May 19, 2023 - New efficiencies at Silicon Valley companies are resulting in additional space available for sublease, according to the First Quarter Commercial Space Report from the Institute for Regional Studies. With the backdrop of inflation, higher interest rates, and other economic woes, have made sweeping adjustments toward a more remote/hybrid work culture. Landlords appear to understand this shift as companies require smaller footprints. Overall, the number of construction completions were moderate in the first quarter and asking rents across most space categories have remained remarkably stable, considering persistently high vacancy rates.
May 19, 2023 – The unemployment rate in Silicon Valley decreased to 2.8% in April for the first time in 2023, according to analysis by Joint Venture Silicon Valley’s Institute for Regional Studies. The unemployment rate in the region is at its lowest since December of 2022, when it sat at 2.3%. Overall employment in the region decreased by more than 16,300 workers, while the number of unemployed persons decreased by more than 4,000. “The unemployment rate in Silicon Valley has declined for the first time since late last year, stopping the steady increases that were experienced over the first quarter of 2023,” said Ryan Young, an affiliated researcher at the Institute.
May 30, 2023 - Joint Venture formed a partnership with Seamless Bay Area (SBA) to transform the Bay Area’s fragmented public transit into a unified system that is more efficient, affordable, and sustainable. The Bay Area is currently in the midst of a major fiscal crisis and the prospect of devastating service cuts if no additional public funding is identified from the state. SBA is advocating for immediate funding that can help avert service cuts that would be devastating for transit and help implement changes to regrow transit ridership. 
May 30, 2023 - When Comcast wanted to announce network improvements in Silicon Valley, they called on David Witkowski, Executive Director of Joint Venture’s Civic Technologies Initiative, to help deliver the message. City managers and mayors met at Joint Venture’s headquarters to learn about a planned 10G broadband network that will expand fast and equitable services to businesses by the end of 2023 and to homes by the end of 2025. "It was an honor to host this panel discussion at Joint Venture, and to engage in thoughtful and lively discussion with the panelists and the audience on this important topic,” said Witkowski. 
May 30, 2023 - One glance at the CV of Robin Franz Martin inspires with a story of someone who has devoted her career to making the world a better place. And she is currently in the process of laying a foundation for seminal work that could have a favorable impact for generations. Robin, the Executive Director of the Food Recovery Initiative at Joint Venture, has launched several programs, from a summer camp in Vermont to a Medical Reserve Corps that is still succeeding. She likes working with food because “…it brings people together.” And now, with her current project, she has an opportunity to bring many people together around a solution that transforms lives by confronting hunger in one of the richest places on earth.
Just over 100 days ago, I embarked on a journey. A journey to transform my community and to pivot my career toward the good I always wanted to do in my career. Bridge to Recovery (B2R) became the fuel to satisfy the incredible curiosity I had to listen, learn, and lean in to the work that needed to be done in Santa Clara County. Without a clear idea of what the Project Manager for B2R really would be tasked with, I dove in. With no staff, we needed to move swiftly forward with the network, engage to learn more, get to know them, and to absorb their mission. Safety net and workforce development were merely conceptual. Today, those conceptual seeds are the foundation for workgroups and for the passionate leaders that consume my days, my thoughts, and my future.
Bridge to Recovery is a coalition of private, public sector and not-for-profit leaders who are building a two-pronged recovery path. The objective is to achieve a stronger safety net that is connected to training and meaningful jobs for all.
The pandemic is a tragedy that has hit our communities of color hard. The pandemic affected jobs and economic access that was already inequitable in the Bay Area. Where to begin? How might 50 organizations and more than 70 volunteers navigate the scope of the challenge? Amid massive social and economic disruption, Silicon Valley continues to be a place that is racially inequitable and economically exclusive. Economically-excluded residents cannot easily access the current benefits and workforce development support system.
The superpower of the B2R Network is our ability to build relationships and to listen to the voices in our community; the imperfect process of getting to know one another. It is the humble act of being open to collaborating with someone that may approach his or her community with a different mindset. The network is composed of seven workgroups comprising representation from safety net and workforce development organizations -- all of them giving their time to collaborate and create…and in some cases disrupt.
The outcomes to which we aspire are ambitious. “What if” is not a whimsical phrase, it is a challenge to think harder, to listen harder, to find the idea or partnership that moves effectively, embraces a community, and offers a way up. It is one step at a time…B2RWorks.org just skims the surface of the story.
We aspire to seize this moment to build back better by creating an economic system that ensures racial equity, economic inclusion, and providing support for all families. This new economy will ensure workers have access to quality, empowered jobs that allow them to benefit from and shape the region’s growing economy. This new economy must ensure that everyone's immediate basic needs are met and that they can achieve a dignified livelihood.
As we look to the future, there is so much work to be done. It has been a year of work, a year of forming and learning; a year of success and challenges. 2021 brought new energy and new progress and a realization that so much work needs to be done. Our outcomes will be accomplished as the network expands and matures and the cross-sector collaboration continues to flourish. We aspire to achieve access to safety net programs, an integrated safety net benefits ecosystem, a sustainable workforce development ecosystem, high quality job creation, and business growth and entrepreneurship support for undocumented immigrants.
I have learned so much in these early days at B2R. Of course, with every passing day I absorb more about the network, its members and the work that they do. That is a given. It is the shift in myself that has been the most powerful. I approach every day with empathy, with my ears wide open, with my heart and head aligned that I can make a difference. I have opened the door to others, to let their voices be heard and their ideas and collaborative spirits come alive. I am not afraid to not know an answer, I am not afraid to be a learner and I look forward to what the hard work of today and tomorrow will teach me.
Download a copy of the B2R info document to learn more about Joint Venture's Bridge to Recovery Initiative.
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