Upcoming Meetings/Events
Wednesday, January 25
What’s to come in 2012 for our local economy?
This month we will focus on the prospects for a prosperous new year. Ray Deutsch and Victoria Conner of the Economic Alliance of Northern Santa Barbara County (EconNSBC) will offer us an overview of their organizations “Possibility Thinking” focus and job-creation purpose, as well as the “1000 Day Roadmap to Economic Recovery” for Northern Santa Barbara County.
“The Economic Alliance of Northern Santa Barbara County (EconNSBC) is a grassroots effort of a diverse group of private sector and community leaders. Committed to leveraging regional assets and talent to support existing Chamber and other local economic development efforts, the Alliance is dedicated to the creation of a high-performance community ready to compete in the 21st Century global economy. By enhancing economic stability through innovation, entrepreneurship, industry cluster and other strategies, EconNSBC and its stakeholders and partners can grow high quality jobs and ensure sustainable economic vitality for northern Santa Barbara County.”
Raymond Deutsch, co-chair of the Economic Alliance of Northern Santa Barbara County (EconNSBC), is Senior Architect and Community Relations Director with Westberg + White Architects and Planners. An early champion of economic development efforts in the Central Coast supporting regional and California space activities, Ray served on the California Defense Conversion Council, chaired the Santa Maria Valley Economic Development Association, and currently chairs the Santa Maria Manufacturers’ Association. Ray also served as a director on the Board of the Santa Barbara Technology and Industry Association (SBTIA). From its inception and until recently, Ray served on the Board of Directors of the California Space Authority (CSA). He was Founding Chairman of the California Space & Technology Alliance (CSTA) and instrumental in obtaining the State’s designation of CSTA as the state’s space “authority”. In 2003 Ray retired after 29 years, as President of Hall Hurley Deutsch, Architects, Inc., a 19-person firm specializing in educational, institutional, industrial, and research facilities.
Victoria Conner, co-chair of the Economic Alliance of Northern Santa Barbara County (EconNSBC), is principal of Strategic Vitality LLC, specializing in collaborative strategic planning and creative consensus-building. For a client, Vicki created the California Innovation Corridor Initiative that spanned 13 counties and led to the development of the Innovation Driven Economic Development Model. As a partner in the initiative, she worked with the California Workforce Association on several workforce initiatives, and launched both a statewide aerospace supplier and a STEM education initiative. For almost a decade, Vicki managed industry-driven technology development and economic and workforce development collaboratives for California’s space-strategic regions. She led development of four collaborative statewide strategic plans for California space enterprise. Vicki is published in the International Journal of Economic Development and has presented at the annual conference of the National Association of Strategic Planning and at Workforce Innovations, the Department of Labor’s annual national convention.
meetings@smhra.net
