Government, business and nonprofit leaders around San Benito, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties staged the 2025 State of the Region Oct. 17 at CSU Monterey Bay to discuss a vast list of topics from healthcare and air mobility to hospitality, tourism, advances in the agriculture industry, climate issues and housing.
Allen Radner, president and CEO of Salinas Valley Health, was the keynote speaker, charging head-on into the array of healthcare challenges set forth by the Trump Administration, the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill” and the ongoing government shutdown.
Headed up by the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership, the eight-hour event featured more than three dozen speakers and panelists.
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas told the crowd that this past year has been “the most challenging year in my time in office.” “I have made it my mission to ensure that regions like ours just don’t survive but that they thrive, that all Californians, from farmworkers to entrepreneurs—everyone has a fair shot at opportunity,” he said.
Rivas also touched on poverty and a lack of affordable housing—factors that result in many people unable to afford to live near their jobs.
This year, Rivas said he helped streamline the largest expansion of housing opportunities in decades.
“Our job isn’t just pushing back on Donald Trump, but about making real progress for California,” he said. “As California Democrats, we have to do a much better job at improving the lives of the residents who live here.”
State Sen. John Laird told the crowd he wanted to look back over the year and “look forward to some of the challenges…” His remarks touched on several accomplishments, including the completion of improvements to Highway 156 between San Juan Bautista and Hollister and the recent groundbreaking for a 670-bed student housing project at Cabrillo College.
On the issue of healthcare, Laird mentioned stepping in to help Watsonville Community Hospital, cuts to Medicaid and threats to area hospitals.
“We are going to make sure that we do what it takes to keep our hospitals financially sound and operating,” he said.
