Business leaders from throughout the state came to Sacramento last week for the day-long California Business Outlook and Dinner.
Panel discussions throughout the event gave attendees the opportunity to hear from experts, legislators and business colleagues on subjects ranging from ballot initiatives and elections to international economics, artificial intelligence, the California budget and a new economic dashboard.
Awards presented at the event recognized outstanding chambers of commerce and innovative small businesses.
The final keynote speaker was James Carville, one of the most well-known political strategists in modern U.S. history.
See photos and stories in this edition of Alert for more information.
Premier sponsors of the event were United Airlines and Fidelity Investments.
The Sacramento Host Committee, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, was CalChamber’s partner in presenting the Business Outlook Dinner.
In her welcome remarks, CalChamber President and CEO Jennifer Barrera took stock of the state’s many advantages while calling for a greater focus on affordability as a key component of making California more attractive to business.Rana Ghadban, CalChamber vice president of small business advocacy, sets the stage for the daytime portion of the California Business Outlook on June 10.(From left) CalChamber President and CEO Jennifer Barrera moderates as campaign strategists Brandon Castillo of Bicker, Castillo, Fairbanks & Spitz and Jim DeBoo of DeBoo Strategies review the potential fate of various measures aiming for spots on the November ballot.Reviewing the results of the June primary elections and various scenarios for the November general election are (from left) moderator Liz Snow, CalChamber senior vice president of political affairs, and panelists Jacob Regalado and Pat Dennis of Street Level Strategies, and Tino Rossi and Tom Ross of Swing Strategies.Luncheon keynote speaker Christopher Thornberg, Ph.D., of Beacon Economics presents a wide-ranging overview of the forces affecting the state, national and international economies. He warns of the policy distortions that result when the popular narrative doesn’t match the underlying reality.Quickly evolving policies related to artificial intelligence are the discussion topic for moderator Ronak Daylami, CalChamber vice president for advocacy.Quickly evolving policies related to artificial intelligence are the discussion topic for (from left) Assemblymember Alexandra Macedo, Senator Tom Umberg and Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens. Macedo describes the challenge as having “Jetson-level technology governed by a Flintstone process.”California’s fiscal future is the focus of the final panel of the day. Panelist Senator John Laird.California’s fiscal future is the focus of the final panel of the day. Panelist Senator Roger Niello.California’s fiscal future is the focus of the final panel of the day, Panelist Assemblymember David Tangipa.California’s fiscal future is the focus of the final panel of the day moderated by John Myers, CalChamber senior vice president of communications and external affairs.Melanie Mason, California Bureau Chief for Politico, poses questions to political strategist James Carville, the “Ragin’ Cajun.” The prompts encourage Carville to recall and share numerous entertaining anecdotes from his decades in campaign consulting, plus observations on rising stars on the national political scene.James Carville
The California Chamber of Commerce is the largest, broad-based business advocate to government in California, working at the state and federal levels to influence government actions affecting all California business. As a not-for-profit, we leverage our front-line knowledge of laws and regulations to provide affordable and easy-to-use compliance products and services.
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