Last Thursday, the City of Fremont kicked off its third annual
Legislative Event at the Fremont Marriott Silicon Valley Hotel, where
the following speakers dove into topics like regional transportation,
infrastructure and how to build an innovative city that attracts
world-class businesses:

  • Bill Harrison, Mayor of the City of Fremont
  • Russell Hancock, President and CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley
  • Congressman Mike Honda
  • Congressman Eric Swalwell
  • Senator Ellen Corbett
  • Assembly member Bob Wieckowski
  • Assembly member Bill Quirk
  • Kelly Kline, Fremont’s Economic Development Director
  • Bryan Jones, Fremont’s Public Works Director

Guests gather at the Marriott Hotel forFremont’s 3rd annual Legislative Event.

Overall, the speakers painted a highly optimistic portrait of Fremont. In fact,
the energy in the room was so positive, that it even prompted
Assembly member Wieckowski to sing his very own rendition of Pharrell’s
“Happy” with a slight change-up of the lyrics, calling out Fremont’s
latest accomplishments, including its ranking as second safest City in the nation!

Here are a few of the main takeaways from our speakers at the event:

  • As of March 2014, Fremont’s unemployment rate has dropped to an all-time
    low of 4.7 percent. And with a growing economy comes more traffic.
    Fortunately, Fremont is working to address this problem, offering
    solutions like the Warm Springs/South Fremont BART station extension project.
  • Employment in high-tech manufacturing is 156 percent more concentrated in Fremont
    than anywhere else in the United States, far surpassing any other
    Silicon Valley city.
  • It’s in Fremont’s best interest to continue thinking strategically urban, focusing on density near transit.

Mayor Bill Harrison kickstarts the event with a viewing of the City’s new “Think Fremont” video.

And the evening ended on a high with some final words from the event’s honorary guest and keynote speaker, Russel Hancock, President and CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley.

Russell Hancock, President and CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, gave the event’s keynote address.

According to Hancock, Silicon Valley’s economy is sizzling, and it’s about to get
even hotter. In fact, 15,500 patents came out of Silicon Valley in the
last year, which is the highest number on record. And Hancock believes
that Fremont is the perfect embodiment of Silicon Valley.

Why?

Well, he summed it up nicely with the closing line, “Fremont, how do I love
thee? Let me count the ways,” and listed Fremont’s finest qualities:

  • Employment growth
  • Approach to housing
  • Patent generation
  • Diversity
  • Strength in Cleantech
  • Approach to sustainability
  • Superb management

Overall, the entire event was a celebration of Fremont’s contribution to the
Silicon Valley story and how it is positioned to support the region’s
innovation and growth for years to come.