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ENLARGE
The economic news continues to be about as encouraging as the probability of swine flu. Most forecasters say 2010 probably won't be a whole lot better than 2009, which means we'll continue to watch our pennies, while our mostly small businesses continue to scratch and claw for every dime.
All is not lost, my fellow consumers. Not by a long shot.
Thanks to a lot of work by a lot of people, two significant events will put a huge spotlight on our beautiful communities next May.
First up will be the 2010 California Preservation Conference, coming to our area May 12-13. That conference — touted as “The Sierra Nevada: Preserving A Sense of Place” — is expected to draw 400 to 500 historic preservation advocates who will attend several workshops, tours and seminars. Between conference events, they will shop, dine at some local eateries, take in our spectacular surroundings and head home to share their experience with their friends.
As soon as those conference-goers check out of the hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfast inns, officials and race crews will descend on our fair towns to prepare for the first leg of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California that will launch from Nevada City on May 16. Nevada City wasn't just added to the 16-city tour, it was put at the top of the list. To put that into some perspective, last year's tour began in Sacramento and drew more than 100,000 people. If the Nevada City stage draws even half of that, it will be huge.
Tour sponsor Amgen (a biotech company specializing in human therapeutics) released its 2010 tour details last week, much to the delight of Nevada City officials. The Amgen officials didn't need much convincing after last June's Nevada City Classic bike race, which featured Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer. There is no better place to start the week-long tour that will take riders along 750 miles of California terrain and draw tens of thousands of spectators.
“Choosing the host cities for the Amgen Tour of California gets more and more difficult every year,” read the Amgen press release last week. “We are fortunate to have visited some of the best cities in the state during the last four years, and the list keeps growing with the addition of four new cities in 2010.”
The key to hosting these two significant events has been collaboration. Representatives from both Nevada City and Grass Valley have been meeting with both Amgen and Preservation representatives since August. In fact, a Mayor's Committee, consisting of Nevada City Mayor Reinette Senum, Grass Valley Mayor Lisa Swarthout, California Preservation Foundation Executive Director Cindy Heitzman, Grass Valley Downtown Association Executive Director Howard Levine, Duane Strawser (more on him in a bit), bike shop owner and the real hero behind both the Nevada City Classic and the Amgen deal, marketing consultant Andy Burton, and longtime Nevada City Councilman Paul Matson.
“The credit for pulling us together goes to Andy Burton and Duane Strawser,” said Swarthout. “We both (Nevada City and Grass Valley) saw the advantage of working together. What's good for Grass Valley is good for Nevada City and vice versa.”
Swarthout estimates there are some 300 rooms within Grass Valley and Nevada City, when you combine hotels, motels and B&B's. Most all of those rooms ought to be filled at least from May 12 to May 16. “The bike tour will be the Super Bowl for Nevada City,” said Swarthout. “And a lot of that traffic and business will flow into Grass Valley as well.”
According to its literature (and we will be providing a lot more details as we approach May), the California Preservation Foundation “exists to protect and enhance California's irreplaceable historic resources.” It is the only statewide nonprofit focusing on historic preservation and education.
Representatives from that organization were also sensitive to the notion that we may land the California Tour, so they actually changed dates to allow us to host both events back-to-back. They knew there would be some logistical issues and that we probably wouldn't have enough lodging.
This year's conference will be the first in a so-called “rural” or small-town venue. Last year's conference was held in Palm Springs and the year before in Hollywood. And ... before I forget ... one of the first local contacts for this conference came through a woman named Penelope Curtis, and she deserves credit for that.
The bike tour kudos go to Strawser, one of the hardest-working, most dedicated, most passionate guys I have ever met. He has almost single-handedly continued the Nevada City Classic, held each Father's Day, in spite of significant financial and logistical hurdles in recent years. His passion for the event, for the sport and for Nevada City is what brought Armstrong and Leipheimer to town last June and what put Nevada City on Amgen's radar. And his efforts will result in huge economic rewards for Nevada City and Grass Valley that may never be fully measured.
That makes him a hometown hero, and we owe him our gratitude.
Jeff Ackerman is the editor/publisher of The Union. His column appears on Tuesdays. Contact him at 477-4299 or jackerman@theunion.com.
All is not lost, my fellow consumers. Not by a long shot.
Thanks to a lot of work by a lot of people, two significant events will put a huge spotlight on our beautiful communities next May.
First up will be the 2010 California Preservation Conference, coming to our area May 12-13. That conference — touted as “The Sierra Nevada: Preserving A Sense of Place” — is expected to draw 400 to 500 historic preservation advocates who will attend several workshops, tours and seminars. Between conference events, they will shop, dine at some local eateries, take in our spectacular surroundings and head home to share their experience with their friends.
As soon as those conference-goers check out of the hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfast inns, officials and race crews will descend on our fair towns to prepare for the first leg of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California that will launch from Nevada City on May 16. Nevada City wasn't just added to the 16-city tour, it was put at the top of the list. To put that into some perspective, last year's tour began in Sacramento and drew more than 100,000 people. If the Nevada City stage draws even half of that, it will be huge.
Tour sponsor Amgen (a biotech company specializing in human therapeutics) released its 2010 tour details last week, much to the delight of Nevada City officials. The Amgen officials didn't need much convincing after last June's Nevada City Classic bike race, which featured Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer. There is no better place to start the week-long tour that will take riders along 750 miles of California terrain and draw tens of thousands of spectators.
“Choosing the host cities for the Amgen Tour of California gets more and more difficult every year,” read the Amgen press release last week. “We are fortunate to have visited some of the best cities in the state during the last four years, and the list keeps growing with the addition of four new cities in 2010.”
The key to hosting these two significant events has been collaboration. Representatives from both Nevada City and Grass Valley have been meeting with both Amgen and Preservation representatives since August. In fact, a Mayor's Committee, consisting of Nevada City Mayor Reinette Senum, Grass Valley Mayor Lisa Swarthout, California Preservation Foundation Executive Director Cindy Heitzman, Grass Valley Downtown Association Executive Director Howard Levine, Duane Strawser (more on him in a bit), bike shop owner and the real hero behind both the Nevada City Classic and the Amgen deal, marketing consultant Andy Burton, and longtime Nevada City Councilman Paul Matson.
“The credit for pulling us together goes to Andy Burton and Duane Strawser,” said Swarthout. “We both (Nevada City and Grass Valley) saw the advantage of working together. What's good for Grass Valley is good for Nevada City and vice versa.”
Swarthout estimates there are some 300 rooms within Grass Valley and Nevada City, when you combine hotels, motels and B&B's. Most all of those rooms ought to be filled at least from May 12 to May 16. “The bike tour will be the Super Bowl for Nevada City,” said Swarthout. “And a lot of that traffic and business will flow into Grass Valley as well.”
According to its literature (and we will be providing a lot more details as we approach May), the California Preservation Foundation “exists to protect and enhance California's irreplaceable historic resources.” It is the only statewide nonprofit focusing on historic preservation and education.
Representatives from that organization were also sensitive to the notion that we may land the California Tour, so they actually changed dates to allow us to host both events back-to-back. They knew there would be some logistical issues and that we probably wouldn't have enough lodging.
This year's conference will be the first in a so-called “rural” or small-town venue. Last year's conference was held in Palm Springs and the year before in Hollywood. And ... before I forget ... one of the first local contacts for this conference came through a woman named Penelope Curtis, and she deserves credit for that.
The bike tour kudos go to Strawser, one of the hardest-working, most dedicated, most passionate guys I have ever met. He has almost single-handedly continued the Nevada City Classic, held each Father's Day, in spite of significant financial and logistical hurdles in recent years. His passion for the event, for the sport and for Nevada City is what brought Armstrong and Leipheimer to town last June and what put Nevada City on Amgen's radar. And his efforts will result in huge economic rewards for Nevada City and Grass Valley that may never be fully measured.
That makes him a hometown hero, and we owe him our gratitude.
Jeff Ackerman is the editor/publisher of The Union. His column appears on Tuesdays. Contact him at 477-4299 or jackerman@theunion.com.
