On January 17, 2007, U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced the Department of Labor's intent to provide up to $65 million to 13 regions across the country that comprise the second generation of the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative. "This regional economic development strategy transcends political boundaries to better leverage a region's assets to help workers succeed in the 21st century worldwide economy," said Secretary Chao. NoRTEC is a 2nd Generation WIRED region.

"Strong regional economies that are built on maximizing talent and innovation will be crucial to the nation's success in the global economy," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco. "The strategies the 2nd Generation WIRED regions are using will help them deploy their education, workforce development, and economic development assets to build their competitive advantage."

WIRED will make it possible for the Smart Center to help Shasta County businesses move to the next level.

Southern Aluminum Finishing Co. Opens Facility in Shasta County

On February 5th, the Economic Development Corporation of Shasta County and the City of Redding announced that Southern Aluminum Finishing Co. is opening a Western plant operation in Shasta County in Redding. The facility will mirror its Atlanta capabilities for the distribution and fabrication of aluminum sheet and extrusions for the commercial construction market.

SAF is owned by four sons (and several grandchildren) of the founder of the company. Three of the four sons are engineers. All four live in Atlanta and are involved in day-to-day management of the company. SAF operates four production facilities in the southeastern US. Their workforce company wide is about 200 and they have grown quickly in the past few years. While SAF has had a full time sales effort in California for three years, the Redding facility will be their first production facility in the west.

"We have seen tremendous construction growth throughout the west," said project manager, Jim McClatchey (photo). "From this Northern California location on Interstate 5, a major transportation artery, we will be able to offer overnight delivery of anodized and mill finish aluminum to most of the west coast." The leased facility will meet Southern Aluminum Finishing's current needs, but according to McClatchey, the company will continue to explore potential site options for development of a larger, multipurpose facility.

Southern Aluminum Finishing is the lone aluminum service center in the country with anodizing and painting facilities, a full-time fabrication center, and an unparalleled stock of sheet and extrusions, architectural column covers and panel systems from a single source. The company started in aluminum anodizing in 1946. SAF has invested substantially in information technology systems in the last 10 years and these systems are a key factor in their growth and success.

20th Annual State of the City Luncheon

On January 29th the Greater Redding Chamber of Commerce and the City of Redding hosted the 20th Annual State of the City Luncheon. Mayor Dick Dickerson told the sold-out crowd of 924 attendees that Redding will keep developing parks, building trails, acquiring open space and amassing cultural capital even as it concentrates on filling potholes and beefing up public safety." Dickerson called the state of the city strong, though certainly not perfect. Redding faces the challenge of building a $35 million police station with no identified funds, catching up on a $50 million street maintenance backlog and finding a way to pay for escalating employee benefits costs while meeting tough new accounting standards, he said.

Most of Dickerson's address dwelled on the city's accomplishments during the past year and singled out community-minded organizations and individuals for praise. The city replaced its aging radio communication system and launched work on a $70 million expansion at the Stillwater Wastewater Treatment plant. Crews began construction on a planned capacity doubling at the Buckeye Water Treatment Plant.

Redding also dedicated its City Hall Sculpture Park and won second place for its entry in the Mosaiculture International Exhibition in Shanghai, China. Hundreds of volunteers hauled thousands of pounds of trash from Churn Creek's 17-mile watershed. The city plans this year to start building a wider Cypress Avenue Bridge and break ground at the long-awaited Stillwater Business Park, which could one day employ 3,500 at full capacity. A committee of past Redding mayors honored Sierra Pacific Industries co-founder Red Emmerson for his contributions to the community.

Sierra Cascade Logging Conference

The 58th annual Sierra Cascade Logging Conference was held on February 8th, 9th & 10th at the Shasta District Fair grounds in Anderson. The theme of the conference was "Forest Energy Empowers People." For the second year, the event's traditional logging techniques and equipment exhibits were augmented by building and construction displays supplied by the Shasta Builders' Exchange. New to the conference was a log rolling competition and a model logging camp, complete with a moving train, said Nadine Bailey, conference executive director. A number of companies and volunteers teamed up to build a playhouse that will be auctioned off by Northern Valley Catholic Social Service as a fundraiser.

Hiring Fairs

On January 16th, The Knot hosted a Hiring Fair at the Smart Center. The Knot is a comprehensive resource for couples seeking information and services to help plan their weddings and their future lives together. They were recruiting for a production supervisor, a systems software developer and filling seasonal warehouse positions.

On January 23rd, the US Forest Service, representing the Shasta-Trinity National Forest held a Hiring Fair at the Smart Center with openings for 20 Firefighters and 24 Forest Technicians.

On March 6th Smart brought together area businesses and job seekers as the spring hiring season officially began. Four hundred and forty-one job seekers participated.

Nineteen companies were present and hiring including Aflac Insurance, Bridge Bay Resort, Firestorm Wildland Fire Suppression, Inc., French Gulch Nevada Mining Corp., Good Shepherd Communities, Lithia Chevrolet & Toyota of Redding, Mayers Memorial Hospital, North State Sleep Disorders Center, North Valley Bank, Pre-Employ.com, Rush Personnel, Shasta Community Health Center, Shasta County Public Authority, Shasta County Sheriff, Shasta County Social Services, Shasta Lake Resorts, Sierra Oaks Senior Living, Spherion Staffing and Viking Pools.

Some feedback received from companies participating: Excellent program. The Hiring Fair exceeded my expectations. I am so impressed with the turnout of applicants. Your staff was totally awesome! Great experience. I really appreciate Pat, who listed my job order, and Inez. All personnel were great. Great environment and length of job fair. Thanks for having us. We will be back next year. Staff/service was super, as usual. We were pleased with the number of applicants and may be able to fill our positions from attending today.

On Tuesday, March 13th, Smart held a Hiring Fair for Spartan Sports of Redding. They were recruiting call center representatives.

The Employer Outreach Project

On February 16th the very first health care applicant was enrolled by Smart since being designated as an enrollment entity for Healthy Families and Medi-Cal for Families. Staff have received training and can now assist working families with the online application process for these programs. Thanks to Susanna Sibilsky and Bonnie Westlake, this help is now available as a business service through the Smart Business Resource Center.

Northern California Rural Chambers of Commerce Meet

On February 9th, Inez Bays facilitated a lively discussion among representatives of rural Chambers of Commerce located in Anderson, City of Shasta Lake, Dunsmuir, McCloud and Burney. The quarterly meeting was held at Blood Source in Redding. Larry Montgomery, Director of the Golden Umbrella and past President of the Mt. Shasta Chamber of Commerce explained the value of developing community partner sponsors. Anna Bengtsson, Director of the Smart Business Resource Center, described the WIRED Initiative and asked for feedback from the group on upcoming growth opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Collaboration Results in Solutions for Business

A new Business Solutions Catalog was introduced in January by a local collaborative developed to coordinate area seminar offerings. The Catalog presents six months of business classes in the areas of Business Management Operations, Finance, Human Resources, Marketing & Sales, Recordkeeping, Accounting & Taxes, Legal Issues and Safety. The Catalog is an effort of the Shasta Builders Exchange Training Center, Smart Business Resource Center, Shasta Regional Community Foundation - Center for Nonprofit Resources, and the Cascade Small Business Development Center.

The intent of the collaborative is to provide the business community workshops and trainings that target business operation improvements. The course offerings reflect the combined expertise and specialized services of local agencies contributing to the ongoing success of the business community. Online registration is available on the Smart website. Classes are reasonably priced, conveniently located and this quarter's offerings included:

Respiratory Protection & Fit Testing, 1/5 So You Want To Be an Entrepreneur, 1/8 Addressing Substance Abuse at Work, 1/9 Legislative & Case Law Update, 1/9 Forklift Operator Training, 1/9 Forklift Operator Training plus Rough Terrain, 1/9 Getting Started With Government Contracting, 1/11 Good Employee Selection Practices, 1/11 QuickBooks® Year-End Procedures, 1/11 Getting Past Business Plan Phobia / Demystifying Marketing, 1/13 To Inc. or Not Inc. - That Is the Question, 1/15 Budget and Strategic Planning Process, 1/16 Injury & Illness Prevention Program, 1/16 The A, B, C's of Starting a Business, 1/18 Steps to Owning Your Own Business, 1/22 Fall Protection, 1/23 Safety For Field Supervisors, 1/23 Time Management 1/24 Don't Be Just another Sales Person, 1/24 Managing Worker's Compensation Costs, 1/25 Electrical Safety & Lock Out/Tag Out, 1/25 Organizing and Streamlining Your Business, 1/29 Basic Traffic Control, 1/30 Flagger Training, 1/30 Introduction to QuickBooks®, 2/1 Aerial Lift Operator Training, 2/6 Provisional Patent Workshop - Part One, 2/2 Business Basics for HR Success, 2/7 Setting Up Your QuickBooks® Company, 2/8 Confined Space Training, 2/8 Good Employee Selection Practices, 2/9 So…Are You Making Any Money?, 2/9 Back Safety & Ergonomics, 2/13 Effective Supervisory Communication, 2/14

Developing Salary Ranges, 2/14 Website Design, 2/15 The A, B, C's of Starting a Business, 2/15 Introduction to QuickBooks®, 2/15 CPR & First Aid Certification, 2/20 Managing Worker's Compensation Costs, 2/22 Scaffolding Safety Training, 2/23 Developing Effective Leadership Skills, 2/28 Sales and Relationships, 2/28 How To Do Business With The State of California 2/28 Setting Up Your QuickBooks® Company, 3/1 Expanding Your Customer Base, 3/2 Hearing Protection, 3/6 Building Customer Focused Relationships, 3/8 Employee Privacy Issues, 3/13 Forklift Operator Training, 3/13 Forklift Operator Training plus Rough Terrain, 3/13 Introduction to Federal Contracting, 3/14 Budget and Strategic Planning Process, 3/14 Insurance for Commercial Business, 3/14 The A, B, C's of Starting a Business, 3/15 Setting Up Your QuickBooks® Company, 3/15 Expanding Your Customer Base, 3/16 Controlling Worker's Compensation Costs, 3/20 Controlling Worker's Compensation Costs, 3/21 Developing Employer Policies and Handbooks - The Basics, 3/21 Orchestrating Change in the Workplace, 3/21 Basic Traffic Control, 3/22 Building Customer Focused Relationships, 3/27 Basic Traffic Control, 3/27 Flagger Training, 3/27 Performance Appraisals, 3/28 Generating the Lead/ Negotiating the Sale, 3/28 Using QuickBooks® for Construction, 3/29

North Valley Employer Advisory Council

On February 8th, Speaker Pat McAleer, a senior partner with the law firm of Hanna, Brophy, MacLean, McAleer and Jensen presented the basics of California's wage and hour laws.

On March 15th, a panel of speakers discussed Worker's Compensation and the employer's obligations under California's Fair Employment & Housing Act. Speakers included Pat McAleer and Dennis Huie of Hanna, Brophy, MacLean, McAleer and Jensen, Linda Durrer, Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, and Tracey Moore, Human Resource Manager at Sierra Pacific Industries.

Website Design

Smart helped local business market their products and services on the World Wide Web this quarter by providing Website Development Workshops on February 15th and 22nd. Classes offered four hours of instruction, website hosting for three months & a domain name for one year. There was no software to buy and no coding to learn. The redesigned North State Directory now features 103 Shasta County businesses!

Shasta Biz Connection

The County, the Cities and local agencies have teamed up to market business and economic development services in Shasta County. Businesses currently operating here and those considering relocating a business to Shasta County have a new resource. It's called www.shastabiz.com. The site highlights the financial benefits of Shasta's new Enterprise Zone, provides information to assist with site selection, and features services to help with business startup, expansion and vitalization. Participating are the Cascade Small Business Development Center, Cities of Anderson, Redding and Shasta Lake, Shasta County, Smart, EDC, Shasta Builder's Exchange, Shasta College, Superior California Economic Development and EDD.

Enterprise Zone Training for Business

On March 21st, Smart, the Economic Development Corporation and Superior California Economic Development District teamed up to offer Enterprise Zone Tax Credit training to businesses at the John Beaudet Community Center in the City of Shasta Lake. Attendees learned how to reduce the cost of doing business in California and received information on hiring services, training services, business planning and financing.

Retired and Senior Volunteer Program

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) has moved to the Golden Umbrella. RSVP recruits volunteers and places them in meaningful and challenging volunteer opportunities to serve and benefit themselves and their community. An open house on March 19th at Golden Umbrella, located on the Mercy Oaks Campus, celebrated the change.

SmartNet Meetings

January 11, 2007 - Karen Roach, CalWORKs Program: Karen reported that TANF was re-authorized in 2006. Re-authorization phased out the caseload reduction credit, which had reduced the Workers' Participation Rates (WPR) to single digit. The re-authorization requires California to increase the WPR to 50% for the all other family category and 90% for two-parent families. If the 50% rate is not achieved, significant penalties will be assigned. Shasta County WPR average in 2005 was at 30%; the 2006 average was at 35%. The goal is to increase WPR by an average 5% per year, achieving the required 50% by 2009. Reaching this goal will require cooperation from all participants in the program, including the clients. The Pay for Performance plan should bring more funds into our county. Increases are necessary in the employment rate, WPR and number of families who go off cash aid and are still employed the next quarter. CalWORKs is implementing new strategies to reach requirements including an open entry/open exit Job Club starting January 16 at the Smart Center. Shasta College will combine a portion of their Success Series into the Job Club and clients will attend the Shasta College classes in the Downtown Mall location from 3-5 PM daily.

February 8, 2007 - Don Meek, Homeless Coalition: Don is with the City of Redding Housing Authority and the Shasta County Shasta Homeless Continuum of Care. His presentation focused on the Point in Time survey of our local homeless population conducted in January, 2007. This is an annual summary mandated by the federal government's Department of Housing and Urban Development. The goal is to get universal data and end chronic homelessness. Most of the homeless individuals are our own population, not outsiders. Domestic violence, death, divorce and financial issues are the typical reasons for homelessness. The biggest and fastest growing homeless population is the family. Don expects this year's survey results to be published within a month. Federal grant funding is their primary source of annual funds and a comprehensive plan is prepared for fund application.

March 8, 2007 - 8:00 Marta McKenzie, Incoming Director for the new Health and Human Services Agency: The new agency will consolidate three County Divisions: Public Health, Mental Health and Social Services. It will be a department of 800 personnel with a budget of $140-160 million. Marta expects a lot more integration with primary care and contracting out for services with other agencies. She anticipates it will take three to five years to get the organization revamped and anticipates no changes in services at this point. Her challenge is how to make the integration of these divisions happen; how to integrate health issues with social services and health care and eligibility. She will take a comprehensive view as there are a myriad of issues involved in the consolidation.

Self-Employment Workshop

On March 20th, Superior California Economic Development's Microenterprise Program held a workshop on self-employment opportunities in Redding. The session addressed being an entrepreneur, goal setting and marketing.