Solano EDC Economic News
April 04 2022Dear Members, Partners and Friends of the Solano EDC,
I continue to be impressed and inspired by the incredible beauty Solano County has to offer. Recently I was fortunate enough to receive a tour of the 1500 acre Patwino Worrtla Kodoi Dihi Open Space Park. from Nicole Braddock, Executive Director of the Solano Land Trust. Patwino Worrtla Kodoi Dihi (pronounced: Put.win.no War.klaw Kaw.doy De.he) means Southern Rock Home of the Patwin people. These words are from the Patwin language, spoken in this region for thousands of years. (The name of Suisun City also derives from Patwin, meaning where the west wind blows.) This park is slated to come online later this year and what a tremendous asset this will be for the region where 22,000 acres of land have been preserved by the trust. While every county has its own set of unique circumstances, numerous studies have concluded that protected public lands in the West, including lands in non-metro counties, can be an important economic asset that extends beyond tourism and recreation to attract people and businesses.
On Friday we kicked off our Kaiser Permanente Sponsored Speaker Series with a terrific conversation on Career and Technical Education called “Educating The Workforce of the Future.” This important conversation was both well attended and compelling, and we were fortunate enough to feature several folks from the national stage. You can read about the event in both The Reporter and The Daily Republic. If you missed this great event, you can watch the webinar here.
Lastly, we’re ramping up our Solano EDC Fellowship for students from the Solano Community College. We’re building this in partnership with Solano Community College with a generous grant from Kaiser. You can read about the program in the North Bay Business Journal and in the Daily Republic.
Wishing you all health and prosperity.
Chris Rico
Solano EDC Welcomes New Members
Over the past month, we have seen an exciting increase in new member activity and are pleased to announce that we have welcomed the following organization as Solano EDC members: Dakin and Dakin Commercial Real Estate Services, Dumas Real Estate, Inc., and Paradise Valley Estates. Each company brings a breadth of industry experience to the table.
Dakin and Dakin specializes in the leasing and sale of office, R&D, industrial, and land product and tenant types. Dumas Real Estate, Inc. handles residential sales and rentals, and commercial sales, leasing, development, and consulting services. Paradise Valley Estates is a 76-acre, master planned neighborhood near Travis Air Force Base that welcomes people age 60 and older as residents.
Learn more about our new members at SolanoEDC.org/news.
Destination Vacaville Features Chris Rico
Visit Vacaville’s podcast, Destination Vacaville, recently interviewed Chris about his goals for his new role, and his favorite things to do in Vacaville and around the region. Take a listen.
Podcast host and Solano EDC Board Member Melyssa Reeves, encourages other members to attend Vacaville’s Annual Tourism Breakfast, taking place on May 4, 2022 at Makse Restaurant. The event will spotlight tourism’s effects on the local economy, such as contributing millions of dollars per year to the city’s General Fund, which pays for public safety, street repairs, park maintenance and city recreation programs.
“Tourism is the purist form of Economic Development,” Reeves shares. “It’s the kind of economics that is relatable, something everyone can understand. Visitors in our community spend money on hotels, dining, shopping, and gas, and they spread the word about their experiences – contributing to our local economy while making very little impact on our resources. We have even seen companies who choose to locate their businesses in Vacaville coming as visitors first to really understand the place they plan to call home.”
Rising Sun Reveals Energy Impact in Solano County
The numbers are in for our 2021 program work with Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) and Rising Sun. It was a great year.
Last year, Rising Sun's work in Solano through the delivery of free energy-and-water-saving devices to households, saved more than 141,000 gallons of water, a welcome savings during the current drought. Its electrification programs saved enough energy to power the electricity needs of two homes for an entire year, and charge more than 1.7 million smartphones. These initiatives prevented 14 metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere, and more than 33,000 miles driven by an average passenger vehicle.
This is an exciting start, and we can't wait to see more households adopt free energy kits and experience savings, both at the residential level, and for our county, in 2022 and beyond.
Travis Credit Union Supports Financial Wellness
April is financial literacy month, and many teens have not been introduced to formal instruction on money matters like personal saving, spending, allowances, and the differences between short-term and long-term goals. To build a bright future, Travis Credit Union is giving teens ages 13 to 18 the opportunity to complete four online money challenges to learn about managing their finances. Challenges will be held around the topics of Organizing Finances, Establishing Savings, Avoiding Debt, and Building Credit. Teens who complete all four challenges will be entered into a drawing to win a new Apple® iPad! Learn more about the Awesome Cause Challenge and the opportunity for teens to learn financial management skills.
Travis Credit Union is also hosting Shredding Events to provide community members with access to paper shredding services to be better protected from identity theft. Shred events are opportunities to properly dispose of personal and financial information such as old account statements, outdated health records and old tax information. Shredding personal records and financial documents are effective ways to defend against identity theft and other forms of fraud. Event dates and locations vary, and run through June.
Solano EDC Members Invited on Exclusive Hike
Solano EDC members are invited to take part in an exclusive hike at Solano Land Trust’s Patwino Worrtla Kodoi Dihi Open Space Park. The hike will take place on Friday, April 8 from 9:30 am to Noon. After gathering at Suisun Valley Road in Fairfield, hikers can either carpool or follow the guide with their own vehicles two miles further into the park, where the hike will begin. Water and hiking shoes are musts.
Interested participants can find details, and register for the hike, here. For questions, reach out to Laura at laura@solanolandtrust.org.
Cal Maritime Secures Funding for New Ship
Cal Maritime is celebrating an important milestone in its journey to acquire a new and innovative purpose-built training ship. President Joe Biden’s signing of H.R. 2471, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, includes a funding provision for the Academy’s new state-of-the-art training ship, a National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV). Cal Maritime’s new ship is the fifth in a fleet of training vessels specifically designed for the state maritime academies. The new ships are designed to provide professional training for future mariners as well as to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions in times of need.
The NSMV will feature numerous instructional spaces, a full training bridge, and accommodations for up to 600 cadets to train in a first-rate maritime academic environment at sea. Collectively, the six state maritime academies graduate nearly 70% of all new officers each year—the merchant mariners who help keep cargoes and the economy moving. Many also support U.S. national security by crewing military sealift vessels. The ships are also designed to answer the nation’s call when crisis hits.
Learn more about this momentous announcement at CSUM.edu.
Bike Month is Back, and Better Than Ever
Did you know that more than one million Bay Area residents live within five miles of their workplace? If that’s you and you’re currently commuting by car, let 2022 be the year you start a new and healthy lifestyle and avoid heavy traffic and unexpected delays. You can be a part of reducing air pollution while getting in some exercise by joining the Solano Transportation Authority’s Solano Mobility #BikeMonth Celebration! This year Solano Mobility will host events throughout the entire month of May to celebrate Bike Month, starting with the Bike Month challenge. Sign up on the Commute Solano platform, log five bicycle trips, and get rewarded with a $25 gift card of your choice.
Additionally, on May 20th STA will celebrate Bike to Work Day. Volunteers will pass out free bags at the Suisun Amtrak station, Vallejo Ferry building, and on the Benicia Bike path. Solano EDC members are invited to stop by and learn more about Bucks for Bikes and other commuter incentive programs. And finally, throughout the month, STA will celebrate with community bike rides throughout Solano County. For more information on Bike Month or Bike Month events, visit Solanomobility.org or call (800) 535-6883.