‘Seed Grants’ Start Taking Root: $2.5 Million Available to Help Solve Valley’s Problems.
By Jeff St. John, The Fresno Bee, Calif.
Feb. 3
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TULARE — The California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley met on Friday to select three dozen finalists from more than 100 applications for state grants to help solve the region’s educational, environmental, social and economic problems.
The 26-member group of government, nonprofit and business leaders was formed by an executive order from Gov. Schwarzenegger in June 2005 as a way to bring together groups from across the eight-county region the partnership covers to solve problems on a regional basis.
Meeting at Southern California Edison’s Agricultural Technology Application Center in Tulare, the partnership approved its list of finalists applying for “seed grants” of up to $250,000 each. The partnership has $2.5 million to give out in such seed grants, and 106 initial applications were made to the program.
On Friday, the partnership voted to allow 36 of those proposals to be considered for a final-selection round, which is to be completed in March.
Finalists included initiatives to improve health-care services, expand business investment and education, enhance educational services and work force development, and create a “San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Office” to assist in clean energy and energy efficiency initiatives.
Several proposals were included with the condition that the groups behind them bring in further partners to expand their reach, including a proposal from the city of Fresno’s planning and development department and another from the Council of Fresno County Governments and the Modesto-based Great Valley Center.
Two separate proposals to enhance entrepreneurship in the San Joaquin Valley were invited to apply for final funding under a joint proposal. The groups involved include Fresno State’s Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Clovis-based Central Valley Business Incubator, the Chico-based Golden Capital Network and the San Francisco-based venture capital group Pacific Community Ventures.
The seed grants are among the first direct financial contributions to flow from the partnership, though past efforts by the group have led to several Valley-friendly proposals being adopted by the state, including the state’s plan to spend $6 billion over the next 10 years to improve Highway 99 and expansion of medical training programs.
In November, after a year and a half of meetings with residents and business and government leaders throughout the San Joaquin Valley, the partnership also published a “strategic action proposal” laying out a long list of goals for tackling the region’s most pressing needs.
Among those goals are creating model transportation and educational systems for the region, diversifying the region’s economy beyond its agricultural base, taking steps to fix the Valley’s air pollution problems and planning for sustainable development.
The reporter can be reached at jeffstjohn@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6637.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Fresno Bee, Calif.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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