The first San Benito County Business Council meeting of the year had an upbeat tone mixed with a dose of frustration over long-running county transportation issues. The get together was held this month at Ridgemark Golf Club and Resort.
Board President Bob Tiffany reminded guests to fill out a survey about the group’s goals for 2017. He said the survey forms that had been completed seemed to focus on three main areas of interest: supporting local businesses, resolving regional transportation problems, and bringing in new companies that can provide better paying jobs.
Tiffany then put out a request for comments on transportation from the two-dozen luncheon guests.
Juli Vieira, president and chief executive officer of the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce, said that she is hearing from other chambers about traffic fatigue. Listing towns from Ventura to San Benito County that participate in tourism data, she said, “People are getting tired of fighting the traffic to get somewhere.”
After some discussion, it was agreed that what is needed is complicated in itself: a game plan that could be accepted by all the government agencies, local business leaders and the San Benito County Farm Bureau, which represents the farm land often being affected. Tiffany pointed out that last year, “No one could agree to the best solution,” making it hard to push an idea forward in unison.
It was agreed that traffic issues go beyond county borders and that surrounding counties have their own priority agendas, but these disparate goals disrupt finalizing a large regional plan.
Adding a little optimism to the luncheon, Teknova Chief Financial Officer Richard Goozh reported on recent hires and the company’s plans for future growth.
“We are finding more and more high quality applicants,” he said about the employees the company is hiring in San Benito County.
“We are finding tech and bio-tech workers and we closed out the year really well. We have rented space from neighboring property temporarily while we build our project, which may take a couple years,” Goozh explained. He said that 70 percent of the company’s workers are local. “We are really happy with this workforce and commuters are so excited to find work here.”
Goozh explained that Teknova is buying five acres and after building its new facility still will have a couple acres left over. “We are researching the idea of building an incubator for agri-tech and bio-tech. We will be looking to see if there is any university interest and maybe we can bring some research into this community,” he said. “We could grow business ideas and then businesses could grow up here,” he said, completing his report.
Vieira announced that recently-retired San Benito County Supervisor Margie Barrios is the Chamber’s 2016 Woman of the Year and attorney Paul Rovella is the Man of the Year and also the youngest honoree in San Benito County memory. The Chamber Awards night event is on Jan. 28 and Vieira mentioned that there are a limited amount of tickets left. The 1950s Sock Hop Awards Dinner and Dance will be held at San Juan Oaks.
Kristina Chavez Wyatt, the Business Council executive director, mentioned that Graniterock is hiring, and that a job fair is scheduled for Thursday, March 9. Veterans will be admitted early to the Job Fair from 3-3:30 p.m.. Doors open for the general public at 3:30 and the event will go until 7 p.m.
The Job Fair is free and more information is available through the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce website or call 831-637-5315 for details.
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