The San Diego County Water Authority, in conjunction with its 23 member agencies, will host the eighth annual “Paths to Partnerships Networking Forum,” on Thursday, November 2, 2006, from 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., at the Manchester Grand Hyatt, One Market Place, San Diego, CA. This year, the Water Authority has partnered with the State of California’s Small Business and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) Collaboration Conference to bring over 25 state and local agencies to this unique forum.
Headlining the event will be State and Consumer Services Agency Secretary Rosario Marin who is the former Treasurer of the United States under President George W. Bush. She will be joined by Department of General Services Director Ron Joseph who oversees $8.95 Billion in annual spending in the areas of products, services and construction for the State. Governor Schwarzenegger appointee, Dennis Trinidad, will also be in attendance to hear feedback directly from small businesses and DVBEs on issues of concern to them.
Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about critical industry topics and their effect on a changing contracting climate through participation in new discussion forums with public agency representatives including the Water Authority’s Director of Engineering, John Economides, and Engineering Manager, Vic Bianes. Other representatives include Caltrans District 11 Director, Pedro Orso-Delgado; Olivenhain Municipal Water District Engineering Manager, George Briest; San Diego Unified School District Interim Chief Facilities Officer, David Umstot; San Diego County Regional Airport Authority Director of Facilities Development, Iraj Ghaemi; and Sandag Principal Engineer, Richard Chavez. Attendees can also visit contractor, consultant, vendor, and public agency exhibits and receive a two-year look-ahead of upcoming public agency projects.
Proceeds from this year’s event will be forwarded to the San Diego Contracting Opportunities Center (SDCOC). The SDCOC assists San Diego small businesses in how to do business with federal, state and local government agencies. The center is funded by local government agencies and the Department of Defense.
For online registration, visit www.pathsreg.org. For more information, contact Jackie Carmona with the Water Authority’s Small Contractor Outreach and Opportunities Program at (858) 522- 6624 or jcarmona@sdcwa.org
