SACTO Team Returns from Successful Recruiting Mission to Germany
June 16, 2010
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Bob Burris
SACTO
400 Capitol Mall, Suite 2500
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 441-2144
SACTO Team Returns from Successful Recruiting Mission to Germany
A SACTO-led business attraction team representing the Sacramento Region and California recently returned from the largest solar conference in the world, Intersolar Europe. The annual conference, based in Munich, Germany has grown to over 1,700 exhibitors and 70,000 attendees, and is truly the preeminent global gathering event for solar companies and related industry organizations. The Sacramento team comprised Bob Burris, Deputy Director of the Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization (SACTO); Bob Dean, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Grubb & Ellis Company’s national Clean Energy Practice Group and SACTO Board member; and Mather Kearney, representing the California Governor’s Office of Economic Development and supported by TeamCalifornia, the non-profit economic development organization marketing California to businesses.
Over the three-and-a-half day conference, the team met with dozens of company representatives to generate and respond to interest in investing and creating jobs in California and the Sacramento Region. It was immediately apparent that there is a tremendous level of interest in the California clean technology market, specifically in the areas of photovoltaic and thermal solar. International solar companies are planning to locate a range of facilities in the area, from their first headquarter/marketing offices in the U.S. to assembly and large-scale manufacturing. The Sacramento Region offers an optimal location for all of these functions and is most certainly on their radar.
During the upcoming days and weeks, the team will follow up with the companies that requested additional information and proposals from both the Sacramento Region and the State of California. They will also be preparing for Intersolar North America, taking place in San Francisco in mid-July, and utilizing the connections made in Europe as a springboard for this conference. While it is a fraction of the size of Europe’s conference, Intersolar North America has been nearly doubling in attendance every year of its three-year history. It not only provides an opportunity for recruitment, but allows the Sacramento Region to showcase its rapidly growing list of solar companies.