Speaker: Andy Ward

Topic: Ingredients for a successful website

After fighting forest fires for over 10 years Andy quit the US Forest Service in 2000 to be a full time web developer. Since then he has worked as a web developer, web designer and webmaster for clients ranging from small local business to large corporations like Chevron and Dow Chemical.

Andy bought Liquid Design and moved to Redding in 2006 with his wife and three sons.

Speaker: Robert Strazzarino

Robert Strazzarino is the Founder and CEO of College Scheduler LLC and will be the presenter at the STA Brown Bag Luncheon on April 25.

Robert is a Redding native and a graduate of Anderson High school and CSU Chico where he graduated with a degree in Computer Science in 2006. Robert's software company-College Scheduler was developed while he was a student at CSU Chico and has now been sold to numerous universities around the United States.

Roberts presentation will outline how his company was developed and how this product and others are being marketed as part of his business ventures.

Robert's honors include being named as the Microsoft Student Ambassador while at CSU Chico and being the recipient of a $12,000 "Presidents Scholar" Scholarship while at Chico.

The SMART Business Resource Center will be holding a Entrepreneur Workshop on January 23rd, and coaching on January 30th. Please see attached flyer for more details.

This free training is open to anyone interested in starting or growing their own business. Seating is limited.

Call (530) 245-1509 or email abengtsson@thesmartcenter.biz.

Speaker: Pablo D'Anna

On Friday, January 25th our guest speaker is Pablo D'Anna, a senior-level communications chip design engineer. Pablo is with RFMD, which recently acquired his prior company, Sirenza Microdevices.

The STA is proud to be a sponsor of this year's Annual Junior Invention Convention to be held at the Redding Convention Center between the hours of 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM on Saturday, November 17th.

The Junior Invention Convention is a yearly event hosted by the Inventor's Alliance of Northern California. It is like a science fair for 6th- through 8th-Graders, but instead of focusing on the scientific method, it showcases the student's ability to create innovative, patentable products.

Speaker: Allan Swain

On Friday, October 26th our guest speaker is Al Swain, the president of Fern Electronics and founding Board Member of the Inventor's Alliance of Northern California (IANC). Al is also the driving force behind one of the most exciting scholarship opportunities that Northern California has ever seen, the Junior Invention Convention.

Speaker: David Ranhoff

On Friday, September 28th our guest speaker is David Ranhoff, the former President and CEO of Credence Systems (Nasdaq: CMOS), Mr. Ranhoff managed the company to become a global supplier of automatic test equipment for the semiconductor industry. With approximately 1500 employees and operations in over twenty countries, Credence provides complete test solutions for semiconductor manufacturers from the early design phases through high volume production..

Speaker: Jon Gregory

On Friday, August 24th our guest speaker is Jon Gregory, the President of the Golden Capital Network, a non-profit networking, training and consulting group that fosters growth entrepreneurship and early stage investing as an engine for economic growth.

The usual "Brown Bag" meeting of the STA for July has been postponed due to vacation schedules. Please check back with us for our next meeting on August 24th.

Speaker: Jason Caulkins

On Friday, June 22nd Jason Caulkins, CEO of Cenatek, Inc. will be giving a talk on the subject of challenges facing a small company competing in a global economy. Cenatek recently celebrated its 7th year in business and has new, high-tech products on the market. Fresh from a meeting with a major "Big Box" retailer, Jason will share some of the not-so-hidden costs of selling manufactured products in the mainstream channel.