While California lost 180,000 jobs in the past year, Fresno County gained 2,600 jobs, according to state employment numbers.

It's a testament to the work that has occurred in Fresno County over the last two years, said Steve Geil, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Corporation serving Fresno County, during the agency's annual luncheon Thursday.

Our country faces its most serious economic crisis since the great depression. Working families, who saw their incomes decline by $2,000 in the economic "expansion" from 2000 to 2007, now face even deeper income losses. Retirement savings accounts have lost $2 trillion. Markets have fallen 40% in less than a year. Millions of homeowners who played by the rules can't meet their mortgage payments and face foreclosure as the value of their homes have plummeted.

Wayne Schell, President and CEO of the California Association of Local Economic Development (CALED), received a request from an Obama transition team leader to gather a group of stakeholders to present policy and tactical recommendations on infrastructure and job creation to the Obama team in Washington, D.C.

CALED Sponsors California Business Images A Business Magazine That Tells CA's ED Story Through the Eyes of Successful Businesses

An effective stimulus package should raise demand in the "short run" while improving the capacity of the economy to supply goods and services in the long run. We need to focus on those hardest hit by the down turn while at the same time tackling long-standing infrastructure need. This tactic will have a larger impact on the economy, on a dollar for dollar basis. We should put a high priority on pushing out and leveraging programs and resources already in place i.e. money that people can soon pump back into the economy by a quick increase in government spending.

As we begin the second year of my term as CALED's Chairman of the Board, I am amazed at how much we have accomplished in this last year-not only us as an association, but also us as a profession. At the beginning of my term, we outlined what our goals were over the next two years and I am pleased to share some of the highlights with you.

Joined by the Mayor, city staff, community leaders and local elementary school students, Pacific Gas and Electric Company today announced that the City of Rocklin, located in Placer County, is California's first municipality to officially enroll in the voluntary ClimateSmart(TM) program. By joining, the City of Rocklin will offset more than 1.6 million pounds of carbon dioxide every year or more than 4,600 pounds every day.

The co-owners of Custom Wood Products in Parlier took advantage of the state program to accelerate depreciation on their new building, putting the money they saved on taxes back into their business.

Sacramento County hopes to lure manufacturers and other businesses by offering utility-tax rebates to big electricity users.