The Port of Oakland and the warehouses
of northern Nevada are key pieces
of the supply chain in the western
United States, and the
relationship helped draw
Oakland Mayor Jerry
Brown to Reno for a
speech in Reno next
month.
Brown, the two-term
Oakland mayor and former
California governor,
will be the keynote speaker at the centennial
chair gala of the Reno-Sparks
Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 17.
Given the economic links between the
two regions, Brown will discuss the
growing pains that both regions are experiencing
as well as his observations about
the two cities.
The chamber's chair gala, an annual
event, welcomes the new directors and
chairman of the organization.
Mike Murdock,
senior vice president
of Sun West
Bank, will be chairman
of the chamber
in 2003.
Murdock has
served on the
Chamber Board of
Directors since
2000 and was its
Chief Financial
Officer in 2002.
The Volunteer of the Year Award, as
well as the Raymond I. Smith Civic
Leader of the Year Award, will also be
presented at the gala. IGT is executive
sponsor of the 2003 chair gala.
Harry York, chief executive officer of
the chamber, said the invitation to Brown
resulted from some
brainstorming
among chamber
staff.
"We think it's
great," York said
last week.
Since winning
election as
Oakland's mayor in
1998 (he was reelected
this year),
Brown's central
focus has been revitalization of the center
of the city in what he calls a spirit of
"elegant density."
