A new community engagement manager, a new website and a brisk cadence of community engagement meetings and study sessions, the Diridon Station Area planning is process is in full swing.

In addition to the Station Area Advisory Group (SAAG) meetings every three weeks, 

After years of planning and negotiations, four brand new retail spaces were inaugurated in May -- carved out of 12 parking spaces fronting on the east side of San Pedro Street. The shops of the MOMENT project, along with the design changes in the pedestrian space, are adding to San Pedro Square's lively and varied urban vibe.

These are not just any shops -- managed by SJ Made, the vendors in the four spaces will rotate, but all will be local artists and craftspeople. The first set of vendors are all women:

• Bobo Design Studio: Angie Chua has created a lifestyle wanderlust brand featuring brilliant designs crafted on everything from pins and patches to bags and graphic apparel, handcrafted and made in California. 
• Fractal Flora: Yuri Lee and Sarah Lim have a mission to reconnect people to nature, be it through their wonderful curation and care for the plants and flowers they sell or their popular DIY terrarium workshops. 
•  Blooms Prive: Sarah Coronado and Marie Coronado of Blooms Privé have created the next evolution of women's underwear (patent-approved), prioritizing an empowering and inventive design for women anywhere. 
• Sea Senorita Studios: Sofia Arredondo uses her incredible artwork to power a diverse range of products, featuring everything from paper goods to T-shirts to accessories. 

Cinnaholic.

Cinnaholic, a fast-growing franchise with only one other Northern California location, opened in the old Ben & Jerry's location at 115 East San Carlos. An enthusiastic crowd gathered well before the ribbon was cut, anxious to try the freshly baked cinnamon rolls with a choice of 30 toppings and frostings.

The City of San Jose hosted the regional semi-finals of national competition designed to help high school students learn the basics of building a business and competing for recognition and support.  

The Youth Entrepreneurship & Innovation Summit was an all-day competition with more than 100 high-schoolers, largely from East Side Union High School District. Held at San Jose City Hall, the event took most of May 4, featuring semi-final pitchoffs, "Shark Tank"-style, as the students presented business plans for products and services they had envisioned. 

Local business leaders served as coaches for the student teams, and also provided the VIP judges who heard the finalist pitches at the end of the day. A project of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, the San Jose semi-finals were made possible by Bank of the West, the Citi Foundation, Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, EY PayPal, and the City of San Jose's Business Owner Space and Work2Future.

A guest blogpost about an innovative approach to work group team-building was provided by the Internal Sales Team at Cohesity, the fast-growing tech firm that just recently made San Jose its home. 

The Cohesity group created an ingenious set of scavenger hunt clues, ranging from an expensive bear to a huge board game, that took the Cohesions all over town, ending up with enacting random acts of kindness with strangers.

We appreciate Cohesity's innovative approach to getting to know the neighborhood.

Get ready to explore an historical route and a vital business district on Sept. 23, 2018, when VivaCalle SJ takes to six miles of Monterey Road.

Last year, 130,000 walkers, bikers, skaters, strollers and other human-powered means of locomotion enjoyed VivaCalle SJ, and at least that many are anticipated for this year's event that takes in a vital swath of neighborhoods south of Downtown. 

Feedspot announced a ranked list of the  Best San Jose Blogs from thousands of San Jose blogs in their index, using search and social metrics.

They selected these websites because they are actively working to educate, inspire, and empower their readers with frequent updates and high-quality information.

Feedspot is a tool for gathering, reading, and sharing all the interesting blogs and websites you read on the web.