Newsom speaks to Monterey Bay economic leaders.

Nearly 300 people from private businesses and public agencies in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties gathered Wednesday for the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership’s first annual State of the Region. The event, hosted at the Chaminade Resort and Spa in Santa Cruz, held panel discussions on health, environmental, affordable housing as well as a number of other issues challenging the region.

“It’s working for some,” says Bud Colligan, co-chair of Marina-based MBEP, when addressing the current state of the region. “But too many of us are not thriving.”

California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom also gave the keynote speech to a packed room.

In Newsom’s keynote speech--stocked with learned quotes from the usual suspects, i.e. Churchill and MLK to Thomas Friedman and Plutarch--touted his entrepreneurial and business acumen. The former San Francisco Mayor already has his eyes on Gov. Jerry Brown’s job in 2018 and wasn’t shy about his ambitions, yet poked fun of himself as a politician being a politician.

Speaking directly to this interests of his audience, he expresses dismay at the dysfunction in Washington DC, as well as Sacramento--before he was there of course. In contrast, he said great things can be done regionally on the local level.

“Regions working together can do what countries can’t,” he says to an enthusiastic response from the crowd.

The goal of the State of the Region conference, and of MBEP more broadly, is to “connect the dots” between the diverse array of stakeholders in the region and build collaborative partnerships between the public and private sector as well as civic groups. Colligan makes a point to note more than 30 percent of the people in the region have trouble meeting their basic needs.

Panel discussions at the event included “Public Safety: Creating Safe and Thriving Communities” that saw Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin and Gonzales City Manager René Mendez as panelists. Another panel on “Workforce: Attracting and Retaining a World Class Workforce” was comprised of business leaders including Mann Packing CEO Lorri Koster as well as Cal State Monterey Bay president Eduardo Ochoa.

The State of the Region conference follows MBEP’s first annual Regional Economic Summit in Seaside last January. The organization plans to hold a State of the Region every fall and a Regional Economic Summer every winter.

MBEP’s main program initiatives are creating a “tech ecosytem” in the region, says Colligan, and to develop a skilled workforce that can meet the demands of a 21st century economy. As the Weekly reported in January, Colligan help found—and fund—MBEP last year with $100,000 of his own money.