By Jennifer New Developments • Tourism • Workforce 0 Comments

State senate passes Gaming Compact Agreement for Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tejon

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KERO) — The California State Senate passed the Gaming Compact Agreement for the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tejon on Wednesday night in Sacramento.

The hotel and casino, which will be built just south of Bakersfield, are expected to bring 5,000 direct and indirect jobs, adding over $60 million in payroll every year, as well as making the area a tourism hub for the region. The project is expected to create 400 guest rooms, several restaurants, and entertainment venue, and a convention center. The land on which the resort will sit will become the Tejon Indian Tribe’s first reservation. The Tejon Indian Tribe says 52 acres of the site will be devoted to the resort hotel and casino, while 22 adjacent acres will be designated for an RV park. The remainder of the property will be used for other tribal purposes including administrative offices, a health facility, housing and supporting infrastructure.

The tribe, in partnership with Kern County and Hard Rock International, will also build a joint substation for the Kern County Fire Department and Kern County Sheriff’s Office next to the hotel in order to ensure the safety of residents and visitors in the area. No taxpayer money will be used to operate the hotel or any supporting infrastructure. Governor Gavin Newsom signed off on the Gaming Compact Agreement on June 14, 2022, paving the way for the approval of the state senate.

https://www.turnto23.com/news/local-news/state-senate-passes-gaming-compact-agreement-for-hard-rock-hotel-and-casino-tejon

By Jennifer Distribution 0 Comments

Plans advance for Mojave Inland Port, first of its kind in California

MOJAVE, Calif. — Kern County, Calif., supervisors have approved a proclamation in support of the Mojave Inland Port, a planned 410-acre facility intended to receive and distribute up to 3 million containers per year from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. “The Mojave Inland Port is a fully permitted industrial site that will provide a solution for California goods movement at the ports,” Lorelei Oviatt, Kern County director of planning, said in a press release from holding company Pioneer Partners, which is spearheading the project. “This one-of-a-kind project will help unsnarl the congestion in the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach; it will help the national economy by reducing pressure on the supply chain; it will help the local economy through job creation,” said Pioneer Partners Chairman Richard Kellogg. “Goods will get to businesses and consumers faster and more efficiently. We can’t wait to get started.”

Plans call for groundbreaking in 2023 with the facility beginning operation in 2024. Pioneer Partners says it will work with Kern County officials to secure the necessary building permits. Developer Greenbriar Capital says in a press release that the project will the California’s first inland dry-land port and the largest in the U.S. and could support as many as 3,000 new jobs while generating an annual economic impact exceeding $500 million. “Inland ports are a critical component to the future balance of our supply chain. They can provide flexibility and efficiency, all while relieving traffic congestion at critical choke points,” said Trelynd Bradley, an official at the California Governor’s Office of Business & Economic Development. “We appreciate the work that Pioneer’s Mojave Inland Port proposal has done to help find new solutions to address our supply chain challenges.”

The site is about 90 miles from the San Pedro Bay location of the two ports. Containers will arrive at the site astride Union Pacific’s main line via shuttle trains and can be distributed via state highways 15 and 58. There is also a 12,500-foot, heavy-lift runaway at the adjacent to the Mojave Air & Space Port.

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/plans-advance-for-mojave-inland-port-first-of-its-kind-in-california/

By Jennifer Renewable Energy 0 Comments

SEE INVESTS IN RENEWABLE ENERGY

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Sealed Air (NYSE: SEE) has invested $9 million in a solar farm that is now powering its Madera, California manufacturing facility. The solar panels, which sit on 11 acres of company-owned land adjacent to the facility, are expected to help reduce energy spend at this site by $1 million annually. The 265,000 square foot plant, which manufactures BUBBLE WRAP® brand original cushioning, SEALED AIR® brand Korrvu® retention and suspension packaging, mailers, and other solutions, will have 98% of its electricity powered by the solar field. “The installation of these solar panels contributes to SEE’s overarching sustainability strategy and advances our transition to net-zero carbon emissions in our operations by 2040. Through these solar panels, we are advancing our use of renewable energy, lessening the energy intensity of operations and reducing the company’s greenhouse gas emissions,” said Emile Chammas, SEE’s Chief Operating Officer. “We are on a journey to leave our world better than we find it and the completion of this project is an important milestone in the strategic investments we’re making to achieve that goal.”

SEE partnered with TotalEnergies (which recently acquired SunPower Commercial and Industrial Solutions) to design and install the 3.5-megawatt ground mount solar project, which includes 8,975 solar panels, along with a 770 kW/3,080 kilowatt-hour battery storage system. “TotalEnergies is proud to be SEE’s energy transformation partner as they invest to achieve ambitious sustainability targets,” said Eric Potts, vice president of TotalEnergies Distributed Generation USA. “Renewable energy is a business priority for both of our companies, so we are thrilled that this project will deliver long-term benefits to SEE’s Madera facility while advancing global progress toward carbon neutrality.”

Over the course of the first year, the solar project will help avoid 4,982 metric tons of carbon dioxide and 72,172 metric tons of carbon dioxide over 15 years, which is equivalent to:

  • Greenhouse gas emissions from more than 15,000 passenger vehicles driven for one year
  • The carbon dioxide emission from annual electricity use for more than 14,000 homes
  • Carbon sequestered by nearly 1,200,000 tree seedlings grown over the course of a decade

 

About SEE

Sealed Air (NYSE: SEE) is in business to protect, solve critical packaging challenges, and make our world better than we find it. Our automated packaging solutions promote a safer, more resilient, and less wasteful global food supply chain, enable e-commerce, and protect goods transported worldwide. Our globally recognized brands include CRYOVAC® brand food packaging, SEALED AIR® brand protective packaging, AUTOBAG® brand automated systems, BUBBLE WRAP® brand packaging, SEE Automation™ solutions and prismiq™ smart packaging and digital printing.

SEE’s Operating Model, together with our industry-leading expertise in materials, engineering and technology, create value through more sustainable, automated, and digitally connected packaging solutions. We are leading the packaging industry in creating a more environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable future and have pledged to design or advance 100% of our packaging materials to be recyclable or reusable by 2025, with a bolder goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions in our global operations by 2040. Our Global Impact Report highlights how we are shaping the future of the packaging industry. We are committed to a diverse workforce and caring, inclusive culture through our 2025 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion pledge.

SEE generated $5.5 billion in sales in 2021 and has approximately 16,500 employees who serve customers in 114 countries/territories. To learn more, visit sealedair.com.


Website Information

We routinely post important information for investors on our website, sealedair.com, in the Investors section. We use this website as a means of disclosing material, non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor the Investors section of our website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, presentations and webcasts. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our website is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this document.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning our business, consolidated financial condition and results of operations. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by such words as “anticipate,” “believe,” “plan,” “assume,” “could,” “should,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “potential,” “seek,” “predict,” “may,” “will” and similar references to future periods. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release regarding our strategies, prospects, financial condition, operations, costs, plans and objectives are forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make regarding expected future operating results, expectations regarding the results of restructuring and other programs, anticipated levels of capital expenditures and expectations of the effect on our financial condition of claims, litigation, environmental costs, contingent liabilities and governmental and regulatory investigations and proceedings. The following are important factors that we believe could cause actual results to differ materially from those in our forward-looking statements: global economic and political conditions, currency translation and devaluation effects, changes in raw material pricing and availability, competitive conditions, the success of new product offerings, consumer preferences, the effects of animal and food-related health issues, the effects of epidemics or pandemics, including the Coronavirus Disease 2019, negative impacts related to the ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and related sanctions, export restrictions and other counteractions thereto, changes in energy costs, environmental matters, the success of our restructuring activities, the success of our merger, acquisition and equity investment strategies, the success of our financial growth, profitability, cash generation and manufacturing strategies and our cost reduction and productivity efforts, changes in our credit ratings, the tax benefit associated with the Settlement agreement (as defined in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K), regulatory actions and legal matters, and the other information referenced in the “Risk Factors” section appearing in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and as revised and updated by our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Any forward-looking statement made by us is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

https://www.sealedair.com/company/media-center/press-releases/see-madera-renewable-energy

By Jennifer New Developments • Tourism 0 Comments

County board moves ahead with Great Wolf Resort development

The Tulare County Board of Supervisors took a step on Tuesday to bringing North America’s largest water park resort in the county. The board approved a request from the Tulare County Resource Management Agency to receive an Economic Impact Analysis for the Great Wolf Resort. Great Wolf plans to place the resort at Highway 99 and Caldwell Avenue just west of Visalia where the Sequoia Gateway Commerce Center is being developed.

The 35-acre resort would include a 525-room hotel with an indoor water park, restaurants, meeting space and a family activity center. There are 19 Great Wolf Resorts located throughout the U.S. And Canada. Great Wolf Resort is billed as “a cruise ship that’s permanently parked” as virtually all of the features of the resort are indoors. As part of the Economic Impact Analysis the board approved an agreement between the county and Great Wolf in which the county and resort would share the revenues from the transient occupancy taxes that are charged to guests who stay at the hotel.

Great Wolf and the county would share the TOT taxes for the first 15 years. Great Wolf would receive 100 percent of the TOT proceeds over the first five years. Over the next five years the county would receive 25 percent of the proceeds and the resort would receive 75 percent. Over the final five years the split would be 50-50. After 15 years, the county would receive all of the TOT proceeds. In addition the county would also agree not to provide any financial incentives to an indoor water park that would be 5,000 square feet or larger for 10 years.

In addition Great Wolf would use a portion of its TOT revenue to pay for some of the impact fees it will be charged for the project. County staff reported the revenue sharing agreement with the TOT taxes was necessary for Great Wolf to move ahead with the project. The company that manages the resort will officially be known as GWR Tulare LLC. “To assist with the significant investment associated with the development, GWR Tulare LLC has requested to share a portion of transient occupancy tax revenues that are generated by the project and the deferral of certain impact which will be recaptured through TOT revenue,” county staff reported. “Without these incentive Great Wolf Resorts would not be able to move forward with financing the construction of the proposed development project.”

County staff also stated the incentives provided are similar to what other areas have provided to Great Wolf and similar large-scale resorts. It’s anticipated the final map and development agreement will be completed by the end of the year. Once construction begins its estimated it will take two years. The construction project alone is expected to create 1,255 jobs while the resort once its operating is expected to create 660 jobs.

County staff stated it anticipated the resort would draw more than 600,000 visitors a year. “Hotel water park guests are typically families and can include extended families and groups of friends and family,” the county staff report stated. County staff added those who visit the resort will typically stay for 2-3 days or more and will travel a few hours to come to the resort. “Visitors to the proposed resort would likely come from throughout the San Joaquin Valley and beyond,” county staff stated.

County staff also reported the resort should also benefit the area as a whole economically as some who visit the resort will also go to other businesses to make retail purchases and may eat at other restaurants as well. County staff stated those who don’t state at the hotel who visit the resort will mostly come from Tulare County.

https://www.recorderonline.com/news/county-board-moves-ahead-with-great-wolf-resort-development/article_8d0e9a56-0e8f-11ed-910a-df33d2bb2a76.html

By Jennifer Distribution 0 Comments

State Explores Commercial Drone Deliveries via Shared Airways

In a first-of-its-kind study in North America, Michigan is researching the feasibility of using drones for commercial delivery beyond visual line of sight or what operators can see, with a plan to seek approval for such flights from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The state’s Transportation Department tapped Airspace Link, a provider of data, software and managed services associated with drone flight, to analyze the air traffic and ground infrastructure that would enable flights in shared air mobility corridors. The company will also study the economic and community impacts of BVLOS operations.

“The big thing that we need to do is be able to make the safety case, have the infrastructure ready, to be able to go to the FAA,” said Charlie Tyson, technology activation manager at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), a partner in the effort. “That’s a big task.”

Airspace Link’s AirHub Insights software, data and services will contribute to the risk analysis that the state will use to seek FAA approval. The solution analyzes more than 50 datasets—ncluding Esri GIS data and information from federal, state, local governments and third parties — to provide actionable information on safety, economic impact and drone reach, said Lisa Peterson, vice president of business development at Airspace Link.

“This Michigan DOT study is all about what will it take to enable these drones to go 20, 30, 40 miles, which they are capable of,” Peterson said. “But because of the current [FAA] rules and regulations and the need to have the visual observation, you can’t do it. Think of this as a digital visual observer that we’re putting together – the ground infrastructure that’s going to help ensure that these drones don’t conflict with manned aviation, that we are sensing where they are at all times, and if there is an event that happens … there’s a safe landing spot along these areas that has been approved for beyond visual line of sight.”

Since January, the study has looked at how drone BVLOS operations could safely happen in three geographic areas. One is southeast Michigan, particularly the highly populated Detroit area.

“We are trying to look at how we can layer highways in the sky, if you will, above the ground-based autonomous vehicle corridor being developed by Cavnue between Detroit and Ann Arbor,” Tyson said. The corridor project started in 2020 to test the viability of a 40-mile driverless vehicle roadway.

The BVLOS study supports the state’s sustainability goals. “We think that with electric, small aircraft it can actually help reduce carbon emissions of moving goods on ground-based trucks and freight,” he said. “It’s important for us to think about how these can positively impact communities and not cause noise pollution or a hindrance to communities.”

The second study area is international deliveries across the state’s border with Ontario, Canada, and the third targets rural and tribal regions in the northwest where residents might struggle to access vital goods, especially in the winter.

“The outcome of this study would be a report outlining the air corridors in those spaces and what infrastructure would be needed to establish them … and what the economic benefit would be,” said Corey Whittington, director of business development at Airspace Link.

The data will also inform route plans, Peterson added. “The state of Michigan is also going to learn by working side-by-side with us as we turn out some initial drone operations,” she said. For instance, last month, the company worked with MissionGO, a drone developer, to determine the best way to deliver medical supplies using a mile-long stretch of railroad tracks between two sites belonging to a local health system.

Airspace Link is an authorized provider of the Low Altitude Authorization Notification Capability (LLANC), a collaboration between FAA and industry that supports the integration of unmanned aerial systems into the airspace. LAANC, pronounced “Lance,” gives drone pilots access to controlled airspace at or below 400 feet and awareness of where they can fly. It also provides air traffic professionals with visibility into where and when drones are operating.

“We basically digitize the skies with our mapping capabilities, and then we also are able to authorize flights in controlled airspace,” Peterson said. “What we’re doing in our system is providing the rules and regulations to unmanned aircraft system pilots—aka drone pilots—on how to navigate the airspace safely and compliantly. Just like on the roads you have street center lines and speed limits and rules you have to follow as a driver, there are rules that drone operators have to follow in the airspace.”

The research is already showing promise. “We have learned that this is very attractive and very interesting for industry,” Tyson said. “We’ve seen a significant influx of tech companies—small and large startups, even large logistics providers [and] some of the big names—reaching out to us and [the Michigan Aeronautics Commission (MAC)] about how they would leverage these corridors and how they can get involved and what type of use cases they would have.”

Another promising area is the use of the state’s many regional airports for drone operations— “looking at how takeoff and landing locations and logistics hubs for drones can be aligned with airports or at airports,” Tyson said. Michigan’s aviation system already contributes more than $22 billion to the state economy each year, according to MDEC.

In addition to MAC and MDEC, MDOT is working with the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification and the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network. “This model and these corridors that are being developed, we hope to be able to then scale to other parts throughout Michigan,” Tyson said.

https://www.route-fifty.com/tech-data/2022/07/state-explores-drone-skyway/374828/

By Jennifer New Location 0 Comments

McFarland fruit-breeding facility expected to attract talent, partner companies

The research and development facility being built in the McFarland area by fruit breeder International Fruit Genetics LLC comes with hopes it will attract not just top scientific talent but also partner companies in the global push for plants that are better suited to extreme weather, drought, disease and labor shortage.

IFG had employee recruitment in mind when it designed the property’s series of laboratories, including what would be Kern County’s first private-sector, federally certified clean plant-growing facility. The facility’s university-like campus was laid out for top biologists from around the country to “feel at home and motivated,” CEO Andy Higgins said.

But that’s not what Higgins was referring to when he said the company’s vision was that “if you build it, they will come.” He meant IFG expects to attract and collaborate with automation companies and those using sensor-based algorithms for optimizing moisture and sunlight. The $14 million project follows the recent opening of a similar facility in Wasco by fellow fruit breeder Sun World International LLC. Both are introducing high technology to Kern County agriculture in ways expected to extend across the globe.

Higgins said Fruitworks / The IFG Discovery Center, now about halfway built and expected to fully open in fall 2023, was a big part of the reason IFG received a purchase offer from food breeder SNFL Investments LLC, a subsidiary of Spanish conglomerate AM Fresh and its minority partner in the transaction, Swedish investment firm EQT Future. AM Fresh wanted an R&D presence in North America for work on joint projects, he said, adding that the McFarland complex will be bigger than the Spanish company’s own labs in Europe.

During a tour Wednesday of the 160-acre facility along Elmo Highway, Higgins went over the painstaking measures IFG uses to identify favorable plant traits, including long stems and consistent bunch sizes for purposes of automation. He explained plans to run 20,000-plus seedlings per year through a series of tests to see how well they hold up to weather and water extremes, shipping and consumer tastes. “It’s a big investment, but we know there’s big challenges coming down the road,” he said.

The project consolidates IFG’s operations around Kern and brings more functions in-house. Fruitworks is expected to have 25,000 square feet of greenhouses, plus laboratory and support buildings totaling 28,000 square feet. Hundreds of fruit varieties already grow in the property’s vineyards and cherry orchards. The property is expected to allow IFG to expand its staff of about 55 by as many as 17 scientists and other researchers.

Much of the attraction of Fruitworks, Higgins expects, is its scientific rigor. There will be a pathology lab in which plants known to be free of impurities will be exposed to diseases, and next to it, a biology and general chemistry lab where the company expects to learn more about flavor and the experience of eating fruit.

From there Higgins continued to a tissue culture lab space where small plant cells will be grown inside test tubes in a strictly sterile environment. Clones of these plants will be exported overseas to growers that pay for a license to grow IFG’s varieties.

Next, he showed off an incomplete greenhouse planned to be certified as clean by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. After that, he proceeded to another greenhouse where plant cuttings will be exposed to temperature and drought extremes, and from there, to a “hard-knock” area putting fruit plants through even tougher conditions.

A cold storage area was Higgins’ next stop, with its post-harvest physiology lab for testing fruit varieties against a list of performance measures. Among other hurdles to be cleared is a requirement grapes taste the same 45 days after harvest as they do when freshly picked.

Behind the laboratory complex stand row after row of vineyards filling with grape varieties with names like Bebop, Julep and Quip, chosen for their easy pronunciation and lack of negative connotations in at least 12 different languages. Many of the grapes showed surface waxiness, a characteristic sometimes mistaken for pesticide, but which actually offers protection and fetches a premium in Asian markets.

Some of the grapes were red, some green or yellow; others were black, a sign of highest antioxidant concentration. Raisins growing nearby were drying on the vine, an improvement to conventional processes that either cost more or risk moisture damage. In July IFG patented its first raisin variety, which Higgins said was a first for a private-sector breeder. Drying on the vine also makes for easier automation, he added. “That’s what the California industry is really looking for,” he said.

https://www.bakersfield.com/news/mcfarland-fruit-breeding-facility-expected-to-attract-talent-partner-companies/article_0610aa12-1669-11ed-a1c3-9f5891676a5b.html

By Jennifer Top Stories 0 Comments

Merced farming family recognized for tenacity, keeping local ranch going for 125 years

Frenchy Meissonnier doesn’t get around his Merced ranch as easily as he used to when he was younger.
At 72 years old, there are some aches and pains that come with being a lifelong farmer. Meissonnier is a third-generation rice farmer. His father was a rice farmer, as well as his grandfather before that. “It’s taken a toll on me,” Meissonnier said. “I’m pretty worn out.”

However, Meissonnier says he wouldn’t want it any other way. The Meissonnier Ranch has been in the family since Victor Joseph Meissonnier bought 40 acres located at 2684 Dickenson Ferry Road in Merced in 1897. Meissonnier now owns 350 acres and rents another 170 acres. He beams with pride that someday soon his son Zachery, 40, will take over the ranch. “I enjoy everything about farming,” said Meissonnier. “I enjoy the mechanic work. I like fixing things. I love watching the crop grow. It starts as a seedling; you watch it grow and then you harvest it. There are a lot of challenges, but I still love it.”

Meissonnier will harvest about 85,000 pounds of rice this September from his farm. The Meissonnier Ranch was recently recognized by the California State Fair for 125 years as a continuous farming operation. Frenchy now lives at the ranch with his wife Debi, 69, who he’s been married to for nearly 30 years.

Meissonnier says it hasn’t been easy at times, but he takes pride that the family has been able to keep the ranch going from over a century and that he’ll be able to hand over the reins to his son eventually. “The hardest part was when there was no money in it to have the tenacity to reach down and pull yourself up by the boot straps,” he said. “You just had to bow your neck and say ‘I’m going to do this and it’s going to work out.’ It means everything that I can pass it on to Zach.”

Zachery says it means a lot to be able to take over the farm one day. “It’s been in the family for many years,” he said. “It’s been in our family through world wars, the Great Depression and many ups and downs. It’s good to know we’ve come this far.”

Meissonnier’s grandfather came through Ellis Island. Victor Joseph Meissonnier quickly found out life was tough as a French immigrant. He had a tough time finding a job working on the docks in New York.
Fortunately, he spoke five languages and told people he was Italian. He saved enough money to move and join his brother in California.

In 1897 Victor Joseph Meissonnier for 50 cents per acre bought the 40 acres in Merced that would become Meissonnier Ranch. He started farming rice around 1910. “I’m very proud my grandfather was the first person to grow rice commercially in Merced,” Frenchy said. “He saw some people were growing small patches of rice, but he was the first to farm it commercially.”

Eventually the ranch was passed down to Frenchy’s father, who was also named Victor, and later Frenchy’s father asked him to partner with him in 1973 at the age of 23. “Rice farming is no different than any other type of farming,” Meissonnier said. “You work seven days a week most weeks. You may take a few days off in the winter. It you’re not watching it can turn on you fast. There are a lot of disease and insects. You can’t take a day off during the growing season. Then you have to harvest it before the rain comes.”

Meissonnier said his father almost always had a second job while operating the ranch. He often drove a truck. Frenchy would also work a second job in construction or work side jobs. On the rare occasions when Meissonnier is away from the farm, he likes to travel up the coast, travel with Debi, and he’s always enjoyed riding motorcycles. “My dad has always been a hard worker,” Zachery said. “He puts 150% in everything he does at work and in his home life. He’s someone who is not to be crossed with but when you get to know him underneath all that is one of the biggest, kind-hearted, softy biker-farmers you’d ever meet who is always willing to help someone out.”

Meissonnier says he still wears many hats for the ranch, including working the books, and as a mechanic and farming the crops. He’s been teaching Zachery the tricks of the trade. Life wasn’t always easy. “In the early 80s there was 23 rice farmers in Merced,” Meissonnier said. “My dad and I bought 150 acres after rice had a high price of $12 (per 100 pounds) in 1979. The next year the cost of rice went below the cost of production at $6.50. Other rice farmers went broke. We did everything ourselves. We worked around the clock.”

He says even when times were tough he never dared sell the ranch. “When I was younger I remember my grandmother telling me ‘Never sell the land, David. Never sell the land,'” he said. “I’ve always had that ghost in my ear. I had to keep the legacy going.” After being in debt most his life, Meissonnier said things started to turn in 2000 and by 2007 he was totally out of debt. “I bought 40 acres next to me and I paid in cash,” he said. “I refuse to go back into debt again.”

Meissonnier says keeping the ranch in the family means everything to him. That’s why it was special to be recognized at the State Fair for 125 years of running a continuous farming operation. The Merced County Farm Bureau was being honored on the same stage for its 100 year anniversary — meaning the Meissonnier Ranch has been around longer than the Merced County Farm Bureau. “It was fantastic because they weren’t just recognizing me but also the two generations before me who had the tenacity to stick with it,” Meissonnier said. Meissonnier still loves the grind. “It’s a daily challenge,” he said. “Jobs will take me all day when in my younger days it would take me an hour. There’s some aches and pains, but I take pride that I can still do it.”

https://app.meltwater.com/newsletters/analytics/view/5e8624bb4a32930012f3b64d/newsletter/61c4b6b1c1abab0013267cc9/distribution/62fd17f5f9ea9f0013af34fb/document/MERCED0020220817ei8h0002u

By Jennifer Back Office • Economy 0 Comments

$6M in small business grant money authorized by Kings County board of supervisors

The Kings County board of supervisors voted 4-0 to authorize the Kings County Economic Development Corporation to execute small business contracts for grant funding through the American Rescue Plan Act.

Lance Lippincott, county Economic and Workforce Development Director, submitted a request to the board for $500,000 in grant funding to be put toward the Small Business Assistance Program his department developed. Thanks to support from county supervisors Doug Verboon and Richard Valle, Lippincott was authorized $6 million in funding, he said. “The board has been proactive in helping small businesses, especially going into the recession,” Lippincott said. The new authorization will help Kings County businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Healthy businesses support a healthy county,” Supervisor Richard Valle said.

According to Valle, the pandemic still generates a financial strain for some local businesses and the money will ease those burdens. Kings County as a whole faced difficulty in 2020 with getting the word out to those business owners needing the support. Some businesses were uncertain if they qualified while others were concerned about too much government overreach and involvement, he said.

While some positive impact came from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) money, the ARPA grant money provides more flexibility for qualifying businesses. The process for the grants is far easier to go through for business owners and Lippincott’s department plans to be as helpful as possible. “If in doubt, apply,” Valle added. There are requirements for businesses to be eligible for the grant money. The business must maintain a current and valid license; must have been in operation prior to March 15, 2020; and have 100 or fewer employees.

There is a fourth requirement specific to the pandemic. The business must have incurred significant financial loss attributed to COVID-19. According to Lippincott, this financial loss must be reflected in a decrease in gross receipts between 2019-20 and 2020-21. Contact the Kings County Economic Development Corporation for more information about Kings County small business grants.

https://hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/6m-in-small-business-grant-money-authorized-by-kings-county-board-of-supervisors/article_b4d645e9-e6c6-55a2-8699-ca17f19fef7e.html

By Jennifer New Developments 0 Comments

Plans for housing, hotel near UC Merced campus receive show of City Council support

A proposed plan to add over 900 new housing units geared toward UC students received a unanimous show of support from the Merced City Council Monday night. Titled UC Villages, the preliminary annexation application imagines 922 new — and sorely needed — apartment units situated near the main entrance to the UC Merced campus. A percentage of the development will include affordable housing units. “Obviously, we’re in a crisis with housing our UC students,” Councilmember Fernando Echevarria said before casting his vote of support during Monday’s City Council meeting.

The tenuous availability of student housing was made clear last year when UC Merced was forced to delay the first day of in-person classes due to roughly 1,000 students still struggling to secure homes less than a month before the start of the school year. Given the support shown by the City Council, project applicant and several residents who spoke during the meeting, all signs indicate so far that the project will move along toward fruition. “I’ve been the face of this project for 16 years and I’m here to see it through. I’ve been ready for a long time and excited to get going,” project applicant Sid Lakireddy told the City Council Monday.

Echevarria also lauded Lakireddy for being mindful of issues that stalled other similar developments. Three City Council members recently rejected another proposed pre-annexation project located near UC Merced, citing a lack of attention to affordable housing and hiring locally. The opposition resulted in the project failing to garner a show of support from the council when it came time to vote.

Lakireddy noted in a letter to the city that he intends to have the project’s affordable units built during the first phase. He also stated that he plans to hire local contractors and workers to build and operate the project. “That is going to assist a lot of people who are unemployed. It’s very important,” Echevarria said.

According to preliminary planning documents, at least 12.5% of homes would be designated affordable housing spread across all income levels. Affordable units have costs fixed so that lower-income occupants spend no more than 30% of their income on housing. bee-2020-2Aerial view of the UC Merced campus in an undated photo. Lake Road runs along the bottom of the photo and its intersection with Bellevue Road is in the bottom right.

Located at the west side of Lake Road, south of Bellevue Road, the 35.6-acre mixed-use development is one of several recently proposed annexation projects poised to build much-needed housing units near the college campus. Project includes retail space, hotel

The project also has plans to construct over 1 million square feet of retail and hospitality space, including a 161-room, five-story hotel. The council’s vote Monday represented an early step in the city’s annexation pre-application process. After reviewing a project’s overview, the City Council indicates general support or non-support for an official annexation application to proceed. The project applicants then decide whether to move forward.

Per the city’s annexation process, UC Villages can’t officially join within Merced’s boundaries until plans to annex UC Merced are completed first. Lakireddy asked the council to make annexation of the campus a priority so his project and other similar proposed annexations can move forward. “I think Merced’s time is now. I think it’s time to capitalize on it and this would be a good start by annexing UC Merced,” he said.

No residents or Merced officials spoke in direct opposition of the project Monday, but some concerns were cited over spreading city services like the water and wastewater systems too thin. Sheng Xiong, a Merced resident and policy advocate with Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, voiced concerns over how expanding north might come at the expense of drawing water away from south Merced.

Prior meetings with Merced County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) staff also raised concerns over the city’s ability to provide the needed infrastructure and services for UC Villages, along with the other proposed pre-applications and official annexations moving forward in north Merced. Wastewater concerns were noted in particular.

According to city documents, the UC Villages project and other similar annexations would exhaust the city’s wastewater capacity. That means the phasing of each project will be critical to ensuring there’s ample capacity for each project and that the wastewater system must eventually be expanded to accommodate the developments.

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By Jennifer Education 0 Comments

California is giving millions of kids up to $1,500 for college or career training. Here’s how to get it.

Millions of kids in California can now claim at least $50 to put toward post-high school education, thanks to a new state program that launched earlier this month. The so-called Cal KIDS program’s launch comes amid rising concern about college costs in California. It’s the result of a policy effort led by Assembly member Adrin Nazarian (D–North Hollywood), who has been working on related legislation since 2014, and invests seed funding into a college savings plan for newborns and eligible public-school students.

He compares Cal KIDS to Social Security. “We’ve put into place the safety net when you’re aging, but we haven’t really necessarily made the appropriate investments for the youth who are just now starting in life,” he said. The program officially got approved in 2019, when Assembly Bill 15 passed, but was expanded last year via Assembly Bill 132. AB15 established the universal college savings plan for newborns, while AB132 allotted additional one-time and ongoing funding to provide more for low-income public-school students, foster youth and homeless children.

Max Vargas, the vice president of economic justice at the Latino Community Foundation, says the program is a great example of policy driven by equity: It has both a universal approach, and a targeted one. Latinos are the majority racial group in the California population, and they are also the group that reports the most financial need at state public universities, according to a 2021 report from the Public Policy Institute of California.

Vargas said he hopes the state continues to think about how to reach communities with the highest need for the program. “Where the need is highest, that often, sometimes, is where the trust might be lowest,” he said. “One number that jumps to mind for me is that 43% of Latino households are unbanked or underbanked — that’s not just because they didn’t hear about a bank, it’s also because they didn’t trust in some of those programs.” He said to build that trust, the state needs to reach out to partners on the ground who are able to connect with communities in both linguistically and culturally relevant ways.

Julio Martinez is the executive director of the ScholarShare board, which manages the Cal KIDS program. He said some of the state’s current partners are the California’s Department of Education and organizations that work with parents of newborns, like United Ways of California and First 5 California.

CalKIDS has a sign-up form for interested partners on its website open to public agencies and community-based organizations. “Just like with newborns, every single [eligible] public school student and their families will get a letter in the mail as well to notify them of this program,” he said. Here are answers to how you can access the money, eligibility requirements and more.

Who is eligible for the program?

All kids born in California from July 1, 2022, onwards and low-income public-school students in grades 1 through 12. You do not need to be a U.S. citizen to be eligible, which Nazarian said has always been his intention for the program. “It does not matter who you are, what your family standing is — if you were born in California, or if at some point you’re a student in California who moved in by the time you’re in first grade, you will be able to take advantage of this program,” he said. “The goal is to tell everyone, every California resident, you have an opportunity to be invested in.”

There is an eligibility tool public school students and guardians can use to figure out if they have a CalKIDS account. The CalKIDS website translates into 16 different languages, including Spanish, Hmong, Tagalog, Farsi, Vietnamese and simplified Chinese. You’ll need your Statewide Student Identifier, which you can see on your report cards or get via asking your school or school district directly.

How much money is available through the program?

Kids born on or after July 1, 2022, have a baseline deposit of $25 into their CalKIDS account, upped automatically to $50 once parents create an account online. The state has 90 days to receive birth data and create an account, so there may be a lag before a newborn’s account is created. If parents or guardians link a new or existing ScholarShare 529 account to their newborn’s CalKIDS account, they get an additional $50 deposit. Eligible low-income public-school students in grades 1 through 12 have a baseline deposit of $500 into their CalKIDS account. An additional $500 is deposited into the account for foster youth and homeless students.

What do I need to claim my CalKIDS account?

To claim the account, you’ll need to register online. There are three pieces of information the system asks for; no social security or taxpayer identification number is needed to access the money.

For an account linked to a newborn, you’ll need:

  • The name of the county where the child’s birth was registered
  • The child’s date of birth
  • Registration code, which can be either the local registration number located on the birth certificate or the unique CalKIDS code included in the letter sent out to eligible families

For an account linked to an eligible 1st through 12th grade student, you’ll need:

  • The name of the county where the student was enrolled in public school as of Oct. 6, 2021 (the Fall Academic Census Day 2021)
  • The student’s date of birth
  • Registration code, which can be either the Statewide Student Identifier (SSID, check student report cards or contact the school or school district to get this information) or the unique CalKIDS code included in the letter sent out to eligible families

What else do I need to know about the money?

The money from the account can’t be retrieved and used until a student turns at least 17 and is ready to enroll at an institution of higher education, Martinez said. For parents or guardians to directly contribute to a college savings account, they’ll have to open a separate ScholarShare 529 plan. A ScholarShare 529 plan offers parents 17 different investment options, with the most common one being an “age-based portfolio.”

That age-based mode of investing is what happens to the money allotted through the CalKIDS program. The money isn’t taxed as long as it’s used for tuition, room and board, books, supplies or computer equipment at a qualified higher education institution, which can include community college, trade school or a four-year university.  To opt out of the CalKIDS account for any reason, you’ll need to print out and mail a completed opt-out form, available in English and in Spanish, to the ScholarShare Investment board.

https://www.capradio.org/articles/2022/08/17/california-is-giving-millions-of-kids-up-to-1500-for-college-or-career-training-heres-how-to-get-it/