NorTECH News
Group Report
July-September 2005
Report by: Rene Quintana

Home Depot has declared Crescent City as its new home for one of their many profitable stores. This mega store will occupy over two city blocks and can be found at the old K mart location. The new store will employ an estimated 200 workers. We would like to welcome Home Depot and say that we look forward to its grand opening in February 2006.

Crescent City Printing Company
Closing its Doors After 79 Years

Crescent City Printing Company has closed its doors after seventy-nine years in business. It was originally established in 1926 and has become one of Del Norte's county's oldest businesses. Mr. Wallace and Lillian Griffin, the proud owners, have decided to finally close their doors after so many wonderful years of doing business with the local community. I had the unique opportunity to not only work with them on various projects but to interview them during their closure and they are a fascinating couple. The two shared with me that they were the first publishers of the local newspaper Crescent City American . They own real estate in the downtown area and have been active members of the community. Lillian exclaimed, "My husband was raised in Crescent City in the 1920's and it was very friendly, everyone knew everyone. It was smaller then." Her husband Wally added, " Crescent City was very friendly then, the depression of the 1930's did not affect us because we were all farmers. We all worked together." We honor Mr. And Ms. Wallace for their community spirit and support.

Transfer of Ownership

Pelican Bay Travel has a new owner, Ms. Cindy Speakman, who will now call her new business Del Norte Travel. We wish her best of luck.

Mexican Consulate General visits Del Norte

The Mexican Consulate General came to Del Norte County to meet with our political representatives and dignitaries. The event was filled with festivities. Martha McClure, President of the Board of Supervisors, officially welcomed Mr. Alfonso de Maria y Campos. Supervisor Chuck Blackburn also had a moment to speak with the Consulate General about district five which currently includes a very large Hispanic population. Mr. Maria y Campos even provided ten staff to process Mexican identification cards called "matricula" and passports. Over 286 applicants attended the event which was held that following day.

Mexican Consulate General appointed Ambassador

At a private party in Crescent City, it was announced that Mr. Alfonso de Maria y Campos was appointed to be an Ambassador by Presdent Vicent Fox of Mexico. Consulate representative Ms. Carolina Ayala said, "We are not sure which country he will be appointed to. I hope it's the United States."

Navigator

The Del Norte Workforce Center's computer lab just got a face-lift from Mr. Kyle Curtis. He has taken the time to reorganize the computers and expand the space for classes. Kyle states, "I wanted to maximize the space while making it easier to access." Great job Kyle!

Office of the President of the
University of California, Berkeley

The Office of the President came to meet with key representatives to discuss Bi-national Health Day. The bilateral effort between the United States and Mexico encourages local counties to address the health needs of California's agricultural workers, who help support the state's billion dollar agra-business industry. Bi-national Health Day is being organized at this time for upcoming event in October. Del Norte has been named as one of the possible sites for the official statewide opening. Del Norte County has one of the most lucrative agricultural products, the Easter lily bulb.   This industry brings in millions of dollars to the county via wages, services needed and taxes.

A.L.M.A
(Adelante Literacy, Migrant Association)

Graduation was held for the farm workers that enrolled in our intensive ESL and GED course. A.L.M.A now has two sites with enrollment increasing to sixty five students. Local employers have been requesting their workers have some degree of English comprehension so that they can communicate with them. Both worker and employer benefit from the ALMA Program. We wish our graduates success!

Other Business Notes

The new apprenticeship program is getting underway and Amber Wier is the Chair for this Chamber sponsored program. Currently we have over 20 business participating.

Pre-ventures are going well as we had 12 people attending our recent 'Marketing Basics' class. In fact in the first seven months of this year the SBDC has provided three hundred and fifty six hours of counseling in one hundred and sixty five sessions for ninety six Del Norte County clients. In addition the SBDC has conducted 12 workshops in their Pre-Venture business education series with a total of 122 attendees.

Del Norte Counties Unemployment rate is at 7.4 for July and we have 800 people unemployed in Del Norte County per Dennis Mullins EDD, Labor Market Division.