The AMBayArea Fall Forum was held on Thursday, September 5 from 3 to 6 p.m. at NextFlex in San Jose. AMBayArea Board Member Christine Ngo served as master of ceremonies for the event. Ms. Ngo is VP of Operations for Silicon Valley Elite Manufacturing and the host of the Making Things, Fun, Cool & Sexy Podcast, which is dedicated to inspiring the next generation of manufacturers.

Lance Hastings, President and CEO of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA) presented the keynote The State of the Manufacturing Industry. Mr. Hastings shared his insights on the challenges and opportunities facing the manufacturing sector, including outcomes from the recent legislative session, and a Q&A session.

The keynote was followed by the session Incentives for California Businesses presented by Toni Gomez, Business Development Specialist Governors Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). Ms. Gomez shared valuable incentive programs available to California manufacturers including business investment, employee training and hiring, job creation and retention, investments and equipment purchases, and more.

Following the session, AMBayArea Board Vice Chair Karen Burns recognized Gene Russell of Manex and Steve Tessler of California Bank of Commerce who recently completed their terms on the AMBayArea Board of Directors. Mr. Russell and Mr. Tessler were both founding board members and officers of AMBayArea when it was formed in 2017, as well as the East Bay Manufacturing Group, which was AMBayArea’s predecessor. Ms. Burns thanked them for their years of service and ongoing commitment to the Bay Area manufacturing community.

The evening concluded with NextFlex Technology Hub Fab Tours and networking over drinks and appetizers.

The event was made possible by Presenting Sponsor Fremont Bank, Session Sponsor Insperity, host NextFlex, and dedicated AMBayArea Board Members Krishna Rajagopal, Karen Burns, Linda Renteria, Dustin Bell, Linda Fong, Mark Martin, Tim DeGrasse, Tamia Brown, Eric Duoss, Christine Ngo, Andrea Foote, and Bruno Zagonel.

Follow AMBayArea on LinkedIn for future events, including the upcoming AMBayArea Golf Benefit on Friday, October 18 at Lake Chabot Golf Course in Oakland. The event raises funds for the AMBayArea Skilled Trades Student Scholarship Fund.

For future updates from CMTA, follow CMTA on LinkedIn or visit cmta.net. For more information about incentives available to manufacturers, visit business.ca.gov. To learn more about Nextflex visit www.nextflex.us.

View AMBayArea Fall Forum photos.