coachella-valley-economic-partnership

Casting a Wider Net

Economic Summit will show that the desert means business.

Steven Biller Attractions, Vision

coachella-valley-economic-partnership
We have a good story to tell about the desert, says Joe Wallace, CEO of the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COACHELLA VALLEY ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP

Popular among business, civic, and education leaders for its trenchant reporting on the performance of the local economy, the 12th annual Greater Palm Springs Economic Summit Nov. 1 will attract entrepreneurs up and down the West Coast.

“We have a good story to tell about the desert, and we use our biggest event of the year to help attract businesses that will create good jobs for the people here,” says Joe Wallace (pictured), CEO of the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership, which produces the event. “The core part of the program, of course, will be the economic information that’s so important to our local attendees.”

Manfred Keil, an associate professor of economics at Claremont McKenna College and expert in comparative economics and the Inland Empire, will deliver the economic report and forecast. “Dr. Keil is digging deep for us,” Wallace says. “He’ll give us the numbers and point out the trends, but he’ll also show us the opportunities within them. That’s a result of his interviews with key people in business who talk about these trends from ground level.”

The event, which begins at 8 a.m. at the Palm Springs Convention Center, will feature a pavilion of startups that operate in the Palm Springs iHub and Accelerator Campus. “All of the businesses in the iHub came here from outside [Greater Palm Springs],” Wallace says. “We’ll give them a platform to talk about the factors that drew them here and why this market makes sense for them.”

Visit www.cvep.com to register for the summit or access the annual economic report (online beginning Nov. 1).