California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute

Over the next two months, nearly 3,000 Coachella Valley business owners will
be participating in a comprehensive Business Visitation Survey, initiated by
the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership (CVEP).

The primary goal of the survey is to develop solutions to revive, grow, and
sustain the area's economic engine. In addition, the surveys will provide
data to assist CVEP and Riverside County in job development and job expansion,
in addition to stabilizing the local business climate, and addressing the
conditions that contribute to unemployment.

The information culled from the survey will also help execute an "early warning
system," in collaboration with the County's Rapid Response programs already in
place, to identify and respond to at-risk businesses in an effort to diminish
layoffs and improve job retention.

In collaboration with all nine cities of the Coachella Valley, the survey is
part of CVEP's Economic Blueprint Action Plan, which was introduced to the
region last October. A focus within the Economic Blueprint is Business Retention
and Expansion, which the Business Visitation Survey directly addresses.

The Survey will be completed during the summer, with the analysis and report
expected to be finished in October. For more information about CVEP, call
760-340-1575, or go to www.cvep.com.

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.