In keeping with Marin Economic Forum’s (MEF) goal to create partnerships and initiatives that stimulate job and business growth for entrepreneurial businesses within Marin County, MEF has formed a working partnership with the Marin HR Forum. The goal of this partnership is to facilitate conversations between business leaders and HR professionals to better understand the issues of today and tomorrow and find creative solutions to human resources challenges that face Marin County employers.
A man’s face appears dead center in a black-and-white video. Seeming to make eye contact with the viewer, he says, “The Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership shares my view of hope and the need for change in this world.”
This 40-second video of Peter Rodgers, the San Rafael nonprofit’s marketing director, appears on his LinkedIn profile. If he chooses, he can include it in his email signature or his resume. It was created by YouPlus.biz, a company helmed by two Fairfax residents whose offerings were demonstrated at the Marinnovation event in San Rafael Tuesday.
Thirty Marin-based innovative businesses strutted their stuff in booths and demonstrations, and representatives of Edutopia, the website of the George Lucas Educational Foundation, gave speeches at the event. Marinnovation highlights Marin technologies, ventures and services with the hope of fostering entrepreneurship.
“When a piece of commercial real estate sells, a lot depends on who goes into the property,” said Robert Eyler, chief economist for the Marin Economic Forum and a professor of economics at Sonoma State.
“If there are currently businesses in the building, it depends on how much they are paying and how much longer there is in the lease,” Eyler said.
“If it’s vacant and the new landlords have the ability to market to somebody who can come in and fill it, that can be a boost to the local economy right away,” Eyler said.
Life sciences and biotech have taken center stage of late in Marin, and there’s a new leader aiming to attract new business.
Steve Lockett, formerly an associate director in venture catalyst unit at the University of California, Davis, has taken the reins at the Marin Economic Forum from Robert Eyler, who will continue to serve as the forum’s chief economist.
Eyler, who was the forum’s founding CEO, stepped back into the role after Neil Stone stepped down in November 2011, after just six months on the job. The forum, a nonprofit created by a public-private partnership in 2010, is designed to foster local economic growth.
The largest publicly available stem cell bank in the world has opened for business at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato.
“We’re excited to see the project moving to this stage,” said Brian Kennedy, the Buck Institute’s president and chief executive. “We think it is an important mission to create these banks. It’s going to be extremely valuable for scientists in the stem field and regenerative medicine, including probably our scientists.”
It is with great excitement that I begin my tenure as CEO of the Marin Economic Forum (MEF). I am honored to join an organization with the reputation of MEF, and I look forward to contributing to the economic vitality of Marin County.
One of the many things that drew me to MEF is its mission statement: “The Marin Economic Forum enables Marin County’s economic stakeholders to collaborate on improving Marin County’s economic vitality, focusing on Marin’s targeted industries, while enhancing social equity and protecting the environment”. This view of economic development, of including social and environmental issues along with maintaining a robust economy, perfectly mirrors my own view of economic and community development.
San Rafael-based pet products producer Worldwise plans to expand to Novato this fall as it has become one of the nation’s largest in the retail realm of cat and dog toys, beds, carriers and other accessories with a recent major acquisition of brands.
In mid-October, the 25-year-old company plans to relocate to 18,500 square feet of space in the Hamilton Landing office complex. Worldwise (worldwise.com) currently employs 53 and will have room to add more.
Hamilton Landing, the 410,000-square-foot office complex at the former Air Force base in Novato, was purchased Wednesday by Portland-based ScanlanKemperBard Companies.
Hamilton Landing, the 410,000-square-foot office complex at the former Air Force base in Novato, was purchased Wednesday by Portland-based ScanlanKemperBard Companies.
On August 24, 2014, Napa County experienced a natural disaster that no part of California wants to ever experience: an earthquake that affects the downtown area. The City of Napa was hit particularly hard, and the visual damage provided some reminders of a similar outcome 108 years earlier from San Francisco northward. Among the many differences between the 1906 earthquake and the 2014 earthquake in this region was that Napa was ready for this and the community rallied with its support and with its recognition that Napa’s visual aesthetic is very important to its main industry: tourism.
Marin County can learn from the speed and agility with which Napa County rallied. By November 2014, Napa had turned many corners in terms of the financial issues of recovery from the earthquake; to walk around in Napa and not know what happened there otherwise had the feel of major construction work and not reacting to a natural disaster. Because tourism is a major economic driver for Napa County and the City of Napa in specific, clearing the streets and confirming the safety of each business was critical in the economic effects of the quake not lingering beyond the necessary items.
A major expansion is underway to replace Marin General Hospital with a new four-story, 260,000-square-foot hospital building, a five-story, 100,000-square-foot ambulatory services building, and two parking structures.
Excavation for the new parking garage began in April. Groundbreaking for the $394 million new hospital is scheduled for January 2016, and it is expected to open in spring or summer 2020.
