May Newsletter: Board Elections, SelectUSA, Upcoming Speaker

Board Elections, SelectUSA, Upcoming Speaker

EDC Board Elections Our June Board Elections are just around the corner. This is our last call for nominations.  All board seats are 3-year terms. If you have questions about serving on the board or your eligibility to run, please reach out to Connie: [email protected] Below are the seats that are up for renewal/election: Platinum: 1. Darlene Wetton-Southwest Healthcare 2. Kimberly Wright- Riverside County 3. Benigno Sandoval- City of Hemet Gold: 1. Matthew Hyatt-MilliporeSigma 2. Jonathan Jean Marie- Loma Linda University Medical Center 3. Vacant Silver: 1. Adam Eventov-SoCal Gas Bronze: 1. Diane Strand-JDS Studios Executive Committee-1 Year Terms President: Godfrey Gibbison (Currently Janice Mrkonjic) 1st VP: Diane Strand (Currently Godfrey Gibbison) 2nd VP: Matthew Hyatt (Currently Matthew Hyatt) Secretary: Cheryl Fuchigami-Bost (Currently Cheryl Fuchigami-Bost) Treasurer: Vacant (Currently Diane Strand) Past President: Janice Mrkonjic (Currently Adam Eventov) I want to thank all our board of directors for choosing to volunteer to serve on the board. Your contributions are a tremendous asset as we continue to advance our mission to serve the region. We will hold elections at our June 4th meeting.    EDC's New Podcast is Live Have you listened to the EDC's new podcast yet?  You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. We've had wonderful guests, including Bill Wilson, President Schultz, Diane Strand, and Joe Mouawad. And now we're ready for the second half of our season, but we need your help! Do you know someone who has a great story to tell about the region? An innovative business that calls Southern California Wine Country home? Someone who's part of what makes this region so great? Please let us know so we can get them on the show.  Beyond listening to the episodes, leaving a 5-star rating, a review, sharing, or adding a comment will really help us elevate the stories from this amazing region.  We want to thank Caisteal Builders for sponsoring our first 3 episodes.    SelectUSA 2026 L to R: Riverside County delegates to SelectUSA, EDC CEO, Connie Stopher, addressing the Chilean Ambassador and delegation, Southern California Wine Country EDC at the California Booth, the California Delegation EDC CEO Connie Stopher was proud to represent the region at SelectUSA Investment Summit as part of the California delegation for the 5th year in a row. Annually, this delegation, led by Go-Biz, heads to the world's largest foreign direct investment (FDI) event in Washington, D.C. This event brings international businesses and consulate office delegations to meet with EDOs from across the country, in an effort to bring their business to the U.S. Southern California remains a very attractive destination for FDI. Connie has already had multiple follow-up meetings with businesses she met at SelectUSA, with 3 site visits in the planning stages.  She will be sharing more information about that event at the June meeting. Survey of the Members We have been reaching out to gather member feedback on our priorities going into the new fiscal year. If you haven't had a chance to fill out the survey yet, please do. It closes on May 29th.  Please take the survey here: EDC Budget Survey Vision for our Water Future ACWA – Vision for Our Water Future Click the photo above to watch ACWA's Vision for our Water Future.  ACWA serves the water industry and the public by promoting local agencies as the most efficient means of providing water service; sharing reliable scientific and technical information; tracking and shaping state and federal water policy; advocating for sound legislation and regulation; and facilitating cooperation and consensus among all interest groups. We are fortunate to have Rancho Water Board Vice President  Carol Lee Gonzales-Brady representing our region as ACWA Vice President. To learn more, visit ACWA Vista Murrieta Engineering Panel EDC CEO, Connie Stopher, has been honored to participate as a panelist for Vista Murrieta's Engineering Development & Design Program for 3 years. This program, led by Mrs. Blaske, teaches students every stage of engineering development and design. Students are tasked with identifying a problem that needs solving and designing an innovative solution. At the end of the year they then need to present their project to a panel of judges for a chance to win a cash prize.  Through the years, students who have completed this program have gone onto successful careers in aerospace, biomechanical engineering, mechanical engineering, and more.  Programs like this give students the skills to be successful in any career, and create a talent pipeline for innovative businesses in need of employees with both hard and soft skills.  Mrs. Blaske will be retiring at the end of the year, and the EDC would like to thank her for her years of work in launching students into the careers of their dreams.  EDC Board Meeting Our June speaker will be Juan Andres Barroso, Site Director at Symbio North America. Symbio is one of the region's newest manufacturers and we are excited to welcome them to our June meeting.  We will be dark in July. Our next board meeting will be on Thursday, August 6th. I hope to see you all there. We will be meeting on the second floor of the TVE2, 43200 Business Park Dr., Temecula, CA.    Thank you to our sponsors! Contact Us   Connie Stopher, CEcD Email: [email protected] Office: 951-694-9800 Cell: 951-557-8040 Economic Development Coalition,  P.O. Box 1388. Temecula, CA 92593 Site Address: 43200 Business Park Drive, Temecula, CA 92590, United States Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.