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The following two sites are under the direction of the City of Vacaville, which identified and developed the two sites concurrently. Sponsorship has been provided in the form of additional funding from the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District and in the form of donated site administration time and custodial services from the City of Vacaville. These sites have been operational since July 1994, although grand opening ceremonies were held at the end of October 1994.
The same marketing strategies and recruitment activities have been conducted for both sites. Marketing efforts have been concentrated on media exposure, including press releases and advertising on cable television. These have resulted in contacts which the site developer has pursued assiduously. Another strong source of community outreach has been the Solano Commuter Information, a local ride-share agency that has promoted the telecenter heavily. While newspaper coverage and cable talk shows have sparked interest, the greatest concentration has been to work closely with key transportation coordinators in companies who have employees living in the area. By identifying and working closely with an internal "champion", the developer believes that employees who live in areas near the centers and have difficult or long commutes can be more readily identified than through direct outreach to the surrounding community. Moreover, such a key person is more aware of internal policy and possible internal inhibitors to telecommuting, and can work to surmount these obstacles in a way someone external to the company cannot. Using this strategy, the site developer recently concluded a major tenant/operator agreement with Kaiser Permanente providing for the participation of seven administrative personnel and fourteen home health care workers. Interest from this particular company has spread to other centers involved in the RABO program, including potential telecommuters for the Davis Telework Center site.
Ulatis Community Center - This site is in the Ulatis Community Center. It contains 540 square feet housing seven cubicle workstations. There is no conference room available in the immediate area of the telecenter; however, rooms directly adjacent to the center can be readily used for that purpose. The center is equipped with four Compaq 80486s with 9600 baud internal modems. On-site user services provided include access to fax and copy machines, and phones. The center also provides coffee, tea, and use of a refrigerator and microwave.
Currently, this center is being used by two employees of the State of California, and three employees from private industry. Two of the users have technical occupations, and three have management positions. Average usage is approximately 1.5 times per week for each user.
The area surrounding this site is mostly industrial mixed with commercial; the Factory Outlet stores, a large shopping complex, are within two blocks of the center. The residential neighborhood is at a slightly greater remove, but still within walking distance. Also within walking distance are the library and the community theater. The immediate area is well endowed with bike lanes, which serve the nearby residential neighborhood.
Vacaville Community Center (ALAMO) - This facility is in a trailer, and occupies approximately two-thirds of the entire structure. The telecenter is 512 square feet, and has eight workstations total. The center comprises three rooms: a larger central room, housing three cubicle workstations, and two smaller rooms off of the main room, one with three workstations, and one with two. There are no separate conference rooms, although either of the two smaller offices can be converted for that purpose on an as-needed basis. The center provides four personal computers: each of the smaller offices has one computer, and two of the cubicle workstations in the main area have a computer. The computers are Compaq 80486s with 9600 baud internal modems.
The neighborhood is mostly residential, with some commercial development close by. This commercial development provides easy access to shopping and restaurants. Vacaville Community Center houses a public swimming pool on site. The telecenter also provides coffee, tea, and access to a refrigerator and microwave.
Five regular telecommuters are currently using the site; all are from private enterprise. One telecommuter is working from the center once a week; the rest are using the center two to four times per week. Kaiser Permanente is using both sites for fourteen of its home health care workers. These employees provide home health care to patients in the Vacaville region. Rather than travelling an extra hour each day to Vallejo to update their records, they are using the centers to complete their paperwork. Another company has expressed interest in using the facility to demonstrate its teleconferencing equipment in exchange for donated usage to the center.
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