News and Events

The EconAlliance Board of Directors is seeking a talented, accomplished, and visionary Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to lead EconAlliance to its next level of growth, stability, and impact.

EconAlliance once again celebrated Northern Santa Barbara County manufacturers with several activities aligned with national Manufacturing Day. The conversations and keynote yielded some clear takeaways.

Northern Santa Barbara County industry, business, service, and education industry players formed 33 teams for the EconAlliance Cross-Industry Golf Tournament hosted Monday, August 12, at the Santa Maria Country Club.

EconAlliance’s mid-July Healthcare Workforce Forum focused on workforce development in the emerging AI operating environment. Nearly 100 attendees heard featured presentations on “AI in Healthcare” by two experts, with a panel of local healthcare educators discussing the new AI environment and its workforce impacts.

The EconAlliance North County Internship Program will place 50 interns in North County worksites this year. College intern William Jeffers is one of those. Jeffers is working with the legal department of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.

On Friday May 3rd, the Board voted to rezone 10 sites in the North County and 18 sites on the South Coast that can accommodate affordable housing units for low-, moderate-, and upper moderate-income households countywide. This is the final step in the Housing Element Update process and ensures the County remains in compliance with State Housing Law.

This event’s keynotes were focused on the topic, California’s Energy Transition. 110 attendees learned about cutting-edge energy solutions, current energy demands, and the investments needed to support progress.

What’s the easiest way to stay current with Northern Santa Barbara County activities of EconAlliance? Just follow the NEW EconAlliance LinkedIn page!

Stay abreast of EconAlliance forums, surveys, reports and cross-sector events designed to propel high-performance, globally competitive industries and thriving communities!

The sixth EconAlliance Ag Forum held Wednesday, February 7th at the Santa Maria Elks Lodge featured USDA Rural Development (RD) State Director Maria Gallegos-Herrera delivered the keynote address covering on-farm and off-farm housing funds.

The EconAlliance inaugural Northern Santa Barbara County Impact Award of 2023 honored the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians (Chumash). In addition, other awards were presented to North County industry leaders. Read more and see photos!

Santa Barbara Foundation made a $50,000 investment in the EconAlliance North County Internship Program. EconAlliance agreed to recruit, match, and mentor fifty (50) under-represented, low-income interns and industry worksites in Northern Santa Barbara County and Mid-County in one year.

The EconAlliance forum, Manufacturing: A Global and Local Perspective, was attended by approximately 85 economic stakeholders and policymakers. Keynote presenter was Dr. Peter Rupert, Executive Director of the UCSB Economic Forecast.

Manufacturers contributed $2.91 trillion at the annual rate to the U.S. economy in just the first quarter of 2023. In fact, for every $1.00 spent in manufacturing, there is a total impact of $2.60 for the overall economy.

In a recent Middle Mile Advisory Committee Meeting, the State significantly changed its proposed Middle Mile Broadband Initiative plans. The middle-mile is the physical fiber optic infrastructure needed to enable internet connectivity.

Twenty-five Northern Santa Barbara County industry, business, service, and education teams participated in the EconAlliance Cross-Industry Golf Tournament Monday, August 14, at the Santa Maria Country Club, an increase of five new teams over the prior year’s event.

EconAlliance hosted ~100 policymakers, community and industry leaders and Northern Santa Barbara County stakeholders at the Craft House at Corque on April 26 for the Evolving Energy Alternatives Forum featuring a keynote on how to reach “net zero”…

Over 80 community leaders, policymakers and economic stakeholders gathered at the Santa Maria Inn March 29th for the EconAlliance 2023 Cross-Industry Infrastructure Forum. Following five Northern Santa Barbara County infrastructure updates, attendees heard an overview of key County infrastructure projects.

In support of community economic vitality, PG&E offers an Economic Development Rate (EDR) to qualifying businesses. These include Commercial and Industrial Businesses considering relocation out of state, existing and small businesses struggling to stay open.

Our EconAlliance North-Start program is designed to prevent “brain drain” from target low-moderate-income (LMI) communities…

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) Regional Growth Forecast projects North County to grow by 22,000 jobs and 50,000 people by 2050, so it is imperative that the County consider housing options and growth priorities to assure that the current housing problem doesn’t become insurmountable.

The Broadband/Telecom Consultant will support development of the products and deliverables of the year-long grant.

The 2023 Co-Leads for the EconAlliance Healthcare Initiative are Mark Allen, COO, Marian regional Medical Center/ Dignity Health, and Debbie Alonzo, HR Director, Lompoc Valley Medical Center.

Invest in EconAlliance and support Northern Santa Barbara County economic vitality! Contribution levels start at $195 for “Friends of the Foundation” with key benefits for investors up to $10,000. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, your investment may tax-deductible, check with your tax professional.

The Broadband/Telecom Consultant will support EconAlliance Project Technical Lead Cary Gray, as well as EconAlliance and Chumash leadership in development of the products and deliverables of the year-long grant.

EconAlliance Board President Sam Cohen (Government & Legal Specialist, SY Band of Chumash) welcomed over 100 attendees Thursday night to the organization’s Annual Dinner/Future Forum held at the Santa Ynez Marriott.

EconAlliance recognized the day by organizing a small group tour of Safran Cabin led by Engineering Manager John Fuhriman and Engineer Jennifer Montejano, and with a video interview of Jay Hardy, founder of Hardy Diagnostics.

There is a place for everyone in manufacturing! We are therefore delighted to feature a high-tech manufacturer in the first of our Industry Spotlight videos: Jay Hardy, President, Hardy Diagnostics.

On August 15, 2022, EconAlliance held its second annual Cross-Industry Golf Tournament at the Santa Maria Country Club. A beautiful day of golf with breakfast burritos to start and a box lunch on the course was capped off with delicious appetizers at an award reception in the clubhouse.

The Economic Alliance Foundation (EconAlliance) invites proposals for an element of work in The Northern Santa Barbara County Broadband Strategy & Business Plan project.

Santa Barbara County is well-positioned to lead the way, compared to other regions where disease pressure is too high for organic fungicides and pesticides to function well. “Santa Barbara is close enough to the ocean to get wind that comes through in the afternoon, which helps with disease,” said Jacobson, who’s also using her good relationships with farmers here to convert more acres to organic.

On Friday, August 12, SpaceX brought Group 3-3 of the Starlink constellation into orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in […]

New internships would serve as a means of introducing students to industry careers and give employers a chance to recruit graduates before they take lesser paying jobs or relocate, perceiving more career opportunity in metropolitan areas.

The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians and The Economic Alliance Foundation (EconAlliance) have been awarded $444,787 in federal funding for their 2021 joint application to produce a Northern Santa Barbara County Fiber Ring Broadband Strategy and Business Plan.

On Wednesday, June 15, 2022, four Santa Barbara County mayors, numerous district representatives of elected officials, as well as a wealth of County and city government policymakers and over 100 industry and community leaders gathered to hear a presentation and panel discussions…

The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light what many residents were already unnecessarily enduring, the lack of reliable and affordable access to internet,” said SBCAG Board of Directors Vice-Chair Jenelle Osborne, mayor of the City of Lompoc. “The broadband survey and speed test is vital to our efforts…

Despite dozens of letters and 1-minute remarks from ~100 individuals and organizations (including EconAlliance) pointing out the millions of dollars in County public service and education tax benefits, tens of millions of dollars in local economic activity, and the

Alejandra Mahoney has Joined EconAlliance as Workforce/ Education Director, and was a former Board member and supporter of and volunteer with EconAlliance and was instrumental in developing the organization’s North County Industry video and STEM Industry Days.

We are keenly aware of the effects of the military conflict, especially upon oil, natural gas and metals, and higher prices for those commodities. In addition, escalating gas prices have a ripple effect among industrial enterprises, like fertilizer makers who use a great deal of gas and have now slashed production.

Falcon 9 took a total of 50 Starlink satellites to orbit during the mission. Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite constellation designed to bring internet access to underserved areas of the world.

Over 125 agriculture and economic stakeholders gathered at the Radisson in Santa Maria on Thursday, February 3, for the 5th EconAlliance Ag Forum. Luncheon keynote was Blong Xiong, State USDA Farm Services Agency Executive Director and featured speaker was Walt Duflock, Vice President Innovation, Western Growers Association.

As an agricultural-related company with operations in Northern Santa Barbara County, if your organization would like to have EconAlliance and its Ag Forum partners recognize one HR or Safety staff person (one only per organization), please submit your nominee.

Featured international futurist Matt Griffin, flown in from London through a Chumash sponsorship. Griffin is a strategist and convention speaker for Fortune 500 and global companies such as Samsung, JP Morgan Chase, Deloitte, T-Mobile, Space X, Tesla, Disney, and others.

The November Cross-Industry (virtual) Forum was attended by dozens of policymakers and economic and infrastructure stakeholders interested in the results of the EconAlliance Infrastructure Survey.

EconAlliance, Santa Barbara County liaison to the tri-County Broadband Consortium Pacific Coast (Consortium) charged with broadband enhancement across three counties, is conducting a community broadband survey in the communities of Santa Maria, Guadalupe and Lompoc (other communities to follow next month).

Pacific Premier Bank (PPG) has funded EconAlliance with a 2021-2022 $25,000 grant to undertake new activities in its effort to enhance broadband in Northern Santa Barbara County.

While we are sad to be losing Eric Larson, our EconAlliance family wishes him all the best in his new position with Elbert County Government in Colorado, splitting his time between tasks for the County Manager and Economic Development Manager.

A flight test launch was conducted by Space Launch Delta 30, the Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Northern Command at North Vandenberg Space Force Base.

This bill, as an exception to that prohibition, until January 1, 2025, would authorize a winegrower, a beer manufacturer, a distilled spirits manufacturer, a craft distiller, a brandy manufacturer, a rectifier, or a wine rectifier to donate a portion of the purchase price of an alcoholic beverage to a nonprofit.

Winners of the first annual EconAlliance Cross-Industry Challenge Golf Tournament were announced August 23rd at an awards reception after a full-day of friendly cross-industry foursome competition at the Santa Maria Country Club.