I’m no Chevy Chase, but our family took a European Vacation this summer, and I returned refreshed, recharged and ready for August. I hope you had the chance to enjoy some summer vacationing yourselves.
Engagements, the theme for Sunstone’s third quarter of 2025, continued to grow in number and strength this August. The weekly Sunstone Stage Connects series coordinated through Sunstone Advisors packed the Sunstone presentation area every Friday with an engaged audience hearing from some inspiring startup founders.
Our P3 Strategy Series demonstrated the power of our engagements with top government officials. Dr. Tara Lynn Gray, GO-Biz director of the Office of the Small Business Advocate, pumped up the crowd with ways the state helps small business owners, who in turn create jobs and economic advancement in cities and towns across California.
I was honored by another engagement that resulted in Sunstone as the focus of the first webinar in a series presented by GO-Biz and its California Jobs First program. I was able to talk about how public-private partnerships can be a key driver in job creation across the state.
The webinar was streamed live on the state California Jobs First website, and is available now on YouTube. Click here to watch the entire session.
Sunstone Challenge at USC
I’m thrilled to say that the Sunstone Economic Development Challenge @ USC Price – where I earned my master’s degree – has really taken off this year. The Sunstone Cities duo of Ryan Phong and Giselle Melendez Cruz hosted an information session for cities interested in participating in the 2025-2026 Sunstone Challenge, and are reviewing a whopping 16 submissions.
Because of that great response, it has been decided to expand this fourth annual challenge to seven cities and seven teams, up from five teams last year. Watch for the announcement of the participating cities, which will be out soon.
This Challenge, which began as an academic exercise, has produced concrete results for the participating cities and the students on the teams. And Giselle, who helps coordinate the event, was a member of the winning team at the 2023-24 Challenge!
I’m very proud of the entire Sunstone team and the focus on engagement this quarter – August showed some great results. I can’t wait to see what September brings!
John Keisler
CEO & Managing Partner
©Sunstone Management, Inc. 2025