OPPORTuNITY STANISLAuS

By Catherine Larsen / Marketing and Communications Lead, Stanislaus 2030

Despite a decade of steady job growth ranking among the best nationwide, Stanislaus County’s economy and residents confront continuing challenges to shared prosperity and wealth-building. Nearly 40% of families in the County are working but still struggle to meet basic living expenses and accumulate savings that enable economic mobility. Alongside comparatively low educational attainment and a high cost of living, the region’s economic performance yields a significant gap in the number of quality jobs available to residents. Understanding the lived experience of our community members is a critical part of the Stanislaus 2030 process. With the support of our local community engagement team Debrief, residents from across Stanislaus County have the opportunity to share their voices in many ways, including focus groups, community meetings and forums. That means the work groups will have the benefit of learning from the experiences of Stanislaus County residents, along with the data provided in the market assessment, as the strategies are being designed.

This is just one piece of the illuminating data provided by Brookings Institution, taken from the quantitative and qualitative market assessment of Stanislaus County, released publicly today.

While these dynamics are sobering, they are also not new or surprising to County leaders and residents. For years, regional strategies have raised the need for economic diversification to support more good jobs locally and reduce the numbers of residents commuting hours to better-paying jobs in the Bay Area and neighboring counties. Ultimately, this work is just the first step of a journey that extends well beyond 2030. Today, Stanislaus 2030 is releasing the Executive Summary and supporting data that informs the next phase of our initiative, the activation of our work groups. The Executive Summary provides an overview of the market assessment, a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative analysis of the region’s economic performance and competitive position. This assessment offers a common evidence base and considerations for diverse stakeholders to jointly make decisions on economic and workforce priorities, strategic responses, and how to implement them.

“Stanislaus 2030 was born out of the desire to intentionally build resilient future industries aligned around our strong agricultural base, and at the same time, ensure greater financial prosperity for local families,” says Dillon Olvera, Stanislaus 2030 Co-Chair and President and CEO, Beard Land and Investment Co. Stanislaus 2030 is a collaboration among business, government, and civic stakeholders to create and deliver a joint strategy and investment plan by summer 2022, for regional economic growth and opportunity in the coming decade.

“If this effort sounds like a tall order, it is. This type of work, both multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder, is often messy and not attempted often. It requires many actors to grapple with data while seeking a deep understanding of residents’ experiences and highest aspirations,” says Marian Kaanon, CEO, Stanislaus Community Foundation, and partner in the Stanislaus 2030 initiative. “But other communities across our state, and nation, have seen great results from doing this type of work, bringing in millions of dollars of government, private and philanthropic funds to their communities. We have a unique opportunity right now to do the same thing in Stanislaus County.” Crosssector, multi-stakeholder work groups will meet from late April to June, developing strategies to be included in an investment plan, published later this summer. “This is our opportunity to take bold action towards a more prosperous future for Stanislaus County families,” says Yamilet Valladolid, Stanislaus 2030 Co-Chair and Director of Government and Community Affairs, Golden Valley Health Centers.

Visit Stanislaus2030.com to view the Executive Summary and all reports.

By Bryan Eagle, CEO Glanris manufactures a patented, sustainable, low-cost water filtration media made from rice hulls, the world's largest agricultural waste product. Over 220 billion pounds of rice hulls are generated every year. Today these hulls are either burned in the fields or dumped in landfills, neither of which are environmentally friendly. Glanris’ media can remove organic contaminants from the water like activated carbon does but can also remove dissolved metals like lead and chromium as ion exchange resins do, but at a fraction of the price. Unlike ion exchange resin beads which are a microplastic, Glanris is a carbon-negative product that reduces greenhouses gasses and sequesters carbon.

Glanris is targeting the 3 major water filtration markets: industrial, municipal, and residential. Their industrial customers are either manufacturing companies that use water in their production process and need to filter contaminants in their wastewater or environmental remediation companies looking for a single media to tackle both organic and metal contaminants. They have 2 small municipal wastewater projects. In the residential market, they are working with carbon block manufacturers and on a reusable Brita filter with Glanris’ media in a filter pod. This will eliminate the disposal of the plastic housing and the use of the microplastic ion exchange resin beads that comprise 60% of a normal Brita filter. Glanris has the following advantages over activated carbon and ion exchange resin:

• Hybrid media (adsorption for organic contaminants, ion exchange for dissolved metal removal, and silica for solids)

• Drop-in replacement for existing activated carbon and ion exchange

• Significantly lower cost than specialized ion exchange resins • Operates in a wider pH range (4-10), whereas most others require chemical adjustment to get to a neutral pH before they can be effective.

• Media doesn't foul in the presence of oils or solvents • Green, sustainable,

MEMBER HIGHLIGHT Blue Diamond’s Innovative Products Drive Value for Local Growers

By Dennis Bettencourt / Salida Site Director, Blue Diamond Growers

An agricultural cooperative, Blue Diamond Growers is owned by approximately 3,000 almond growers throughout California’s Central Valley. The majority of our members are small, multi-generational family farms, and our co-op’s mission is quite simple: To maximize the returns of each grower who entrusts Blue Diamond with their almonds.

As the world’s largest almond processor, we market high-quality almonds, almond ingredients and branded products in 100 countries around the world.

Our 1,800 employees collaborate to help transform our growers’ almonds into a wide range of almond-based snacks, beverages, and ingredients, including Blue Diamond Snack Almonds®, Nut-Thins® crackers, almond flour, baking mixes, and Almond Breeze® almondmilk and almondmilk creamers. Unlike other almond handlers, Blue Diamond is recognized as a dynamic global brand and that brand star power drives increased value for our growers.

Another key way we ensure sustained value is by consistently focusing on innovation – especially in creating imaginative snack nut flavors and determining unique uses for the quality almonds we receive and process through our facilities in Salida, Turlock and Sacramento.

I’m excited to announce that we have three new products hitting store shelves this month:

NEW flavor: Elote, (eh-LO-tay) Spanish for “corn cob,” is a Mexican dish where corn on the cob is grilled, brushed in a mayonnaise cream sauce and topped with chili powder, cheese, and lime.

Fun fact: The Elote flavor was developed by one of our summer interns from U.C. Davis last year – he came up with the concept, worked with our seasoning vendor, and led sensory evaluations to finalize the delicious flavor. It’s a great example of our commitment to providing meaningful work for our interns each year. NEW flavor: Korean BBQ celebrates a style of grilling meats on a grill that is inlaid right into the dining table. The popularity of the Korean BBQ flavor is spiking - it is now one of the top 10 flavors that consumers crave.

NEW product: Finally, this month we’re also rolling out a new line of snack almonds called “Mash Ups” which combine two intense flavors into an exciting snacking experience. Our initial Mash Up flavors are Cinnamon and Maple Almonds, and Dark Chocolate and Chili Pepper Almonds.

You can find all three new products at our Blue Diamond Nut & Gift Shop, located at 4800 Sisk Road in Modesto, or online at bluediamondstore. com.

RELATIONSHIPS