| Institute: Silicon Valley unemployment falls To 5.1% |
| Rate is less than half of the April high of 11.6% and higher than 3.2% mid-March last year |
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As the lockdown eases amid declining coronavirus case rates, Silicon Valley’s unemployment rate is back to where it was in November 2020, according to Joint Venture’s Institute for Regional Studies. The Institute released analysis that shows late 2020 economic restrictions, along with a wave of COVID-19 cases, contributed to an unemployment rate reaching nearly 6% in December. Since then, the region has experienced a gradual decline to 5.1% as of March.
The March data reflect month-over-month employment upticks in retail, social assistance and ambulatory health care services, and restaurants and food services. Silicon Valley’s 5.1% unemployment rate is less than half of the April high of 11.6% but remains higher than the 3.2% of mid-March last year.
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| Read the data release |
| Joint Venture to Cupertino: Thank you for improving your networks |
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Joint Venture's Russell Hancock and David Witkowski stressed the importance of regional connectivity and urged the Cupertino city council to prioritize its small cell facilities, in a special study session April 20.
“It's ironic that the city that birthed the iPhone has some of the slowest networks in the region” said Joint Venture's CEO at the council's study session. “Digital connectivity has become a basic requirement, underpinning economic and social inclusion, and driving the recovery.”
Witkowski, who leads Joint Venture's Wireless Communications Initiative, stressed the importance of 4G coverage, which has made remote learning possible during the pandemic. “Persons alleging that cellular equipment reduces property values are simply mistaken,” he explained, citing numerous reports. “No objective study has reached any such conclusion.”
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Learn more in the Joint Venture blog
Communicate to the Cupertino City Council |
| Earth Day Editorial: |
| Pine, Hancock urge California to do more faster |
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For Earth Day, Supervisor Dave Pine, who serves on the Joint Venture board of directors, and Russell Hancock, CEO of Joint Venture, penned a commentary published in The Mercury News. The authors urge California to remove more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits by 2030, fifteen years faster than is currently planned.
"Climate change once felt distant, wonky, and theoretical. No more. Now it’s too close for comfort. Last year’s wildfires, which charred 4.2 million acres and caused several thousand smoke-related deaths, showed millions of Californians that we have to make big changes fast," they asserted.
Pine and Hancock urge readers to endorse Climate-Safe California and support Senate Bill 582, introduced by State Senator Henry Stern, which would codify net-negative emissions by 2035 for the first time ever in California.
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| Read the editorial |
| Building Back Better: |
| Pathways to a sustainable future |
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While the pandemic may well be on the wane, efforts to assist the community in recovering from a year of chaos are just getting underway. Joint Venture has convened a new initiative called Building Back Better. Using the Silicon Valley Recovery Roundtable and San Mateo County Recovery Initiative reports as a foundation, the initiative will provide coordination, research, backbone infrastructure, and a framework to convene stakeholders for regional recovery efforts. There is a search underway for a founding CEO to direct the initiative.
The initiative is building upon partnerships created over the past year with the new Equity Forward initiative (led by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation with Stanford University’s Social Impact Lab and d.School); the Bridge to Recovery network (created with support of Santa Clara County and Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County); and with a team of regional leaders across economic sectors. Building Back Better will engage in a spectrum of recovery efforts to identify opportunities for collaboration, track gaps in resources and leadership, and reduce overlaps to build pathways to an equitable future for all Silicon Valley residents.
The Bridge to Recovery (B2R) network is building a stronger safety net that is connected to training and meaningful jobs for all and in July the endeavor will move backbone staffing to Joint Venture, which will support the operations of the network with a data-driven approach. “It places the voice of the people at the center of the conversation while collaborating with service providers and employers. It will redesign the current systems of support to become more effective at addressing inequities in our community,” said Ashley Raggio, director of the initiative. “Creating greater access for families on the margin of our economy is at its core.” The network seeks to help families stabilize, learn new skills, and obtain employment, leading to living-wage solutions.
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| Learn more |
| Jody Meacham named Joint Venture Fellow |
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Joint Venture Silicon Valley has named Jody Meacham as a Senior Fellow working at large across the organization and its Institute. Meacham was most recently a reporter for the Silicon Valley Business Journal from 2015 until 2021.
“I consider Jody Meacham a highly accomplished journalist, whose writing I have always admired,” said Joint Venture CEO Russell Hancock. “We’re enormously pleased that he brings his standing and stature to this organization.”
Joint Venture Fellows are distinguished scholars or professionals in their field. They work on issues in Joint Venture’s major project areas, consult with project teams, and provide expert advice. Fellows also write, blog, publish research and provide thought leadership.
Meacham began his newspaper writing career at the Asheville Citizen-Times, Charlotte News, and Charlotte Observer in his native North Carolina, and later worked for the San Jose Mercury News in California. Meacham is a graduate of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is the author of Figure Skating for Dummies with gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi and Through the Heart of the South, a novel. His final article in the Business Journal, Painful Decisions to Make, tackled the future of San Jose.
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| Read the news release |
| Upcoming Webinars |
Bridging the 4G/5G Gap: Telecommunications Roadmap for Implementation
Virtual Course Program
June 9, 10:00 AM PDT
Join David Witkowski, executive director of Joint Venture’s civic technologies initiative, and IEEE for a virtual course program called “Bridging the 4G/5G Gap: Telecommunications Roadmap for Implementation” on 9 June at 10:00 AM PDT. Get an overview of the convergence of cellular technologies that can help local government and municipal leaders develop application processes and understand 5G technology.
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| Learn more and register |
HayWired: A Disaster for Wired and Wireless Voice and Data?
May 12, 2:00 PM PDT
The HayWired earthquake scenario series, led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), anticipates a hypothetical and scientifically-plausible magnitude 7.0 earthquake on the Hayward Fault. The analysis considers the disruption to voice and data services brought about by the damage after a major seismic event. It also grapples with surging demand for these services despite the inevitable power outages and crippled infrastructure.
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Learn more
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| Careers |
Joint Venture is looking for people who want to use their talents to make a lasting difference in our communities. We are currently seeking a strategic leader to serve as executive director for the new Building Back Better initiative.
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| Learn more |
Joint Venture’s Beyond Gasoline initiative and partner, Coltura, is hiring for a full-time development director to help grow fundraising and development initiatives. Coltura is also seeking a part-time contract communications manager.
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| Learn more |
| Joint Venture participates in AmazonSmile |
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Joint Venture is now participating in the Amazon.com AmazonSmile program. Every time you shop at AmazonSmile.com, a portion of your sales (0.5) goes to support our work. AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support Joint Venture every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact low prices, vast selection, and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to support Joint Venture’s work in your community.
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| Support Joint Venture on AmazonSmile |
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April 27, 2021 - (KRON4) - Moving to the Bay Area or leaving? Here’s where people are relocating: According to the 2021 Silicon Valley Index put together by Joint Venture Silicon Valley, 29% remained in the Bay Area, 6% moved to the nearby Monterey area, 6% to the Sacramento area, 8% to San Joaquin Valley, and 14% to Southern California. More
April 22, 2021 - (Mercury News) - Opinion: California must accelerate its climate leadership - Joint Venture board member Dave Pine, Supervisor in San Mateo County, and Russell Hancock, CEO of Joint Venture urge climate action in California. More
April 20, 2021 - (San Jose Spotlight) - Silicon Valley unemployment rate drops during slow recovery: The data analysis comes from Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s Institute for Regional Studies, the nonprofit’s research arm that publishes the Silicon Valley Index annually. More
April 19, 2021 - (Mountain View Voice) - Mountain View names new lead of economic development as businesses reel from COVID-19: [Lang] chaired an initiative by Joint Venture Silicon Valley called the Silicon Valley Economic Development Alliance. More
April 18, 2021 - (Patch) - Silicon Valley's Unemployment Rate Declines: The Joint Venture Silicon Valley's Institute for Regional Studies, a San Jose economic research organization, released an analysis Friday on unemployment rates in Silicon Valley. More
April 18, 2021 - (SFGATE) - Sunday Morning News Roundup: The Joint Venture Silicon Valley's Institute for Regional Studies, a San Jose economic research organization, released an analysis Friday on unemployment rates in Silicon Valley. More
April 16, 2021 - (Silicon Valley Business Journal) - Silicon Valley unemployment rate drops to November 2020 levels: The rate fell 0.3 percentage points from February, according to Joint Venture Silicon Valley's Institute for Regional Studies. More
April 16, 2021 - (News Break) - Silicon Valley unemployment rate drops to November 2020 levels: Silicon Valley's unemployment rate hit 5.1% in March, its lowest showing since November 2020, according to an analysis conducted by Joint Venture Silicon Valley and the Institute for Regional Studies. More
April 7, 2021 - (Market Watch) - Asian-American business leaders rally against wave of hatred: ‘We don’t deserve to live in fear in our own country’: In 2019, those from Asian countries made up 56.5% of tech workers with bachelor’s degrees in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, according to Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s latest index. More
April 5, 2021 - (San Jose Spotlight) - Why has building housing in San Jose become increasingly unaffordable? It’s a common refrain in Silicon Valley, where the median monthly rent is more than $3,000, according to the Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies. More
April 2, 2021 - (San Jose Inside) - Op-Ed: Our Post-Covid Lives Shouldn’t Go Back to ‘Normal’—They Should Go Back Better - I worked with Joint Venture Silicon Valley to expand infrastructure within our community’s “internet deserts.” More
March 29, 2021 - (Stanford Daily) - Stanford and Silicon Valley: Storied past, uncertain future - “This is a big deal,” said Russell Hancock, president and CEO of Joint Venture, a non-profit Silicon Valley think tank. “Oracle is an iconic company. It’s been synonymous with Silicon Valley for its entire history. More
March 25, 2021 - (San Jose Blog) - Silicon Valley Annual Check-up: Joint Venture CEO Russel Hancock summarizes the key learnings from the 2021 Silicon Valley Index. This year, special attention was paid to the impacts of the Coronavirus on our local economy. More
March 24, 2021 - (Wired) - After a Remote Year, Tech’s Shadow Workforce Barely Hangs On: Doing so has “raised huge philosophical questions,” says Russell Hancock, the president of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a think tank in the region. More
March 21, 2021 - (Pleasanton Weekly) - 'We were in trouble': Bay Area health officials look back on anniversary of first shelter-in-place order - So we had 20 percent of the positives, but were only submitting 5 percent of the specimens," Cody said during Joint Venture Silicon Valley's State of the Valley event last month. More
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