ValLink.com — a new website linking more than 1,000 public service and business organizations in the San Joaquin Valley — was formally launched this week by the Central California Futures Institute at California State University, Fresno.

Economic development corporations, chambers of commerce, cities, counties, newspapers, and hundreds of other sites are now just a click away, said John Wetzel, executive director of the Futures Institute.

Valley organizations with a web site can be directly accessed through ValLink.com.

“We want ValLink to make it easier for people to find the information they need,” Wetzel said. “This is another way the Valley can market itself as a region. ValLink is the front door to hundreds of other websites.”

The site will also provide speed and ease of access — two important ingredients today’s web site users seek – as well as feature linkage through major search engines such as Yahoo and Go To.

ValLink.com was created from a donation by TheAgZone, a Valley E-commerce business focusing on linking agriculture to the Internet.

“If we can make it easy for business to do research on the Valley, that works to our community’s advantage,” said Dr. Joseph Penbera, TheAgZone chief operating officer.

Jason Thomas, a research associate with the institute, designed the web site. He and computer associate Steven Lee identified and listed the site’s many web addresses. The Futures Institute will maintain the site with plans to expand the number of listings.

Based at Fresno State, the CCFI is a think tank created in 1993 to address major issues affecting the region. The institute operates under a 24-member board representing institutions and agencies from Kern to San Joaquin County.

For more information, call (559) 230-2234.