Category Archives: Catalyst for Innovation

Inaugural ‘Riverside Startup Weekend’ Hailed as a Great Success

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Riverside’s first ‘Startup Weekend’ proved that the community is indeed a ‘Catalyst for Innovation‘, bringing together nearly 100 participants, advisors and judges to develop 10 new businesses in less than three days.

The winning Fetchit team poses with the judges at Startup Weekend. From left, UCR students Daniel Langridge and Chris Manghane, incoming UCR students Darrell and Daniel Peeden, Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey, Inland Empire Tech Coast Angels President Molly Schmid, and Rajan Kasetty, CEO of Terrafore, Inc. (photo by Conley Read; source: UCR Today)

Startup Weekend is a global program that brings 54-hour events to select cities where “developers, coders, designers marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts come together to share ideas, form teams, build products and create startups.”  Typically half of the event attendees have technical backgrounds while the other half have business backgrounds.

Riverside Startup Weekend organizers Benjamin Mueller, Conley Read and Mike Kennedy put the 54-hour event together with the help of several sponsors and supporters, including the City of Riverside, Cal Baptist University and local startup companies Signature.io and StopTheHacker, as well as many volunteers who donated their time to support the participants. The event was held at the Culver Center at the University of California in Riverside’s ARTSblock, further inspiring creativity amongst the participants.

“The whole weekend is spent on defining a problem, creating a set of solutions (assumptions), validating those assumptions with people through online surveys, or face-to-face discussions, pivoting and iterating on the idea, developing a business model that has a monetary return on investment, as well as discussions on how to properly scale and attract/build your user base,” explained Alan Roy, a user interface designer at C&C who served as an adviser during the weekend. “In the end, these individuals from backgrounds in development, design, marketing, business, and law come together to create an ‘minimum viable product’ to present to the judges on Sunday.” (source: UCR Today)

To read the full recap as published by UCR Today, including highlights of the winning teams and projects, click here.

La Sierra University Alumnus To Be Inducted Into Baseball Hall of Fame

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(As reported by Darla Tucker, La Sierra University Newsroom)

This July, sports medicine legend and La Sierra University alumnus Frank Jobe will receive one of the highest honors a civilian can get from the professional sports world – a special recognition from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. during Hall of Fame Weekend 2013.

Sports medicine great Dr. Frank Jobe receives the La Sierra University Alumnus of the Year award from university President Randal Wisbey on April 19 with Jobe’s sons Meredith Jobe (left) and Chris Jobe standing by. (photo source: http://www.lasierra.edu)

But his first stop was La Sierra University where on Friday, April 19 he received an award as Alumnus of the Year during an Alumni weekend banquet held at the university’s Glory of God’s Grace sculpture plaza.

“Tonight we have the privilege of honoring him first,” said La Sierra University President Randal Wisbey in remarks prior to presenting Jobe with the crystal award.

“Our alumnus of the year’s impact on the game of baseball simply cannot be measured. And he never played an inning in the major leagues,” Wisbey said. In fact, Jobe changed baseball forever on Sept. 25, 1974, when he performed the first ever ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery on the left elbow of a Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Tommy John. The procedure, now known as the “Tommy John” surgery, involved grafting a tendon from John’s forearm into his elbow to replace the ligament. John recovered and took his baseball career to new heights. Before Jobe operated on John, the pitcher had won 124 games in the big leagues. After the surgery, he won 164 games, and was able to play until age 46.

Since that groundbreaking achievement, Jobe has performed more than 1,000 Tommy John surgeries on pitchers of varying level and ability, and the procedure has prolonged or saved the careers of 150 professional baseball players. He later developed another revolutionary procedure, a shoulder reconstruction surgery that was first used to save the career of Dodger great Orel Hershiser.

Jobe graduated from La Sierra in 1949 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. He then studied medicine at Loma Linda’s College of Medical Evangelists, now Loma Linda University School of Medicine. In 1965, along with sports medicine physician Robert Kerlan, he founded the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic which currently operates out of locations in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Anaheim, and Santa Monica.

Jobe spoke briefly to the audience of La Sierra alumni, family members, faculty and staff after they gave him a standing ovation. His son Meredith Jobe, daughter-in-law, Melanie Jobe, wife of Chris Jobe, and Jobe’s grandson, Kevin also all graduated from La Sierra. Jobe attributed his success in life to others, and he cited the life lessons he learned from La Sierra’s faculty during his college tenure.

“Those life lessons are probably more important than any book learning,” said Jobe. “They showed me how to live, how to be nice to people, how to take care of people. La Sierra has such a treasure in its faculty. I hope it’s never lost.”

As a ‘Location of Choice’ known for developing world-class athletes, it is a celebration for Riverside and a testament to the quality of education at La Sierra University, to honor an alumnus that has had such an incredible impact on the game of baseball and the field of sports medicine.

To read the full article as published by La Sierra University, click here.

Riverside McDonald’s Sustainability Efforts Receive National Attention

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Demonstrating yet another example of Riverside as a location of choice for sustainability efforts and innovative business best-practices, the Wall Street Journal recently published the announcement that the McDonald’s restaurant located at 2242 University Avenue in Riverside had become the county’s first and only electric vehicle (EV) fast charge station with the installation of its Blink Direct Current (DC) Fast Charger.

McDonald's Riverside-Blink® Direct Current (DC) Fast ChargerThis restaurant is owned and operated by Tom and Candace Spiel and stood as a McDonald’s for 44 years. In 2010, it was completely rebuilt to operate in a more environmentally friendly way. As part of its continued path to greening, the restaurant partnered with ECOtality Inc., a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies, to provide the latest EV charge technology to customers. The restaurant will also have a standard Blink pedestal charging station available.

“It’s thrilling to be Riverside’s source for the latest in fast charge technology,” said Candace Spiel, McDonald’s owner/operator. “For us, it all comes down to being able to offer the Riverside community a better customer service experience and further demonstrate our commitment to environmental stewardship.”

In addition to the new Blink charging stations, current green features of this McDonald’s location include low flow plumbing fixtures saving approximately 250,000 gallons of water; native drought tolerant plants to reduce water consumption; permeable pavers to help divert about 283,000 gallons of rainfall from storm water systems; and solar panels that save approximately 8,950 kWH per month of utility usage, which is equal to the power usage of 13 average Riverside homes for one month. The restaurant also includes an interactive touch screen display for visitors to learn about the building’s features, environmental sustainability and how individuals can reduce their own carbon footprint.

To read the full article as published on the Wall Street Journal website, click here.

Eleven Riverside Students Receive Dell Scholarship Awards

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Riverside’s commitment to being a center for lifelong learning seems to be paying off. Recently eleven local seniors were notified that they had received a highly sought-after scholarship award from the Dell Scholarship Foundation.

Seven of the eleven Riverside students to receive the award were from Riverside’s Ramona High School – the second highest number of students from any one school in the nation. Each student will receive a $20,000 scholarship for college as well as a new Dell laptop and printer.

Riverside’s Ramona High School had seven Dell Scholars for 2013, the second most for one school in the country. Recipients are (top, from left) Marissa Huston, Tiffany Truong, Fernando Banales-Mejia, (bottom, left) Maria Hernandez, Karen Figueroa, Kathy Chu and Karla Venegas, pictured in their AVID classroom. (Contributed photo published on PE.com)

“Our school should be proud of the fact that we had the most winners in California and had the second most in the nation,” said Ramona counselor Mark Lim, who wrote recommendations for many of the 20 Ramona seniors who applied for the scholarship. “We were close to being No. 1, which speaks volumes about the caliber of our school and students.”

According to Oscar Sweeten-Lopez, the Dell Scholarship Foundation program director, there were 7,561 applicants and only 303 (4 percent) were awarded the Dell Scholarship. Alief Early College High School in Houston — with its first graduating class — had the highest Dell Scholars with eight.

“We are very impressed with Ramona,” said Sweeten-Lopez, who noted that Ramona has had 17 Dell Scholars since the scholarship program started in 2004. “The majority of our Ramona High Dell Scholars are attending top tier in-state and out-of-state private colleges or top UCs. I would venture that over 95 percent of our California Dell Scholars stay in state to attend a UC or CSU.”

“I’ve always felt our AVID program is one of the top ones in the nation, and this is validation of what we know is true,” said Ramona AVID coordinator Scott Lockman. The seven Dell Scholars are all in Ramona’s AVID program, which recently celebrated its 25th year.

A total of eleven recipients are from high schools in the city of Riverside. The seven Ramona seniors to receive the award were Fernando Banales-Mejia, Kathy Chu, Karen Figueroa, Maria Hernandez, Marissa Huston, Tiffany Truong and Karla Venegas. Mercedes Cornelius (La Sierra), Kathy Gutierrez (Norte Vista), Alicia Hernandez (J.W. North), and Vanessa Meteors (Arlington) were also awarded a Dell Scholarship.

To read more on the Riverside award recipients, click here.

For more information on the Dell Scholarship program, visit the official website at www.dellscholars.org.

Community Survey Outreach Promotes Inclusivity

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In a city that prides itself on being diverse and unique, the feedback that will help create the most dynamic, forward-thinking, creative solutions to propel Riverside towards a prosperous future must come from anyone and everyone that considers themselves “Riversiders”.

Since April 1st those who live, work and/or go to school in Riverside have been answering the call to take an on-line survey that asks their opinions about quality of life in this community. As the survey enters its final two weeks, everyone is urged to encourage friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, congregations, classmates and even mere acquaintances to give their feedback.

SOD Survey YOUTH AdAccording to the 2010 Census, 42.3% of Riverside’s population is under 25 years old. While this age group is significant, youth are typically underrepresented in community planning efforts across the nation. In Riverside, extra efforts are being made to gather the opinions of residents, employees and/or students who will be the community’s next generation of decision makers.

“As an inclusive city, we want to be sure this segment has a voice in planning our community’s future,” said Riverside Mayor Rusty Bailey. “We intend to make sure Riverside is the place students want to come for college and to live after.”

For those under 18 years, a special version of the survey has been provided online at RiversideSurvey.com. Please note that a parent or guardian must give approval for a minor to participate.

For all adults 18 and over, English and Spanish versions are available online (RiversideSurvey.com). Paper copies of all versions of the survey are also available in all Riverside public libraries, community centers and at City Hall.

The survey period ends April 30, 2013, and the results will be made available to Riversiders this summer.

Riverside Public Utilities Programs Receive Statewide Honors

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The California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA) honored Riverside Public Utilities (RPU) with two of its annual statewide Resource Efficiency & Community Service Awards at a ceremony held last week during their annual conference.

The CMUA, which helps to advance the interests of its member agencies before the legislature, hosts the awards annually to recognize innovative energy and water efficiency and consumer benefit programs among California’s consumer-owned water and energy utilities.

In the Energy Programs category, which recognizes innovative and effective approaches in implementing renewable energy resources, energy efficiency, demand reduction, research and development, low income assistance, or greenhouse gas reduction strategies, the agency recognized RPU’s Whole House Program.

Whole House logoWith the Whole House Program, RPU customers are able to apply for a number of water and energy efficiency measures at the same time and can receive added rebate incentives when grouping them together, as well as receiving increased energy and water conservation benefits that can help to lower utility bills.

Meanwhile, the utility’s Green Power Report radio show received its second CMUA award in its six-year run in the Community Services Category. On the air since 2007, and hosted and produced by RPU staff, the Green Power Report is a 30-minute radio program that reaches some 250,000 listeners throughout the Inland Empire of Southern California providing news and information about environmental stewardship, sustainable living practices, renewable energy and more. Shows are broadcast locally on AM 590 The Answer at 6:30 p.m., and are available to download through iTunes and via the show’s radio player at http://www.GreenRiverside.com.

Both of these awards recognize Riverside for being a Catalyst for Innovation, wherein leaders are using inventive and multi-disciplinary approaches to address issues. For more information on either the Whole House Program or the Green Power Report, visit GreenRiverside.com. To read the original press release, click here.

Riversiders Take Home the Cake on Food Network’s ‘Cupcake Wars’

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‘Innovative‘ doesn’t always refer to technology or science. In the case of Desiree Massei and her cousin Alicia, their cupcakes define the term – original and creative: polenta cheddar maple cupcake with mashed potato frosting and topped with bratwurst; pumpkin espresso; and goat cheese cherry and lemon raspberry habanero, to be precise.

Design Cupcakes

Desiree Massei, Design Cupcakes

The interesting out-of-the-box creations inspired by their Italian culinary heritage won the pair of Riverside bakers the title of ‘Cupcake Wars’ champions and $10,000. Timothy Guy, Press-Enterprise, reported that this was the second time the cousins were on the Food Network reality competition, but it was their ability to go beyond their comfort zone in this second round that enabled them to walk away victors.

To read the full PE.com article, click here. For more information on Desiree and Alicia’s cupcake business, click here.

Riverside’s Air Quality a Southern California “Win”

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According to a recent blog posted by David Danelski on PE.com, fine-particle pollution — tiny pieces of soot, dust, chemical compounds and other microscopic airborne “gunk” — has declined to healthful levels in Riverside as measured at the South Coast Air Quality Management District official air quality monitoring station.  The station, ironically, is a stone’s throw away from the plaque that marks the first plantings of the Washington navel orange tree at Magnolia and Arlington avenues.

Danelski came across this information while analyzing data recently for an in-depth reporting project on air quality and health, and noted this finding in Riverside a small victory in Southern California’s war against smog. Fine particle pollution in particular has been linked to an array of afflictions, including aggravated asthma, stunted lung development, heart disease, cancer and early death.

In 2010, and again in 2011, the air quality district’s nearby station measured fine particles — called PM 2.5 — at levels just below the federal health standard. Until 2010, the PM 2.5 had been at unhealthful levels since the air district began monitoring the pollutant in 1999,” noted Danelski.

Unfortunately, Riverside is only one of several monitoring stations in Southern California – 10 of which are still reporting levels that exceed the standard as of the most current available reading (2011).

While ozone, the other factor in the battle for clean air, is not measured at the Riverside station, Danelski cites the PM reading as “noteworthy that Riverside, a city long beset with bad air quality, now can say it no longer has unhealthful levels of fine-particle pollution.”

Riverside’s sustainability efforts – championed by both the public and private sector – are to be applauded as they continue to find creative, collaborative ways to ensure Riverside is an international magnet and model for sustainable business, environmental innovation and green living with a synergistic partnership of industry, City leadership and residents. 

To read Danelski’s full blog post, “Air Quality: A Navel Victory in Riverside”, as published on PE.com, click here.

Riverside’s Community Quality of Life Survey Now Underway

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Over the next couple of weeks, those who work and/or live in Riverside will have the opportunity to provide opinions and feedback regarding the quality of life in our community. The purpose of this effort is to measure and set benchmarks aligned with the Seizing Our Destiny vision and spark community-wide engagement that promotes and continues to improve our quality of life.

Between now and March 24, 2013 some residents will receive calls to their home and/or mobile phone asking them to participate in a short random phone survey about their quality of life in Riverside. Participation in the survey will help to provide community groups and decision makers with important information concerning what residents think about living in our city. The caller ID for these calls will read CSUSB, as researchers from our regional California State University will be conducting the survey on Riverside’s behalf.

If you receive a phone call, don’t hang up! The researchers will NOT ask for your name, your social security number or your immigration status – just your opinions! Your identity and survey responses will remain confidential. Please share your thoughts to make Riverside a better place to live and work.

If you don’t receive a call, anyone who lives or works in Riverside is encouraged to share their thoughts through an online version of the survey which will be available at www.RiversideSurvey.com from April 1-30, 2013.

Phone, online and hard copy surveys will be available in English or Spanish.

All who live, work or both are encouraged to take the opportunity to participate in this process as it is all of us, and what we hope Riverside to be, that makes our city so unique and special.

For any questions or to request *paper versions of the online survey* email info@seizingourdestiny.com.