9 Census Blocks in Monterey County were included in the 879 tracts nominated by Governor Brown for inclusion as Federal Opportunity Zones (8 in North County/Peninsula and 1 in South County). Track #14102 on the south/southeast edge of the City of Marina (northern edge of the former Fort Ord) is among them. Downtown Seaside has 2 large tracts, and the City of Salinas has 5.
In Early July 2018, Bob Lanter, Executive Director of the California Workforce Association, Economic Development Consultant David Spaur, and SPR’s Senior Strategist for Capacity Building, Vinz Koller joined the Swiss Institute of Technology, Center on Economics and Management of Education and Training Systems (CEMENTS) annual Summer Institute for an in-depth exposure to the Swiss dual education system. Together with educators and policy makers from around the world, they worked on a reform case to build a youth apprenticeship system for California.
Achieving sustainable economic development is a team sport. Here in the Monterey Bay region there are a number of active organizations working to realize sustainable economic development. Each has its particular origins and reason for being, though most have a common focus on our core strengths in agriculture, education, military, recreation, tourism and/or information technology. The following is a short list of those organizations: