It is with a heavy heart that we write to inform you that former CALED Chairman, Bruce Ackerman, President and CEO of The Valley Economic Alliance passed away August 26, 2010 after courageously battling cancer for the last six and a half years.

The U.S. Department of State just launched a new initiative that leverages entrepreneurship as tool for international economic development and cooperation. The Global Entrepreneurship Program (GEP) focuses on supporting entrepreneurs in communities around the world by helping to create supportive entrepreneurial ecosystems. The GEP will focus on twelve countries throughout the world, including seven Muslim-majority countries.

Health care reform or no health care reform, we don't have enough doctors in this country. A Harvard economist, writing in the New York Times Magazine, has declared: "Today, the shortage of doctors in the United States is worse than at any time in the last fifty years. This is not to say that the total number of doctors has decreased; actually, the total is now higher than ever. I speak of the increased gap between our doctors and our total population."

KINGS BEACH, Calif. - Green building, geotourism and health and wellness represent the three most significant economic sectors in the Lake Tahoe Basin for the present and foreseeable future, according to facilitators of an regionally based economic summit.

The Lake Tahoe Basin Prosperity Plan - a consortium of representatives from basin-wide private and public sectors spearheaded by a Sacramento-based economic development firm called Applied Development Economics - presented an action plan Thursday afternoon to a full board room at the North Tahoe Events Center.

WATSONVILLE -- When Spencer and Carol Owyang looked for a place to relocate their motorcycle parts company after being burned out in the 2008 Trabing Fire, Watsonville fit the bill.

October 4, 2010, 1-4pm EST
Instructor: David Trevisani
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The House Appropriations Subcommittee for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies met last week to mark up the FY11 Agriculture Appropriations bill. In summary,the House's Ag bill is less than one percent lower than the FY10 appropriation levels and 0.1% lower than the President's request.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is reviewing its grant process to ensure that the agency continues to meet the needs of American communities. For 45 years, EDA has partnered with distressed communities throughout the United States to foster job creation, collaboration and regional innovation. The agency's mission is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing American regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy.

Bank of America Corp. on Thursday will commit $10 million in grants to nonprofit organizations that lend to small and rural businesses.

A host of nonprofit lenders, such as Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs, have been struggling to make loans throughout U.S. communities. Those entities typically receive their lending funds from federal agencies, but recession-driven funding restraints have limited the ability of these organizations to lend.