PALO ALTO MAKING MAJOR STRIDES IN WIRELESS INFRASTRUCTURE

Joint Venture congratulates Palo Alto for upgrading its wireless infrastructure, making steady progress since Joint Venture conducted a workshop for city officials last year.

The workshop, which analyzed common concerns and dispelled myths surrounding cellular antennae, led to a fruitful collaboration between Palo Alto’s Architectural Review Board and the wireless carriers on a distributed antenna system. The Palo Alto City Council has subsequently approved the first thirteen of some eighty antennas that will eventually go up on utility poles in several neighborhoods.

The city has also issued a request for proposals that would allow a wireless carrier to place communication facilities on city-owned property.

For more on Joint Venture’s Wireless Communications Initiative, click here.

Back to School – Hats Off to Teachers!

September means school is back in session and Joint Venture wants to remind you that we are supporting efforts to reward Silicon Valley teachers with discounts on goods and services.

Through our Hats Off to Teachers program, dozens of retailers, restaurants, health & beauty outlets, salons, gift shops, entertainment venues, consultants and other vendors are offering discounts up to 20 percent and more to the region’s teachers.

Click here to learn more about Hats Off to Teachers and to sign up to offer discounts.

Commerce Department officials meet with
Silicon Valley EDA

Representatives from SelectUSA and the U.S. Export Assistance Center's San Jose office met with members of Joint Venture’s Silicon Valley Economic Development Alliance in August to discuss the business location and trade support services they offer that is of vital importance to our region's businesses and the global audience of customers and investors they serve.

Both organizations are housed within the U.S. Department of Commerce, the federal government's focal point for economic development. SelectUSA was created to showcase the United States as the world’s premier business location and to provide easy access to federal-level programs and services related to business investment. The Export Assistance Center helps small-to-medium sized companies develop international markets.

Click here to learn more about SelectUSA.

Click here to read about the San Jose U.S. Export Assistance Center.

A royal centennial for the Grand Boulevard

Congresswoman Jackie Speier, SamTrans GM Mike Scanlon, Joint Venture CEO Russell Hancock and a number of other state and local leaders, transportation officials and residents gathered at the steps of San Bruno City Hall on August 7 for ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of paving El Camino Real.

The historical reenactment also served as a vantage point for looking ahead to the next one hundred years and how the road can fulfill its potential in this century.

The Grand Boulevard Initiative is working to help the El Camino Real corridor from Daly City to San Jose achieve its full potential as a place for residents to work, live, shop and play, creating links between communities that promote walking and transit and an improved and meaningful quality of life.

Click here to read Rep. Speier’s remarks at the event.

Click here to read a guest editorial about the Grand Boulevard Initiative by Russell Hancock and SamTrans general manager Michael Scanlon in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Our SEPTEMBER Spotlight

TOM KLEIN
Greenberg Traurig

Fresh out of law school in Chicago, Tom Klein landed his first job at Silicon Valley’s prominent firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, where he started work uneventfully on Monday, October 16, 1989.

But day two ended on a shaky note.

Click here to read Tom’s profile.

Second annual Wireless Symposium set for Nov. 2

Set your smart phone reminders now for Joint Venture’s second annual Silicon Valley Wireless Symposium on November 2. The conference will focus on how public policy can expedite building a 21st century communications infrastructure.

The symposium, a half-day event at Marvell in Santa Clara, will bring together elected officials, municipal and county staff, governmental agencies, business leaders and wireless service providers.

Click here to register for the event.

Click here to learn more about our Wireless Communications Initiative.

September on “Inside Silicon Valley”

September guests on “Inside Silicon Valley,” Joint Venture’s weekly public affairs radio program, include state senator Joe Simitian (September 7 & 9), Sustainable Silicon Valley executive director Marianna Grossman (Sept. 21 & 23) and Assembly member Jerry Hill (Sept. 28 & 30).

Joint Venture CEO Russell Hancock hosts the hour-long program, which airs every Friday at 7 p.m. and again on Sunday at noon on 1590 KLIV.

Click here to listen to previous programs.

Click here to listen to our podcasts on iTunes.

Article of the Month

“California’s Boom Masks State’s Uneven Recovery,” Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal’s Silicon Valley reporter Pui-Wing Tam, who excels in pinpointing important trends, collaborated with fellow correspondent Scott Thurm on this recent article, pointing out that while jobs, tech investments and home prices are climbing here, many are still shut out from the recovery and likely will be for some time to come.

Click here to read the article.