Bay Area Catering Company Donates to Score for Kids

As part of their continuing effort to give back to the communities that they serve, a San Francisco Bay Area catering company, Checkers Catering & Special Events, will be donating the culinary services of their Executive Chef Kathleen Hoffman. It will go to benefit Oakland Children's Hospital & Research Center during the Score For Kids Auction event held at the tournament.

Funds raised by the Score Fore Kids golf tournament help offset the costs of millions of dollars in uncompensated care provided to families every year.

Director of Business Development for Checkers Catering, Fred Kotrozo said, "The Oakland Children's Hospital is an organization we donate to each year to recognize all the tremendous work they do to help improve lives of children who are suffering and to provide research for future generations to stem the tide of so many unimaginable diseases and illnesses."

The Score Fore Kids Golf Classic was formed to raise significant revenue to support children in need. Since 2000, Score Fore Kids has raised more than $1.4 million dollars for Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland. The lucky bidder will have Kathleen come to their home to prepare and serve a gourmet meal for them.

The event will be held Monday, September 19 at the Claremont Country Club and will benefit Oakland Children's Hospital.

Marin Modern Real Estate has Received Green Business Certification

Marin Modern Real Estate, a full service residential real estate brokerage firm based in San Rafael, California, announced that it has received Green Business Certification from The Bay Area Green Business Program.

The Green Business Program is a voluntary partnership among business leaders, government agencies and non-profit organizations. The program recognizes and promotes businesses that demonstrate continuous compliance with applicable environmental regulations, conserve energy, water, and other materials, implement sound environmental practices that prevent pollution and waste generation, and share environmentally responsible practices with other businesses in our community. The Marin County Green Business program is part of the Bay Area Green Business Program. There are over 2,750 certified Green Businesses located throughout the Bay Area.

"We are delighted that our organization has become the first real estate brokerage firm based in San Rafael to receive Green Business Certification," commented Renee Adelmann, Realtor & Owner of Marin Modern Real Estate. "The traditional method of practicing real estate generates a lot of waste which burdens the environment, consumers and even real estate agents. Our company and agents have long recognized these inefficiencies and have consistently taken steps to practice real estate in a more efficient and eco-centric manner. These steps include very early adoption and use of electronic signatures and paperless faxes to minimize the amount of paper generated with each transaction, cloud computing to better connect our team and clients, the use of recycled paper, recycling paper and other materials within our office, minimizing power consumption thru responsible agent practices and thru the use of technology such as Smart Lighting and EcoStrip Power Strips, encouraging use of low VOC paints, and even carpooling when touring Marin open homes."

Renee Adelmann added "The success and remarkable growth we've experienced as a company is due in large part to understanding the needs of modern day home buyers and sellers in Marin County. Being more eco-conscious in the way we practice real estate and offering clients high-tech, high touch professional representation through our team of experienced and knowledgeable REALTORS® resonates with today's savvy consumers. Our firm's double-digit growth in both sales and transaction volume every year since our inception is a testament to our success."

In addition to earning Green Business Certification, the company announced the addition of Realtor Heidi Phan-Peterson to their team. Heidi joins Marin Modern Real Estate from ZipRealty where she spent 10 years working at their corporate office as an advocate for improvements in customer service and the real estate consumer experience.

About Marin Modern Real Estate

Marin Modern Real Estate is an innovative, technology-enabled, and high-touch residential real estate brokerage firm serving the needs of home buyers and sellers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Founded by one of the Bay Area's top-producing real estate agents, the company provides unmatched professional representation to real estate clients throughout Marin County (Marin Modern Real Estate), San Francisco (San Francisco Modern Real Estate) as well as Alameda & Contra Costa Counties (East Bay Modern Real Estate.

To learn more visit us online at Marin Modern Real Estate, San Francisco Modern Real Estate and East Bay Modern Real Estate.

Bay Area News Group Makes Changes to East Bay Papers

The Bay Area News Group announced Tuesday it will consolidate its 11 daily papers in the East Bay under two mastheads and add new sections to them.

The company is making the changes to emphasize its regional approach to news coverage and free up resources to funnel into its digital initiatives. The move to streamline the group's East Bay operations will help to reduce expenses as print advertising revenue continues to be under pressure.

As part of the changes, the Contra Costa Times, San Ramon Valley Times, East County Times, Tri-Valley Herald and San Joaquin Herald will be renamed The Times.

The Oakland Tribune, Alameda Times-Star, Hayward Daily Review, Fremont Argus and West County Times will be renamed the East Bay Tribune.

The company said it would close its Walnut Creek facility and other offices, and that the consolidation would lead to the elimination of 120 jobs, or 8 percent of the group's workforce.

"We're taking these actions to strengthen the company for the future and to offer additional value for readers and advertisers," said Mac Tully, president of Bay Area News Group, or BANG.

The principal owner of BANG is Denver-based MediaNews Group.

The changes take effect Nov. 2, and Tully emphasized they will allow BANG "to add a number of new features to the East Bay papers."

East Bay Papers to Consolidate, 8 Percent Staff Cuts Expected

As newspapers nationwide struggle to evolve viable business models, Bay Area News Group on Tuesday said it will consolidate 11 local newspapers in the East Bay into two regional newspapers and lay off 8 percent of the staff.

"After many months of research and planning, we are taking a strategy of rebranding," said Mac Tully, BANG president, in an interview. "We are trying to gain efficiencies through streamlining. A lot of positives are being added: a local section seven days a week, a stand-alone business section every day and the successful technology section from the South Bay being brought up to the East Bay."

BANG will shift more of its print dollars to digital offerings, including its iPad and iPhone apps and upcoming products, Tully said.

Starting Nov. 2, the Oakland Tribune, Alameda Times-Star, Daily Review, Argus and West County Times will appear under the name East Bay Tribune. Tully said it will primarily serve the 880 corridor.

At the same time, the Contra Costa Times, Valley Times, San Ramon Valley Times, Tri-Valley Herlad, San Joaquin Herald and East County Times will be rebranded as The Times to serve the 680 corridor and east, Tully said.

In addition, the San Mateo County Times will be branded under the Mercury News title. Tully said it's still under discussion whether the Mercury News will keep San Jose in its name.

BANG will also launch two new weekly newspapers: The Valley Journal for Alamo, Danville and San Ramon; and The Times-Herald for Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore and Sunol.

The moves will mean the end of the 137-year-old Oakland Tribune name.

"From a nostalgic perspective, anyone who loves Oakland can't help but feel a sense of loss," said Martin Reynolds, editor of the Oakland Tribune. "But I think we would feel a lot more loss if the Tribune were gone entirely. For me personally what's most important is that there still is a Tribune and that we're going to be in the community and have a presence."

Newspaper observers said the moves appear to be trying to make the best of the financial struggles besetting all newspapers. Around the country, advertising sales, the primary source of newspaper revenues, are half what they were in 2005, said Alan Mutter, a media consultant in San Francisco.

"With advertising revenues shrinking, it makes sense for them to try to create newspapers that are easier for them to put together," he said. "The net result for readers could be a paper of equal caliber but probably somewhat less local, and given that more positions will be elminated in the newsroom as well as production side, probably somewhat less coverage than before."

BANG said it will cut 120 jobs out of its workforce of 1,500. The bulk will come from closing a Walnut Creek printing facility, but Reynolds said about 40 positions may be cut from the editorial side.

"It sounds like with very limited resources they are trying to put out a better product," said Cynthia Gorney, a professor at the UC Berkeley journalism school. "Everywhere in the Bay Area, readers are getting frustrated by the drop in local reporters able to cover responsibly the events they care about. I understand that a lot of this is driven by newspaper bewilderment and frustration over how they'll continue to make money."

BANG is part of MediaNews Group, the nation's second largest newspaper publisher by circulation. Last week MediaNews said it will erect a pay wall, or online subscription model, for 23 smaller papers in five states, including California. Tully said there are no plans for a similar move in the Bay Area.

The Mercury News, BANG's flagship paper, had a weekday circulation of 577,665 as of March, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation. That includes readers of the Contra Costa Times and Oakland Tribune. The Chronicle, the only other daily of significant size in the Bay Area, had a circulation of 235,350.

Both MediaNews and Hearst, the Chronicle's publisher, are privately held, so details on their advertising sales and other revenues are not available.

Bay Area NFL Execs have Different Takes on Recent Stadium Violence

The recent incidents of fan violence in the Bay Area, concluding in assaults and shootings tied to last Saturday's preseason contest between the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park, has led to the cancellation of the annual exhibition series. Both teams were prompted to make statements on the matter.

For Oakland Raiders CEO Amy Trask, the most disturbing blowback of the violence is that the team's fans, stereotyped as a large group of freaky biker rejects and Darth Vader-dressed dudes bent on full-time destruction, get more heat than ever when things like this happen.

"Let me tell you on a personal level, it couldn't be more troubling, Trask told San Francisco radio station 97.5 The Game. "Let's be a little bit direct about this. It's not just a stereotype of fans and the citizens in the community. The media engage in this stereotyping as well. We all know better than to stereotype. Yet in situations like these, people make an immediate rush to judgment and to stereotype. I will tell you, and I could be more passionate about this -- the overwhelming majority of the Raiders fans, and fans of the 49ers, and fans of all NFL teams, are terrific, terrific people. We have to resist the urge to let the behavior of a handful of people color our view of the fanbase as a whole."

Trask also sounded open to more exhibitions between the 49ers and Raiders before the kibosh was eventually put on the whole idea. "Well, we have a terrific working relationship with the 49ers and we will continue to discuss our game and our business relations in the manner we always do, which is a cooperative, collaborative, congenial manner. I have every confidence that the 49er organization, led by Jed York, and the Raider organization will have conversations on all our ongoing business practices as time goes forward."

Of course, that's moot now.

49ers owner Jed York has a rather unique take on the recent violence — in a statement that undoubtedly made Commissioner Roger Goodell as happy as can be, York said that the proposed 18-game regular season would have prevented a lot of these messes.

No, really. He said that.

"I think when you have a preseason game, when you don't have your regular-season ticket holders coming to a game, I think that plays a big factor into it," York told Bay Area station KNBR on Monday. "I think that's another reason why the NFL is looking at, you know, trying to revamp the preseason schedule."

 

Uh, what? The worst part of this statement is that Goodell will undoubtedly start using it as more ammo for the 18-game idea, which will gain traction among the owners over the next few years even with a newly-ratified collective bargaining agreement. Goodell's arguments have never been especially solid in that regard — he once told a group of season-ticket holders via conference call that the 18-game schedule would somehow decrease the amount of money it costs fans to go to games, without actually providing any proof or planning.

We're on board with Trask's take — it's cool that she's sticking up for her team's fans (at least the ones who deserve the defense). We have no specific opinion on York's statement, because we're at a complete loss as to what two fewer preseason weeks per season have to do with decreasing fan violence.

Ex-Commerce Officials Believes that Government can Help

Fresh from a two-year stint in the U.S. Commerce Department, Ro Khanna remains enamored of Washington -- despite Washington.

The 34-year-old lawyer, who oversaw 109 U.S. Export Assistance Centers operating in 47 different states in his role as deputy assistant secretary, resigned his post earlier this month to take a position in the office of Silicon Valley powerhouse law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

Khanna had a front-row seat to the political gridlock that roiled the world's financial markets as Congress failed to raise the nation's debt ceiling until the eleventh hour, causing Standard & Poor's to downgrade the nation's credit rating. But he says that hasn't dimmed his view on the role he believes the federal government can play in stimulating economic growth.

"There has been this bipartisan tradition that government needs to support innovation and technological progress," the Fremont resident said during an interview Saturday afternoon. "The competition isn't between Democrats and Republicans, it's with China and Brazil, India and Korea. They are all heavily investing in their manufacturing capacity and providing the right tax policies. We have to come together on a strong agenda for American competitiveness to keep America's economy the world's No. 1 economic engine."

Khanna's appointment in 2009 was a sign to many in the valley's Indo-American community, long influential in the region's technology ecosystem, that it was moving beyond simply writing checks for candidates. Local ethnic Indians are frequently tapped for financial support by the national Republican and Democratic parties.

"We have done well in business. We have done well in finance, entrepreneurship and at being professors," valley venture capitalist and entrepreneur Kanwal Rekhi said after Khanna's appointment was announced two years ago. "The two areas left are Hollywood and Washington, D.C. We can't leave any territory uncovered."

When Khanna unsuccessfully ran against the late Rep. Tom Lantos in the 2004 Democratic primary, he caught the eye of party insiders. Lantos, impressed with the young attorney's political vigor, became a mentor to his former political opponent.

"Ro was one of the first Indo-Americans to run for Congress," said Kamil Hasan, a general partner in Silicon Valley venture company Hitek Venture Partners and a longtime supporter of Democratic politicians. "The South Asian Indian community is hoping he'll run again for Congress. With his experience in the Commerce Department, he can be a very formidable candidate."

Khanna said he plans to remain politically involved by campaigning and fundraising for President Barack Obama's re-election. And he does not rule out a future run for office.

"I leave the option open to serve in some capacity," he said.

Khanna embraces the interests of Silicon Valley tech companies. He believes the federal government should lower the tax corporations must pay to bring overseas cash holdings to the United States. Tech trade groups say the tax forces companies to invest abroad rather than in the United States, while critics have said that much of the more than $300 billion repatriated during a tax holiday in 2004 went to shareholders through increased dividends or expanded share buybacks, not investments.

Khanna, who worked to promote U.S. exports and its manufacturing sector while at the Commerce Department, says some sort of program could be crafted that insures some of the money is invested in expansions on American turf in exchange for a lower tax rate for overseas cash.

"There should be some linkage to investment to create jobs and bringing back dollars at a reduced corporate tax," he said. The tax revenue, Khanna added, should be funneled into an "infrastructure bank," a fund Obama has promoted, to pay for new roads, broadband expansion and other projects across the country.

He also believes the government should continue to support research in such areas as clean technology -- the Obama administration has overseen some $50 billion in loan guarantees in clean tech companies and research projects. He cited previous Republican and Democratic administrations as supporting key research and infrastructure projects that have played important roles in the nation's economic growth.

Khanna admits that he is still a bit star-struck around his former boss. He was on hand when Obama toured Fremont-based solar manufacturer Solyndra in May last year.

Someone had handed Khanna a camera, which he handed to someone else so he could also be in the picture, he recalled. The president, Khanna added, said, "Ro, you work for me. Get out of the picture."

Find Exciting Venues Outside the City

Vibrant, creative event sites aren’t limited to the city of San Francisco. The Bay Area is packed with interesting venues for business meetings and corporate entertainment. Event planners Barbara Edwards of California Host and Lee Gregory of McCalls Catering and Events share their favorite picks in the East Bay, Marin County and on the Peninsula:

Barbara Edwards

President and owner, California Host, San Francisco.

Bay Area Businesses Demand “E-Fairness”

Bay Area business owners and California Teachers Association representatives gathered at Palo Alto Bikes Wednesday to denounce Amazon.com for circumventing California sales tax laws.

“We can’t allow the scofflaws like Amazon to say they’re not going to pay taxes,” said Don Dawson, California Teachers Association Board member who represents educators in Santa Clara County.

“Their failure to follow the law will help contribute to wide-scale cutbacks to essential school programs, making it difficult for educators to do their job and educate our children,” Dawson added.

Local retailers say Amazon possesses an unfair advantage over brick and mortar stores who have to pay tax to the state of California for each transaction conducted. Those taxes along with others are given to the state, which redistributes them to public schools, Dawson said.

The schools in the Redwood City School District rely primarily on money from the state because property taxes don’t generate enough to meet the state’s minimum funding.

Mike Jacoubowsky, owner of Chain Reaction Bicycles in Redwood City, said he is aware that all the stores on the Peninsula are competing against each other as well as online retailers.

"We just want to compete on an even playing field,”

Rock Wall Wine Co. Will Host Summer Rocks Event

Bay Area wine tasting company, Rock Wall Wine Co., announces they will be hosting their Summer Rocks Open House event from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 20 to showcase new releases and award-winning favorites. In addition to tasting Rock Wall's wines, guests will also have the opportunity to taste more than 50 wines, along with music and great food. There will also be a host of other local businesses supplying sweet treats and tasty bites.

"The Rock Wall portfolio will grow with releases of Rock Wall's 2010 Muscat Canelli, 2010 Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay, 2010 "Kristen's Cuvee" Viognier, 2010 Super Alamedan, 2010 Montepulciano, 2009 Rockpile Zinfandel, and 2009 St. Peter's Church Zinfandel," said Chelsea Blackburn of Rock Wall Wine Co.

Rock Wall invites guests to celebrate the summer season with the Summer Rocks event, where they can enjoy the new releases of hand-crafted wines, food from Bistro Zafari, music and the best views the San Francisco Bay Area has to offer.

To add more fun to this summertime event, there will be a photo booth on site and air-brush tattoos available. Guests can also take advantage of special wine pricing.

Tickets can be purchased online for $30 at www.rockwallwines.com or by visiting the Rock Wall Tasting Room. Tickets can be purchased at the door on the day of the event for $45. Each ticket purchase includes a selection of wine tasting samples and summer bites, as well as a souvenir logo wine glass.

For more information about Rock Wall Wine Co. and this event, call 510-522-5700 or visit www.rockwallwines.com.

About The Rock Wall Wine Company
The Rock Wall Wine Company represents a new chapter in the East Bay, urban wine making scene, offering wine lovers one of the most unique experiences in the world of wine making. Established in 2008 by a small group of wine industry veterans Shauna Rosenblum, at just 28 years of age, has expanded the family winemaking business with the same love and commitment to not only Zinfandel but the slew of international varietals such as Tannat, Obsidian and Montepulciano that appeal to the new wave of "millennial" wine drinkers and wine enthusiasts looking for a new experience.

Apple to Open New Bay Area Store on Saturday

The latest Apple (AAPL) expansion will be unveiled Saturday morning on Berkeley's chichi Fourth Street -- another store from the Cupertino company that rewrites old rules of business.

A decade after Steve Jobs showed off the company's first retail store in Tysons Corner, Va., the company has perfected a retail strategy that makes buying iPhones, iPads and other electronics gadgets as much a cultural experience as it is a shopping excursion.

"Just as every device-maker is saying, 'I want to be Apple,' I think every retailer is looking at them, taking notes and saying, 'I want to be like Apple,' " said Steven Addis, CEO of Berkeley-based branding company Addis Creson.

The new Berkeley outlet, which opens at 10 a.m. and is located at 1823 Fourth St., will be the 11th Apple store in the Bay Area and arrives as the company aggressively rolls out new stores across the globe. Apple will open two international stores this weekend. Last week, it opened five new stores -- two in the United States and three overseas, including one in Florence, Italy. During a recent conference call with analysts, Apple said it would open 30 new stores before the end of September.

In Apple's third quarter, the company said, nearly 74 million customers visited Apple stores around the world, up from 60.5 million during the year-ago period.

"Apple can't open the stores fast enough, particularly the international stores," Needham analyst Charlie Wolf said. "Over half of Apple's business is international."

Apple's stores, uncluttered and well-defined by polished wood tables with iPhones an MacBook laptops and open spaces, have become destinations for customers. They are consistently crowded with customers from across the demographic range, from teens to seniors.

"These stores are bulging at the seams," Wolf said. "I went into the Fifth Avenue store (in New York City) a week or two ago, and I couldn't move," he said. "It was unbelievably packed."

The stores not only offer some of the world's hottest-selling devices, but also provide well-informed staff for one-on-one tech tutorials, help desk services at the Genius Bar and assistance in setting up new product purchases.

"As soon as you buy a product, there is someone there who can help you," Wolf said. "There is no fumbling around."

Initially, Jobs envisioned a chain of no more than 100 stores. The decision to sell its own products came as the company struggled to get the attention of consumers in a Microsoft-dominated PC world. Apple's tiny share of the computer market meant resellers were reluctant to allocate sales resources to Macs, Wolf observed in a recent note to investors.

"Apple's only recourse was to open company-owned stores," he wrote.

That was when Apple just sold desktops, laptops, software and accessories. By adding the iPod, and then iPhone and iPad, Apple became the world's tech Zeitgeist. Its products helped redefine the relationship between people and computing devices. The gadgets were no longer simply about productivity, but also entertainment and fashion. And that transformed Apple stores into hubs for people's digital lifestyle.

By the end of September, Apple will have 357 stores around the globe. Last year, it reported that it had 2.5 million square feet in retail space, equivalent to 7,740 square feet per store, Wolf noted. In 2010, the company had average annual store revenue of $34.1 million. That, he added, "translated into sales of $4,406 per square foot, undoubtedly the highest among retail chains in the world."

Apple now overshadows Microsoft, which in 2009 decided to copy its competitor and roll out its own retail stores.

Apple's stores are as much about marketing as selling. In the third quarter that ended June 25, Apple said, revenue from its brick-and-mortar stores soared 36 percent from the year-ago period. About half of the Mactinosh computers sold at stores that quarter were to customers who had never owned a Mac before.

Apple is exacting in deciding where to locate a new store, often choosing the world's most prestigious retail locations -- near the Louvre in Paris, in the heart of Shanghai's gleaming financial center and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, a store that's open 24 hours a day.

On Saturday, it will remove the window covering on its Berkeley outlet, located in a high-end shopping area in a building that once housed a furniture store and a few doors down from the famous Bette's Oceanview Diner. It will be the first new Apple store in the Bay Area since the company opened one in San Mateo in 2008.

"Fourth Street is one of the nicest shopping areas in the country," Addis said. "It's really beautiful."

Wells Fargo Insurance Services Expands Bay Area Region

In an effort to better serve its growing customer base, Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, Inc. -- part of Wells Fargo & Company -- has announced a new structure for its San Francisco/Bay Area operations. Leveraging its size and significant presence in the San Francisco and Northern California markets, Wells Fargo Insurance Services (WFIS) combined the San Francisco South Bay and North Bay regions, providing customers with improved service and access to insurance and financial resources. The South Bay region includes San Carlos, San Mateo and Palo Alto and the North Bay region includes San Francisco, Marin County and Petaluma.

The combined structure will provide customers with a fully-integrated financial and insurance services platform. WFIS will also be better positioned to work with other Wells Fargo business units in the Bay Area, providing improved service and resource delivery to customers locally and in the outlying cities and communities.

"This expansion strengthens Wells Fargo's commitment to our Bay Area customers and communities by aligning our resources and talent to better serve their needs," said H. David Wood, executive vice president of Wells Fargo Insurance Services, West Area. "Customers will have more opportunities to work with other Wells Fargo businesses to find solutions for the financial and risk management issues they face every day."

Brian Hetherington, regional managing director for the new San Francisco Bay Region, will lead the combined operation. He will manage efforts to enhance service offerings through closer alignment with other Wells Fargo businesses.

"As the largest bank-owned brokerage in the U.S., Wells Fargo Insurance Services has an unparalleled level of financial stability, reputation, and depth of resources," said Hetherington. "Leveraging our commercial and consumer cross-sell potential, we have the opportunity to provide financial services to customers across the spectrum, from consumer to corporate banking customers."

Now, as one of the leading insurance brokerage firms in the San Francisco Bay Area, the expanded structure will also help attract and recruit top talent in the insurance market, providing customers with best in class service and access to insurance resources and solutions.

About Wells Fargo Insurance Services

Wells Fargo Insurance Services is the fifth largest insurance brokerage in the world and the largest bank-owned insurance brokerage in the U. S. (Business Insurance, 2009) with more than 200 offices in 37 states. Its 7,000 insurance professionals place more than $16 billion of risk premiums with experience in property, casualty, benefits, international, personal lines, and life products.

Wells Fargo Third Party Administrators and Wells Fargo Disability Management are ranked as the third largest multiline third party administrators that offer employee benefits, and property and casualty claims administration (Business Insurance.) For more information about Wells Fargo Insurance Services, visit www.wellsfargo.com/wfis .

Wells Fargo & Company is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com), and other distribution channels across North America and internationally. With approximately 275,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in America. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 23 on Fortune's 2011 rankings of America's largest corporations. Wells Fargo's vision is to satisfy all our customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially.

Transit ridership Surges throughout Bay Area

When John Leyba boarded Caltrain on Tuesday morning at the Diridon Station in downtown San Jose, he found it "insanely crowded" -- standing room only most of the way to San Francisco, where he works for PG&E as a business analyst.

And when he transferred onto a Muni bus at 4th and King streets, he barely made it inside the door.

In a remarkable turnaround for transit agencies that have repeatedly slashed services, raised fares and lost state and federal funding, transit ridership is steadily rising throughout the Bay Area. Caltrain ridership was up almost 12 percent and BART almost 8 percent in weekday use in June compared to the same month a year ago. The Valley Transportation Authority saw an increase of more than 7 percent and the ACE commuter train of more than 14 percent, while SamTrans ridership was up 0.4 percent.

Of 11 agencies surveyed, only AC Transit and Santa Cruz Metro reported a decline, of 1.5 and 1.3 percent respectively, which they blame on recent reductions in service and expect will increase soon.

Gas prices that averaged $4.32 a gallon in the region in May are "the largest factor, undoubtedly," said Stuart Cohen, executive director of TransForm, an Oakland-based transportation advocacy group. "There is clearly a change in behavior when you see $4 at the pump and $50 fill-ups for a mid-size car."

But Cohen and others say it's not just the price of gas. Higher bridge tolls and parking fees have hit drivers in the pocketbook and led some to take the bus or train to save money. Some are cutting back on driving to reduce the cost of maintaining older cars as they worry about keeping their jobs.

Cohen's group estimates a motorist in the Bay Area can save almost $600 a month by taking public transit to work instead of driving. The American Public Transportation Administration says a person in San Francisco could save nearly $1,100 a month.

The region's unemployment remains stubbornly high, and layoffs almost always mean fewer transit riders, but not this time.

Taking transit now comes with perks that makes the ride more enjoyable. Some riders get free passes from employers. The Clipper Card is now in widespread use and accepted as a universal ticket pass on almost all Bay Area agencies. Caltrain's bullet trains shave nearly 30 minutes off a trip from San Jose to San Francisco. Some VTA light rail trains skip stations along Highway 87 to cut several minutes off a ride from South San Jose to downtown.



"This gives customers a faster travel option as well as the ability to work or relax while on the train," VTA spokeswoman Brandi Childress said, pointing to a recent survey which found that 16 percent of light-rail riders on the express trains are new and motivated to try transit by the new features. "Out of those new customers, 69 percent of them are now riding the express (trains) four to five days a week," she said.

While gas prices have fallen to an average of $3.76 a gallon in California, the U.S. Energy Administration predicts that the price of crude oil could rise to $107 a barrel next year, or nearly $30 higher than today, which will probably mean a return to $4-a-gallon gas.

"Everyone is watching their pennies," said Leyba, who says his $232 monthly Caltrain pass is a bargain compared to the $14 to $20 a day parking fee he would pay in San Francisco if he drove. Never mind the cost of gas, wear and tear and insurance if he had to get a second vehicle.

Lisa Bonetti rides a VTA express bus from Sunnyvale to work in Palo Alto to also reduce her commuting costs.

"I definitely think the recent market decline will impact ridership," she said. "We have two older cars which are starting to fail, but since we have one reliable car and public transportation as an option, we plan to defer making that large purchase for a little while."

And when on the bus, she does more than nap or read a book. She pulls out her smartphone.

"Riders can be more productive than ever during the commute hours," she said. "It is sometimes the only time of day when I can get a chance to read emails and respond uninterrupted."

Contact Gary Richards at 408-920-5335.

Two Bay Area Men Sentenced for Foreclosure Consultant Fraud

Two Bay Area men convicted of one felony count of foreclosure consultant fraud were sentenced to 90 days in jail Friday after paying more than $40,000 in restitution, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.

Cary Jay Silberman, 53, of San Jose and Robert Francis Childs, 44, of Dublin paid restitution in the amounts of $16,745 and $23,345, respectively, to a total of 14 victims, according to the district attorney's office. As a condition of probation, the men were ordered not to provide loan modification services.

Silberman was also convicted of one misdemeanor count of unauthorized practice of law. Prosecutors say Silberman represented to people that he was a lawyer; Silberman resigned from the state bar in 1997.

Prosecutors say Childs gave seminars to real estate offices and groups of agents in the Bay Area, notably in Santa Clara County and Contra Costa County. Under the business name "Pro Family Financial Systems," Childs primarily marketed himself as a debt counselor and referred loan modifications to Silberman, who operated a business called "Loan Deal," which sold loan modification services.

Prosecutors say Silberman and Childs collected money up front from clients for loan modifications.

The district attorney's office advises homeowners to never pay an advance fee for loan modifications. The Foreclosure Consultants Act makes it a crime for anyone, even an attorney or real estate agent, to collect advance fees to perform loan modification services on a mortgage secured by the borrower's primary residence. Contact a HUD-certified foreclosure counselor by logging on at http://hud.gov or by calling the Foreclosure Help Hotline at 408-794-1242.

Contact Mark Gomez at 408-920-5869.

LED Lighting Company Added a Second Regular Contributor to its Company Blog

Elemental LED, a San Francisco Bay Area-based LED lighting company, recently added a second regular contributor to its company blog. Michael Gutman began blogging twice per week at the start of August 2011 for Elemental LED on topics that focus on San Francisco Bay Area green businesses and sustainability news and progress.

"I am thrilled to be blogging about sustainability in the Bay Area for Elemental LED, a company whose environmental values mirror my own," says Gutman. "Partnering with them will get us all closer to getting the word out about how easy and necessary it is to cut down on waste and energy consumption."

Gutman's recent blog topics have included how green energy accreditations have impacted some Bay Area companies, and a green organization profile about The Ecology Center in Berkeley. Upcoming topics include environmental news about San Francisco, Oakland and California job creation.

The addition of Gutman to the Elemental LED blog is part of a company plan to promote the blog and reach a greater audience. "We have been very proud of the quality of content on our blog during the past year, and we believe LED lighting and sustainability are complementary topics our readers will enjoy and engage with us on," says Elemental LED Marketing Manager Charlotte Dick.

Gutman joins Christine Spehar, who has been blogging for Elemental LED three times per week on topics that focus on LED innovations, technology, news and art. With two regular contributors, readers can now enjoy fresh, original content five to six days per week. The addition of Gutman as a regular contributor to the blog expands the breadth of its topics, making it less focused solely on LED lighting and more on sustainable technologies in general.

Spehar has produced over 150 blog posts during the past year on topics ranging from new LED light bulbs and technological innovations at Cree, LED lighting creations at large art and music festivals like Coachella and Burning Man, and large-scale, public LED lighting retrofits in cities like Seattle, NYC and Las Vegas.

"Blogging about LED news, technology and art for Elemental LED has opened me up to a fascinating, fast-paced industry, says Spehar. "It is exciting to learn about how LED lighting is progressing, and I love sharing what I learn with Elemental LED readers."

To learn more about the Elemental LED blog, read recent posts, and search the index of over 400 past posts, please visit www.elementalled.com/leducation/blog.

About Elemental LED

Elemental LED is where style and affordability meet sustainable lighting. Elemental LED offers a wide selection of LED lighting products for home and business owners, including LED strip lights, light bars, puck lights, wall washers, light bulbs, controllers, power supplies and more. Products include color-changing, dimming and waterproof functionality. Elemental LED offers in house engineering and comprehensive customer service and education, from live phone support to online tutorials. LED lighting technology is the safest, hippest, and most energy efficient way to light up the world. Learn more at www.elementalled.com.

Market's Reaction to the Standard and Poor's Credit Downgrade

The market's reaction to the Standard and Poor's credit downgrade may be just the beginning. The financial impact could stay with us for months to come, making almost anything we do, buy or consume, more expensive.

That prospect actually has some people in the Bay area making big financial decisions now.

For example, as the Chief Financial Officer of her family's Tampa-based business, Patricia Evans decided now is the time to buy the fleet vehicle they've been shopping for.

"We would have to pay that higher interest rate, unfortunately," she says of the possible rate-hike. "We're small business owners, so we only have so much allocated for vehicles and income and payroll."

Evans knows that the S&P credit downgrade for the U.S. government from AAA to AA+  means higher interest rates may be on the way. 

So the same vehicle, even at the same price, could cost a few dollars more a month to finance in just a few weeks.

"With the economy, a few dollars a month makes a big difference these days," she says.

It was the same thing for Traci and Mark Meng, signing papers on a new home in Port Tampa. No longer on the sidelines, the couple decided to do the deal now, to avoid an interest rate hike.

"Yes, we rushed this weekend to go ahead and close the deal," said Traci.

"The door opens up, you gotta walk through it for opportunity. You've got to," added Mark, "Unfortunately the economy isn't gonna get any better, it's gonna get worse."

Conventional wisdom has it that the downgrade to U.S. debt could increase interest rates by as much as a .5% over the next few weeks.

Mark Zandi, an analyst with Moody's Investments, thinks it may even be a bit less.

"I don't think rates would rise overwhelmingly, but they would rise," he says.

So what does that mean on a bigger purchase?

On a $200,000 home loan, a .5% rate hike is more than $60 a month, $720 a year, or $21,000 more in total payments over the course of a 30-year loan.

Higher rates also mean higher costs for products and services as manufacturers pass along the higher cost of borrowing to their customers.

Credit card debt, or any debt with variable rates, could also rise.

Student loans too. 

And with less expendable income to buy goods and services, that, say economists, will likely slow the economy further, leading to fewer jobs. 

The non-partisan group "Third Way" estimates a half point rate increase will eliminate 640,000 jobs at a time when the nation's economy can least afford it.

One small, silver lining could be dramatically lower prices at the pump. 

The global slowdown had traders speculating on a lower demand for oil, pushing oil prices below $81 a barrel in Monday's trading.

If it stays there, it should translate to gasoline prices well below $3 per gallon.

Bay Area Inpatient Group Combine Forces - Sound Physicians

Sound Physicians, a leading hospitalist organization focused on driving improvements in quality, satisfaction and efficiency of inpatient healthcare delivery, today announced the acquisition of Bay Area Inpatient Group in the greater San Francisco Bay area.

The new, consolidated organization brings together the strengths of each organization in the continued service and focus on exceptional patient care at NorthBay Healthcare System’s two hospitals, North Bay Medical Center in Fairfield, Calif. and VacaValley Hospital in Vacaville, Calif. Bay Area Inpatient Group physicians will be joining Sound Physicians’ existing team of 12 hospitalists and one hospitalist RN.

“As one hospitalist practice we can deepen the performance value we bring to NorthBay Healthcare,” said Robert Bessler M.D., chief executive officer and founder of Sound Physicians. "With the consolidation of hospitalist services at NorthBay, Sound Physicians will double the number of patient visits and drive further performance.

Now all medicine hospitalists serving NorthBay Healthcare’s two hospitals will utilize Sound Physicians’ robust performance management engine and clinical process excellence solutions to drive improvements to inpatient care. The teams will also have the benefit of Sound Physicians’ strong resources and expertise in hospital medicine management, including areas such as informatics, billing, compliance and human resources.

“Our team looks forward to being part of Sound Physicians,” said Bay Area Inpatient Group partner Paresh Pravin, M.D. “Working together, we’re able to further sharpen our focus on providing exceptional patient care.”

About Sound Physicians

Sound Physicians is a leading hospitalist organization focused on driving improvements in quality, satisfaction and efficiency of inpatient health care delivery. Sound Physicians’ invests deeply in outstanding physicians, clinical process excellence and its proprietary workflow and informatics technology. Sound Physicians seamlessly partners with healthcare providers to measurably enhance patient outcomes and strengthen hospital financial performance. To learn more visit: www.soundphysicians.com.
 

Contacts Sound Physicians
Daven Rosener, 800-850-9665

40 to 50 Percent Discount on Eyeglasses

The Bay Area's eyeglasses online, Discount Eyeglasses USA is announcing they are offering discounts on many different eyeglasses. With the economy still reeling and health insurance policies covering less and less these days, it can be quite costly to purchase new eyeglass for oneself or the entire family. Tightening the purse strings is one thing, but skimping on eyeglasses is another. Older glasses that are ill-fitting contain scratches and an outdated prescription can be hazardous to one's health because of headaches from straining to see to be able to read, watch television, to drive and other activities. By purchasing eyeglasses online at Discount Eyeglasses USA, customers can receive a tremendous discount on what they would have paid if they bought eyeglasses at an eye doctor's office.
 

They stock eyeglass frames for men, women and children and have every variety, assortment and color of frames that will appeal to everyone. Customers can choose from a full rim, half rim or rimless glasses. They may also choose from metal, plastic, titanium or bendable frames.
 

Many of the frames are 40 to 50 percent off, but some have an even higher markdown. For instance, a woman can obtain quality single vision lenses, a free case and cloth and polished lens edges for just $9.99. The regular retail price on these frames is $45.45.
 

Often times, first time customers of Discount Eyeglasses USA are filled with a bit of trepidation when purchasing eyeglasses online since they have always been accustomed to trying on frames before ordering them to make sure they feel right and look right, however should a customer not be happy with their purchase, they may return the glasses and receive a full refund.
 

"Return your glasses for any reason, no questions asked and we'll give you a 100 percent refund," said Gilbert Matsuoka of Discount Eyeglasses USA.
For more information and to choose a frame, visit them on the web at http://discounteyeglassesusa.com/ or call 888-548-6926.
 

About Discount Eyeglasses USA
Discount Eyeglasses USA was designed to provide customers with the prescription eyeglasses that they need when they need them. They present a collection of frames that are 100 percent guaranteed. From stylish to funky, customers will find an inexpensive pair of prescription glasses satisfying all visual needs.

Bobby Specializing in Both Interior and Exterior Painting

Bobby the Painter, the Bay Area house painter is a small, locally-owned business serving the San Francisco Bay Area, specializing in both interior and exterior painting. The company is now using three environmentally friendly paints from the Kelly-Moore Paint Company.
 

Bobby the Painter uses the Green Coat interior paint system, an interior acrylic coating with no VOC (volatile organic compounds), providing a virtually odorless and environmentally friendly coating system. Another product which the company relies on is Enviro Coat, an interior paint which also contains no VOCs and prevents mildew growth. Rounding out the three "green" paints is Enviro Coat Reflective, used for exteriors. This is also an environmentally friendly paint that is solar reflective so that the sun's rays are reflected away from the painted exterior.
 

"Everyone is starting to realize that we need to be concerned about the environment and our health, and my company also cares," says Bobby Piwowarski, the man behind Bobby the Painter. "We are now emphasizing using environmentally friendly paints."
 

Bobby the Painter serves customers from the Bay Area, East Bay, Peninsula, San Jose, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, Mountain View, Menlo Park, San Francisco, Millbrae, Burlingame, Redwood City, San Carlos, Belmont, and Sunnyvale.
 

For more information on Bobby the Painter and the company's services, contact them at (510) 250-3646 or visit them on the web at www.bobbythepainter-bayarea.com.
 

About Bobby the Painter
Bay Area exterior painting company, Bobby the Painter is a small, locally owned business offering services in interior painting, lighting, carpentry, sheetrock, and texturing. They have experienced and affordable house painters with more than 10 years of experience. Bobby the Painter does not subcontract any work and can easily be reached. The company constantly tries to provide the best service to Bay Area customers. They are keenly aware of the economic troubles that their clients may be facing, and it's with that mindset that Bobby the Painter will strive to do quality work for a reasonable price.

Bay Area Airport Construction Workers Lose Work

Scores of local airport construction workers either laid off or on furlough hoped to go back to work after Congress agreed on a debt ceiling deal Tuesday, but were crushed to find no end to a partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Though air traffic controllers are still guiding pilots across the sky, construction projects and efforts to modernize or expand airports have been on hold since July 23, when the agency's authorization from Congress expired.

Frozen Bay Area projects include a new air traffic control tower in Oakland and seismic work at airports in Livermore and Palo Alto.

"Politics and recesses are at the heart of these decisions," said Pete Figueiredo, treasurer for Operating Engineers Local No. 3, at a news conference Tuesday at Oakland International Airport.

"Meanwhile, our people are making decisions between making rent or mortgage payments and putting food on the table tonight. I question whether (members of Congress) have the capacity to understand those kinds of decisions."

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said the shutdown is affecting her city. "Tourism, with the low dollar, is one of our few growing industries. If we can't modernize our airport and make it more efficient to have flights going in and out, it slows that growth."

About 4,000 FAA employees and an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 construction workers are going without work nationwide. The FAA reports it issued stop-work orders at almost 250 projects, freezing about $10.5 billion in spending.

Congress has passed FAA funding extensions 20 times since the last long-term authorization expired in 2007. But in what Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday, called "another made-up crisis by the Republicans" that echoed tactics used in the debt-ceiling debate, an extension recently passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives included significant changes to unions' rights and subsidies for rural airports.

That bill didn't pass in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and the result was a stalemate unlikely to see any movement until Congress comes back from recess after Labor Day.

The political details don't matter to Rich Zemlok, a 35-year veteran electrician who had been working on the Oakland tower after 10 months without work. The $31 million project funded by federal stimulus money broke ground in October but stands only about one-third finished, an airport spokesman said.

Zemlok and about 65 other workers at the site have been without work since the freeze, he said.

"They told us on Friday not to come in on Monday," he said. "I have a daughter in college. I need a job. I need to stay busy. But because of the political atmosphere, I got my job shut down."

After decades in the business, Zemlok said, the company he worked for shut down when the NUMMI auto plant in Fremont closed in April 2010.

The plant had given his company 95 percent of their work, Zemlok said, and he was unable to find another job until landing work at the airport almost a year later.



"And I'm one of the lucky ones," he said. "A lot of guys I know are going years without anything."

A lifelong construction worker, Zemlok said he's not interested in staying at home and collecting unemployment; he wants to work.

"But I'm running out of places to turn here," he said. "It's horrible."

Ashley Davidson, 24, is a first-year apprentice electrician who was also called off the Oakland project.

"I did all the quote-unquote 'right things' you're supposed to do out of high school," she said. "I went to college for a couple years. But I didn't find anything I was learning would guarantee me a job." She said she hopes to make electrical work her career after struggling through jobs that paid low wages and left her without any health insurance.

That can't happen if she can't learn the craft on the job, she said.

Davidson and other workers are unlikely to see work for at least another month. Representatives for several Bay Area lawmakers said a new deal isn't expected to be on the table until both houses return from recess in September.

Interest Rates on Loans will Increase

Barring last-minute action by Congress, many Bay Area home shoppers will soon find it harder to buy more expensive homes because of changes in eligibility requirements for a popular type of mortgage.

Starting Oct. 1, interest rates on loans between $625,500 and $729,750 will increase, potentially raising monthly mortgage payments by hundreds of dollars.

Before the change, loans up to $729,750 qualified for a reduced interest rate.

Private lenders say they're ready to pick up the slack. But real estate professionals are afraid that higher interest rates and down payments will make buying a home more difficult at a time when the market is still weak.

"It's a big mistake," said Ken Rosen, chairman of Rosen Consulting Group, a real estate market research firm in Berkeley. "It's the right policy in the long run but the wrong time to do this. If there was one single smart person in Washington they would say we want to encourage lending at the bottom of the cycle. Let's get prices up 5 or 10 percent first."

The break for homebuyers and those looking to refinance in high-cost areas like Silicon Valley stemmed from emergency legislation passed by Congress during the 2008 credit crunch.

Shrinking limits

The law -- called the Housing and Economic Recovery Act -- raised the maximum amount permitted on mortgages that qualify for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Federal Housing Administration programs. Those loans have the implied backing of the U.S. government, which lowered their interest rate.

Now, under a complicated formula in the same legislation, five Bay Area counties will see the maximum drop from $729,750 to $625,500 on Oct. 1. Bigger loans will have to come from private lenders at interest rates that are about half to three-quarters of a percent higher.

The change would add $217 a month to a mortgage payment on a $725,000 loan if the Fannie and Freddie rate were 4.375 percent, when the private rate was 4.875 percent.

"While the interest rates are slightly higher, those are still extraordinarily good mortgage rates. They shouldn't affect buyers' ability to buy a home nor desire to buy a home," said Brad Blackwell, executive vice president and national sales manager for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

But Rosen predicted fewer people would be able to buy a home, although the lower limits won't hit the Silicon Valley as hard as other places because it has "just about the strongest housing market in the country." The East Bay has a much weaker housing market and will feel the impact more, he said.

The California Association of Realtors, which wants Congress to keep the higher maximum, says nearly 8 percent of home purchases in Santa Clara County could be affected; 11.5 percent in Contra Costa County; almost 10 percent in San Francisco; and about 6 percent in Alameda County.

"This change in policy would definitely have an impact at the worst possible time," said Robert Kleinhenz, deputy chief economist with the California Association of Realtors. He said the homeowner trying to trade up to a larger home will suffer.

Rep. John Campbell, R-Newport Beach, is co-sponsoring a bill that would extend the higher limits for two more years. Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan, however, said Thursday that lowering the limits was "the right step to take," and wouldn't have a big impact on the housing market.

Median price factor

Mortgage brokers and real estate agents say some customers are racing to beat the deadline.

"I am seeing people kind of rush to get in there," said Andrew Soss, president of the California Association of Mortgage Professionals of Silicon Valley.

Bank of America has already stopped accepting applications for the high-limit loans out of concern that they won't be completed before the deadline.

The limits are based on median home prices, and in some counties median prices have dropped substantially. Monterey loses more than any other county in the United States: $246,800. Its former limit of $729,750 is being ratcheted down to $482,950 because of declines in home values in the southern, agricultural part of the county.

"It's a ridiculously huge drop, and a ridiculous equation they are using to formulate this," said Stuart Shankle, broker at Shankle Real Estate in Monterey. "It's going to leave a tremendous void in the market."

Mortgage bankers downplay the impact and say they're ready for the business the new limits will bring to their doors.

"We view it as more of a little blip," said Buck Hawkins, vice president of the California Mortgage Bankers Association. "Most of us in the industry suspect the private money will come into that space and compete. It won't be a subsidized rate. It will be a market rate, about three-eighths to three-fourths basis points higher," he said.

Matthew Ostrander, a California Mortgage Bankers Association director and co-founder of Parkside Lending in San Francisco, expects any impact to be temporary.

"The Bay Area is going to do OK," he said.

Blow-Dry Bars' the Latest Rage in Hair Salons

Whether for a night out, an important meeting or a general pick-me-up, sometimes a girl just needs hair that shines and bounces. Right? But blow-drying one's own hair into a state of glossy perfection is darn near impossible -- one really needs a stylist brandishing tools and sprays.

That's where "blow-dry bars" come in.

Blow-dry-only salons, one of the latest trends in the beauty business, are popping up around the Bay Area, catering to women of all ethnicities who want salon-perfect hair between haircut appointments without having to spend a whole afternoon to get it.

For about $35, blow-dry bars will shampoo and coif customers in 45 minutes or so and, in the process, deliver -- the faithful say -- that hit of self-confidence that comes from looking polished.

"You go in feeling kind of blah, and you come out feeling really snazzy and ready to go do your thing," says Ellen Mazzoni, 57, a Burlingame resident who treks to Palo Alto once a week for a blow-out at Halo, a blow-dry bar that opened last fall at the Town & Country Village shopping center. Halo plans to open stores in Walnut Creek, Danville, Menlo Park, Burlingame and Marin County in coming months.

Just don't ask for a cut or color at a blow-dry bar, because that's not what these chic spots do. But they dish up more luxury than women got back in the day of the weekly shampoo-and-set appointment: Some blow-dry bars pamper customers with champagne, or offer party packages so friends can make blow-drying a "girls' night out" activity. Many will do makeup and bridal-party hairdos.

Mazzoni gets her shoulder-length blond hair cut and colored about every six weeks by her regular stylist, but after making her first visit to Halo, she says, "I loved my hair."

She's hooked on the blow-dry-only routine now. On a recent visit to Los Angeles, she sought out Drybar in Hollywood for a blow-out while on vacation.

Drybar, which launched in L.A. in February 2010, opened a San Francisco store on Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights in June. The chain now has a total of nine salons in California, Texas and Arizona, with plans for expansion.

There are no data on how many of the nation's nearly 603,000 beauty salons and spas are blow-dry-only establishments, says Brad Masterson of the Professional Beauty Association. But the trend has certainly erupted over the past two or three years, he says.

"While most professional salons have always offered blow-outs, the popularity of blow-out-only salons is built around specializing ... and providing an efficient and cost-effective way for women to look their best," he says.

There's plenty of demand for blow-dry-only salons, says Halo owner Rosemary Camposano, whose background is in high-tech marketing. Her 450-square-foot salon in Palo Alto could double its business if the space were bigger, she says, adding that Halo's future locations will be much larger.

"It's been a runaway-crazy hit," she says.

She thinks of her customer base as "all these women I know that live in the suburbs and would hate to be called 'suburban women,' " she says -- women who juggle busy lives but want to look pulled together, whether they are heading to work or schlepping kids to and from school.

"I am my clients," Camposano says. "I always spent a lot of money on highlights, and taking care of my hair, and then back in a ponytail it went."

Karen Marcum, owner of Blowoutbar Salon in downtown Livermore, says that although her salon actually offers a full range of cut-and-color services, she chose the salon's name partly because she knew how popular blow-dry services were becoming from her time spent as a stylist at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas.

"We did blowouts all the time on Saturdays and Sundays" at the hotel salon, at $75 a pop, she says. Her own salon offers a six-pack of blow-dry certificates for $210, which works out to $35 per blow-dry session.

The premise of blow-dry bars is that by getting a blow-out that looks good for three or four days, women who want to -- and can afford the service -- can spend more time looking and feeling salon-fabulous and less time sporting the last-resort ponytail look.

"A blowout these days is an affordable luxury similar to a manicure or pedicure," says Melanie Groom of Blo, a Toronto-based chain with a San Francisco location and plans for expansion in the Bay Area. "We feel really, really good when our hair is done. There's a certain way you walk. That's the No. 1 thing we try to have them leave with ... more confidence."

Confidence-seeking male customers are welcome at blow-dry bars, but most managers say they get very few. Clients typically are women from their 20s to their 60s. Some women bring in their daughters, too, so school-age clients are not unheard of. At Drybar, where the blow-dry styles on the menu are all named after mixed drinks, there's even one called the Shirley Temple for the youngest customers (ringlets not required).

Salon chain stores like Supercuts and Fantastic Sam's offer blow-outs starting at about $25, but customers are unlikely to find the perks like iPod docks, chick-flicks on TV or complimentary beverages that many blow-dry bars offer. Most traditional, full-service salons offer blow-outs, but they typically charge at least $50, and sometimes much more.

"This is not their service," says Groom of Blo. "They don't make money on a blow-dry; they make money on cut and color." Most blow-dry bars will make referrals to nearby traditional salons' cut-and-color stylists, and vice versa, managers say.

San Francisco resident Amy DeMartini started going to Blo in her Marina neighborhood about a year ago, and now goes about once a week to get her light brown hair blown out. It's convenient, fast, and the $35 cost is affordable for her, she says.

"It's absolutely a fair price for one hour of pampering, and it's maybe half the cost you'd pay at any other fancy salon in the city," says DeMartini, 30, who works in sales in the food and wine business. And, she adds, "As a working woman, it's important to look polished and professional, and getting your hair blow-dried is a part of that."