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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
This two-day virtual economic summit is designed to foster innovative thinking throughout our region of Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake and Mendocino counties, as well as adjacent tribal lands.
Lake County is joining this conference for the first time this year, as an important initiative to strengthen collaborative efforts between the four counties that make up the Redwood Coast Region.
As a rural community, Lake County shares many similar challenges as well as economic drivers.
This conference allows the participants a chance to share the insights and innovative solutions they have been working on in our county, and to hear from other communities for inspiration as well.
The conference will center on conversations and networking with a focus on industry opportunities, infrastructure needs, and improving quality of life for all in the midst of a changing economic, climatic and cultural landscape.
On Thursday, Sept. 22, they will hear from keynote speakers addressing relevant topics for our region, and engage in interactive breakout sessions on key regional focus areas.
They will hear from Sen. Mike McGuire; Tara Lynn Gray, director of California Office of Small Business Advocacy; Robert Eyler, professor of economics at Sonoma State University; Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California; and Ken Hamik, futurist.
Friday will provide a range of breakout sessions on exciting economic and business development opportunities for entrepreneurs and policymakers across the region, from broadband and medical care to food security, arts, culture, housing, and so much more.
Several Lake County leaders will be presenting, including:
• Creative Solutions to the Housing Crisis: Workforce and Affordable Housing Solutions from Clearlake and Fort Bragg. While the entire state is struggling with affordable housing shortages, rural communities like ours are especially hard hit. Explore how Clearlake’s Homestead Program and Housing Mendocino Coast use two different creative approaches to make workforce housing more affordable and accessible. Presented by Alan Flora, city manager of Clearlake, and Sarah McCormick, assistant city manager of Fort Bragg
• Blue Zones: Live Better, Longer. The Blue Zones’ “Power 9” reverse engineers longevity using international communities with the longest-living people thriving as models. In this session, we will share how our teams are implementing the Power 9 in Lake and Mendocino counties. Presented by Jamey Gill and Tina Tyler-O’Shea, executive directors of Blue Zones Projects Lake and Mendocino counties, respectively.
• Best-in-class regenerative, organic farming comes naturally to the Redwood Coast. Hear the story of two certified regenerative organic farms: Alexandre Family Farm in Del Norte and the Shannon Family of Wines in Lake County. Learn how and why to farm like the world depends on it and explore the three pillars of Regenerative Organic Certified farming: soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness. Presented by Blake Alexandre, owner of Alexandre Family Farm, and Joy Merrilees, VP of production for Shannon Family of Wines.
Read the full line-up of presenters and more about the summit at bit.ly/GrowingForward2022.
This conference will be primarily virtual on Sept. 22 to 23, but there will be an in-person mixer at the fabulous Lady Luck Garage from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday. A joint event with the Lake County Chamber of Commerce Mixer, this networking event will be a great chance to continue conversations from the day and meet other leaders from the community. If you’ve wanted to check out this one-of-a-kind vintage car showroom and event venue, located at 4010 Main St. in Kelseyville, now’s your perfect chance.
In addition to the virtual presentations, participants will receive a conference package, including conference swag and a detailed program overview with highlights from our community. The robust virtual platform will make it easy to participate live, watch recordings later, network with other attendees, and participate in virtual exhibits.
Learn more and register for the conference at bit.ly/GrowingForward2022. General admission tickets are $75. Attendees will get admission to the live event, access to recordings afterward, a generous “swag bag” filled with goodies from our sponsors, entrance to the in-person Mixer at Lady Luck Garage on Thursday evening, and a printed program highlighting the economic state of our region.
The Redwood Coast Region Economic Development Summit is a collaborative effort between organizations across Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake and Mendocino counties, as well as adjacent tribal lands. Our sponsors include AEDC, Blue Lake Rancheria, Cal Poly Humboldt, City of Arcata, City of Eureka, City of Rio Dell, Coast Central Credit Union, College of the Redwoods, County of Humboldt, Headwaters, NorCal for Health, North Coast Small Business Development Center, North Coast Tourism, PG&E, Redwood Capital Bank, RREDC, Savings Bank and Vocality.
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- Written by: California Department of Public Health
Health care facilities, other congregate settings and schools will no longer be required to administer weekly COVID-19 testing of unvaccinated and under vaccinated workers.
The changes take effect this Saturday, Sept. 17.
The state’s vaccination and booster requirements for employees in healthcare, correctional health, and adult residential settings remain in effect.
In addition, changes to the vaccine-or-test policy regarding state workers will be announced separately by CalHR.
“We’ve entered a phase of the pandemic where the majority of people in these workplace settings are vaccinated, and our youngest Californians are now eligible for vaccination too, which protects all of our communities against severe illness, hospitalization and death,” said CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Tomás Aragón. “While unvaccinated individuals remain at greatest risk of serious health consequences from COVID-19 infection, weekly testing of unvaccinated groups is no longer slowing the spread as it did earlier in the pandemic due to the more infectious Omicron variants.”
State public health leaders urge all individuals to stay up-to-date on the COVID-19 vaccine to protect themselves from severe illness and slow the spread of the virus.
As Omicron variants keep emerging, the updated booster is an important tool against severe illnesses, hospitalization, long COVID, and death.
California expects to receive more than one million doses of the updated booster and will have ample supply to meet demand.
While weekly testing requirements are ending, employers and schools are encouraged to continue providing testing resources to staff and students to slow the spread of COVID-19 in all communities.
Vaccination and testing are two key measures that help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, as is masking and improving indoor ventilation.
The state has distributed another round of 10 million at-home tests to K-12 schools and continues to support additional testing resources for schools as well as school and community testing sites, some of which offer COVID-19 treatments.
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- Written by: Governor's Office
AB 257, the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act by Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena), authorizes the creation of the Fast Food Council comprised of representatives from labor and management to set minimum standards for workers in the industry, including for wages, conditions related to health and safety, security in the workplace, the right to take time off from work for protected purposes and protection from discrimination and harassment.
“California is committed to ensuring that the men and women who have helped build our world-class economy are able to share in the state’s prosperity,” said Gov. Newsom on Monday. “Today’s action gives hardworking fast-food workers a stronger voice and seat at the table to set fair wages and critical health and safety standards across the industry. I’m proud to sign this legislation on Labor Day when we pay tribute to the workers who keep our state running as we build a stronger, more inclusive economy for all Californians.”
Members of the Fast Food Council at the Department of Industrial Relations will include fast food workers and their advocates, franchisees, franchisors and representatives from the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and the Department of Industrial Relations.
For full text of the bill, visit http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
Under the Newsom Administration, California has made important strides to support workers and advance workplace safety.
Last year, the governor signed legislation to protect warehouse workers from unsafe production quotas and nation-leading legislation to end exploitative piece-rate compensation for garment industry workers.
The governor also signed a measure directing Cal/OSHA to create an advisory committee to recommend state policies to protect domestic workers and a bill to ensure that workers with disabilities are paid a fair wage.
In 2019, the governor signed legislation giving child care workers the right to join a union and collectively bargain with the state.
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- Written by: Lake County Chamber of Commerce
They are also now meeting with interested business and community leaders who would like to volunteer to mentor our youth.
Created out of a desire to help guide young adults of Lake County through and beyond the effects of the 2020 pandemic and into a career focused and citizenship engaged mindset, the Lake County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors spearheaded a one-of-a-kind mentorship program.
The Youth Mentorship Program is a practical, skill building program designed to assist young adults with tools and resources to help them secure jobs, learn to be career minded and become goal setters early on.
The Youth Mentorship program is open to young adults ages 18 to 24. The mentees are mentored by Lake County business leaders, carefully curated to provide training to build skills and confidence.
The program is delivered in collaboration with both Mendocino Community College and Woodland Community College faculty.
The Lake County Chamber of Commerce is proud of a highly successful first run in 2021, led by leadership coach Gretchen Mills, where participants attended weekly virtual classes led by academic faculty and local subject matter experts, met one on one with mentors to learn valuable job skills, and received collectible feedback.
The program is designed to better prepare our youngest citizens to be strong members of our workforce, meeting a great need that many in our business community face.
To accomplish this, the chamber is seeking supportive community and business leaders to volunteer to train and guide young people in the seven-week program.
As a result of the 2021 pilot program, six mentees successfully completed the training earning much more than a certificate of completion and a graduation ceremony, the mentees exited the program with the knowledge that they have the skill and ability to achieve career goals and are valuable citizens in the community.
“We are happy to share the success of one mentee who secured full-time employment shortly after graduation, and another who began an entrepreneurial endeavor selling clothing and crafts at farmer’s markets and festivals,” the chamber said in a statement.
Graduates of the Youth Mentorship Program are also often invited to other opportunities to connect with community leaders.
For example, all 2021 graduates of the Youth Mentorship Program received scholarships from the Lake County Chamber of Commerce to the Lake Leadership Forum held in June.
To apply to become a mentor or a mentee for this exciting program, please visit http://tinyurl.com/lakementorship.
Applications will be accepted through Sept. 2. Please reach out with any questions to