Photos courtesy Felix Chung Photography
A diverse crowd of Sacramentans turned out to SMUD HQ on Wednesday, March 30 for Pro Talk Series: Tech in Sacramento, organized by CAAPS. The event featured leaders in government, economic development and business discussing the future of technology in Sacramento.
The event was part of a planned series of community discussions that will focus on technology and economic growth in the Greater Sacramento Region, including:
- Technolgy and Business
- Technology companies and growth in the Greater Sacramento Region
- Agricultural technology
- Technology & economic development in the Greater Sacramento Region
The main format for the evening was a panel discussion featuring:
- Sacramento County Supervisor Don Nottoli,
- SMUD Board President Gregg Fishman,
- City of Sacramento Chief Innovation Officer Louis Stewart,
- StartupSac President Jeff Bennett
- CEO of Dermveda Venita Sivamani
Moderated by CAAPS Director Sam Vu, questions and discussion for the panel included:
- What is your experience/role in the technology sector here in Sacramento?
- What is the City of Sacramento’s plan to help foster the growth of the tech industry, especially in the startup world, whether it is programs, funding or both?
- From the county standpoint, what are your plans to help foster growth for technology in this region?
- What makes Sacramento strategically positioned to foster the Tech Industry in this region?
- What do you think are basic resources that every start-up needs?
- What challenges have you faced as a startup? What challenges have you faced in building your nonprofit to help startups?
- Sacramento and Sac State’s partnership with the Sacramento Innovation Center. What are the proposed programs for this center?
- The Sacramento Innovation Center – Any plans for the County to collaborate with the City of Sacramento on this project?
- How do you think the City and the council can help foster the tech startups in Sacramento in your opinion?
- How can we as a community encourage the next generation of startups? Programs, funding, etc?
- How does SMUD support small businesses and how are you trying to raise the next generation for leaders in technology?
There was a lot of good discussion around all of these topic along with good follow-up questions from the audience. As CAAPS increases its involvement in the Sacramento technology and startup community we look forward to more events and collaboration with them.
