2014 Newsletters

Sam Liccardo, four others elected to Joint Venture board
San Jose mayor-elect Sam Liccardo is among the five newest members elected to the Joint Venture Silicon Valley board of directors. Others approved at the board’s quarterly meeting in Redwood City last month were John Tortora, COO of Sharks Sports & Entertainment, Beau Goldie, CEO of the Santa Clara Valley Water District; Richard Moran, president of Menlo College; and Chad Seiler, a partner with KPMG.

Read the news release.

Stanford's Hennessy heads keynotes for 2015 State of the Valley

Stanford University president John Hennessy, Time magazine assistant managing editor Rana Foroohar, political thought leader and TED sensation Benjamin Barber, and cleantech industry leader Ira Ehrenpreis will be the keynote speakers at the 2015 State of the Valley conference on February 4 in Santa Clara.

In addition, the 2015 Silicon Valley Index, a special panel on startups moderated by Brigade CEO Matt Mahan and the annual Packard Award presentation are also on tap. An exhibitors showcase and musical entertainment round out the annual day of dialogue and discussion on the economic health and well being of our region.

Registration is now open for the conference Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

Read about last year’s State of the Valley.

Joint Venture adds NASA executive Michael Marlaire to staff

Longtime NASA executive Michael Marlaire has been detailed to Joint Venture to head special projects for the next two years.

A 28-year veteran of the space agency, Marlaire has been director of the NASA Research Park (NRP) at NASA’s Ames Research Center since 2006, directing partnership development, land use planning, leasing, property management and intergovernmental relations related to development.

“I am so excited to be working with the leading Silicon Valley organization that’s addressing the many issues facing our quality of life,” said Marlaire.

Read the news release.

San Jose Sharks host investors briefing at SAP Center

The San Jose Sharks organization hosted our Investors Council last month at the SAP Center for a full briefing on Joint Venture’s history, current initiatives and the state of our region. The investors also heard remarks from John Tortora, COO of Sharks Sports & Entertainment, and took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Shark Tank.

Investors heard updates from CEO Russell Hancock and other Joint Venture officials on the Silicon Valley economy, our Public Sector Task Force, Renewable Energy Procurement, Smart Energy Enterprise Development Zone, Wireless Communications Initiative, Silicon Valley Economic Development Alliance, and Grand Boulevard Initiative.

Learn more about our Investors Council.

Article of the Month

“Q & A: Russell Hancock”

San Jose Mercury News, George Avalos

Silicon Valley’s explosive economy is likely to grow even hotter, but it has created an economy of haves and have-nots that is impacting housing affordability, transportation and other factors, Joint Venture’s CEO Russell Hancock said in this recent San Jose Mercury News profile.

In the newspaper’s business section Q & A column by writer George Avalos, Hancock also calls on the mayors of San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland to convene a panel to address the region’s issues.

Read the article.

This month on “Inside Silicon Valley”

Silicon Valley news trends, clean technology, the influence of mayors on public policy and urban design are the topics this month on Joint Venture’s weekly public affairs radio program, “Inside Silicon Valley.”

Scheduled guests include Michelle Quinn, San Jose Mercury News columnist (Dec. 5 & 7); Jeff Byron, co-chair of the Cleantech Open (Dec. 12 & 14); Benjamin Barber, political theorist and author (Dec. 19 & 21); and Benjamin Grant, SPUR urban design manager in an encore presentation (Dec. 26 & 28).