Give Pokebowl a Home

Pokebowl is a popular Poke stand that is a staple of Friday Farmer's Market on San Pedro with a ton of loyal followers. They are are looking to open up a permanent location with both Poke bowls and Brazilian Acai bowls in the SoFA market by the end of the summer! Unfortunately they are about $35,000 short of what is needed to open up shop, so they decided to use Kickstarter to try to raise the remaining funds.

They have a lot of great rewards. For a $10 pledge, you get a limited edition "Stephen Curry" Poke bowl and a cup of fresh watermelon or pineapple juice. For $600 you get a year's worth of Poke. Their ultimate reward comes with a $5,000 Kickstarter pledge: a round trip ticket to Brazil for Carnaval 2016 and a live show, plus an exclusive catering event for 20 people.

Head over to the Pokebowl Kickstarter page to bring them to SoFA!

San Jose's Office of Economic Development Launches SJEconomy.com

San Jose boosters have gotten a new tool to promote business development in the area. San Jose's Office of Economic Development launched a new site last month with tons of great resources and statistics. It's very well designed, mobile-friendly, and is worth checking out right over here.

SAN JOSE'S OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT LAUNCHES NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT WEBSITE --SJECONOMY.COM

Dear Readers of SJ Economy News,

I hope you've noticed that we've stepped up our efforts over the last two years to produce fresh, useful communications materials that help you succeed in San Jose -- including this news brief, beautiful new online brochures, frequent news releases, and our active Twitter feed.

In this issue, I am very proud to announce our new website -- SJEconomy.com.  Through SJEconomy.com, you'll have easy access to information from your PC or mobile device.   The new site is organized by People, Places, Business, and How We Help in San Jose. It includes maps of growth areas, a real estate locator tool, compelling facts and statistics, CEO testimonials, and photos you can download and use.   There's  a special section serving Brokers and Developers. You can contact the Office of Economic Development and staff easily through the About page.

Please join me in thanking San Jose's amazing economic development team -- and especially the Project Lead Cara Douglas -- for creating this critical resource. I hope you enjoy previewing SJEconomy.com and use it as your "go to" San Jose business development site.

Please let me know what you think, and how we can improve further by contacting Cara Douglas, Senior Business Communications Manager.

Kim Walesh
Director of Economic Development
Deputy City Manager

Sourisseau News: Fiesta De Las Rosas Parade

Check out the latest Sourisseau News video highlighting the Fiesta De Las Rosas Parade, which goes all the way back to 1896. You can think of this event as the predecessor to San Jose's Cinco de Mayo festivities and the Rose, White, and Blue Parade.


Fiesta De Las Rosas Parade from WMS media Inc. on Vimeo.
Santa Clara County's Rose-themed festival bloomed on and off from 1896 to 1969. Enjoy its history in photographs.

San Pedro Square Market Outdoor Cinema Series

San Pedro Square Market Special Events: Join SPSM this summer for 3 free movie nights! Bring the family and invite your friends to enjoy the summer weather, market eateries, and some of our favorite movies on the big screen under the SPSM Sign.

• Hook: June 24th
• Pitch Perfect: July 29th
• The Avengers: August 26th

Bring your blankets and lawn chairs, and we'll see you at dusk!

Dine Downtown San Jose Restaurant Week - Kickoff is Tomorrow!

If you want great food at a great price, Dine Downtown San Jose starts tomorrow. 23 Restaurants will be offering 3 course prix-fixe dinners for $20, $30, or $40. Oh, and for the first time a few restaurants will be offering lunch specials (including Curry Pundits, The Fountain, Take One Pizza, and Tengu Sushi). You can find those here.

Of the participating restaurants, there are a few I need to call out specifically:

• The Craftsman - this used to be "First to Market." They still have a lot of their classic items (the pimento mac & cheese is a must) and a mixology-grade cocktail bar, but freshened up the design a bit.
• The Capital Club - private club on the top floor of the "Knight Ridder" building. This is your best chance to dine up there without having to pay the membership fees. The view from their massive outdoor balconies is incredible--no other place like this in the Bay Area.
• Arcadia - Michael Mina's signature San Jose restaurant. Try the tuna tar tar and the foie gras sliders.
• Nemea - The best Greek restaurant in San Jose.
• Scott's Seafood - I know this is a chain, but there isn't another Scott's like this one. They just redid their outdoor patio, which is on the roof of a 7-story parking structure. Awesome view, great ambiance, and delicious food.

To see the full restaurant list, head over here!

Wednesday Wishlist: UC San Jose

Madison Nguyen--former San Jose District 7 Councilwoman--wrote a great article suggesting that the next UC campus should be in San Jose... and I couldn't agree more.

San Jose has more STEM jobs per capita than any other major city in the US (by far). There are so many in fact, that we rely heavily on importing talent from all around the world to fill them. Even then there are over 50,000 job openings today in Santa Clara County. The demand has never been greater for another world-class University in Silicon Valley to help increase our talent pool for highly skilled workers.

Madison Nguyen mentions new legislation to scout for a future campus that would have a specific focus on "STEAM" education: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. She states that it is envisioned as a public CalTech at a far more affordable price. Hello, could there be any better location than San Jose for this?

I'll even add one more interesting suggestion that would sweeten the ROI for a UC San Jose, and that would be sharing resources with SJSU. Universities are expensive to build and maintain, so what if certain resources such as the MLK Library and Spartan Stadium could be shared between two world-class educational institutions and have operating costs split between them. Perhaps even some classes could be cross-listed, giving students at both Universities a greater range of educational options and electives. If there is one thing Silicon Valley is great at besides innovation, it's collaboration.

Read Madison Nguyen's opinion piece on UC San Jose over here. 

Content Magazine Pick-Up Party Today!

Content Magazine's latest issues comes out today and explores how we connect with our community. As is the norm with Content, they throw a party for their subscribers and collaborators every time a new issue comes out. This time it will be hosted at Southern Lumber--a South Bay staple that will be closing its doors after 110 years of service.

At the party, Content will reveal the winners of the Visual San Jose 2015 photo contest. Subscribers get a signature drink and an appetizer for FREE and there is no cover charge for the event. If you aren't a subscriber yet, just head over here!

Music: Hill Man, Xiomyr, Beer: Santa Clara Valley Brewing
Food: Whole Foods
Sponsors: Southern Lumber, Filco Events, Whole Foods, Santa Clara Valley Brewing, Visual SJ, Pac SJ

CONNECT 7.2 Featuring: Ekaterinburg, Russia | Wayfinding | Blaise Rosenthal | Visual SJ Photo Contest Winners | Bay Area Glass Institute ArtKick: Nancy and Sheldon Laube | Jeffrey Brian Adams | CatapultWorks: Tom Beck | Shareology, Bryan Kramer | Clever Girls Collective: Cat Lincoln, Stefania Pomponi & Kristy Sammis | H & H Lighting | Wearhaus: Richie Zeng & Nelson Zhang | Bellabeat: Urška Sršen | Hacker/Founders: Jonathan Nelson | SETI: Drs. Jill Tarter, Nathalie Cabrol & Lori Fenton | Southern Lumber: Jeff Pohle | Knight Foundation: Danny Harris | Savory Kitchen: Colleen Janke | Nomikai: Kathy and Tone Tran | San Jose Jazz: Brendan Rawson & Bruce Labadie | Xiomyr: Billy Barnes & Koosha Araghi | Hill Man | Album Picks: Tommy Aguilar | Mike McGee

Summer Solstice Art Festival

The Triton Museum of Art is hosting the Solstice Art Festival this Saturday and its the first year where they have added music into the mix. Big Cat Tolefree is going to be the featured musician and they have a slew of performers throughout the day as well. Admission and parking are both free. Scroll down for more details.

Big Cat Tolefree Blues and Soul Band

From the inner-city limits of beautiful Oakland, California, Big Cat and his Hipnotic Band has single-handedly transformed the West Coast blues and soul sound with his trend-setting music and vocal style. Big Cat Tolefree opened for The Temptations, BB King and Jimmy McCracklin. He’s earned “New Blues Artist of the Year”, “Male Blues Vocalist of the Year” and Europe’s “Best Traditional Blues Artist” all in one amazing year. This will all be showcased in Santa Clara on Saturday June 20th.

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10:00am – Tezkatiipoka Aztec Dancers
10:45am – Steelband Drummer
11:30am - Big Cat Tolefree Blues and Soul Band
2:00pm – Tabia African American Theatre Ensemble
3:00pm – Medieval Sword Fighting demo and lessons
4:00pm – Up a Notch Band – 80’s and 90’s rock

Location:

Pavillion at The Triton Museum
http://tritonmuseum.org/Events.php