Years from now, CTC stakeholders may look back on the year 2016 as the most eventful time in the organization's history. We have a unique legacy, having acquired a number of disparate parts with roots dating back to 1959, yet our changes in 2016 may have been greater than any prior time.

Here are just some of our major activities and achievements from the past year:

CalCISO was formally re-launched in January after years of meetings outside of CTC. With expanded programs, added member benefits, and new ways to connect for procurement, talent, and insights, CalCISO is more active than ever before.

In May, we launched a landmark study produced by the California Business Incubation Alliance (CBIA). With support from GE, Wells Fargo, Bayer, and others, this study represented a first of its kind in benchmarking incubators and accelerators in California.

We established BioCalifornia as our life science initiative in June, just in time for the BIO 2016 Annual Convention in San Francisco. From our first gathering with IDEO on the San Francisco waterfront to our executive roundtables with founders and investors, we're grateful to all those who have jumped in to this exciting new opportunity.

Clean Acres has been privileged to get an extended look inside companies like Silver Spring Networks and Seagate. With more in store for 2017, the Clean Acres community is finding new ways to deliver value to members.

In October, we launched a campaign to establish our new science foundation. We were surprised to learn that about thirty (30) other U.S. states had a sister foundation which was missing in California, though we're proud to establish the foundation as a new asset for stakeholders in the state's innovation community.

Our Talent Initiative took new strides in 2016 as well, leading to the announcement of our first certification course for members being delivered in January 2017. We have more education partners in store, and our members will find more partnerships suited to their talent needs as we go forward.

We continued to build member benefits in 2016 as well. Early in 2017, we'll launch a new platform for member benefits, and we'll invite members to participate more directly in the delivery of programs that save money and time for businesses every day.

Our top priority for 2017 is member engagement. We'll be investing in staffing and technology to increase the availability of our initiatives and programming for our members. Our team is already re-aligning around community managers to help members engage more efficiently with CTC.

To get involved, contact us at join@californiatechnology.org, or click here to sign up and get started today.