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The Business Journal
By Business Journal Staff

September 9, 2016

The U.S. Department of Commerce this week released a report highlighting goods exports from U.S. metropolitan areas for 2015. The International Trade Administration’s 2015 Metropolitan Area Export Overview indicates that goods exports from the Modesto, Stockton-Lodi and the Madera-Chowchilla metropolitan areas increased.

In the Modesto metropolitan area exports for 2015 exceeded $1.9 billion, a 10 percent increase; in the Stockton-Lodi metropolitan area exports exceeded $1.4 billion, a 10 percent increase; and in the Madera-Chowchilla metropolitan area exports were over $500 million, an 11 percent increase.

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Merced Sun-Star
By Brianna Calix, bcalix@mercedsunstar.com

August 30, 2016

Merced County will move forward with a plan to develop Castle Commerce Center into a manufacturing hub that officials hope will create nearly 10,000 jobs and draw up to $1 billion in investments.

The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 Tuesday to move forward with the Castle strategic development plan. District 4 Supervisor Deidre Kelsey left the meeting before the vote.

Go to full story at Merced Sun-Star

The Modesto Bee
By John Holland, jholland@modbee.com

August 4, 2016

The Modesto area rates high for a consultant who helps food and beverage companies decide where to set up shop.

The Boyd Company Inc., in a new study on operating costs for processing plants, said Modesto’s are the lowest among five locales it analyzed in California. It also praised the area’s job-training efforts and its ability to move products by road, rail, ship and air.

Go to full story at The Modesto Bee

California Economic Summit
By Ed Coghlan

July 28, 2016

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

That quote is commonly attributed to Walt Disney. But it also describes the new San Joaquin Valley Manufacturing Alliance, a group of companies and local partners working to support a sector that’s vital to that region.

“Some people campaign to reduce income inequality,” said Jim Mayer, CEO of California Forward. “But in Fresno, business and government leaders are working together to make it happen — by training workers and creating jobs that pay more than minimum wage.”

Go to full story at California Economic Summit

The Fresno Bee
By Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado, cdelgado@fresnobee.com

July 27, 2016

Agriculture leaders and entrepreneurs gathered Wednesday in downtown Fresno to lay the groundwork for a mission to make Fresno an agriculture-technology leader.

On the eve of Thursday’s Fresno Food Expo, about 60 people convened at the Fresno Convention Center for the Riding the Crest of the Third Wave in the Food Capital of the World summit hosted by Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin.

The meeting was a chance for agriculture producers and young software companies to share a space and come up with strategic ideas on how to merge advanced technology with agriculture to produce goods more efficiently.

Go to full story at The Fresno Bee

The Modesto Bee
By John Holland, jholland@modbee.com

May 26, 2016

Food processors meeting Thursday in Modesto heard concerns about water supplies, the complex rules on air pollution, and the need to improve trucking routes.

But never mind that – those were some cool robots that high school students demonstrated at the front of the banquet hall.

The Manufacturers Council of the Central Valley, mainly representing food and beverage companies from San Joaquin through Merced counties, held its 25th annual meeting.

Go to full story at The Modesto Bee