Youth Financial Literacy Program to Launch in the Fall

In 2007 SEDCorp created a companion non-profit 501(c)(3), Economic Partners In Change (EPIC), whose goal is to prepare the next generation of business and financial leaders to fill the many positions that will become open as the "baby boom generation" leaders retire.  EPIC's foundation program, Youth Financial Literacy Program (YFLP) has been developed over the past several years by a distillation of the best training practices from eight other programs - and now the YFLP is ready to go.  The YFLP goes beyond any other known financial literacy training program to include a matched savings progra, introduction to entrepreneurship, and encouragement of post-secondardy education and a lifetime of learning.  The YFLP is designed to give students the tools to manage their own finances and to prepare them for the financial realties of ife after high school.  The YFLP has been approved by the Placer Union School District and is set to launch in September 2012 at Placer High School in Auburn, California.
For more information, or to make a donation, please visit www.economicpartnersinchange.org.

Update to the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS)

The SEDCorp Board of Directors is preparing to update the five-year CEDS Plan (for Placer, El Dorado, Sierra and Nevada Counties) and welcomes public input.  The CEDS is a comprehensive review of SEDCorp and regional economy.  Your input is vital in order to coordinate efforts between the various jurisdictions and economic entities in the region.  Community meetings will be scheduled and posted here when confirmed.  Please contact our office at 530-823-4703 to reserve your seat.  Please feel free to email us your input at ceds@sedcorp.biz.

The Gold Country Broadband Consortium (GCBC)

A major focus of the first quarter activity has been mapping. We have developed hard copy and electronic working maps that allow plotting data gathered from community and Consortium member input. Information will be continuously updated for the life of the project. The plotting of that data is supporting the identification of customer clusters for prioritizing community meetings. It also supports identifying and working with "neighborhood champions" who are will to help facilitate a community meeting in their neighborhood. We anticipate being able to use the data and the help of neighborhood champions to begin holding community meetings.  
Additional information and meeting announcements will be posted on the Gold Country Broadband Consortium blog: http://goldcountryconsortium.wordpress.com. Please book mark this blog as the go-to-place for the latest GCBC updates and maps.

Wood Pellet Project - The timber industry in California has been in steady decline for the last two decades in the face of continuing ligigation and economic challenges.  The Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) sawmill in Loyalton, Sierra County, closed approximately eight years ago resulting in (more)