As I take the reins as chairman of SARTA, I’m very excited about the opportunity to expand my role in helping to further strengthen the Sacramento Region’s technology sector. It’s been a privilege to serve on the SARTA board, which includes so many capable and talented volunteer leaders from the business, education and government sectors.   I also look forward to working with the highly dedicated professional staff at SARTA; they are the real drivers of the organization’s mission and results.

Along those lines, I want to thank Dave Sanders for his effective leadership as Board chair over the past two years. His unwavering commitment to SARTA and its mission combined with his energetic, creative and collaborative approach to the role have definitely put us in a position for even more success moving forward. I hope he won’t mind when I lean on him for advice.

As for my priorities, I have several and think those familiar with SARTA would agree that all are consistent with what the organization is fundamentally driving in the Sacramento Region.  I’m not envisioning a dramatic shift in direction, but rather a push to ensure that we’re delivering on our objectives, which include:

• Further establishing SARTA as a hub where ideas and knowledge are shared and through which entrepreneurs in the region can connect.
• Supporting emerging companies through networks and education.
• Connecting the region’s significant assets – universities, intellectual capital, government resources and more – to ensure a thriving technology sector.
• More widely promoting our region, its assets and company successes.
• Ensuring that the Next Economy project effectively supports regional technology sector growth.
• Raising awareness of our larger regional companies and their executives.
• Helping to add technology more firmly to the region’s economic identity, in addition to government, health care services, real estate and construction.
• Helping to explore and establish a bigger role for agricultural innovation in the regional economy.

It’s a lot to do but I’m confident that we can make progress on all of these fronts over the next year.  If we are to have the type of impact I know the Board, our staff and members envision, these are the issues and opportunities we need to effectively address.

As we move forward and in the spirit of continual improvement, I invite you to weigh in on our priorities and work, and I look forward to working with all of you over the course of the next two years.