Ms. Barbara Hayes, President & CEO of SACTO (Sacramento Commerce and Trade Organization), gave a lively and informative presentation on SACTO’s mission and purpose in our region. Ms. Hayes explained that SACTO was created nearly 40 years ago as a spin-off from the Metro Chamber with the specific mission of marketing and recruitment to attract and keep businesses in our region. Ms. Hayes told several fascinating stories that provided a behind the scenes picture of what is involved in recruiting companies to locate or expand in our region.

She and SACTO were heavily involved in the recruitment and competition to convince Sutter Medical to locate their new back office facility in Roseville. Sutter’s decision to put this major facility in Roseville was recently announced and will initially provide up to 1000 well-paid jobs, with the potential for over 3000 jobs within a few years. There was an enthusiastic Q & A session following Ms. Hayes presentation. Attendees enjoyed learning about SACTO’s mission and the excellent work they do to maintain and improve the vitality of our local economy.