Longtime Chico economic development advocate and business consultant Bob Linscheid has announced he will resign from being president and chief executive officer of one of Chico’s largest economic development organizations.

Linscheid, who owns Linscheid and Associates, said he will step down as president and chief executive officer from Chico Economic Planning Corp. at the end of June.

Head of the private economic group since 1993, Linscheid said there is not another job offer currently, and there are no health issues.

“There’s nothing on my plate, no offers,” said Linscheid on Monday. “Nineteen years seems like a long time. I’ve done a lot of other things.”

Linscheid said nothing in particular made him choose to withdraw at this time, other than the timing was good, with the possible unification of CEPCO and the Chico Chamber of Commerce, and his desire to do “something different.”

He said he will not be involved with CEPCO or the chamber. “I’m looking to broaden perspectives, maybe something regional. I’m exploring other things.”

“In 33 years, I’ve never been without a job. I’m convinced by setting the date at the end of the fiscal year, I think there will be several things coming my way.”

While he said he wasn’t unhappy doing what he was doing, “I would welcome doing something different.”

He said he wasn’t planning to leave Chico though, and wanted to give his board plenty of time to find a replacement or rethink the structure.

In July, he will become chair of the California State University system board of trustees. He is the vice chair now, and has served on the board since 2005. All those positions are unpaid.

In a letter to board members, CEPCO Chair Steve Gonsalves said he was sad to see Linscheid leave, that he’s been a “champion for economic development and the creation of base level jobs, and his insight and experience will be greatly missed.”

Gonsalves said he, Linscheid and the board will be “working to ensure CEPCO’s transition to new leadership is as seamless as possible.”

Gonsalves told the Enterprise-Record on Monday, “CEPCO is not going away. When you lose someone with the institution memory and capabilities of Bob, it’s a big blow, but this is a resilient organization.

“Regardless of the direction with the possible reunification with the chamber or something different, CEPCO will continue to be a force for job creation in the community,” Gonsalves said.

CEPCO will continue its discussion with the chamber about reunification, but there is “strong interest to examine other options for CEPCO’s future operational structure as well,” Gonsalves said.

Options will be discussed during the next CEPCO board meeting. CEPCO has 87 members, mostly business owners and operators.

After graduating from Chico State and leaving the area, Linscheid returned in 1986, and has worn myriad hats, including executive director of Butte County Economic Development Corp. and executive director of the Chico Chamber of Commerce, besides CEPCO. He has been involved in Civic Pioneers Institute and several other leadership programs, plus GROW-California, which is working on innovative job growth.

He was heavily involved in the unsuccessful campaign to convince Google to choose Chico for an innovative high-speed Internet site.

He has served on the California State University Alumni Council, representing Chico State.

In addition to his economic development involvement, Linscheid was vice president and general manager of the Chico Heat baseball team and was president of Western Baseball League, as well as president and board chair of the later Chico Outlaws in the Golden Baseball League.

Staff writer Laura Urseny can be reached at 896-7756 or lurseny@chicoer.com.

To view article on the Enterprise Record website click here.

I wanted to advise you that Bob Linscheid has notified the CEPCO leadership of his intention to step down as President/CEO of CEPCO effective June 30, 2012.

Bob has been our CEO for nineteen years. He expressed his appreciation for the support of the Board and CEPCO Investors but has decided it was time for him to pursue other opportunities. Having worked with Bob for most of those nineteen years, I’m sad to see him leave our organization. Bob has been a champion for economic development and the creation of base level jobs and his insight and experience will be greatly missed.

Over the next six months, Bob and the Board will be working to ensure CEPCO’s transition to new leadership is as seamlessly as possible. As many of you know, we are currently involved with the Chico Chamber in exploring reunification of our two organizations.

While the Executive Committee would recommend that we continue our exploration with the Chamber, there is strong interest to examine other options for CEPCO’s future operational structure as well. This is a good time to re-assess how best to execute CEPCO’s mission of job creation. I welcome your input and plan to reach out to some of our founders and encourage them to participate in the discussions.Should any of you have any questions, concerns or comments, please feel free to contact me or any of the CEPCO Board. Thank you for your support.

Please contact CEPCO with any questions, concerns or comments via email at CEPCO@wemanage.org or by phone at (530) 895-1202.

Best regards,

Steve Gonsalves

Chairman of the Board, CEPCO

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Chico Innovation Scorecard Download

Made possible by the efforts of the Chico Chamber of Commerce, CEPCO, and GROW-California, the scorecard will play a role in 21st century economic development as Chico seeks to make itself a region for innovators to thrive in, enhancing our chances for sustained economic growth in a globalized economic reality.  If you have any questions or comments regarding the scorecard or the process, please contact GROW-California.

The Chico Chamber of Commerce, CEPCO, and Grow-California revealed the results of The Innovation Scorecard at a celebration on November 3oth.  The Innovation Scorecard is a study to determine our region’s readiness to accept and grow innovation as a key driver of improving the local economy. The results were that although the area is doing well in many ways there are four main impediments: lack of access to capital, difficulty getting in and out of Chico, lack of pervasive high-speed internet, and lack of local innovation expertise.

The celebration also included recognizing local innovative businesses that have contributed to job growth in the area with an Innovation Certificate of Merit.  The awards were sponsored by Wells Fargo.  The event was made even more special by being located at Mooney Farms’ new villa which displayed all the wonderful products they sell, especially their award winning sun dried tomato line.  Bertagna Son Kissed Vineyards showcased their wide-variety of wines  during the event.

Now Here’s a Glimpse of the Evening’s Festivities

For a complete view of the images from the evening’s festivities, please visit our Picasa album here.

The team of students in the Chico SME chapter designed and manufactured the tooling and full production system for the mountain bike chain guide and bash guard. Two things made CSU, Chico’s project stand out at the competition, said Daren Otten, coordinator of the Sustainable Manufacturing Program and adviser to the team: the attention to detail by the students for defining and documenting the complete manufacturing process and an emphasis on sustainability.

CSU, Chico has also won the Grand Prize in this competition in 1987, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.

The details in the team’s project included not only the design, analysis and fabrication of the chain guide and bash guard, but the tooling and fixtures for mass production and the project management plan for the entire project. The materials used in this ready-for-market product were chosen with an emphasis on sustainability; they included recycled plastic components and cardboard package inserts, as well as a fully compostable plastic package.

“This project was a year-long project and was completed as an extracurricular activity on students’ own time,” said Jason Teixeira, chairman of the SME student chapter. “In this time, we took an idea through design, prototyping, testing and production. Our planning and documentation of the whole process matched industry standards. The project demanded a huge time commitment from all of the team members, and their dedication and talent made it possible.”

Twelve students in the Sustainable Manufacturing Program from Chico made the trip to the manufacturing challenge this year, though many others were involved in the project. All are members of the Chico SME Chapter S139. Tony Arena, Cody Leuck, Jason Teixeira, Alex Ward, Louk Hendricks and Oliver Hayes presented the project.

“We are all very pleased with the recognition we have received, and proud of our work.” said Teixeira.

The project display booth was open at CSU, Chico’s preview day on Saturday April 9, on the first floor of O’Connell Hall, and another showing of their presentation will be announced soon.

This was the first bi-annual AeroDef manufacturing trade show, and it was extremely successful. The Manufacturing Challenge is sponsored by the international SME, which has more than 400 professional and school-based chapters worldwide.

Kathleen McPartland
Public Affairs
530-898-4260
Daren Otten, Coordinator
Sustainable Manufacturing Program
530-898-4316

For more information contact Otten at 530-898-4316 or dmotten@csuchico.edu

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