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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Twenty Lake County business leaders, many from the tourism industry, along with City and County staff, participated in a marketing workshop on Wednesday, March 26, led by prominent tourism consultant and former director of tourism for the state of California, John Poimiroo of Poimiroo & Partners.
The Lodge at Blue Lakes hosted the all-day event.
Tony Barthel, owner of Featherbed Railroad Bed and Breakfast in Nice said, “That was an outstanding workshop. We came up with so many positive things that Lake County has to offer to visitors.”
Poimiroo pointed out several times how fortunate Lake County is to have so much water in Clear Lake, when other lakes and reservoirs in the state are empty or closed to the public due to low water levels.
The purpose of the workshop was to develop marketing strategies and tactics to inspire visitors to come and experience Lake County, thus improving our local economy.
Numerous topics were discussed including advertising, public relations, website development, social networking and changes to marketing strategies triggered by technological advances.
Discussions of branding and key messages were a vital part of the workshop.
Lake County Administrative Officer Matt Perry was at the workshop and attended a half-day followup session the next day, hosted by the Tallman Hotel.
“We learned valuable information and strategies on how to attract tourists to Lake County while gathering critical information from our business community,” said Perry. “John is extremely knowledgeable and practical in his approach and recommendations.”
“Many people left feeling energized, positive and excited to continue promoting Lake County,” said Melissa Fulton, chief executive officer of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce.
Several key tourism stakeholders participated including Grant Sedgwick of Resort Equities (prospective purchaser of Konocti Harbor Resort); Todd Wisniewski, resort manager of WorldMark at Clear Lake; Steve Denero, marketing director of Twin Pines Casino; representatives from both the cities of Lakeport and Clearlake; representatives of both the winery association and the winegrape commission; the Lake County Chamber of Commerce; many lodging facility owners; and other business leaders.
Poimiroo’s reoccurring theme was that Lake County needs to become relevant again as a vacation destination.
To explore and build on this concept, the county committed to looking into refocusing priorities for expenditures from the transient occupancy tax budget, which is revenue raised from the bed taxes collected from lodging establishments.
Because the majority of travel decisions are made based on information gathered from the Internet, a new, updated Web site with mobile friendly features, and other ways to reach visitors through technology were identified as top priorities.
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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – PG&E Corp. and its subsidiary, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., pledged to stay focused on building the safest and most reliable natural gas system in the country despite what it expects will be a lengthy legal process after the filing of federal charges over the San Bruno incident.
The charges – which PG&E said have “no merit” – were filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco in connection with the 2010 San Bruno natural gas transmission pipeline accident.
The charges allege that PG&E’s past operating practices violated the federal Pipeline Safety Act in areas such as record keeping, pipeline integrity management and identification of pipeline threats.
PG&E Chairman and CEO Tony Earley, who was brought in to lead PG&E in 2011 after the San Bruno accident, said: “San Bruno was a tragic accident. We've taken accountability and are deeply sorry. We have worked hard to do the right thing for victims, their families and the community, and we will continue to do so. We want all of our customers and their families to know that nothing will distract us from our mission of transforming this 100-plus-year-old system into the safest and most reliable natural gas system in the country.”
PG&E believes that its employees did not intentionally violate the federal Pipeline Safety Act, and that even where mistakes were made, employees were acting in good faith to provide customers with safe, reliable and affordable energy.
Progress since San Bruno
Following the San Bruno accident, California adopted new pipeline safety standards that are among the most rigorous in the nation.
PG&E is making excellent progress toward meeting or exceeding these new standards as well as toward completing implementation of recommendations by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Among the actions the company has taken are:
- Committed to spend $2.7 billion of shareholder money to fund safety-related work.
- Completed nine of the 12 safety recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board; of the three remaining recommendations, the NTSB considers PG&E’s progress “open-acceptable response,” which means acceptable pending completion.
- Opened a state-of-the art gas control center in August 2013.
- Validated the maximum allowable operating pressure for all 6,750 miles of gas transmission pipelines.
- Digitized more than 3.5 million paper records associated with transmission lines going back 50 years as part of a program to ensure the accuracy of all records and to provide field technicians with electronic access to them.
- Strength-tested or validated prior strength testing for 657 miles of transmission pipeline.
- Replaced 127 miles of pipeline.
- Retrofitted 268 miles of pipeline to accommodate in-line inspections.
- Installed 134 automated valves on gas transmission pipelines.
In addition, PG&E made structural changes, separating the gas and electric businesses to ensure an appropriate focus on safety, and brought in a new management team to run the gas operations business.
The company has settled claims amounting to nearly $500 million with the victims and families of the San Bruno accident, established a $50 million trust for the City of San Bruno for costs related to recovery and contributed $70 million to support the city’s and community’s recovery efforts.
The 12-count indictment seeks penalties of $500,000 per count.
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM) has named Wayne Kurtz Sales Manager for the store in Clearlake.
In this role, Kurtz works closely with sales associates to help them effectively position the value of our products and services to our customers and deliver the best customer experience in the industry.
He has 13 years of retail experience in a leadership role.
“Wayne is passionate about providing the best experience for our customers,” said Erryn Andersen, director of sales for U.S. Cellular in the Northwest market. “At U.S. Cellular, we treat our customers like neighbors, not numbers, and I look forward to him leading our Clearlake associates to show customers how our products and services can simplify and enhance their lives.”
Kurtz resides in Kelseyville with his wife of five years, Livia, and their two daughters, Carmen and Claudia.
In his spare time, Kurtz enjoys spending time with his family, gaming, disc golf and other outdoor activities.
To learn more about U.S. Cellular, visit one of its retail stores or www.uscellular.com .
To get the latest news, promos and videos, connect with U.S. Cellular on www.facebook.com/uscellular , www.twitter.com/uscellular and www.youtube.com/uscellularcorp .
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SACRAMENTO – State Controller John Chiang has launched a completely updated daily tax tracker, detailing the latest totals available for personal income, sales and corporate tax receipts.
The new site, www.scotaxtracker.blogspot.com , will be updated at least three times throughout each business day during the month of April with both preliminary and final (revised) tax collections.
The state controller already publishes a comprehensive monthly report on the state's cash receipts and disbursements, along with summary putting the figures into perspective with the latest news on California's economy.
The controller’s site offers insight and analysis on incoming revenue numbers, along with direct access to the raw tax collection data. Previous versions of the controller's daily tax tracker are also available.
For more information, visit www.sco.ca.gov .