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BACKGROUND The Innovation for Green Advanced Transportation Excellence (i-GATE) initiative was implemented in 2010 when i-GATE was formally designated as an Innovation Hub (iHub) by the California Governor's Office of Economic Development. The iHub program was created to improve the state's national and global competitiveness by stimulating partnerships, economic development, and job creation around specific research clusters by proving a framework for startup companies, business groups and investors. As an iHub, i-GATE is a public-private partnership aimed at bringing technology out of Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories to the commercial market. In addition to the laboratories, the i-GATE partnership includes a consortium of universities, business organizations, companies and municipalities. Initial municipal participants were located in the Tri-Valley and included the Cities of Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin, San Ramon and the Town of Danville. Involvement has now been expanded to cover a broader geographic area, from Fremont to Davis, to bring additional assets into i-GATE. To date, the administrative work required to establish and coordinate the i-GATE initiatives has been provided and largely underwritten by the City of Livermore, augmented by Small Business Development Center (SBDC) funds and private contributions. Governance of i-GATE is through two non-profit boards of directors: i-GATE NEST — which oversees the policies and programs for a technology business incubator, and i- GATE Development Corporation —which oversees the development of i-GATE facilities. In addition to these boards is a Mayoral Advisory Committee comprised of the mayors, city managers, economic development directors and business representatives from each participating municipality. DISCUSSION The purpose of i-GATE is to create jobs in the technology sector thus generating a positive economic impact across the i-GATE region. Pleasanton has a strong technology industry sector; in fact, of the more than 750 technology companies identified in the Tri-Valley area (in the July 2010 Innovation Potential in the 74-Valley report) more than half of those are located in Pleasanton. Thus, engaging in regional initiatives that support the existing network of firms and attract new technology companies is an excellent complement to the City's ongoing efforts to maintain a robust business environment. From i-GATE's inception, it was anticipated that when the i-GATE model was well- developed, a sustainable organizational and funding structure would be identified and presented to the participating partners. Based on the foundational work of the past two years, the structure now being implemented includes continued municipal participation while also bringing in private sector funding. Of a total $480,000 budget, one-third will come from municipal partners and two-thirds will come from corporate contributions. Page 2 of 4