The Pulse - 90.7 KFSR's Business Roundtable Program

Pulse #136 - Water Technology

2008-05-25T12:15:00.001-07:00

This week, we find our how Fresno is becoming a world center for water technology, by talking to Craig Scharton, CEO of the Central Valley Business Incubator, which includes the Water and Energy Technology Incubator at Fresno State. We'll learn why a group of influential Silicon Valley investors named water technology as one of the top tech trends of future, and more.

Download this program... (21 mb MP3 file)

Water Technology cited as one of the Top 10 trends by VC's

2008-05-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

The annual Top Ten Tech Trends Debate at the Churchill Club of San Jose brought together ten top venture capitalists, who provided their predictions on what the future may hold in the world of technology. Blog VentureBeat.com was there and says that water technology is poised to become a major new area for investment and activity:

Trend 3: Water technology will replace abating global warming as a global priority. Joe Schoendorf, partner at Accel Partners, previously vice president of marketing for Apple, said the world is running out of usable water and this will kill millions more people in our lifetime than global warming.
Audience: 80 percent voted “Yes”.

Craig Scharton of the Central Valley Business Incubator and the WET Incubator, talks about how Fresno is becoming a world center for water technology on this week's edition of The Pulse.

Read the complete VentureBeat blog...

Pulse #135 - Henry Monreal

2008-05-16T19:09:00.000-07:00

This week we continue our series of interviews with Fresno mayoral candidates with guest Henry Monreal. We'll find out what Henry's agenda would be if elected. And in the second segment, hosts Tim Stearns, Tom Jones and Lee Lockhart talk about innovation in a soft economy.
Listen to this program online... (MP3 download)

Pulse #134 - Ignacio Garibay

2008-05-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

Local real estate agent and Fresno mayoral candidate Ignacio Garibay is our guest on this week's edition of The Pulse. Hosts Tom Jones and Lee Lockhart also have a discussion about the role of the media in this election year.
Listen to this program online... (MP3 download)

Pulse #133 - Tom Boyajian

2008-05-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

Mayoral candidate and former city councilmember Tom Boyajian joins Tom Jones, Lee Lockhart and Tim Stearns on this week's edition of The Pulse. In the second segment, Mike Summers from the Technology Commercializtion Program at the Lyles Center fills us in about some new companies and technologies under development at Fresno State.
Listen to this program online... (MP3 download)

Pulse #132 - Doug Vagim

2008-04-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

Former Fresno County Supervisor and current Fresno mayoral candidate Doug Vagim joins Tom Jones, Lee Lockhart and Tim Stearns on this edition of The Pulse, as part of our on-going series of interviews with the candidates. We'll learn about Doug's plans for the city if elected and more. In the second segment, our hosts discuss the issue of leadership versus collaboration, and how different generations can co-exist in the workplace.
Download this program... (22mb mp3 file)

Pulse #131 - Ashley Swearengin / Stephanie Reilly

2008-04-26T12:46:00.001-07:00

Fresno mayoral candidate Ashley Swearengin is our guest on this week's edition of The Pulse, in our on-going series of interviews with all eleven candidates. In the second half of the program, our guest is Stephanie Reilly of POParazzi jewelry company. Stephanie is a Fresno State student who has started her own business selling vintage bottle cap jewelry, and has quickly grown a following with many Hollywood stars. We'll learn about how Stephanie started her business and more about her company this week on The Pulse.

Download this program... (22mb mp3)

Pulse #130 - Henry T. Perea

2008-04-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

Fresno City councilmember Henry T. Perea is our guest this week on The Pulse. Henry is one of eleven candidates seeking to be Fresno's next mayor. We'll learn more about Henry's vision for the future of Fresno this week, in our on-going series of candidate interviews, and also learn the latest about what's going on at the Central Valley Business Incubator from Craig Scharton.

Download this program (22mb mp3 file)

Pulse #129 - Jerry Duncan / John Ostlund

2008-04-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

We continue our series of mayoral candidate interviews this week with current Fresno City Councilmember Jerry Duncan. We'll learn more about Jerry's plans for the City of Fresno if elected mayor. In the second half of the program we'll be joined by John Ostlund of Jeffrey/Scott Advertising and KJWL radio, as he talks about a recent column he wrote in the Fresno Bee about the upcoming election and a call for mayoral candidates to address issues relating to downtown revitalization.

Download this program... (22mb mp3 file)

The Pulse #128 - Jeff Eben

2008-03-29T12:17:00.001-07:00

Jeff Eben, Fresno mayoral candidate, and current deputy mayor, is our guest on this week's edition of The Pulse. We'll learn more about Jeff's background and his plans and priorities for the city of Fresno if elected. This is part of our on-going series of interviews with the candidates in the race to be Fresno's next mayor.

Download this program... (22 mb mp3 file)

The Pulse #127 - Mike Dages

2008-03-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

Our series of interviews with candidates seeking the office of mayor in Fresno continues this week with current city council member Mike Dages. We'll learn about Mike's background, and why he wants to be Fresno's next mayor.

Download this program... (22.1 mb mp3 file)

Pulse #126 - Mayoral Candidate Jim Boswell

2008-03-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

This week, The Pulse begins its series of interviews with the candidates running in the 2008 mayoral race in the City of Fresno, with candidate Jim Boswell, a local businessman. Hosts Tim Stearns, Tom Jones and Lee Lockhart also have a discussion about jobs, and the upcoming 5th anniversary of the RJI (Regional Jobs Initiative) and what has been learned about the Valley's job market in that time.
Listen to this edition of The Pulse #126 (20.1 mb MP3 file)

Pulse #125

2008-03-18T10:14:00.000-07:00

This week, hosts Tom Jones, Lee Lockhart and Tim Stearns talk about the economy and politics and analyze what it means for the future of Fresno.
Listen to this edition of The Pulse #125 (20.1 mb MP3 file)

Pulse #124 - Tracie Cone of The Business Journal

2008-03-04T12:43:00.000-08:00

Tracie Cone, the new managing editor for The Business Journal, is our guest this week on The Pulse. We'll learn more about Tracie's background in journalism, and her ideas about journalism in the digital age, and what's to come for one of Fresno's oldest publications.

Listen to this edition of The Pulse #124 (20.1 mb MP3 file)

The Pulse #123 - Entrepreneurship & Sustainability

2008-02-24T12:10:00.000-08:00

This week, our hosts Tom Jones, Lee Lockhart, Tim Stearns and Craig Scharton have a discussion about entrepreneurship and creating a sustainable economy, and how those issues impact Fresno. Why is failure sometimes good? How can we reconcile a sustainability economy with a system based on constant growth? Our hosts put their heads together to attempt to answer those questions and others. Do you agree or disagree? Let us know what you think.

Listen to this edition of The Pulse #123 2/23/08 ... (20 mb MP3 file)

The Pulse #122 - Jan Minami, Downtown Association of Fresno

2008-02-16T13:00:00.000-08:00

This week we talk downtown revitalization with Jan Minami, the new Executive Director of the Downtown Association of Fresno. Jan had previously run the Downtown Visalia Alliance, and now is bringing her expertise to Fresno. We'll learn more about everything from DTA events, to the role of the private sector in charting the future course for Downtown Fresno.

Listen to this edition of The Pulse #122 2/16/08 ... (21 mb MP3 file)

Pulse #121 - LateUpdate.com

2008-02-08T21:42:00.000-08:00

This week we profile a local web based startup, LateUpdate.com. It's an online news source for Fresno published and owned by Fresno State grad Adrian Rodriguez. In addition to having local news content, LateUpdate.com also allows users to share their expertise and opinions on local topics, and much more. We'll find out more about the business side of the operation and also he what Adrian has to say about covering the news in Fresno.

Listen to this edition of The Pulse #121 2/9/08 ... (19.3 mb MP3 file)

Construction Begins on Kern Street's "Sportstown"

2008-02-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

There's been a lot of talk lately about Kern Street in Downtown Fresno, from the mayor's proposal this summer to turn the roadway into a man-made river, to the new Sportstown beautification project that got underway today. The over $900,000 investment will add new sidewalks, a Fresno sports walk of fame, landscaping, new street lighting, and LED lights in the trees. We talked with Deputy Mayor Jeff Eben and City Manager Jon Ruiz a few months ago about the City's plans for downtown Fresno on program #96 (mp3 download). The goal is to help attract businesses to the area and link the nearby Chukchansi Park and Convention Center through a pedestrian friendly street. What do you think about the Sportstown project? Is it a good idea? Ok, but not the best use of city money? Or a bad idea altogether? Let us know and we'll talk about it on our next program.

Pulse #120 - Leadership & Diversity

2008-02-02T19:26:00.000-08:00

This edition of The Pulse is inspired by a recent posting on the Fresno area email listserv Mindhub, dealing with leadership and diversity in Fresno's under-40 population. We invited two of the most thoughtful posters, Tate Hill and Travis Sheridan to our studios to have an in-depth discussion about diversity in our community, and the next generation of leaders in Fresno.

Listen to this edition of The Pulse #120 2/1/08 ... (20.1 mb MP3 file)

The Pulse #119 - Al Smith

2008-01-30T15:26:00.000-08:00

On this week's program, Al Smith, President and CEO of the Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce stops by to talk about all things Fresno. You may know Al from his previous career and General Manager of CBS Radio's Fresno group of stations. He's now active in the community with the Chamber and is leading the Chamber's efforts in everything from politics to downtown revitalization. In the program, we talk about why Fresno is the butt of so many jokes, the perception of entrepreneurs in the community, what to do with the Fulton Mall, and much more.

Listen to this edition of The Pulse #119 1/26/08 ... (20.1 mb MP3 file)

The Pulse - #118 - Culinology

2008-01-19T18:53:00.000-08:00

Klaus Tenbergen, director of the Culinology® program at Fresno State talks with Tom Jones, Tim Stearns and Lee Lockhart on this week's edition of The Pulse. We'll learn more about this program that combines culinary arts and food science and how Fresno State students are taking advantage of this unique program.

Listen to this edition of The Pulse #118 1/19/08 ... (20.1 mb MP3 file)

More info about Culinology® at Fresno State...

The Pulse #117 - Solar Power, Habitat for Humanity

2008-01-11T10:32:00.000-08:00

This week, we learn more about how solar power is taking off the San Joaquin Valley. Mark Stout of Cleantech America joins Lee Lockhart, Craig Scharton and Tom Jones to talk about recent developments in the industry, and also utility scale solar power plants that are in the works for the Valley. In the second half of the show, Tony Miranda, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity Fresno County, joins the conversation to talk about some of their new projects, including the new ReStore venture in Clovis.

Listen to this edition of The Pulse #117 1/12/08 ... (20.1 mb MP3 file)

The Pulse #116 - 2008: A Look Ahead

2008-01-07T15:41:00.000-08:00

For this week's program, our hosts Tom Jones, Lee Lockhart and Tim Stearns stare deep into their crystal ball and attempt to chart a course for Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley in 2008. Among their observations: regionalism will become even more essential, and the Fresno mayoral race will serve as more than just a political contest - it will provoke a community-wide discussion about the way forward for the city, and the agenda for the next eight years. Our hosts also talk about the community response to the 2007 year in review program, and much more. Listen, and post your comments here!

Listen to this program - The Pulse #116 1/5/08 - (20.4 mb MP3 file)

POSTULATE-PROGNOSTICATE-PREVARICATE in 2008

2008-01-06T13:23:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Listeners to our first show of 2008 heard Tim, Lee and me postulate, prognosticate and prevaricate on what lies ahead in the new year. As promised on the air I'm providing the list of eight rhyming constructs that I used to focus my comments.

1. APPRECIATE what’s been accomplished and build on it
2. EVALUATE what’s not working and figure out why
3. ILLUMINATE the potential for pulling systems together
4. ELIMINATE processes that no longer serve our purpose
5. INNOVATE with new ways of solving old problems
6. STIMULATE those sitting on the fence to get involved
7. INITIATE ways of pooling knowledge and combining processes
8. DELIBERATE until there’s a firm strategy and committed resources

We covered most of these on the air in one form or another, but not in the order listed above. I'm sure throughout the year we'll be adding to the list.

Tom Jones

Is Fresno Good or Great?

2008-01-02T15:16:00.000-08:00

I appreciate Jamie's expression of all the positive and good things going on in our community. There is, of course, much more positives that were not on the list. I downloaded the show to listen to it again and like Dennis Manning, did not find it dwelling on the negative (visit http://www.csufresno.edu/kfsr/pulse.html to listen. To be honest, I think the interview with Reza Assemi the week before is more interesting). The Year In Review is more a reminder that while progress is being made, it is not nearly enough to bring about the change we all are seeking to occur in the community. The fact is, we have much work to do. And it means more effort than what we are currently doing. Meaning we need more people engaged in the process, and more support from the institutions in place that still seem to have problems understanding what a creative and innovative mindset/action means, much less figure out a way to support it. It is my belief that 2007 was a year where we plateaued. Doing what we have done before but not accelerating all that much in terms of what is necessary to get done. When you hit a plateau, you become a lot like the Red Queen in Through the Looking Glass: you have to keep running just to stay in one place. I prefer that we learn to run smart and that means developing a strong vision of our future and then making the institutions and community accountable for executing the necessary changes. This year was "good enough" in my opinion, and "good enough just ain't good enough". We have many of the tools in place. We have enormous talent in the community. We need to step it up in 2008. This is a long haul. It will be a lot longer if we stay good and in place.

The Pulse #114 - Reza Assemi & the rebirth of downtown Fresno

2008-01-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

For most of the last three decades, getting local developers to acknowledge downtown Fresno existed would have been considered a small victory. In recent years however, one young man - artist and developer Reza Assemi, has done a good bit to change that, with his innovative mixed use projects in the heart of Fresno's urban core.

Starting with the Pearl Building earlier this decade - a renovated brick structure formerly home to the Red Cross on Fulton near Amador, and now a live/work/show space for artists, Assemi's projects have been some of the most talked about in Downtown Fresno in years. His 2005/2006 "Vagabond Lofts" development on Broadway and Amador was hearlded as Fresno's first new downtown market rate apartment development since the late 1970's. And now as 2007 becomes 2008, he's putting the finishing touches on his new "H Street Lofts" project at H and Amador, (pictured above) and is preparing for an even more ambitious development nearby called "Fulton Plaza." Back in late December 2007, we invited Reza to our studio high atop the Lyles Center to learn more about his developments, his commitment to downtown Fresno and his thoughts on everything from the Fulton Mall to downtown planning.

Listen to this program - The Pulse #114 12/22/07 - (21 mb MP3 file)

2007 Continued - A Plateau?

2008-01-02T12:38:00.001-08:00

Our show from last week has sparked a good bit of discussion on local email listserv Mindhub. While some people agreed with our hosts' assessment of 2007, other such as Jaime Holt thought we were a little too negative. She went on to list a number of positive developments, both large and small, which weren't mentioned in our year end program. Jaime copied her Mindhub response here on our blog and here's some of her comments:

My main point is that we chose want we want to see, and unfortunately some folks in Fresno continue to prefer to view the city negatively instead of positively. It was almost with surprise that the show discussed that most folks enjoying being Fresnan. Heck yea, most folks enjoy being Fresnan!!! Fresno is cool, and the opportunities are endless.
....
It really is there, the window of opportunity has not closed, we are still moving forward, we haven't stalled...at least not as a community. Let's stop talking about the negative...that's the easy way out, the status quo, the old guard attitude. Rather let's truly recognize the strengths, achievements, potential, and opportunities. Let's celebrate our past achievements and hitch up our boots for the next challenges.

Jaime's point is a good one, as Fresno often has suffered from a sort of negative self-esteem issue, and certainly many good things did take place in 2007. We'll be talking the community reaction to our year in review special and also have our hosts try their hand at making predictions about what's to come in 2008 on our January 5th program, so stay tuned.

2007 Year In Review

2007-12-31T16:09:00.000-08:00

2007 certainly was an eventful year for the Fresno area. In our year end wrap up show, our hosts talked about what they felt were some of the major topics and events impacting the community in the past twelve months. The failure of the Running Horse development, and Donald Trump's on-again, off-again involvement certainly dominated the headlines. But will the sale of Clovis based video security giant Pelco to a foreign company turn out to be the bigger event long term? Tim Stearns thinks so. Or were other issues like long term planning (the Metro Rural Loop) and the Human Investment Initiative (PDF) some of the more significant things to come out of 2007? What do you think were the biggest stories of 2007? Were our hosts too pessimistic? Did progress in areas like downtown revitalization really stall? Tell us your thoughts.

Listen to this program - The Pulse #115 (20.9 mb MP3 file)

"The Pulse" has a blog?

2007-12-31T15:53:00.001-08:00

The connection between blogs and radio programs is not a new one. There's plenty of political talk hosts who also blog, and veteran public radio journalist/host Christopher Lydon's "Open Source" project was (and remains) very innovative in incorporating the best elements of public radio and the Web 2.0 culture.

While this project won't attempt to be as ambitious as Lydon's, it's our intention this new "feature" of our program (which is over 2 years old now) will help to further continue the discussion of the important issues facing our community and the topics and guests featured on the weekly editions of The Pulse.

Each week, we'll post information about our current and upcoming programs and topics on this site, links to our podcast and audio archives, and more. We'll also have ongoing comments and posts from our hosts, etc.

You can listen to The Pulse Saturdays at noon and Sundays at 9:00am on 90.7 KFSR - Full Spectrum Radio.