The State of the Valley conference, Joint Venture’s annual “town hall” meeting on Friday had plenty of the usual superlatives about the positive aspects of life in Silicon Valley. As Joint Venture CEO Russell Hancock said, we’re living in “the most prodigious regional economy in the history of regional economies.”
Unemployment is low, venture capital funding and business construction are both up and unicorns — private companies valued at $1 billion or more — can be found around every corner. By those measures — and others found in this year’s Silicon Valley Index — our glass isn’t just half-full, it’s overflowing. However, the crowd of more than 1,200 people at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center got a sobering — but important — message that every success comes with a “but” attached.
All this wealth is being enjoyed by a smaller and smaller group as the income gap in Bay Area widens, more people are homeless, and housing — affordable and otherwise — lags far behind what’s needed. Sure, venture capital investment is up, but it’s actually more money going to fewer companies. Shoestring startups are looking at places beyond Silicon Valley to get started and people making less than six-figure incomes are moving out and enduring three hour commutes. The valley’s big companies — Facebook, Google, Apple and Twitter — are as often derided for their policies as they are celebrated for their products.
Even veteran newsman Dan Rather, the keynote speaker, made a point that the reputation of a region that has been “an epicenter for global change” has been challenged. The former anchor of the CBS Evening News, who maintains a stentorian voice at age 88, said he remembers a time very recently when what was happening in Silicon Valley was “heralded as an unmitigated good.”
“The future, the technology-driven future, would help solve the world’s problems by bringing people together across barriers,” he said, adding that those expectations always were unrealistic but still contributed to create a “tech optimism bubble.”
Now, he said, we live in a time when some of the world’s biggest problems — the rise of authoritarianism, polarization, income inequality and more — are being blamed on the technology and ethos Silicon Valley is known for.
“Is all of this criticism justified or fair? Of course not,” said Rather. “The truth is that the world has serious problems, and the technology of Silicon Valley has helped to contribute to some of that and, even more importantly, can help also to be a solution.”
SHARKS MYSTERY SOLVED: The Sharks haven’t been building much momentum on the ice at SAP Center, but there has been some real construction going on at the downtown San Jose entertainment arena. For curious fans wondering what’s being built in the glass atrium above the arena’s south entrance — visible to anyone passing by on Santa Clara Street — we now have an answer.
It’s the Juno Lounge, a new bar for the arena that will open to fans on Monday, when the Sharks take on the Florida Panthers in a 1 p.m. Presidents Day matinee. The 2,300 square-foot space will have two bars offering a variety of beers, Northern California wines and other drinks — one imagines the Sharkarita is on the menu — and includes two 55-inch TVs to keep tabs on the game. The lounge is available only to ticketholders and is open from when the SAP Center doors open until 30 minutes after an event.
And if you’re wondering about the name, the Sharks partnered on the space with PowerWatch maker Matrix Industries, and Juno is the name of its new rapid chiller — like a microwave for making things cold — which turned heads at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month.
GALA NIGHTS: A rousing concert by Grammy-winning soprano Renee Fleming in the Montalvo Arts Center’s intimate Carriage House highlighted the fundraising gala, “One Enchanted Evening” at the historic Saratoga villa on Feb. 9. The non-singing parts of the night were pretty enchanting, too, with a candlelit dinner curated by Le Papillon Executive Chef Scott Cooper and Ridge Vineyards winemaker Paul Draper. The night brought in nearly $500,000 to support Montalvo’s artistic and educational programs.
Via Services, meanwhile, is busy preparing its can-can moves to go with the “Moulin Rouge” theme of the 25th annual Via Ball on Feb. 29 at Villa Ragusa in Campbell. And it’s a double anniversary, as the gala also celebrates Via’s 75 years of helping adults and children with special needs with speech and occupational therapy or with camping experiences through Via West and the Altitude program. Tickets for the dinner, which includes an auction and a return by last year’s entertaining band Velvet Plum, are available at www.viaservices.org.
PRIMARY POLITICS: With California’s primary coming up fast on March 3, the South Bay Democratic Coalition lined up a good speaker for its inaugural meeting Feb. 18: Garrick Percival, the new chair of San Jose State’s Political Science Department. Percival will talk about the upcoming primary and how participation and political forces shape the outcomes in electoral contests. And he’ll do his best to unravel the results of the first two Democratic primaries and what they may foretell. The 7 p.m. event is free and open to the public and will take place at the Santa Clara Woman’s Club Adobe at 3260 The Alameda in Santa Clara.
AND THE WINNER IS…: Cache Bouren, owner of downtown San Jose craft cocktail lounge Haberdasher, won the Icons of Whisky Bartender of the Year Award on Tuesday at a ceremony in New York City sponsored by Whisky Magazine. “Sharing the stage with so many absolute legends in the world of whisky was an honor I won’t soon forget,” Bouren said.