California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom spoke at a forum on small business and foreign trade and also toured the campus during a visit to California State University, Fresno on Monday, Aug. 1.
He spoke at a Global Access for Small Business forum sponsored by the university’s Craig School of Business and by the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
His message was that California needs a concerted plan for economic development and to promote international trade if it’s to create the jobs necessary to turn the economic tide.
On a tour led by Provost William Covino and Michael Dozier, director of Fresno State’s Office of Community and Economic Development, Newsom visited a solar-power project that generates about one-fifth of the university’s electricity demands from solar panels atop parking shelters. Newsom recommended that the university install charging stations around campus to encourage use of electrically powered vehicles such as the one he drives.
Newsom, who is a California State University trustee, also saw University High School, the Henry Madden Library, the Viticulture and Enology Research Center, the Water and Energy Technology Center and the student-operated Gibson Farm Market.
Sean Mulvaney, a member of the Ex-Im Bank’s board of directors, and the bank’s first vice president and vice chair, Wanda Felton, talked with forum participants about services and programs available to help them get into international trade.
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