by Rob White
The teams for the Sacramento Metro Chamber’s annual Capital-to-Capital (Cap to Cap) Advocacy Trip were preparing today for their meetings with agencies and elected officials that begins tomorrow. Each team has between 10 and 40 members and has between 10 and 20 different meetings.
Here is an excerpt from the Chamber’s newsletter from today:
This is the 44th annual Capital-to-Capital program, the nation’s largest advocacy program of its kind. We are very excited about the action-packed program this year and would like to thank each of the volunteers who collectively dedicated thousands of hours leading up to our departure to help ensure the Sacramento Region is well represented.
The Next Economy served as our guiding framework in the development of this year’s advocacy priorities. Each of the fourteen policy teams have crafted their top lobbying objectives in view of the Next Economy’s five strategic goals. This year our program includes 300 participating delegates representing the region in both the private and public sector, 39 elected officials, 70 first-time participants, 48 policy papers, and appointments with elected leaders and agency officials. We encourage you to take full advantage of this unique experience, capitalizing on our regional representation with the goal of delivering tangible results upon our return.
The future of the Sacramento region’s economy is directly tied to health and growth of our agriculture activities. The Metro Chamber, through the Next Economy, is championing the agriculture sector in our Cap-to-Cap program this year. We are fortunate to have the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack as our Tuesday Leadership Luncheon speaker. During our lunch on Capitol Hill, Secretary Vilsack will discuss with us the efforts of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support the agricultural economy.
Our region has a vibrant farm-to-fork economy that is supported by agricultural entrepreneurs and the best agriculture university in the world, UC Davis. Through our efforts to grow and consume local foods to our growing exports fueled by innovative companies like Blue Diamond, our agricultural economy’s future is bright.
Some of today’s activities included several networking opportunities. Though I met many people and was able to talk with a few people I already know, I was able to spend considerable time with the following people that are immediately material to the work in Davis: Director of Public Affairs and Corporate Relations for Union Pacific; Sr. Manager for Sacramento Valley Energy Solutions & Service for PG&E; Board of Directors member for SMUD; Sr. Vice President for Corporate Social Responsibility for Bank of America; CEO of Five Star Bank; and Director of Workforce & Economic Development for Los Rios Community College District.
The delegation has a busy day on Monday, with an opening breakfast that features Gallup Education Executive Director, Brandon Busteed, who will inform Cap-to-Cap delegates on the most recent research concerning the intersection between education, workforce, economic development and entrepreneurship. Mr. Busteed is a leading expert on measuring educational outcomes, the connections between education and job creation, and the shift from knowledge mastery to emotional engagement in education.
Gallup’s perspective has already informed Capital Region leaders on the critical role of education in advancing the Next Economy. The Coming Jobs War, written by Gallup CEO, Jim Clifton, was a source of thought leadership for the Next Economy during its inception. Clifton boldly asserts that job creation and successful entrepreneurship are the world’s most pressing issues, noting that promoting entrepreneurship and job creation must be the sole mission and purpose of regional leaders.
Innovation Team meetings are planned with Representatives LaMalfa and Matsui, Senator Coons and the CEO of the International Economic Development Council. Additionally, because Innovation was selected as a 2014 Priority Issue for the trip, I am being included in several very senior meetings over the next few days, one of which is with Senator Feinstein and the Cap-to-Cap leadership group.
Though I am unable to monitor posts to answer questions, I will attempt to log on in the evening to provide some input. You can also follow the Davis efforts on Twitter at hashtag #InnovateDavis and my twitter account of @mrobertwhite or the entire delegation at hashtag #Cap2Cap14 and twitter account @Metro_Chamber.
at some point i would like a better understanding as to how all of this helps davis. it’s not that i think davis is the be all/ end all, but you do work for davis.