Chief Executives, Mayor Swearengin Launch the ‘Fresno Presidents’ Council’

Feb 26, 2014 No Comments by

FRESNO  – Today, Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin and leaders from major health care, education, agriculture and financial institutions will launch the Fresno Presidents’ Council, a high-level group of chief executives formed to address serious, long-term challenges in the community.

The Presidents’ Council also will commit their support for the public investments necessary to restore Downtown Fresno as a regional center for commerce and culture.

The event will be held at the north end of Fulton Mall near Tuolumne (between the Fresno Housing Authority and CVS Pharmacy) today at 12:30 p.m.

Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin

“The leaders of our community’s largest public and private institutions are coming together in an unprecedented fashion to confront head on the long-term challenges of our city:  unemployment, a deteriorating City center, educational attainment, and access to health care,” Mayor Swearengin said.

“I am grateful for the leadership exhibited by the Fresno Presidents’ Council members, and I know the residents of Fresno will benefit from their strong work on behalf of our community.”

The Presidents’ Council institutions employ over 100,000 people – accounting for nearly 30% of all employment in Fresno and Madera Counties. 

“I am pleased to join the Mayor and others in expressing support for the positive economic renewal of Fresno, including in the downtown area,” Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro said.  “Fresno State will be a partner in creating a new, more vibrant economy in Fresno and throughout the Valley.”

“Community Regional Medical Center, the flagship hospital for Community Medical Centers, is strongly in support of the Mayor’s initiative to address serious, long term challenges in Fresno,” Community Regional Medical Center CEO Jack Chubb said.  “As the largest employer downtown and the largest private employer in the region, the Community system believes it is in everybody’s interest to improve downtown neighborhoods and revitalize commercial areas.  Studies routinely show that a community’s health status is clearly linked to its social and economic health.  As we are able to positively impact the social and economic health of our community, we should be able to make even greater progress on improving the health status of Fresno residents.”

The Presidents’ Council includes:

  • Ashley Swearengin, Mayor, City of Fresno
  • Barry Bedwell, President, California Grape and Tree Fruit League
  • Deborah Blue, Chancellor, State Center Community College District
  • Tony Cantu, President, Fresno City College
  • Joseph Castro, President, California State University, Fresno
  • Jack Chubb, CEO, Community Regional Medical Center
  • Jeffrey Collins, Senior Vice President/Area manager, Kaiser Permanente
  • Randy Dhindsa, Senior Vice President/Market Manager, Rabobank
  • Dan Doyle, President/CEO, Central Valley Community Bank
  • Michael Hanson, Superintendent, Fresno Unified School District
  • Nancy Hollingsworth, President/CEO, Saint Agnes Medical Center
  • Ryan Jacobsen, Executive Director, Fresno County Farm Bureau
  • David Krause, President, Paramount Citrus
  • J. Mike McGowan, President/CEO, Premier Valley Bank
  • Pete Menjares, President, Fresno Pacific University
  • Scott Rhodes, Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo
  • Mark Riley, Senior Vice President, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch
  • Xavier Romano, Director of Campus and Student Services, Alliant University
  • Robert Smittcamp, President/CEO, Lyons-Magnus
  • Todd Suntrapak, President/CEO, Children’s Hospital Central California
  • Richard Whitsell, President/CEO, Fresno First Bank
  • Dennis Woods, President/CEO, United Security Bank
  • Stuart Woolf, President, Woolf Farming

At the event, members will present a declaration that outlines the Presidents’ Council priorities.  Among other areas, the declaration affirms the Presidents’ Council’s commitment to bringing new life to Downtown Fresno.

The declaration states, in part: “The condition of all parts of our community affects the decisions of others to locate and invest in Fresno. The lack of a vibrant downtown as a focus of innovation, entrepreneurship, and culture weakens the region’s long-term economic prospects — and our own — and lowers the quality of life for residents today. Even if some suburban areas offer a high quality of life, there are some talented employees we cannot retain and recruit without the presence of healthy, walkable, mixed-income urban neighborhoods and a vibrant downtown.”

The declaration also includes the following resolutions:

  • Plan together and create programs, facilities, events, etc., that combine the strengths of our offerings to provide novel and needed health care, educational, financial management, and nutritional services to the community, especially in neighborhoods of greatest need, and furthering our institutions’ individual missions;
  • Work collaboratively with one another and with other businesses and community-based organizations to maximize the positive impact on the local economy of our institutions’ buying power;
  • Explore nontraditional opportunities to invest directly in historic neighborhoods of concentrated poverty, such as by creating housing and recreational opportunities for employees that aid in recruitment and retention while contributing to neighborhood revitalization;
  • Advocate for a long-term approach to land use decisions at all levels, reflecting consciousness of the high value of food production over time as one of the primary drivers of the region’s export economy, and of the connection between threats to the region’s future and continued disinvestment in the existing, urbanized area of the community; and
  • Collaborate with additional partners and pursue the funding and other resources necessary to achieve our objectives.
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