, Valley Vision was able to raise $1,477 from 17 donors! The generosity of our region brought joy to our staff, and gave the office a fun project to rally behind. Valley Vision is continuing to convene our over seventy stakeholders to ensure that the EPIC Trail comes to fruition. Thank you to those who gave – your generosity will prove transformative to the connectivity of our region!

Ruben Moody is Valley Vision’s Communications Intern.

Air Quality Team Makes Moves at Cap-to-Cap

As usual, the Metro Chamber’s annual Capitol-to-Capitol program was jam-packed, tightly-scheduled, well-run – and very large. This year’s delegation numbered 375, including the business community, local electeds, nonprofit leadership, and representatives from our academic institutions.

The Air Quality team’s seventeen members took an equal number of meetings in two-and-a-half days, with plenty of bike-share commuting as well, despite this being one of the chilliest and rainiest Cap-to-Caps in memory.  The four issue papers we “carried” (on federal funding, forest resilience, biomass, and broadband access) were well-received by the majority of our regional Congressional delegation, as well as by Senators Feinstein and Harris.

More challenging was our conversation with the Environmental Protection Agency, which focused significantly on vehicle emissions standards and the importance of not weakening the Clean Air Act, given all the benefits it has brought to the nation since its inception. Administration appointees debated with us the significance of vehicle emissions and particularly the issue of California continuing its higher standards.

Our discussion with the Majority staffer for the Senate’s Committee on the Environment and Public Works featured a slightly broader range of topics, with two pieces of welcome news and one piece of less ideal, though unsurprising, news. We learned that cuts to EPA’s budget are “not a high priority for many in Congress; that’s more the Administration,” and also that the Committee’s Republican Chair and Democratic Ranking Member are jointly sponsoring a bill that would fund the Diesel Emissions Reductions Act (DERA) at its statutory maximum of $100M. The not-surprising topic was that of CAFÉ  standards (vehicle emissions standards), where our team’s strong points in support were acknowledged but met with a “we’ll have to agree to disagree” response.

As one final note, we were fortunate to benefit from two strong “freshmen” members of the team, who each set a high bar. Alberto Ayala of the Sacramento Metro Air Quality Management District was an able leader of “sub-team Ayala,” while Breathe Board member Paul Adams of Capital Public Radio arranged a special side-tour of the NPR headquarters for Cap-to-Cap attendees.

All in all, it was a successful Cap-to-Cap and the Air Quality team enjoyed a fun and impactful time in D.C. We are all looking forward to next year!

To keep up on the latest Valley Vision and Cleaner Air Partnership news, our research findings and analyses, and personal commentary and thoughts by those on the staff team, sign up for our Cleaner Air News and Vantage Point email newsletters!

Meg Arnold is Managing Director of Valley Vision, leading the Clean Economy and Innovation and Entrepreneurship Strategies.

Rural Broadband a Top Priority for Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue

On Wednesday, April 18, the 2018 Cap-to-Cap Food & Ag policy team had the opportunity to meet with Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue. The meeting, secured through the leadership and persistence of Linda Budge, mayor of the City of Rancho Cordova, was held Wednesday morning at U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters, located in the historic Agriculture South Building in Washington, D.C.  Mayor Budge and Secretary Perdue are former high school classmates, having attending high school together in Georgia, Purdue from a local farming family and Budge from a military family. The two have remained in contact over the years.

The Food & Ag team was there to talk about several policy priorities for the greater Sacramento region including rural broadband, forest management, conservation, and expanding support for and access to healthy foods for the hidden hungry, including college students and working families.

On the issue of rural broadband, Secretary Purdue noted that the lack of “e-Connectivity” is the top issue he hears about wherever he visits, most recently Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. Purdue believes “e-Connectivity is the number one issue holding the [U.S.] ag industry back.” In fact, after meeting with our team, the Secretary was launching the first of a series of national listening sessions on improving e-connectivity in rural America, along with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai and a coalition of industry leaders. (The Food & Ag team held a meeting with the Chairman’s office earlier in the week on the same topic).

Relaying to Purdue the challenges from a California perspective were third generation Clarksburg farmers, David and Phil Ogilvie. David shared his personal story of his ability to apply modern farming techniques to drive efficiencies in water use on several of his fields through sensors and remote irrigation management with an iPhone app. Due to lack of broadband access, he isn’t able to deploy the technology on all of his fields. His farm in Clarksburg is located is a community less than a fifteen-minute drive from the California State Capitol. Unfortunately, lack of broadband access in rural areas of California is not an issue unique to Clarksburg. In fact, as a whole, the region has relatively poor grades for broadband infrastructure.

The world views California as leader in technology and innovation. However, we are not leading in terms broadband speed and access. Many rural residents are disconnected from the many benefits of e-connectivity, including opportunities for distance learning, expanding global markets for small businesses, connecting to information on employment and job applications, and accessing telemedicine for improved health.

Fortunately, there is growing awareness of the importance of broadband as a critical utility for 21st Century competitiveness. As affirmed by Secretary Perdue, it’s time to build a 21st Century Highway of Connectivity. We can look to models from the past that have expanded utilities such as electricity and telephone service to all for ideas. Solving the problem will require creative partnerships between federal, state, local government and private partners.

The Connected Capital Broadband Consortium is working with partners and stakeholder across the region to elevate the importance of this issue and to help fill our broadband infrastructure gaps. Together, we can envision the future-ready e-connectivity infrastructure we need for regional prosperity and competitiveness. Let’s work together collectively tackle the challenge!

Tammy Cronin was a Valley Vision Project Leader working in the 21st Century Workforce and Healthy Communities strategies.

Partnering to Craft an Inclusive Economy

Today over 200 leaders gathered from 28 cities and counties at the Regional Futures Forum hosted by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments to hear from a national expert about how our region’s economy has restructured since the global downturn nearly 10-years ago.

“The Sacramento region benefits from an educated workforce, world-class research institutions, and the presence of the state government, but our research shows that the region also faces significant challenges, including lagging growth of its export industries, stark educational and earnings disparities between white, black, and Hispanic residents, and investment needs in transportation and broadband infrastructure to connect residents to opportunity,” said Amy Liu, Vice President and Director of of the Brookings Institute’s Metropolitan Policy Program.

“In an age of rapid technological changes and an ongoing demographic transformation towards a majority-minority future, existing disparities will be exacerbated without deliberate action,” continued Liu.  “Now, leaders across the region must do the hard work of creating a shared vision for inclusive growth, mobilizing people in government, business, and the broader community to tackle these challenges and make the Sacramento region truly inclusive and prosperous in the years ahead.”

Earlier this year, Valley Vision, the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and the Sacramento Area Council of Governments partnered to engage the nationally recognized Brookings Institution to conduct a market assessment of the six-county Sacramento region. The study examines the economic drivers of successful economies in regions and benchmarked Sacramento against national markets with similar characteristics.

The findings from the Brookings Institution informed the full-day Regional Futures Forum that included breakout sessions and group conversations to dive deep into topics and to develop priorities and actions to take the region to new levels of economic growth, prosperity and inclusion.

“This report shows just how important it is that we build an inclusive economy that provides opportunities for everyone in the Sacramento region,” said Jay Schenirer, Sacramento City Council Member and SACOG Board Chair. “Together, our region needs to provide — among other investments — more workforce development and job training opportunities for youth and young professionals. Investing in digital skills training and connecting young workers to in-demand occupations and industries will help our industries grow while creating access to jobs for more people.”

The full Brookings Institution Sacramento Region Market Assessment can be accessed at: https://brook.gs/2r4PbjI

The Future of Work in the Capital Region

I got my first smartphone in 2011. Only seven years ago, yet, this technology has fundamentally changed my daily life, for better and worse.

It is simultaneously amazing, overwhelming, enhancing, and distracting to have nearly every piece of information I need at my fingertips (not to mention a lot of information that I don’t need). Of course it’s not just phones. Technologies like 3D printers, the ability to collect “big data,” autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, and so much more have fundamentally changed our personal and work lives, and the worldwide economy. As Thomas Friedman describes, technology is accelerating faster than humans can adapt, creating tension and uncertainty. I already feel this in my work and family life.  As I think about me and my children’s ability to thrive and be successful in the future, I wonder, what are the consequences of life immersed in technology? What will happen next? How do we prepare people for this future?

These are the questions that underpinned the recent series of forums that Valley Vision hosted, entitled Workforce Technology Forum Series: Changing Occupations and Skills in an Automated World. These forums were supported by our regional Workforce Development Boards (WDB), demonstrating the leadership and collaboration of the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency (SETA)/Sacramento Works WDB, the Golden Sierra WDB, the North Central Counties Consortium WDB, and the Yolo WDB. The goal is to bring together workforce development practitioners, educators, employers, community partners, and elected officials, including Congresswoman Matsui and Congressman Bera, to have critical discussions and start prioritizing actions to ensure that our regional workforce (and their children!)  can readily adapt to whatever changes the future brings. Valley Vision held forums in Woodland, Rocklin, Marysville, and Sacramento to understand the unique issues going on all around the region.

What did we learn?

National research provided the basic foundation to inform our discussions. Valley Vision compiled a research brief that framed the discussion and documented national trends. We drew from many sources, including a recent report from The Brookings Institution, published in late 2017.  A major focus was the rate of digitalization (or penetration of digital technology into the workplace) in sectors, geographies, and occupations across the nation. Some of the key findings included:

  • Jobs are becoming more digitalized at every level – fifteen years ago you could get an entry level job without any digital skills. Today those jobs are fewer and fewer. This goes for middle skills, or “good jobs” as well. Today 86% of middle skill jobs require digital skills, compared to 49% fifteen years ago.
  • The more a job is digitalized, the higher the wage is, on average. So, moving into the future, digitalization will be a major driver of social mobility.
  • Right now, there is uneven access to digital jobs – Latinos, Blacks, and women are underrepresented. Without intentionally working to level the playing field, significant demographics of people will get left behind.

The most important learnings were from the participants of the forums themselves, which helped to support national research findings and provided an important local context. Some of the highlights include:

  • The national findings were consistent with what employers across the region are experiencing. For example, Gordon Rogers with the Owens Group is experiencing the jump to higher levels of digitalization across occupations in architecture. Yet, it is difficult to find enough employees that are prepared to use the digital technologies that are required to meet customer demand.
  • Sectors that you might not expect to be impacted, are. For example, the standardization of recipes, processes to monitor food safety, and the digitalization of menus and ordering has transformed the restaurant industry, according to John Pickerel from Buckhorn Steakhouse, headquartered in Winters and employing 600 people in the region. Information technology is a fundamental skill across sectors.
  • Information technology needs to be a basic skill taught across all disciplines in school. Employers also need workers with adaptable skills who can learn new technologies on the job and be ready for continuous learning.
  • Lack of resources and bureaucratic systems get in the way of educators preparing students for the technology needs of today and tomorrow. They can’t afford the tools they need and investing in changing technologies can be difficult to rationalize. Educators need support from employers to increase occupation awareness, provide information, and assist with resources to effectively train students.

Our complete report with top recommendations will be coming out soon and we are planning a Summit this summer to discuss how we move to action. Additionally, the Brookings Institution has been hired by Valley Vision and local partners to conduct an “economic stress test” on our region. This report will dive into a more detailed, region-specific analysis of the digitalization rate of the Capital region and the implications for the future. Their analysis and recommendations will help inform our understanding of what the future of work will look like for our region, and what we should do about it.

We never could have imagined the way smartphones and other technologies have changed our lives just ten (or so) years ago. As we think about changes to come, we can’t predict the future, but we can use data and good collaboration practices to transform our current systems to be resilient, inclusive, and adaptive.

To collaborate or stay up-to-date with Valley Vision’s work, please subscribe to Valley Vision’s email newsletters or contact us.

Evan Schmidt is Valley Vision’s Director of Strategy and Evaluation working on the Public Opinion Surveying initiative and projects in the Healthy Communities and 21st Century Workforce strategy areas.