A civil servant since 1990, Harry Freitas recently moved into his new role as director of the City of San Jose's Planning, Building and Code Enforcement Department. Join us for a discussion of challenges and opportunities as San Jose seizes a moment of rapid growth and change in the South Bay.

An early adopter of Mayor Lee's payroll tax exemption for Mid-Market and Tenderloin business, cloud-based software company Zendesk has reciprocated the city's generosity by becoming deeply involved with organizations that work to break the cycle of poverty, bridge the technical divide and promote workforce development. Join CEO Mikkel Svane for a discussion on what's next for Zendesk.

San Francisco is in a boom. Analyses show that fears of a bubble are unwarranted, but how reliant on the tech sector is this forward momentum? Join Ted Egan, Chief Economist for the City of San Francisco, for a look at what this rapid growth could mean for the future of the city.

It's easy to write a story about Google shuttles but far more complicated to provide thoughtful, contextual analysis of the rapidly changing world of tech and urbanism in the San Francisco Bay Area. Two of the sharpest journalists covering these issues today are Recode's James Temple and Techcrunch's Kim-Mai Cutler. Join them for a discussion of the issues facing the cities and tech, how they…

Phil Matier and Andy Ross of the San Francisco Chronicle share their thoughts on the rapidly changing political landscape in San Francisco. With our regional economic boom well underway and cranes dotting the skyline, what will 2014 hold for the city and region?

With over 141 acres and nearly 28,000 students, San Francisco State University is the largest educational institution in the city. Helmed by President Dr. Leslie Wong, the universtiy has just launched a new strategic planning effort, providing an opportunity to reexamine both its academic and physical master plans as well as the institution's connection to the broader city context. Join Dr. Wong as…

IDEO' s singular approach to design has consistently awarded them recognition as one of the most innovative companies on the planet. IDEO's CEO and president, Tim Brown, joins the Business Breakfast series for a discussion of how the company continues to strive to better shape the interactions we experience in our day-to-day lives.

[Please note: this event speaker and topic have changed] SPUR business members are invited to attend our Business Breakfast Series. Please contact [email protected] for more details.

Deanna Santana joins the Business Breakfast series with an exclusive look into Oakland's current municipal successes and challenges. With just over two years as the city's administrator under her belt, Santana will talk about guiding one of the Bay Area's political powerhouses through shifts in budgetary stability and recent leadership changes in education and law enforcement.

Since 1965 the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) has helped to ensure that the San Francisco Bay’s economic power is responsibly harnessed to benefit the cities that surround it. In 2012, Governor Brown appointed two new leads to head the agency responsible for both the protection and development of land in and around the bay: Larry Goldzband as executive director and Zachary Wasserman as…