CEPCO Tech Group

April 23rd Tech Group Luncheon-La Hacienda

2009-04-23T07:39:00.000-07:00

* The Chico Tech Group met on Thursday, April 23 at 11:45 am. In true Chico tradition, La Hacienda was the place and the famous tostadas and salads swept the menu selections.
* The .Net class participants will be presenting their final projects to the Tech Group. A surprising number of participants in the class have advanced skills, sometimes outpacing the instructor,

* The phenomenon of "Cloud Computing" was discussed and several ideas cropped up:
o The usefulness of 3rd party hosting a a way to spread infrastructure load and for prototyping.
o People want a monolithic source with individual branches to harness information and application potential with ease. The California State Department of Education was mentioned as a possible customer.
o There was potential seen to connect jobs to classes via such an organization.
o Cloud Computing could provide easy access to today's "Hot new apps" and prevent local companies from "reinventing the wheel", leveraging the best of a certain product with the services provided by public domain apps, thereby increasing product effectiveness and production efficiency.

* Inter-company staffing issues were discussed, especially in relation to today's economic climate.

o Concerns were raised about making a concerted effort to keep laid of local employees in Chico.
o The Chico talent pool contains a large range of skills, with some skill sets more prevalent than others.
o The availability of talent led to questions regarding pay scale in the Bay Area versus Chico, and a general discussion of payroll challenges in a fluctuating economy.

* It was discovered (the hard way) that developing iPhone apps is not the best allocation of resources due to severe redundency in the market.
* Everyone looked forward to catching up with developments in the local tech community at upcoming luncheons and the usefulness (and enjoyability) of the group was reaffirmed.
* The Monthly Meeting is scheduled for the Friday, May 1st, 8am at the One Stop at 2245 Carmichael.

40th Anniversary Computer Science Department at Chico State-April 18, 2009

2009-04-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

Computer Science Faculty and Tech Group Reception-March 12, 2009

2009-03-12T14:44:00.000-07:00

CEPCO Sponsored a reception for the Computer Science Faculty and members of the Tech Group. The event was held to assist in developing a collaborative relationship between the local Tech Companies and members of the Computer Science Faculty.

Tech Group Meeting-Friday March 6, 2009

2009-03-06T14:43:00.000-08:00

Meeting Notes
Attending- Boyd Trolinger and Annie Rafferty-Butte College, Stewart Konx-WIRED, Greg Duncan- Butte Community Employment Center, Larry Gable-Patholase, Ken Naas- Career Center at Chico State, Pepper Knox-Improvement Direct, Brad Ledford-Landacorp, Bob Linscheid-CEPCO, James Bennett-SunGard PS, Martha Wescoat-Andes-City of Chico, Joe Hobson-Navigation North, Brian Ausland- BCOE

I. Call to Order Bob Linscheid

Meeting called to order with self introductions

II. Welcome to the Butte Community Employment Center Greg Duncan

Greg provided the welcome to the Tech group and provided a summary of the services provided at the center. A number of tech companies have received services from the center already. Hand outs were provided and information on the web site was explained.

A. Chico State All Majors Career and Internship Fair Ken Naas
1. Spring Schedule-Feb. 17 (MESA)
The group discussed the past job/ career fair at Chico State. Thanks to Robert Strazzarino from College Scheduler and Jay Dunlap of Landacorp for the assistance in promoting the event. Kenny Spade provided some prizes and CEPCO provided gift certificates from the student bookstore at Chico State.

Robert will create a Facebook event page with advertising and Bob will get his expenses reimbursed.

III. Network Lunch James Bennett

A number of company leaders participated in a lunch on February 26th to brainstorm ideas including outsourcing and overtime policy. The session was free flowing but productive. James Bennett is coordinating the meeting which will be held on the last Thursday of the month.

Training and Curriculum Needs
Annie provided assistance in developing skill sets training and curriculum. The issue is how the courses can remain relevant to the needs of the companies. It was suggested that the University and Butte College broaden the curriculum to be market based. PhP and AJAX were discussed as well as Cold Fusion.

IV. Evening Presentation to Computer Science Graduates Bob Linscheid
A. Tuesday February 24-O’Connell 254- 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.

The evening session of February 24th had five tech companies present a company profile to the graduating class of the spring of 2009. Thanks to Moaty Fayek for providing the room. Landacorp, SunGard, Auctiva, Improvement Direct participated in the event. Thanks to Kenny Spade from Microsoft for once again providing prizes for the raffle.

Approximately 70 students participated.

V. Tech Company Issues Bob Linscheid
A. Company Reports on Talent Needs

Summary of company hiring needs-

Landacorp- 10 total including 2 developers, 2 designer, 2 business analysts plus three summer interns.

Improvement Direct- will hire 5 interns, three programmers. The total number of employees is 200 up from the summer numbers of 165. Of those numbers 65-75 are in sales.

Travidia- need systems engineers and sales along with web design. Have hired as many as 10 interns. Accounting interns.

Auctiva- will be participating in internships once again. Need some designers.

Patholase- Need a marketing professional and designer. Numbers up to 15 from 2 last year.

IV. Education Issues/Events Chico State/ Butte College
A. Computer Science Alumni Reunion- Moaty Fayek

April 17 and 18th the alumni will be invited back to campus. He is encouraging tech group participation. The department is working on the agenda now.

B. Computer Science Faculty Reception-Thursday March 12th
i. 555 Main Street, Suite 400- 6-8 p.m.

Bob mentioned that CEPCO will be sponsoring a reception with the Computer Science Faculty and Tech Group along with University administration on the evening of March 12.

Invitations will go out soon.

V. Other Issues
A. Open Discussion

Jay Dunlap suggested that companies consider sponsoring faculty wit the opportunity to attend conferences sponsored by local companies. We’ll discuss that further at the Thursday February 26th lunch

VI. Adjournment

February 24, 2009 Computer Student Class Presentations

2009-02-24T14:33:00.000-08:00

During an evening class at Chico State, Four firms (Auctiva,Improvement Direct, Landacorp and SunGard) made company profile presentations to almost 70 computer science graduates/students. This process has been very successful in communicating the available jobs offered by Tech Companies in Chico.

Kenny Spade from Microsoft provided raffle prizes for the students attending the evening session. We were able to enhance our database of potential interns and possible employees having the skill sets to work for one of our firms.

Of course pizza was provided,,,,

MESA Job Fair- February 17, 2009

2009-02-17T10:21:00.000-08:00

Six companies participated in the MESA Job Fair that was designed to attract Engineering, Computer Science and Construction Management students who are considering graduation on the spring of 2009. The Tech Group sponsored a PASSPORT process that accumulated over 60 entries to the prize raffle. Robert Strazzarino from College Scheduler and Jay Dunlap and Jamie Beauchane from Landacorp provided the coordination of the Passport program.

Thanks to Kenny Spade for providing Microsoft products for the raffle.It is estimated at over three hundred students attended the job fair.

Tech Group Meeting-Friday February 6, 2009

2009-02-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

Friday February 6, 2009
Meeting Notes

Attending- Boyd Trolinger and Annie Rafferty-Butte College, Moaty Fayek-Chico State, Bill Finley-PIC, Stewart Konx-WIRED, Larry Gable-Patholase, Randy Hutchinson-Travidia, Pepper Knox-Improvement Direct, Brad Ledford-Landacorp, Jay Dunlap-Landacorp, Bob Clark-Travidia, Kevin Kinell- Auctiva, Bob Linscheid-CEPCO, Jim Mikles-Golden Capital Network, Robert Strazzarino-College Scheduler

I. Call to Order Bob Linscheid

Meeting called to order with self introductions

II. Progress Reports:

A. Chico State All Majors Career and Internship Fair Ken Naas
1. Spring Schedule-Feb. 17 (MESA)
The group discussed the logistics of the upcoming career fair at Chico State. Thanks to Robert Strazzarino from College Scheduler and Jay Dunlap of Landacorp for the assistance in promoting the event. Kenny Spade will be providing some prizes and CEPCO will support with gift certificates from the student bookstore at Chico State.

Travidia was added to the list of companies participating. A Passport was created so that all students that visit all Chico based company booths will be entered into a drawing for the prizes.

Robert will create a Facebook event page with advertising and Bob will get his expenses reimbursed.

III. Network Lunch James Bennett

A number of company leaders participated in a lunch on January 29th to brainstorm ideas including outsourcing and overtime policy. The session was free flowing but productive. James Bennett is coordinating the meeting which will be held on the last Thursday of the month.

Training and Curriculum Needs
Bill Finley encouraged the group to provide assistance in developing skill sets training and curriculum. The issue is how the courses can remain relevant to the needs of the companies. The group agreed to use the next lunch meeting (February 26th) to help guide the skill sets development and class content. It was suggested that the University and Butte College broaden the curriculum to be market based. PhP and AJAX were discussed as well as Cold Fusion.

IV. Evening Presentation to Computer Science Graduates Bob Linscheid
A. Tuesday February 24-O’Connell 254- 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.

The room has been reserved for the evening of February 24th for tech companies to present a company profile to the graduating class of the spring of 2009. Moaty Fayek suggested that the presentations focus on brief presentations, unique elements of the job, and skill sets needed.

Robert suggested that we develop a Chico Tech Companies Facebook page. Bob Linscheid would assist with that effort.

V. Tech Company Issues Bob Linscheid
A. Company Reports on Talent Needs

Summary of company hiring needs-

Landacorp- 10 total including 2 developers, 2 designer, 2 business analysts plus three summer interns.

Improvement Direct- will hire 5 interns, three programmers. The total number of employees is 200 up from the summer numbers of 165. Of those numbers 65-75 are in sales.

Travidia- need systems engineers and sales along with web design. Have hired as many as 10 interns. Accounting interns.

Auctiva- will be participating in internships once again. Need some designers.

Patholase- Need a marketing professional and designer. Numbers up to 15 from 2 last year.

IV. Education Issues/Events Chico State/ Butte College
A. Computer Science Alumni Reunion- Moaty Fayek

April 17 and 18th the alumni will be invited back to campus. He is encouraging tech group participation. The department is working on the agenda now.

B. Computer Science Faculty Reception-Thursday March 12th
i. 555 Main Street, Suite 400- 6-8 p.m.

Bob mentioned that CEPCO will be sponsoring a reception with the Computer Science Faculty and Tech Group along with University administration on the evening of March 12.

Invitations will go out soon.

V. Other Issues
A. Open Discussion

Jay Dunlap suggested that companies consider sponsoring faculty wit the opportunity to attend conferences sponsored by local companies. We’ll discuss that further at the Thursday February 26th lunch

VI. Meeting Schedule:
A. Friday March 6, 2009- 8:00 a.m. location TBD. May look for a larger facility.

VII. Adjournment

Tech Group Meeting-Friday January 16, 2009

2009-01-16T08:04:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a happy and productive 2009.

The CEPCO Tech Group will hold its January meeting on Friday the 16th, 8:00 a.m. at the Uptime Co-Working Studio (First and Salem Streets) in Downtown Chico. Please feel free to suggest agenda items at bob@wemanage.org.

Planning is underway for the February session at Chico State for tech companies to meet directly with Students graduating in Computer Science in the Spring of 2009. In addition we will be working with Professor Fayek for the Alumni Reunion in April.

AGENDA
I. Call to Order Bob Linscheid
A. Self Introductions
B. Sign In Sheet

II. Progress Reports:

A. Butte College-One Stop Job Fair-November 19 Stewart Knox
1. Recap of Job Fair
2. Career Pathways-Grant
3. Offer from Robert Strazzarino to Chico High Schools

B. Chico State All Majors Career and Internship Fair Ken Naas
1. Spring Schedule-Feb. 17 (MESA) and Feb. 25 (Business)

III. Students to Business (S2B) Program Kenny Spade
A. Microsoft

IV. Tech Company Issues Bob Linscheid
A. Company Reports on Talent Needs
B. Schedule Event in February/March to recruit graduates
C. Overtime Policy-Jay Dunlap

IV. Education Issues Chico State/ Butte College
A. Computer Science Alumni Reunion- Moaty Fayek
B. College of Engineering Report- Mike Ward/Jerry Hight
i. Computer Science Faculty Reception-pending
ii. Faculty Internship with Local Firms
V. First Quarter session with Tech Companies and Spring graduates Bob Linscheid

VI. City of Chico Martha Wescoat-Andes

VII. Other Issues
A. Town and Gown Task Force
B. Results and distribution of Wage Survey

VIII. Meeting Schedule:
A. Friday February 6, 2009- 8:00 a.m.

Challenging Economy to be discussed TODAY- December 18th- 1:30 pm to 7 pm

2008-12-18T06:50:00.000-08:00

The December meeting for the CEPCO Tech Group will be scheduled in conjunction with the Golden Capital Network Strategy Event. This session FORGING YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD INTO 2009 will be held at the Uptime Co-Working Studio at 101 Salem Street, Suite 240.

Please save the time on your schedule to attend. Please note that there is NO CHARGE for this event.

Overview of the Event:

In a Challenging economy forecasted for 2009, businesses need relevant, mission-critical information from their peers and other industry leaders in order to succeed. Using a real-world case-study format, the extensive time for audience interaction, successful CEOs and entrepreneurs and investors share their insights to North State businesses about how to survive and thrive in today's challenging economy.

Topics to the Covered:

1. Strategies for Growing and Retaining Customers
2. Strategies for Finding and Managing Talent
3. Fundraising Strategies in today's economy
4. Also scheduled will be a Speedpitch Fest in which 5 companies will be picked to pitch a panel of successful entrepreneurs and executives and receive comments and suggestions

5. the evening will conclude with the Golden Capital Network Holiday Social and Networking event.

A complete agenda will be forthcoming.

Butte College ASP.NET Job Fair- Friday November 21st

2008-11-11T06:08:00.000-08:00

Butte College in association with the Butte Community Employment Center is coordinating a Job Fair for graduates of the Butte College asp.net web application class. Chico Technology Companies will be provided with opportunities to meet each student and discuss employment and internship opportunities.

The session begins at 10:30 a.m. and will conclude at approximately 12:30 p.m. Any questions can be directed to CEPCO at 895-1202 or email bob@wemanage.org

Action Plan for Building a Technology Cluster

2008-11-10T11:35:00.000-08:00

Minutes from Tech Group Meeting November 7th

2008-11-07T13:57:00.000-08:00

I. Attendance: Martha Wescoat-Andes- City of Chico; Pam Montana-Intel Corporation; Tom Urbanowicz- Auctiva; Ken Naas-Career Center Chico State; Lindsay Fee-Improvement Direct; Sam Roach-Improvement Direct; Stewart Knox-WIRED program; Daryl Turner-Butte Community Employment Center; Annie Rafferty-Butte College; Bob Linscheid-CEPCO

II. Call to Order---- Bob Linscheid

III. Progress Reports:

A. Delivery of asp.net course---- Stewart Knox

Stewart Knox, Daryl Turner and Annie Rafferty provided information about the class that taught at Butte College in asp.net. A meeting is scheduled for Friday November 21st, 10:30 am at the Butte Community Employment Center on 2445 Carmichael to provide an introduction to the students completing the course. Local companies interested in meeting the students should contact Daryl Turner at dturner@ncen.org. Information on the students will be provided to the companies participating in advance.

The group also discussed the availability of lists of companies in the area that were considered to by tech related. Stewart agreed to help locate the list.

B. Offer from Robert Strazzarino to Chico High Schools

Robert Strazzarino, founder of College Scheduler LLC is offering to teach an introduction to asp.net course to the high schools in Chico. The design of the program is a 4 week course once a week at each high school. This will provide a student with a basic understanding of the web application program. Bob Linscheid agreed to meet with Chico School Superintendent Kelly Staley to see if this program could begin in the spring of this year.

IV. Chico State All Majors Career and Internship Fair---- Ken Naas

On November 5, 2008 the Chico State Career Center held at Fall Internship and Career Fair. About 15 local companies participated including two local tech companies. CEPCO was represented as well. About 654 students visited the fair as well.

Members felt it was very important to coordinate the number of job fairs. Sam Roach reminded the group that Abdel Remani from the Java Users Group agreed to provide some dates to meet with the group.

V. Innovation/Tech Showcase

Bob Linscheid met with Mike Ward to discuss implementation of several issues recommended by the Tech Group. Key action steps included interest in developing an Innovation/Tech Showcase the design of which would be to have a facility on campus (BMU preferred) to feature programs at the University that were related to Innovation and Technology. For example, Institute on Sustainability, the Bio-Diesel program, Ag Tech programs etc and also give the opportunity for local companies to participate as well. The mission of this effort would be to introduce University and Community College students, Local Faculty, high school students and the community to what is available locally.

Ken Naas thought it was very important for the University to schedule its job and internship fairs so that the local companies knew which were the most important events to participate with. Bob agreed to meet with Jaime Starmer and discuss.

VI. Tech Company Issues
A. Company Reports on Talent Needs

Tom Urbanowicz represented Auctiva and reported out the Auctiva was experiencing a slowdown in business activity. The company was still hiring but mostly from out of the area. Still looking to hire more people in the San Jose office.

Sam Roach and Lindsay Fee from Improvement Direct reported that they were still looking for people and that senior level folks were hard to find.

B. Schedule Event in February to recruit graduates

Bob reported that during his conversation with Mike Ward that the February/March event was still in the planning stages and Computer Science will assist with the scheduling.

IV. Education Issues Chico State/ Butte College

A. Computer Science Faculty Reception

Early next semester, Bob Linscheid has agreed to schedule a reception for the Computer Science Faculty and the CEPCO Tech Group. The purpose of this event is so that Faculty members can meet with local firms and possibly have a greater understanding of what is available locally.

B. Faculty Internship with Local Firms

During a meeting with Dean Mike Ward, Bob suggested that Faculty members might want to consider an internship during the summer with local tech firms. Bob will schedule a meeting with some of the local firms to see what interest there may be. Mike agreed to see what interest there will be from the Computer Science Faculty.

C. Town and Gown Task Force

Bob Linscheid informed the Group that CEPCO recently announced the formation of a TOWN AND GOWN Task Force. The mission of CEPCO’s Town and Gown Task Force is to advocate public policies that will create partnerships to foster the formation and growth to train the emerging workforce to meet the needs of existing and emerging industries in the Chico region.

The Task Force will also promote and foster a better understanding of the educational issues common to business and the education community, to identify common initiatives that will increase the supply of well-qualified workers.

One of the goals of the task force is to expand and enhance sustainable business/education collaboration to meet the current and emerging education and training needs of high wage/high skill industries in Butte County including health care, construction, environmental science, biotechnology, information technology, manufacturing, and financial services.

CEPCO desires to be an advocate for a seamless education system that ensures students transition in, through, and out of postsecondary education as their education, training, and career needs change.

It is necessary to embrace the community college as a primary resource for training, workforce preparation, and economic development, and leverage its position to bring federal workforce development and training funds to Butte County.

V. Other Issues

A. Results and distribution of Wage Survey

Bob will schedule meetings with companies that participated in the wage survey to provide results. The reason for the direct meeting is to keep the results confidential but also provide detail on how companies compare with each other.

VI. Meeting Schedule:
A. No December Meeting
B. Next Meeting scheduled for Friday January 16, 2009

VII. Adjournment

Tech Group Meeting-Friday October 10, 2008

2008-10-10T12:42:00.000-07:00

Attendance: Abdel Remani-Student,Chico State; James Bennett-SunGard; Annie Rafferty-Buttel College; Martha Wescoat-Andes;Ken Naas-Chico State; Tim Calhoon-Butte College; Bob Linscheid-CEPCO; Mike Ward-College of Engineering: Pam Montana-Intel; Moaty Fayek-Department of Computer Science; Robert Reynolds-Network Innovation; Jay Dunlap-Landacorp; Brad Ledford-Landacorp; Sam Roach-Improvement Direct

I. Call to Order--- Bob Linscheid

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 am

II. Progress Reports:

A. Delivery of asp.net course

Annie Rafferty reported that the Butte College course has 24 students attending. The group was rather interested in the profile of the students and would appreciate the opportunity to meet the students. Moaty Fayek reported that the Instructor for the course was the same as the 2.0 course taught at Chico State

B. Career Pathways-
Annie Rafferty reported that Butte College was in the process of writing a renewal grant on the issue of career pathways for K-12 to Community College to University. Bob, Ken and Linda Zorn will work on the project and involve some of the tech companies. Ken Naas reported that he has seen some disconnects and he would like to assist. Grant is due in December.

Bob mentioned that if we could use this to coordinate curriculum than this could be a major benefit to the region.
C. Job Fairs Ken Naas
1. September 18, 24- recap
Ken Naas reported that since the committee met in September that there were two job fairs. One for College of Engineering and one for all majors. CEPCO participated in both on behalf of the Come Home Campaign and it was Bob’s opinion that the Tech job fair had limited computer science students. Major interested with civil engineering students and graduates.

Some members discussed the idea of a virtual job fair. The idea had interest in the group. Members also expressed confusion over which fair to participate in. Ken Naas agreed to help get a schedule put together so that firms could understand.

Several members expressed strong support for continuing the effort that was conducted on February 19 coordinated by Kenny Spade. There was a significant number of students in computer science participating. Five firms locally made power point presentations and student got the opportunity to ask questions and talk to the firms after. The decision was made to organize a similar program this coming February at Chico State.

D. Internship Fairs
1. Wednesday November 5, 2008

Ken reminded everyone about the November 5th Internship fair. Come Home to Chico campaign will have a table and firms that are unable to participate with a table can be present. Ken will send information out to everyone.

III. Tech Company Issues-- Bob Linscheid
A. Company Reports on Talent Needs
a. Landacorp- Jay Dunlap reported that Landacorp did not have a present need but would be looking for employees soon.
b. SunGard- James reported that 10 positions are open and looking for attitude.
c. Improvement Direct- Sam reported that I.D. is always looking for good people.
d. Network Innovation- Robert reported looking for tech people for hardware.
B. Student Perspective- Abdel provided several minutes of student perspective. Students are very interested in staying local. He is willing to help get connected but encourage user group participation and student events. Bob encourage Abdel to continue coming to the meetings and that student perspective is appreciated.

IV. Education Issues-- Chico State/ Butte College
A. Computer Science Alumni Reunion--- Moaty Fayek

Moaty provided additional information about the Computer Science department reunion and was having a number of former students make contact with the University expressing interest.

Pam Montana offer to help with Chico State alumni who work for Intel.

V. Next Meeting- To be scheduled

CEPCO Tech Group- September 5, 2008-Meeting Notes

2008-09-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

Attendance:

Brad Ledford- Landacorp; Jay Johnson; Ken Naas, Chico State Career Center; Kenny Spade-Microsoft; Annie Rafferty-Butte College; Alan Chamberlain-Golden Capital Network; Bob Linscheid-CEPCO; Martha Wescoat-Andes-City of Chico; Jerry Hight-Chico State Engineering; Lindsay Fee-Improvement Direct; Craig Vitt-Landacorp; Brain Ausland-Butte County Office of Education.

I. Call to Order-- Bob Linscheid

The meeting was called to order by Bob Linscheid

II. Notes from Meeting of August 8th (see post below for August 8th)

III. Progress Reports:

A. Job Fairs Ken Naas
Ken Naas reminded the group that September 18th is the MESA (Engineering) group job fair followed by the 24th with all majors. CEPCO will participate in both Job Fairs and support local companies who are not able to attend. Quite a bit of discussion took place about the success of the fairs.

B. Internship Fairs

The next Internship Fair is scheduled for Wednesday November 5th at the BMU. Ken will work with CEPCO for the Come Home to Chico booth and encouraged other companies to participate.

IV. Uptime Co-Working Studio-- Alan Chamberlain (see photo below for location)

Alan provided a power presentation on the development of the Uptime Co-Working Studio which is located at First and Salem Streets in Downtown. This program is patterned after several other studios located throughout the Country. The time scheduled to open will be in October/ November timeframe. The Tech group will be meeting at the studio in the near future.

V. Tech Company Issues Bob Linscheid
A. Expansion needs

Several companies reported out on their HR needs with several companies expressing concerns over being able to attract talent to Chico. Bob mentioned that companies unable to participate in the upcoming job fairs can provide specific hand-out that CEPCO could provide to interested parties.

V. Education Issues--- Chico State/ Butte College
A. College of Engineering Reunion- Moaty Fayek

Moaty Fayek reported that the Computer Science 40th anniversary reunion would be scheduled for Spring of 2009. He has created a network in Linked In with several hundred members. Companies expressed interest in helping support this event.

B. Butte Community College
Annie Rafferty reported that the asp net course was being organized and that BC is optimistic about attendance in the class. She’ll report results next month.

VI. City of Chico Martha Wescoat-Andes

A. City of Chico Economic Development Committee-October 9th

Martha reported that the City Economic Development Committee would have a report on their agenda dealing with the development of the Technology Cluster. Bob Linscheid and Ken Naas will make the presentation but tech companies that can attend would be great. James Bennett from SunGard expressed interest.

B. City of Chico Website

Martha mentioned that the City was working on enhancing their economic development website.

VII. Other Issues

VIII. Meeting Schedule:
A. October 10th, 7:30 a.m. Location-City of Chico Conference Facility

IX. Adjournment

2008-09-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

UPTIME CO-WORKING STUDIO
FIRST AND SALEM STREETS-Chico

CEPCO Tech Group- August 8, 2008-Meeting Notes

2008-08-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

Members Attending-
Ken Naas-Chico State, Kenny Spade-Microsoft, Sam Roach-Improvements Direct, Martha Wescoat-Andes-City of Chico, Tim Calhoon-CCC Tech Center, Lindsay Fee-Improvements Direct, Tom Urbanowich-Auctiva, Moaty Fayek-Computer Science Department-Chico State, Mike Ward-Dean, College of Engineering, Computer Science and CM, Ken Meier-Butte College, James Bennett-SunGard Public Sector, Craig Buda-OpSource, Robert Strazzarino-College Scheduler; Jon Gregory-Golden Capital Network, Annie Rafferty-Butte College, Bob Linscheid-CEPCO, and Stephanie Couch-California Virtual Campus (by phone)

I. Call to Order Bob Linscheid

Bob L provided a welcome and a summary of the background of how the Tech Group got its start. The main topic was raising the Critical Mass of Talent in the region particularly in Chico. Natural attraction is graduates from Chico State. The focus has been on graduates and interns with an additional effort on encouraging talent to “Come Home to Chico.”

II. Progress Report on Delivery of asp.net course Bill Finley

The original date for the class was July 7th but there was lacking interest by local companies to have employees participate. Robert Strazzarino suggested that local companies needs staff that already have 2.0 and perhaps we need to focus on students that need the course and receive credit. Moaty Fayek thanked Bill for helping fund the one unit course and explained that the new course was going to be a 3 unit course. Consensus was the course was still needed, need to promote with current students and provide an avenue for credit. Perhaps continuing education would work as well.

III. STEM Initiative Bill Finley

Bill reported that PIC submitted a concept paper for a STEM initiative to the Department of Labor in March emphasizing alternative energy and emerged technology in practical application. Working with Chico State and Butte on an open learning lab. This would include Green products for construction. PIC has submitted a final project proposal to the DOL and is the only one from California. If we are successful, the will be a need to assist with the implementation.

IV. Job Fair Program Schedule for Fall Ken Naas

Ken reported that he is working closely with the Career Center at Chico State. He reported that September 18th is the job fair for Tech Companies and the following week (date not specified) is the general job fair. November 5th is the internship fair.

Ken also briefed the group on the trip to the Bay Area to expand possible internships from Bay Area during the semester and the needs for a remote technology center to expand internship possibilities.

Bob mentioned that it might be a good idea for the Group to consider Bay Area visits to campuses that have job fairs and internship fairs and attract those graduates to Chico.

IV. Tech Company Issues Bob Linscheid
A. Wage and Benefit Survey- while we have a representative response, not all companies hire the same job classifications. We nee two more firms to respond before we can summarize the data. Bob will provide once he receives two more responses.

B. Overtime Policies- Jay Dunlap- Deferred to next meeting.

C. Tech Companies Reports

a. Auctiva- reports that they are establishing a Bay Area location. Tom Urbanovich reports that recruiting has been more difficult. 2 full time folks in Bay Area and 71 locally with 30 in development
b. Bi-Tech Public Sector- 250 locally and company recently went through a realignment.
c. Improvements Direct- Lindsay Fee reports that company has 14 programmers and expanding as well.
d. Kenny Spade from Microsoft reported that the event held locally had great results.

V. Higher Education Reports
A. Chico State College of Engineering, Computer Science
Moaty mentioned that his department of Computer Science will be hosting a 40 year reunion. This will be a great time to bring department alumni back to campus. Bob mentioned that he would be interested in helping with the event.

B. Butte College- Ken Meyer introduced Anne Rafferty who replaced Barbara Maxey as
Director of Training. Anne comes to Butte College with considerable credentials.

V. Come Home to Chico

A. City of Chico Economic Development Committee- Martha Wescoat-Andes
i. October 9th- 4:00 p.m.
Martha reported that the Tech Group will be invited to make a presentation to the City Economic Development Committee on October 9th. The presentations will be the products produced, profile of people the hire and plans for the future, and the pluses and minus for doing business in Chico.

B. Come Home to Chico campaign discussion

Program continues with the Tech Group, web site, expanding our efforts with job and internship fairs.
C. Networking Social
In addition to social networking sites like Linked In, Face book etc. the group is looking at an event with a Linked In live type program.

D. Uptime Center-Golden Capital Network
Jon Greogry mentioned a new program that has been created at First and Salem Streets. A more detailed effort will be presented in September. The concept is basically a co-working concept similar to programs around the country where a remote technology center can be established for individuals who work in the Bay Area but live in Chico.

VI. Other Issues

A. Statewide Initiatives

Stephanie Couch, Director of Statewide Initiatives for CENIC joined by conference call to discuss some issues related to on-line learning. She reported that SB 1437 passed the Aseembly floor and was on the Governors desk for signature. This bill is a pilot program for public higher Education to compete with online programs of Chapman and National. The group discussed having Bill Finley’s group work with Stephanie and Butte College on this initiative.

B. Others at the Table
i. UVacide
ii. Travidia
iii. Ultivation
iv. K-12
v. M&I Technology
vi. Technical Recruiter
vii. Open invite

VII. Meeting Schedule:
A. September 5th, 7:30 a.m. Location-City Conference Room 1

VIII. Adjournment