California’s airports are banding together to weigh in on state and federal laws and policies that affect them, and the Sonoma County Airport (seen here looking south from the air)  is part of the group.

Florida’s commercial airports have had a joint lobbying organization for almost 40 years, the only other state with such a group. Sonoma County Airport Manager Jon Stout observes that California may have been overdue in following suit.

Membership dues in the California Airports Council are based on traffic, so the cost to Sonoma County is modest, just $715 per year, Stout says. And that could more than pay for itself if the group’s lobbying to increase one particular federal fee is successful.

Back before the economy contracted, Sonoma County supervisors convened an Innovation Council to plan for local job growth. That effort has begun to bear fruit, but is now facing budgetary uncertainly of its own.

In just a couple of years, the Sonoma County Innovation Council has moved quickly to analyze the local economy and develop a strategic plan for growth over the next decade. Council co-chair Cynthia Murray (left) , Executive Director of the North Bay Leadership Council, notes that this process was undertaken before the current economic downturn kicked in.

You can read the Innovation Council's full report here.

Small businesses in America could be an important engine to help drive economic recovery, according to a local advocacy group, but they need more help than they are currently getting from the federal Small Business Administration.

Chris Gunn, Communications Director for the American Small Business League  in Petaluma says the Obama economic team does not appear to recognize the importance of small businesses to the US economy any more than their predecessors  in the Bush Administration did.

Given the considerable number of small businesses in the country, Chris Gunn says they could be a formidable political force, if they came together to press for policies that would benefit them as a group.

One change at the SBA under the Obama administration has been the installation of Karen Mills (left)  as the agency’s new director. But Gunn is not convinced she genuinely has the interests of the nation’s smaller business owners at the forefront.

The winner of the latest “Clo the Cow” billboard slogan contest drew from Dirty Harry to get a happy diary.

Clo the Cow will be featured on the billboard with the winning slogan, of course, but Clover-Stornetta president Marcus Benedetti says the cartoon cow is more than just a pretty face.

Daniel Judd celebrates his contest victory, sharing a high five with Clo the Cow as girlfriend Andrea Duszynski looks on.