The Update

*Source: EDD, Labor Market Division. Note: Each month is subject to slight revisions thirty days after issuance. All previous figures are benchmarked each March.

Labor Force & Industry Employment August 2007

Between July 2007 and August 2007, total nonfarm employment in Orange
County increased by 200 jobs to reach 1,523,300.

Between August 2006 and August 2007, total nonfarm employment in Orange County increased by 2,500 jobs, and increase of 0.2 percent.

For more information, please click on the link below.

Sources: Employment Development Department, Labor Market Information Division press release, September 21, 2007 http://www.calmis.ca.gov/file/lfmonth/oran$PDS.pdf

Best Performing Cities 2007 Milken Institute & Greenstreet Partners

For the third consecutive year, Florida metropolitan areas scored high on the Milken Institute / Greenstreet Partners 2007 Best Performing Cities Index, taking three of the top six spots � including this year�s top-ranked metro, Ocala.
By: Ross DeVol, Armen Bedroussian, and Soojung Kim

To read the entire article, please click on the link below.

View the 2007 Best Performing Cities rankings. Order the full report.

Companies Going Green

Corporations that are going green, it turns out, really are helping the environment.

If Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., which encompasses Fox News, the New York Post and soon the Wall Street Journal, is successful in becoming carbon neutral by the year 2010, the impact on the climate will be substantial, according to environmentalists. Murdoch's climate crusade was announced last May, and the company has since released details of it plans on becoming greener. Off-setting
their carbon emissions by investing in wind turbines in India is one of those ways,
as is a more energy efficient set for their hit TV show "24."

To read the entire article, please click on the link below. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/TenWays/story?id=3587669

Clean Energy Fuels

In local news, Clean Energy Fuels Inc., the Seal Beach company backed by legendary oilman T. Boone Pickens, has started building a liquefied natural gas
plant in the Mojave Desert, the company said Thursday. The company, which provides natural gas for trash trucks, taxis and other fleet vehicles, expects to
start shipments from the plant in second half of 2008. Clean Energy hopes the plant will meet demand for cleaner fuel by state regulators and at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Chief Executive Andrew Littlefair said. The company expects the plant to produce 160,000 gallons of natural gas per day, then grow to 240,000 gallons per day (As cited in the Orange County Business Journal, Sept. 27, 2007).

http://www.ocbj.com

Small Business News

The Small Business Administration (SBA) and Sam�s Club will host The Veterans Small Business Matchmaking Conferences this fall in San Antonio and Sacramento. On-site matchmaking sessions will highlight the contracting process with private and federal government contracting officers and procurement officials. The conferences will educate veterans about federal contracting through a series of workshops, and introduce veteran small business owners to private and government procurement officials.

The Conferences will be held Monday - - October 29, 2007, in San Antonio, Texas and Friday - - November 9, 2007, in Sacramento, California. For more information go to: http://www.connectingsmallbusiness.com/ or call or e-mail Dennis Byrne (202) 205-6567 ([email protected]) to indicate your intention to attend.

Small construction, service and supply companies that need bonding can now apply for SBA surety bond guarantee assistance online on the SBA Web site 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Under the program, the SBA works with participating surety companies to provide bid, payment, and performance bonds on contracts up to $2 million in value for small contractors by guaranteeing a percentage of losses sustained in the event of a default. Corporate surety bonds protect the project owner against financial loss, and in the case of public construction projects, protect taxpayer dollars if the contractor defaults.

To learn more about the Surety Bond Guarantee (SBG) program and to access the E-app system click on http://www.sba.gov/eapplication.

OCWIB Rapid Response Services for September

For the month of September, Rapid Response lay-off announcements were received for a total of 1,339 employees in Orange County. Although this number includes a 24% reduction over the previous month for the Credit Intermediation & Related Activities industries, the continuing cutbacks are a sign the mortgage correction is affecting the credit industry beyond the Subprime lenders.

The industries submitting lay-off announcements were:

Industries Number of Employees

Credit Intermediation & Related Activities 683

Computer Software, Hardware & Systems Design 566 General Freight Trucking 90

Grand Total 1,339

Announcements

SAVE THE DATE! October 22, 2007
2008 Economic Forecast Conference!
Presented by OCBC and Cal State Fullerton's School of Business and Economics

For more information, please contact Michelle Hart at
http://www.ocbc.org

Click here to see the complete text version of the October Update

For more information about the Orange County Workforce Investment Board, please visit:

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