State of the Valley Conference just around the corner

Our annual “town meeting” is barely two weeks away, and we have a packed program for the day. Tables and individual tickets are still available, but both are selling quickly. Keynote presentations by White House economic advisor Christina Romer, national writer and urban metroplex thought leader Neal Peirce and President Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by historian Clay Jenkinson, highlight the program.

We also have briefings on the 2011 Silicon Valley Index and its accompanying Special Analysis on the crisis facing local government finance. Panel discussions with ranking business and government officials will probe the future of innovation in Silicon Valley, the opportunity for America’s metropolitan regions and the movement toward more regionalism in local government.

We are grateful to our lead sponsor Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and to our presentation sponsors Accenture, Bank of America, Kaiser Permanente and Wells Fargo. We also salute our media sponsors: KQED public radio and KTEH public television, NBC Bay Area, the San Jose Mercury News, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal and 1590 KLIV radio, and our hotel sponsor, the Fairmont San Jose.

Keynote Speakers Christina Romer, 25th Chair of the White House Economic Council “Restoring America’s Prosperity: Challenges & Solutions”

One of the nation's leading economists and a trusted advisor to President Barack Obama, Christina Romer will deliver the luncheon keynote remarks at State of the Valley. Romer joined the president's Economy Recovery Advisory Board last September following four years as Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. She was one of the four economics principals who met with President Obama daily to design and guide the Administration’s response to the Great Recession. She played a key role in macroeconomic policy, the rescue and reform of the financial system, health care reform and budget policy. Romer is also a professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley.

Neal Peirce, author, journalist, urban thought leader “A Golden Moment for America’s Metropolitan Regions”

Neal Peirce is a pulse-taker of change in how America governs itself. His weekly column, syndicated through The Washington Post Writers Group since 1978, appears in over 50 newspapers. Peirce has repeatedly broken fresh ground in identifying vital new trends in state and local governments and the dynamics of federal/state/local relations. Author of "Citistates: How Urban America Can Prosper in a Competitive World" (Seven Locks Press, 1993), Peirce has been called "the only national chronicler of grass-roots America."

Clay Jenkinson, historian and presidential scholar “Silicon Valley Through the Eyes of Thomas Jefferson”

As a cultural commentator, Clay Jenkinson has devoted most of his professional career to public humanities programs and has made thousands of presentations throughout the United States and its territories, including Guam and the Northern Marianas. Two presidents, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, have honored him for his work. In 1994, he was the first public humanities scholar to present a program at a White House-sponsored event when he presented Thomas Jefferson. At State of the Valley he will make penetrating observations about how Silicon Valley—with its amazing technology and complex governance challenges—would appear to our third president.

Synopsys’ Aart de Geus is unanimous pick for David Packard Award

Aart de Geus, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Synopsys and a longtime community leader, is the recipient of the 2011 David Packard Award for civic entrepreneurship. The Packard Award is Joint Venture’s highest honor, presented annually to an individual who brings an entrepreneurial, cross-boundary, problem-solving approach to Silicon Valley’s challenges. De Geus was a unanimous selection by the Packard Award jury for his leadership in Silicon Valley community affairs, notably in education. A former chair and ten-year member of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group board of directors, de Geus will receive the award from SVLG CEO Carl Guardino at the State of the Valley conference on February 18.

Article of the Month – Article of the Month: “What Obama Should Say About the Deficit”

(New York Times)

In this recent New York Times op-ed, Christina Romer, a senior White House economic advisor and our keynote speaker at the upcomingState of the Valley conference,had a wish list of topics for President Obama’s State of the Union address. As it turned out, he incorporated a number of them in his remarks last Tuesday night.

Joint Venture calls on telecommunications leader Leon Beauchman to head Wireless Initiative

Joint Venture has named veteran Silicon Valley telecommunications executive Leon Beauchman as executive director of the organization’s Wireless Communications Initiative.

Beauchman retired last month from a 24-year career with AT&T, where he had been the company’s area external affairs manager since 1998.

Beauchman has a long history of business and community involvement in Silicon Valley with an emphasis on education. He has served on the Santa Clara County Board of Education for the past twelve years, and previously served on the Campbell Unified School District Board of Trustees.