UrbanSitter Launches Today in San Francisco

UrbanSitter launches today in San Francisco, giving moms and dads throughout the Bay Area the ability to book a qualified babysitter with the click of a mouse. By leveraging members' trusted networks to match families with caregivers, UrbanSitter delivers on the Bay-area founders' mission to use technology to power a faster, more personal babysitting service.

Unlike with other national childcare websites, parents can view sitters they know--as well as sitters their friends know--and book them in real-time. Operating in beta since July, the site has already acquired more than 400 sitters. What's more, 60 percent of parents who have used the site have already booked a second sitter, proving it is a valuable tool to parents.

"With $10 billion spent on babysitters last year and 300 million sitter bookings occurring each year in the U.S., there is clearly an enormous business opportunity here," said Lynn Perkins, co-founder, UrbanSitter. "But more importantly, we are making parents' lives easier because until now, there hasn't been an easy way to find and book a trusted sitter. We think that UrbanSitter is to babysitting what OpenTable is to restaurant reservations."

For Parents

Parents sign up for UrbanSitter using Facebook Connect and can view sitters known through friends or affiliations--including schools, sports teams and parents groups--and can view each sitter's availability in order to select a sitter for a specific date and time, or plan an outing when they know their favorite sitter is available. Jobs or interviews can be booked in minutes and parents can contribute written reviews, ratings and Facebook "Likes" to sitter profiles.

"Reviews and recommendations from friends are a must when it comes to booking a sitter for my kids," said Matt Koidin, parent member. "UrbanSitter has not only expanded our network of babysitters, it has given us peace of mind. Knowing that a friend who shares my values has hired and liked a particular sitter speaks volumes. Plus, it no longer takes me days to identify and book a sitter I feel completely confident in, allowing my wife and me to enjoy more nights out without having to plan so far in advance."

For Sitters

UrbanSitter babysitters post their credentials, as well as availability, hourly rates and location preferences. The ability to see who parents are connected to fosters trust and familiarity and helps sitters decide which jobs to accept. To protect privacy, contact information is exchanged only after the booking is confirmed. Unlike other childcare agencies, which require a percentage of wages, sitters keep all the money they earn and positive reviews posted to the site help them gain more work.

"I have tried several services to find babysitting jobs in the Bay Area. I found the national childcare websites to be static and impersonal and nanny agencies claimed up to 15 percent of my wages," said Kate Jensen, sitter member. "With UrbanSitter, I can see what personal connections I have with prospective families and can update my availability and rates on the fly. And, I keep every dollar I make, which as a college student is particularly important to me."

Available now to parents and sitters in San Francisco and the Peninsula, UrbanSitter will extend to additional Bay regions including Marin and the East Bay in the coming weeks. The service will also expand to additional U.S. cities like Los Angeles and New York City over the next 12 months. While membership is currently free to both parents and sitters, as the company grows UrbanSitter will explore additional revenue opportunities, including parent subscriptions and transaction fees, sitter fees and promotions, as well as corporate and affiliate programs.

For more information, or to sign up, please visit: www.urbansitter.com

About UrbanSitter

UrbanSitter is a community match service for parents and babysitters who connect online through Facebook and their existing networks. The site enables parents to search, book and review trusted sitters within minutes.

Headquartered in San Francisco, UrbanSitter was founded by a group of Internet veterans who wanted to use technology to power a faster, more personal babysitting service. For more information or to sign up, visit www.urbansitter.com .

Ladies Night: An Educational Pampering Experience

Bay Area business video company Creation Ground Media produced a video invitation to entice invitees to participate in "Ladies Night: An Educational Pampering Experience," a wellness event that benefits the Peninsula Symphony. The evening will be an opportunity to relax with a glass of wine, mingle with new friends, let go of stress with a massage, and learn about holistic health from local practitioners, all accompanied by the sweet sounds of live chamber music.

The fabulous wellness event will be held at Lexus of Stevens Creek on Thursday, September 29th from 6 to 8 PM. There will be educational presentations from Dr. Preston Edwards, a chiropractic doctor from VIP Health and Wellness, and Dr. Lena Kian, a naturopathic doctor from Harmony Healing Naturopathic Clinic. Pampering sessions will include chair massages, hand treatments, health consultations, and more. A raffle with spectacular prizes will benefit the Peninsula Symphony's Bridges to Music programs, which aim to engage and inspire children with music, and to make symphony music accessible to all members of the community with free concerts. The evening is free with advance registration at ladieswellness-efbevent.eventbrite.com/ or $5 at the door.

The sponsors of Ladies' Night wanted to extend beyond traditional outreach methods and engage the community on many fronts. With so many events competing for the attention of busy Silicon Valley residents, the sponsors knew that just mailing a flyer out would not get much of a response. So they engaged Creation Ground Media to create a short video invitation to the event.

"This is an exciting time for the Symphony," explained Faith Lin, Peninsula Symphony Community Outreach Manager. "By extending our outreach through and beyond the traditional channels of newsletters, e-blasts, and social networking, we have been able to achieve much more engagement with the community at large."

The video is hosted by Dr. Lena Kian, owner of Harmony Healing Naturopathic Clinic, who invites ladies to treat themselves to a special evening of indulgence and relaxation. "Ladies, when's the last time you took an evening to just focus on your personal wellness? To mingle with like-minded people, learn keys to de-stressing, or treat yourself to a full-on pampering environment?" asks Kian. The video is much more immersive than a plain old email; viewers are transported to a place where chamber musicians play violin and cello as women in the video enjoy wine, conversation, and massage.

Creation Ground Media's President George Cohn serves on the Board of Directors of the Peninsula Symphony, and the Bay Area web video marketing company has previously created a successful series of public service announcements shown on KQED and featured on the Peninsula Symphony's website.

Creation Ground Media was motivated to support the Ladies' Night event as a media sponsor because it so fully embodies Creation Ground Media's values, which are centered around authenticity, collaboration, and community.

"I love the idea of music as a part of health and wellness. Personal wellness permeates the wellness of the community, and vice versa," said Cohn. "That is the real value proposition of the Peninsula Symphony's Bridges to Music program."


About Creation Ground Media 

 
Creation Ground Media is a full-service Bay Area video production company with a success-driven system that provides pre-production: discovery and planning; production: following the plan and capturing it on video; post-production: bringing it all together and adding finishing touches and delivery. They are fluent in all the technologies, from traditional television format to web video marketing, to assure that clients' videos are delivered efficiently, appropriately, and correctly whether it is for broadcast television, corporate websites, social networking sites, PDAs, or DVD, and can also create business videos. Creation Ground Media serves the San Francisco Bay Area.

Obama's Bay Area Visit Greeted by Protesters

President Obama, hitting the Bay Area Sunday to appear at a pair of pricy campaign fundraisers expected to raise millions, was also the focus of protests from activists - on both the right and the left - who hammered his jobs and economic agenda.

Tea Partiers on the conservative side, as well as a coalition of progressive black, Latino and Asian business leaders were among those who marked Obama's arrival Sunday in the Bay Area with protests as the president opened a two-day Western swing with seven fundraisers from San Diego to Seattle.

In the Bay Area, Obama will appear today at a public event to push his jobs bill - a live webcast town hall meeting starting at 11 a.m. in cooperation with the Mountain View social networking site LinkedIn.

But on Sunday, the president attended two high-end Silicon Valley fundraisers - the first, a reception at the Woodside home of John Thompson, chairman of Symantec, where donors paid $2,500 to get in the door, or $7,500 if they wanted a photo with Obama.

That appearance was followed by a lavish $38,500 per person dinner - the costliest ticket for any of his events on this fundraising swing - at the Atherton home of Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. Pop singer Lady Gaga attended as a paying guest, according to the Associated Press.

The aggressive fundraising profile for Obama on his seventh presidential trip to California struck a nerve with executives in leading African American, Latino and Asian American business coalitions.

Len Canty, chair of the California-based Black Economic Council, Jorge Corralejo, chair of the Latino Business Chamber of Greater Los Angeles, and Faith Bautista, president and CEO of the National Asian American Coalition, in a public letter to the president, challenged Obama to "specifically request that each donor, at a minimum, match their donations to you with an individual or corporate contribution to create jobs."

The groups have expressed deep concern that the wealthy heads of tech firms in Silicon Valley - many of whom are writing checks to Obama - are lobbying hard for more H-1B visas to bring in qualified immigrant workers. But those executives have not made significant investments in job training programs or created an appreciable number of jobs here at home, said Yolanda Lewis, chief deputy of the Black Business Council. And, she added, they have failed to integrate their firms by hiring from minority communities, which are underrepresented in high tech.

"He's out here raising money and talking to these corporations who have the money and they're not hiring," Lewis said Sunday. "But in some places, our unemployment is higher than the highest levels for the Great Depression ... and we don't get stimulus funding."

John William Templeton, executive editor of blackmoney.com, said a recent study from the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council shows minority communities are still dramatically underrepresented in Silicon Valley. He noted just "a handful of blacks" were present for Obama's April town hall at Facebook in Palo Alto. LinkedIn, he said, "is likely to have even fewer blacks in the room."

Meanwhile, conservative Tea Party Express activist Sally Zelikovsky said members of her group would greet Obama's motorcade as he arrives at the fundraisers on the Peninsula.

Zelikovsky earlier this month hosted GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, who slammed Obama for providing Solyndra in Fremont with a $535 million government loan before it went belly-up. Tea Party activists have protested the administration's backing of Solyndra as an example of ineffective economic and jobs policies.

In a departure from all of Obama's past presidential fundraisers in the Bay Area, the White House said no local reporters would be included in the pool allowed to attend and cover the events.

New Online Strategy Worked Well for Family Fun Entertainment - a Bay Area Party Entertainment Company

While many may think it foolish to attempt to build a business these days with our troubled economy, business man Franco Fonseca has been doing just that. He's grown his Bay Area Party Entertainment business since 2004, and now against the odds, he's achieving incredible success in 2011.

After adding new services and products to his line up, like mobile photo booth rentals, green screen photography, and the newest craze "Boogie Heads", Fonseca knew he needed to find a better way to get the word out to make these investments a success. He found that success through the implementation of an internet marketing strategy, including a brand new web site, with the help of Bay Area SEO Company Alameda Internet Marketing.

Web designer Ross Taylor says, "While Franco's former site was nice, we took it to the next level with a clean and effective design and started a search engine optimization campaign that will make it easier for potential customers to find him online. Making Franco's site more visible was the key to finding more customers for his services."

It's clear that internet web search influences buying decisions when it comes to local goods and services, and SEO consulting has become a service more and companies are considering getting into. Some business owners worry it may not be effective. Franco isn't worried at all and is enjoying the new flood of business. "In the first two weeks I have booked 6 parties, producing revenue far more than what I paid for the site and SEO support."

Visitors to FamilyFunBayArea.com will now find an attractive and easy to use website highlighting the main services provided. There's now rich galleries of airbrush tattoos, photo booth images, and other samples as well as detailed information about the company and an easy reservation form to book or get more info. The new website also makes it easier for event planners to visualize what they're getting as it's easier to make a decision about which entertainment options they want to use.

About Family Fun Entertainment 

 
Family Fun Entertainment was launched by Franco Fonseca in 2004 as Family Fun Airbrush Tattoos, and has since expanded into a full service family party entertainment service. Their services are a great choice for weddings, corporate events, birthday parties, fund raisers, Bar Mitzvahs, Bat Mitzvahs, college parties, and more.

Bay Area Party Entertainment Company Increases Sales During Economic Downturn

While many may think it foolish to attempt to build a business these days with our troubled economy, business man Franco Fonseca has been doing just that. He's grown his Bay Area Party Entertainment business since 2004, and now against the odds, he's achieving incredible success in 2011.

After adding new services and products to his line up, like mobile photo booth rentals, green screen photography, and the newest craze "Boogie Heads", Fonseca knew he needed to find a better way to get the word out to make these investments a success. He found that success through the implementation of an internet marketing strategy, including a brand new web site, with the help of Bay Area SEO Company Alameda Internet Marketing.

Web designer Ross Taylor says, "While Franco's former site was nice, we took it to the next level with a clean and effective design and started a search engine optimization campaign that will make it easier for potential customers to find him online. Making Franco's site more visible was the key to finding more customers for his services."

It's clear that internet web search influences buying decisions when it comes to local goods and services, and SEO consulting has become a service more and companies are considering getting into. Some business owners worry it may not be effective. Franco isn't worried at all and is enjoying the new flood of business. "In the first two weeks I have booked 6 parties, producing revenue far more than what I paid for the site and SEO support."

Visitors to FamilyFunBayArea.com will now find an attractive and easy to use website highlighting the main services provided. There's now rich galleries of airbrush tattoos, photo booth images, and other samples as well as detailed information about the company and an easy reservation form to book or get more info. The new website also makes it easier for event planners to visualize what they're getting as it's easier to make a decision about which entertainment options they want to use.

About Family Fun Entertainment
Family Fun Entertainment was launched by Franco Fonseca in 2004 as Family Fun Airbrush Tattoos, and has since expanded into a full service family party entertainment service. Their services are a great choice for weddings, corporate events, birthday parties, fund raisers, Bar Mitzvahs, Bat Mitzvahs, college parties, and more.

Bay Area the Worst at Tipping in the Nation

The new Zagat restaurant guide found Bay Area diners are the worst tippers in the nation. On average, we tip 18.6 percent -- which may seem like a good amount, but it's tied for lowest with Seattle.

Former waiter Eric Franco, eating lunch at Tommy's Joynt, says if San Francisco is filled with bad tippers, he's certainly not one of them.

"I would say 25 percent in San Francisco and 20 percent in San Jose," Franco said. "It's expensive, the meters are expensive, everything is more expensive, so obviously it requires more money for everything."

But the high cost of living is exactly the reason one veteran server at Mel's Drive-in thinks San Francisco got low marks for tipping.

"When the economy sunk I would say it went down to about 10 percent or even less for awhile, but it seems to have picked up," Marion Wickstrom said.

But it's not better everywhere. At the Ferry Building, where coffee costs $3 and most ordering takes place at the counter, cashiers and baristas say that little jar of dollar bills is looking emptier these days.

"I think because the prices are higher here, people tend to not tip as well as they might somewhere where the prices are lower," barista Zoe Kessler said.

But even in a terrible economy a trip to San Francisco's oldest restaurant reveals there's one group of people who always tip well.

"When we get the convention people they're better than everybody else, because they're on a business account, so they're generous with their, with their boss' money I guess," Tadich Grill waiter Anton Weidemeyer said.

Unless, that is, they're from Europe.

"Some Europeans nothing, or some of them 15 percent," Weidemeyer said.

"In Europe, the tip is often included, so you have to show on the tab that they have to tip," Wickstrom said.

Back over at Tommy's Joynt, one waitress says it's all a matter of perspective.

"They've got $10 in their pocket and they want to have a good sandwich and a drink, if they're willing to give you that last dollar, than that's a really good tip no matter what," waitress Irene Takashima said.

The Bay Area's Go To Location For Medical Equipment Supplies

Meeting the needs of people with ambulatory problems is very important to Dick Rogers, head of Hayward Medical Market and their Peninsula store, San Mateo Medical Market. "This product is a marvelous combination of transport chair and rollator in one fine product," said Rogers in a recent interview.

"The Duet has locking flip up armrests and a flip down footrest to aid the user while the Duet is used in the transport chair mode. A safety lock release is used to store the arms and a velcro strap is used to store the footrest while using the Duet for ambulation," he said as he demonstrated the product.

This easy-to-use model features a tool-free two-position contoured padded back rest as well as a comfortable padded seat with a large under-seat pouch for safe storage of personal items. It weighs only 19 lbs. and has large eight-inch casters for both indoor and outdoor activities.

Offering a wide assortment of medical equipment supplies, this family-owned business in the Bay Area was founded in 2003 by Dick Rogers and his sister-in-law Amy Rogers. In addition to Hayward and San Mateo, they co-own a third store in Concord.

"The stores are the best resource for medical products because they offer the largest selection of health care products and the lowest prices in the Bay Area," Dick says.

San Mateo Medical Market has an inventory of medical products that includes many products for bathroom safety. They carry hospital beds, cushions, diagnostics, exam gloves, incontinence products, scooters, walking aids, lift chairs and wheelchairs. Customers also find aids for independent living (hip kits, reachers and stocking aids), compression stockings, orthopedic supports, skincare products and all types of wound-care dressings.

"People expect to find durable medical products as well as the hard-to-find items," says Dick. "Our customers are delighted to find nursing supplies, bandages, applicators, antiseptics, sharps containers for needle disposal and textile products like gowns and pillows."

Dick and Amy assure customers that friendly, knowledgeable staff is available to help with the most sensitive of their medical needs. In fact, customers have come to appreciate the full service and family atmosphere of the stores as well as the great selection at low prices. Printed materials and other helpful resources are available.

San Mateo Medical Market (53 W. 43rd Avenue in San Mateo); Hayward Medical Market (22656 Foothill Boulevard (Between B & C Streets in Hayward); and Concord Medical Market (3375 Port Chicago Hwy. in Concord); have the Bay Area's largest selection of hospital and medical products at the lowest prices around. Call the San Mateo store at (650) 212-7248, the Hayward store (510) 537-7722 or the Concord store at (925) 682-7722 during business hours to order products for in-store pick-up at either of our locations. All locations open Monday-Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Yorks Part of Group Buying Great America

The owners of the San Francisco 49ers are going into the entertainment business.

Commentary on the team's play aside, the York family is reportedly part of a deal to purchase the Great America theme park in Santa Clara.

The San Jose Mercury News reports that the Yorks, who own the 49ers, have an unknown stake in a $70 million deal to purchase the park with JMA Ventures.

The move will end a contentious lawsuit between Cedar Fair, the current owners of Great America, and the city of Santa Clara partly over having to share a parking lot with the team.

Cedar opposed a proposal to build a stadium for the 49ers next-door to the theme park on city land. Santa Clara currently leases the land the park operates on to Cedar for $5 million a year.

Santa Clara Mayor Jamie Matthews told the paper that the city may consider increasing the rent for the land if the council approves of the final deal.

JMA could begin operating the park by the end of the year and it has said it will retain all employees and continue their current benefits.

How To Use Social Media To Promote Your Small Business

You have a small business and you haven’t bought into the social media craze? Guess what? Silence is no longer an option. People are online talking about your company as you read this, whether you like or not. If you don’t engage in the conversation, you risk losing your customers. But maybe you don’t have a choice as many small airports do in the State of California and across the United States. Many are owned by cities who don’t give them a dime and yet take money whenever they please. Those city managers force their airport managers to jump through hoops and political red tape to be able to promote their facilities. These airport managers have their hands tied in dealing with counties which just recently decided to launch a website, let alone a social media marketing strategy. So, I was asked by Michael McCarron, Public Information Office for San Francisco International Airport, to speak to the managers of small airports through California about the benefits of having a social media presence, so that they can convince their ‘bosses’ to allow them to open Facebook, Twitter and Google+ accounts, as well as to create blogs. 

Here’s part of my presentation. I hope it helps you with your online social media strategy. If You have more ideas, please share them in the comments section at the bottom of the post. The more ideas, the better.
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1. ASSESS YOUR ASSETS: The first action you should take before engaging in online marketing or social media marketing and engagement is to look at what are you’re trying to promote. What are your assets? Who are your target customers? It may seem obvious. But, A Bay Area airport had small planes for rent. But business was slow because they were simply targeting pilots trying to rack-up hours. Turns out there was a larger audience they could target through social media, tourists looking for aerial Bay Area tours. Business took-off.
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SIGN-UP FOR SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn. Facebook allows you to create a business page. Make sure you read the rules for businesses first. You can even ‘create a page’ through your personal account, if your business allows you to do so. That makes it easy for small business owners to manage it. On LinkedIn, every employee becomes your best advocate.
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FIND A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER: Managing multiple social networks is daunting. So, before you start posting content, requesting friends and adding followers, sign-up for a social media manager such as Ping.fm and HootSuite. It allows you to manage all of your accounts on one site and schedule your messages to deploy so you don’t have to sit over it all day. It also allows you to review the success of the tweets real-time with click-through statistics. And you can gather all the mentions of your brand, industry or search terms on Twitter through it as well. That’s for the free version. I suggest trying that first. As you get more involved in social media, I prefer SproutSocial.com. You have a choice on plans for nine-dollars to $49. There’s a 30-day free trial to make sure it works for you. What I like is that it allows you to take all of those you follow and the followers and create contacts out of them which you can manage in the system and track engagement. It also has one inbox for all of your messages from all the networks. Plus, it allows you to track check-ins at FourSquare and Gowalla.
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POST UPDATES: It’s important to have content on your social media pages before you start adding friends and followers. When you try to find friends, they’re going to look at the page to see if they want to follow you. So you need to give them a reason to follow you first. Provide valuable information about the industry. Post pictures of your business or people enjoying your business. On YouTube, post videos of your business, customer experiences, and encourage customers to make their own. You can also ‘favorite’ other YouTube users’ videos and they will end up on your page. If you’re a small airport, posting cool aerobatic videos of the Patriots’ Jet Team is a possibility that would add value to those who ‘subscribe’ to your page. Also, share those videos on your other accounts such as Twitter, Facebook and even LinkedIn.
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FIND FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS: Twitter and Google+ are easiest. Search keywords to find followers. On Twitter, If you’re a small airport, for example, search ‘pilot. You can also search ‘flying.’ Searching your town and surrounding areas as well to find key influencers, news outlets, bloggers and city officials. Also, search for large players in your market. For airports, try Boeing, Virgin America, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines. If they share your posts, you have the potential to reach thousands. I suggest adding just a few people at a time. On Google+, comment on one of their posts immediately. On Twitter, mention them in a post immediately. You can also comment on one of their posts or simply say that you look forward to following their great content. If it’s a reporter or blogger, give them story ideas and leads that have nothing to do with your business. Get them to trust you. To find fans on Facebook, it’s best to start with real friends and family. You can also pay as little as $100 to have an ad for your Facebook page syndicate across the network for a designated period of time.
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7. ENGAGE FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS:
Cory Colligan who used to be head of marketing for California Bouquet friended me on Facebook. When she asked to be my friend, she typed a personal message, saying how impressed she was with my work and how she’s enjoyed watching my work evolve. I couldn’t remember where I knew her from. Was it a television station, radio station, or was it from school? I wasn’t sure. I was too embarrassed to ask. And she seemed harmless. So, I confirmed her friend request and wrote her a note back thanking her for her feedback and saying that I look forward to connecting. She proceeded over the next few months to follow my videos and stories. She engaged in great debates and conversation with me as well as my friends. I knew just days after I added her that I didn’t know her personally. But I was so impressed with her and the relationship we’d developed over the months, that when I was traveling to her town, Fresno, I suggested we have lunch. When I arrived she had a full basket of goodies from her shop, including the best dark chocolate covered strawberries I’ve ever tasted, waiting for me. Since then, I have been a regular customer and am quick to share her products on my page. 

So, your first priority should be building that relationship with people, not pitching your service or product.
Give them story ideas and leads that have nothing to do with your business. 

On Facebook:
Share their links on your wall and/or comment on them. Wish them a Happy Birthday. Birthdays are big on Facebook. Always acknowledge them. Maybe even offer them a discount coupon for a birthday treat via Facebook. 

On Twitter:
Retweet their stories and comment on them! Reply to each and every message. Keep the conversation going. Get them to trust you. For example, one of my favorite Twitter followers is @heykim. She is an amazing example of how to do it right. She has thousands of followers. But she has even more friends. She friended thousands of people little by little and engaged with them, retweeting their tweets, commenting on their tweets, checking in on topics those folks had tweeted on days before. Now, she’s constantly in conversation with folks like Morgan Fairchild, Alyssa Milano and Kathy Ireland. Alyssa Milano even just shared a linked @heykim posted tonight about how Twitter has transformed over the last five years. Who would’ve thought? She’s not famous. The key is she knows how to engage. And she never misses a #FF (Follow Friday). On Friday’s many people share with their friends, their favorite people to follow, encouraging others to follow them as well. 

Google+: It’s a cross between Facebook and Twitter. It’s great because you can create circles of certain people you want to target for different reasons. It makes it easier to post certain promotions to one group vs. another. 

LinkedIn: The best way to engage with potential customers is by joining industry groups and starting group discussions.
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Very important: Do not ask for help/favors from people until you’re friends or at least warm acquaintances with them. And the #1 way to become friends is to offer tons of help/favors without expecting anything in return. In the words of Michael Ellsberg, Forbes Contributor and Author of “Self-Educated Millionaires: The Seven Skills You’ll Never Learn in College, “Networking is a *long term* activity – it CANNOT be done for short-term results. Follow these basic concepts, and you’ll be ahead of 99.99% of the knuckleheads out there who are botching their networking attempts online!” Also, a great book to read is by Brian Solis, Principal at Altimeter Group, “Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web.”
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8. STAY CURRENT: Get alerts sent to your phone when folks engage with you via your social networking sites – at least in the beginning – that way you respond quickly.

High-speed Rail Agency Ordered to Reach More Minority Businesses

 

The California High-Speed Rail Authority was ordered Thursday to greatly expand its outreach to and inclusion of small and disadvantaged businesses, concluding a civil rights complaint filed last year with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

According to the decision released by federal officials, the rail authority -– which is tasked with building an ambitious high-speed line from San Francisco to Southern California that could cost as much as $65 billion -– must create a development program for small and disadvantaged businesses, specify an officer in charge, compile a directory of all firms that are eligible to participate, and create a business advisory council within 60 days.

The rail authority must also conduct an availability and disparity study within one year, according to a copy of Thursday's decision from the Federal Railroad Administration.

"We're very pleased with the decision," said Oren Sellstrom, an attorney with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. "It's a complete vindication of what the minority business community has been saying." Sellstrom said his group began looking into the rail authority's contracting practices over a year ago. The complaint alleged the authority's contracting policies appeared neutral but had a severely disparate impact on minority-owned businesses.

Sellstrom said Thursday's decision shows the rail authority is "nothing better than an anti-competitive old boy's network that needs to be broken up."

Rachel Wall, a spokeswoman for the authority, said the agency has already embarked on many of the changes ordered by the federal agency, including the construction of a small business program that she said is nearly complete. The authority is also using other strategies to better engage with small businesses, such as hosting industry forums, she said.

"This is the largest infrastructure project this state has seen in more than 50 years. It is imperative that we work with our business community to provide opportunities for business at all levels -– the project will be stronger for the effort," Wall said.

Green Vantage Solution's LEDs Used in Art Display at Chloe Fine Arts Gallery

Chloe Fine Arts Gallery announces it is now able to commit to using green, sustainable LED lighting from the Bay Area Green Vantage Solution to display their art with quality lighting.

Many businesses have converted to LED lights in an effort to go green, but that isn't an easy commitment for an art gallery to make. The quality of light is very important in the way the colors and textures of a piece of art are displayed.

Chloe Fine Arts Gallery in San Francisco has been determined to go green in every possible way, and with the help of Christine Capulong, Managing Partner of Green Vantage Solutions, they are now able to display their artwork using a high-tech green lighting that enhances the work of the artists, reduces greenhouse gasses, and lowers their electric bill by nearly 50%.

"Our challenge was to find a light with proper spreads, dimmable, and strong enough to light from a distance as our tracks are in the ceiling and are 4' to 10' from the artwork. We searched for over six months and looked at dozens of manufacturers. We were very surprised at the lack of choices. Green Vantage Solution provided us with Lumiselect Exacto Beam Par 30, a 2.8K light from Earthed that was cooler than our old 75W halogens. The color temperature was perfect. We find the Earthed lights really bring out the depth of color our artists are looking for. They also came with two beam filters that give us an incredible amount of flexibility as it relates to correctly directing the light on the artwork," said Greg Lejnieks, President of Chloe Fine Arts, LLC.

"What more efficient use of petroleum products is there than an oil on canvas painting? A gallon of gas lasts what, 20 or 30 miles? A gallon of oil paint can last generations. At Chloe Fine Arts Gallery, we are continuing that sustainable tradition by illuminating our artwork with lights that emit no UV, almost double efficiency and are decreasing our utility bill by almost half," said Todd Lejnieks, Chief Operating Officer of Chloe Fine Arts, LLC.

Mark Williams of New Light Energy Design, Inc., a preferred contractor for SF Energy Watch said, "LED lamp prices have finally become affordable for businesses when rebates are applied, but quality still varies a lot, so getting the correct lamps is critical. We tested many brands to get the best quality of light for displaying original artworks. The Lumiselect Xact Beam Par30 had the best light quality, lower cost than most, and a feature that no other brand offers - the ability to change the same lamp from spot light to flood. Being able to adapt the beam angle on the same lamp meant fewer lamps to buy for Chloe Fine Arts."

Christine is proud that her LEDs not only help small businesses go green, but they can now help art galleries and museums. Her LEDs have no mercury or the harmful UV rays that damage artwork, and they actually enhance the depth and color of the artwork!

"The cost of LED lights have come down considerably and with rebates, they are now affordable and it makes sense to change to LEDS, as they lower monthly electricity bills by at least 30 to 50%," said Christine.

For more information on LEDs, contact Christine Capulong at Green Vantage Solution, Inc. by calling 415-874-9978 or emailing christine(at)greenvantagesolution(dot)com; or check out their webpage at: www.greenvantagesolution-ba.com/.

About Green Vantage Solution, Inc.

The Bay Area energy saving light bulb company, Green Vantage Solution, Inc. is a woman-owned, minority, small business distributor that represents Advanced Lumonics, a quality manufacturer of Earth LED direct replacement light bulbs. Their LED light bulbs are an energy saving alternative used to replace incandescent, halogens, fluorescent, and CFL light bulbs typically found in most government, commercial, and industrial buildings. They can lower monthly energy bills by 30 to 50% by just changing bulbs to their LEDs.

Oodle launches Freecycling on Facebook to Encourage Zero Waste

Oodle announced today the launch of online “freecycling” communities in 25 cities across the San Francisco Bay Area. Freecycling is a movement to help reduce the flow of waste to landfills by encouraging neighbors to give unwanted but reusable household items to each other instead of throwing them away.

San Francisco has the highest recycling rate in the nation, and the San Francisco Bay Area has long been considered one of the most eco-friendly regions in the country. Oodle’s Marketplace, available on Facebook (apps.facebook.com/marketplace) and Oodle.com, now enables Bay Area residents to join together in a local online community called a FreeCircle where they can offer items to each other, search among available items, or request something specific.

The Environmental Protection Agency reports that the average American throws out 1,600 pounds of stuff each year. Mixed in with the trash are reusable items of all sorts — from computers and couches, to old doors and building materials. Oodle’s FreeCircles leverage the largest social network in the world to provide a creative, safe and economical alternative to unnecessary waste.

According to environmental thought leader Paul Hawken, when you give an old couch to a neighbor, you are not only keeping 100 pounds from a landfill, but you are also saving the 3,200 pounds of waste that would have gone into making a new couch.

“Finding a way to reuse items you no longer need, before you start thinking about disposal, is always an environmentally sound choice,” said Barry Monheit, CEO of Earth911.com, which hosts the largest and most accurate recycling directory with more than 1 million ways to recycle and was one of Oodle’s beta test partner at the start of FreeCircles. “Before you throw something away, you should take a minute to post it to your local FreeCircle to let your neighbors know it’s available.”

Recology, which provides recycling services to residential and commercial customers in the San Francisco Bay Area and over 80 municipalities in the West, is organized around the principle of Zero Waste and will promote freecycling to its customers. Recology will also help administer more than a dozen local FreeCircles.

“Oodle’s Marketplace has always promoted reusing items,” said Mark Robins, VP of Community at Oodle. “Today we’ve made the process a lot easier. Once you join your local FreeCircle, you can search for and claim free stuff, get rid things you’re not using, or post a message requesting something that you are looking for. And with the Marketplace mobile app, you can photograph an item directly from your phone and offer it to your neighbors in under a minute.”

Oodle has launched FreeCircles in 25 cities around the San Francisco Bay Area including Palo Alto, Burlingame, and Mountain View. To find your local FreeCircle go to http://facebook.oodle.com/freecircles.

Oodle also introduced tools to help moderators of existing Freecycle, ReUseIt, FullCircles, Freegle, and other freecycling groups on Yahoo! Groups. They can now grow their membership using the new “Promote My Group” feature on Marketplace. This functionality publicizes the group’s listings to local Marketplace users, customers of Recology, and users of Earth911’s directory. Promote My Group is free and takes just a few minutes to set up. To find out more about Promote My Group, go to http://blog.oodle.com/promote-my-group.

"FreeCircles leverages Facebook to more broadly promote my freecycling community," said Srihari Yamanoor, leader of Palo Alto Free, the largest freecycling Yahoo! Group in Palo Alto, CA with over 3,600 members. "I strongly encourage other freecycling moderators to take advantage of this opportunity to fuel the zero-waste movement.”

Free Estimates for Remodels and Additions

California Home Improvement Solutions offers free estimates so customers can discover for themselves what distinguishes this company from other home improvement firms. 

 

Once someone asked Leo Shneyer, founder of California Home Improvement Solutions, if he received all the money in the world, would he continue to work? He didn't hesitate a second. "Yes, I would continue to work," he said emphatically. 

 

"I say this from the bottom of my heart, and I'm not making this up," Leo adds. "I love when a job is done well and the customer is happy. This is my biggest reward."

 

Now homeowners can experience the sincere dedication to customers for themselves with the company's offer of a free estimate for any remodeling work. California Home Improvement Solutions has 35 years experience, is on the honor roll with the Better Business Bureau, is a five star rated Certified Contractor, named Best of City Search in the Bay Area, and has been rated 9.6 out of 10 by two construction magazines. His company is literally a one-stop shop for customers offering everything from new construction, remodels, additions, drawings, plumbing, electrical, cabinetry, flooring, landscape design and installation, decking, and much, much more.

 

"We do all the work ourselves," Leo explains. "For example, when we do a kitchen remodel we don't need to hire plumbers and electricians or depend on subcontractors. We do everything ourselves." 

 

But what really makes this company so successful is their commitment and devotion to customers. "We are there for the customer's interest and to protect their financial interests," Leo says. "We are there to share, to understand, to listen to their needs, and accomplish their vision of the project. We have always made it our goal to be professional and courteous, but what really distinguishes us from other home improvement firms is that we enforce very basic but important business principles." 

 

What are those principles? Rule number one: Treat each client the way you want to be treated and have his or her best interests in mind. Rule number two: Listen closely to the requirements the client is communicating and help him or her. No wonder when a young girl asked her mother, Mrs. Patricia Zimmerman, where she found Leo, she looked at her daughter and answered, "We just got lucky." 

 

About California Home Improvement Solutions 

 

California Home Improvement Solutions has 35 years experience, has been on the Honor Roll at the Better Business Bureau for 15 years, and was rated 9.6 out of 10 by two construction magazines. The company offers a wide range of services and works with clients from the initial design phase to final inspection. They serve the Bay Area including San Francisco, Burlingame, San Mateo, Hillsborough, Belmont, Redwood City, Atherton, Woodside, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Cupertino, Saratoge, Campbell, Los Gatos, and San Jose.

Laurie Radke Poised to Lead Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce

Laurie Radke's background is about as different from her predecessor as can be. What that difference will mean for the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce remains to be seen.

Radke, 45, will start her new job as chamber president on Sept. 26. She succeeds Paul Jadin, who was appointed secretary of commerce by Gov. Scott Walker in December, and now heads the Department of Commerce's successor agency, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Fred Monique served as interim president and will return to his role as vice president of economic development for the chamber.

Radke's background is in education and economic development, Jadin's in human resources and politics. Radke said she applied for the chamber position because "it seemed like a natural fit for me."

A native of Manitowoc, Radke graduated from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with a bachelor's degree in public administration, and received an MBA from Lakeland College, where she worked in several roles before becoming director of the school's Ashwaubenon campus. At present, she is dean of training and economic development for Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay.

When she joined NWTC, Radke said, her department was working with 700 employers and had a budget of $1 million. The department now works with 1,100 employers and has a budget of $4 million.

"Under Dr. (Jeffrey) Rafn's leadership, the voice of the customer is a priority," Radke said. "My department's been very dynamic."

The chamber's approach to public policy — politics — is a topic that comes up often, she said. Under Jadin, the chamber often took firm, pro-business, often Republican-leaning, positions. It may continue to do so, but Radke said that will be one of many areas under review.

"It's obviously a topic. The board of directors needs to re-evaluate its position. How do we want to move forward to represent our membership?" she said.

Radke has no doubt there will be changes in how membership — recruiting and retention — is addressed. Outgoing chamber chairwoman Gail McNutt said that was identified as a weakness when the chamber received its accreditation review earlier this year. The chamber is one of only 83 in the nation to receive accreditation with four stars from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"That's going to be one area where Laurie is going to spend a lot of time," McNutt said.

Regional economic development is another area that appeals to Radke, in line with the work she's done at NWTC. She said she has an entrepreneurial bent and will work with other economic development entities, including Jadin's Economic Development Corp.

"We need to look at business expansion, attraction and development. We will work with others. We don't need to duplicate effort," she said.

Radke said she's looking forward to a retreat with board members, including new chairman Greg Gauthier, in November or early December to plan strategy.

"I'd like to be the type of leader where there won't be any surprises for my board. The board is here to guide and direct," she said.

The chamber has 1,250 members representing 94,000 workers. It has 25 employees and a $3 million budget.

Radke said she plans a lot of outreach, talking to members and non-members alike.

"We'll be looking at our resources and products and meeting the needs of our customers," she said. "The (staff) are uniquely positioned for work force development, community development and business development under one roof. How do you touch all those different components to build that synergy?"

The Bay Area Council will Host the Largest Diplomatic Gathering in California

The Bay Area Council, the business group that represents the largest employers in the San Francisco-Silicon Valley-Oakland Bay Area, next week will host the largest diplomatic gathering in California since the founding of the United Nations in 1945. 

 

At the invitation of the State Department, the Bay Area Council has worked with the White House and executive branch agencies to assemble 150 meetings over two weeks to address some of the most pressing challenges on the planet, including transportation, energy, health, the environment, technology and women empowerment. The conversations and policy-setting negotiations are part of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, founded in 1989. The 21 countries or "economies" that will gather in San Francisco represent approximately 40 percent of the world's population, approximately 54 percent of the global economy and about 44 percent of world trade. There will be approximately 3,000 delegates and 200 registered journalists. 

Global leaders to be in attendance include:

-- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

-- U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood

-- U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu

-- U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius

-- U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson

-- Ministers representing the 21 APEC countries including China, Japan, Russia, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Vietnam, and Australia 

"We will have enough U.S. Cabinet members in town to form a shadow government,'" said Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of the Bay Area Council. "The first project of the Bay Area Council was actually to host the founding of the United Nations in 1945, so this is return to habit for us. It is our hope that hosting this distinguished diplomatic gathering, 66 years later, can have the same far-reaching impact, and can create the future we all hope for." 

A key event of the gathering will be the Women and the Economy Summit, led by Secretary Hillary Clinton and organized through a partnership of the Council and the U.S. State Department. The Women and the Economy Summit is structured to change national policies, empower women across the 21 APEC countries or economies, and launch a global dialogue about the status of women. Topics will focus on women as agents of economic growth, the impacts of increased female employment on the global economy and the importance of women-owned business to economic progress and strengthening communities. 

Continued Wunderman, "Part of the reason we were asked to host these meetings was the Bay Area's role in the global economy. Our region is home to more Fortune Global 500 companies than any other place on the planet, except Tokyo, London and New York. The Bay Area is a top-four exporting region in the U.S., with more than $50 billion in exports, primarily to APEC countries. Companies here are supported by a diverse and truly global workforce. We are honored to have the opportunity to host this historic gathering. 

About the Bay Area Council: 

The Bay Area Council is a business-sponsored, public-policy advocacy organization for the nine-county Bay Area. The Council proactively advocates for a strong economy, a vital business environment, and a better quality of life for everyone who lives here. Founded in 1945, the Bay Area Council is widely respected by elected officials, policy makers and other civic leaders as the voice of Bay Area business. Today, approximately 275 of the largest employers in the region support the Bay Area Council and offer their CEO or top executive as a member. Our members employ more than 4.43 million workers and have revenues of $1.94 trillion, worldwide.

Bay Area Air District's Bill Clinton Event is Awash in Ethical Conflicts

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District's plan to pay former President Bill Clinton $150,000 to speak at its invitation-only "summit" Oct. 21 is a grotesque waste of public and private money that is saturated with ethical conflicts. 

 

Besides spending its own money, the air board is counting on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to help pay for the event. Both are taxpayer-funded agencies with regional responsibilities -- the air district regulating emissions and other factors in air quality, and MTC allocating state and federal money for transportation projects. The local elected officials appointed to these boards should be embarrassed by this gaudy expenditure. The event should be canceled. 

 

This is not the first time it has happened. In 2005, the air board paid former U.S. EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown a total of $35,000. In 2006, it brought in former Vice President Al Gore and paid his foundation $30,000. In 2009, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman was to be paid $75,000 until journalists questioned why one of their own should be accepting extravagant fees.

 

He ended up speaking for free. Private funding providers for these events have included Chevron, Shell, ConocoPhillips, the Western States Petroleum Association, power companies Calpine and PG&E and national business and environmental law firm Farella Braun and Martel. They either are egulated by the air board or often have business before it or the invited local officials. For their contributions, the firms get tickets to an invitation-only event where they can rub shoulders with the people they want to influence. It doesn't pass the smell test. 

 

The transportation commission and the air board have spent $164,000 on the past three events, a horrible use of scarce public money. 

 

For the upcoming event, in addition to Clinton's fee, the air board plans to spend about $100,000 for an upscale venue on the Richmond waterfront, food and other logistics. The only contributors so far are MTC at $50,000 and Farella Braun at $15,000. If others don't chip in, the public will be on the hook for about $235,000. If others do pony up, they'll be buying access and influence. The total cash outlay works out to $500 for each of the 500 officials expected to attend. 

 

Billed as a "Blueprint for Health Communities Summit," the event is about the health considerations of development. For example, don't build schools and homes next to refineries or freeways. For local officials who still don't understand smart growth, education is a good idea. But $150,000 for Clinton? Clinton's foundation works on climate issues, but make no mistake, this is about his star power. 

 

Politicians will get to hobnob with the former president while taxpayers and companies seeking approval for projects foot the bill. Local elected officials on the air board or MTC include Santa Clara County supervisors Liz Kniss, Ken Yeager and Dave Cortese, San Jose council members Ash Kalra and Sam Liccardo and San Mateo County supervisors Carole Groom and Adrienne Tissier. It's time for a financial and ethical reality check for all the public officials on these regional boards.

Bright House Networks Grappled with Widespread Service Outages

Much of the Tampa Bay area had a busy signal Tuesday as Bright House Networks grappled with widespread service outages.

Internet signals went dead. Cable programs froze. Businesses couldn't run credit card machines. Internal phone lines at the Pinellas Sheriff's Office went down. Even local libraries were affected.

Starting at about 10:40 a.m. Tuesday, Bright House customers throughout Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando, Hillsborough and Manatee counties were without phone, cable and high-speed Internet services.

Company officials said service was restored by about 5 p.m., though there were scattered reports from people who said they were still having problems Tuesday night.

One customer in Apollo Beach told the St. Petersburg Times he still didn't have service as late as 9 p.m., and some Twitter users in Tampa also reported they had no Internet.

Bright House officials said the heavy thunderstorms Tuesday morning had nothing to do with the service interruption. Instead, it was a computer issue.

"This was a software bug that caused a cascading effect," said Bright House spokesman Joe Durkin.

Durkin said it was unclear how many people lost service.

"We have well over a million customers in the Tampa market total," Durkin said. "Were they all affected? Of course not. Some areas were not affected."

As residents realized their service was out Tuesday, they took to social media to vent. They flooded sites like Facebook and Twitter with messages about the interruptions. Some even called the newspaper for help.

Some of Bright House's own phone lines were tied up, so people trying to call the company couldn't get through.

"They were continuously jammed," said Poul Hornsleth, president of R.W. Caldwell, Inc., a real estate and insurance company in Gulfport. "Fortunately, it was just a delay."

Even the company's news channel Bay News 9 was frozen midway through a weather forecaster's report.

Pinellas County workers, including those at the Sheriff's Office, said they experienced spotty service with their voice-over Internet phones, though 911 emergency functions were not affected.

"Many of us here in the office reverted to cell phones," spokeswoman Cecilia Barreda said.

That's what Apollo Beach resident Ken Cunningham had to do all day. The 59-year-old said he still didn't have TV, Internet or phone service as of 10 p.m. Tuesday. Cunningham, who said he has had about a dozen outages in the past few months, is fed up.

"It's not uncommon from time to time to have some kind of a problem with software or a piece of equipment," Durkin said. "This is probably a rare occurrence in size. … I've never seen anything that has risen to such a level."

Bright House Networks Customers Lost Their Telephone, Cable TV and Internet Service

Upwards of 1 million Bright House Networks customers across the Tampa Bay area lost their telephone, cable TV and Internet service for much of Tuesday.

The outage disconnected customers from St. Pete Beach to Lakeland to Spring Hill, leaving public safety officials to urge people to use cellphones if they needed to call 911.

A software glitch appears to have caused a series of failures that, for most customers, started about 10:40 a.m. and lasted through 4 p.m. Some customers in Tampa still had no service at 5:30 p.m.

Even Bay News 9, the Bright House 24-hour news channel, went off the air.

"This was a substantial outage," said Tom Nestor, spokesman for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, which lost internal phone systems. While Pinellas County's 911 system still operated, people who lost service couldn't dial it, Nestor said.

"If this continues to be a problem with Bright House, that would be a concern," Nestor said. "And for people with just (Internet) telephone, it may be a good idea to have a cellphone, just as a backup."

Hillsborough County 911 officials said they use Verizon. No interruptions were reported by the Hillsborough school district or the University of South Florida in Tampa. Tampa General Hospital lost its television feed.

Bright House engineers ultimately isolated the problem to a line of software within a piece of equipment that cut off service to much of the company's Tampa and Orlando service areas, Bright House spokesman Joe Durkin said.

Normally, redundant systems would prevent a service breakdown, but this breakdown overwhelmed the network.

"This was a unique event," Durkin said.

The breakdown meant calls to residential Bright House customer phone numbers were ringing directly into voice mail. Even the Bright House website appeared to be suffering glitches, with only text and hyperlinks appearing for some time.

The breakdown affected area businesses.

"We lost our Internet today, so we couldn't take credit cards, and we lost some sales," said Gary Robinson, a manager at the Fit2Run running store at International Plaza. "A lot of places all around us lost it too."

At least some Pinellas schools lost phone service, but it had been restored by midafternoon.

A check of businesses on St. Pete Beach showed sporadic outages. The Sirata Beach Resort and Conference Center had no interruptions in its Bright House service.

But Kathy Gvildys, owner of Beach Travel of Treasure Island, said service broke down at 10:30 a.m., came back about noon for five minutes and was out until 1:15 p.m.

"Forget it, trying to call Bright House," Gvildys said. "It's amazing how widespread it is. … You've got clients relying on you for emergencies and last-minute things, and you can't do anything."

Gerry Joynes of Tarpon Springs saw his cable TV service break down about noon. "I called our apartment complex office, and they said all their services were out," Joynes said.

His phone call to Bright House reached an error message that said the number was not in service, he said.

"We've called all their lines, and nothing is working," said Deanna Morris, owner of the ProGraphix location in Winter Haven. "So we went to the Bright House office near here, and there was a slew of people trying to get in. That office couldn't even get their own service working."

Martha Van Neste, who lives near University Mall in Tampa, said her service remained out at 5:30 p.m., even though she repeatedly reset her cable box.

"Luckily, I don't put all my provider eggs in one basket," Van Neste said.

"I'm calling on my Verizon land line, which works, and I use yet another company for my cellphone."

However, as the hours went by with no TV, Van Neste was losing patience, she said.

"I'm bored."

CEOs of Major U.S. Firms Turn Over at 13% Rate

ECC Awarded Pacific Business News' 2011 Healthiest Employer

BURLINGAME, Calif., Sept. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Just two months after being recognized as a Top Workplace in the Bay Area by the San Jose Mercury News, ECC was named Pacific Business News' 2011 Healthiest Employer in Hawaii during an awards ceremony held at the Sheraton Waikiki.

ECC placed first out of 10 companies competing for the title of the Healthiest Workplace for businesses with under 50 employees in Hawaii. Companies were evaluated in six key categories, including culture and leadership commitment, foundational components, strategic planning, communication and marketing, programming and interventions, and reporting and analysis.

"Employee wellness clearly leads to a happier life experience and contributes to making ECC a Great Place to Work, which is one of the three vision statements guiding our Team," says Paul Sabharwal, ECC Chairman of the Board. "The idea of protecting and enhancing the health and well-being of each and every employee is woven into the very fabric of our organization. Being recognized as one of the healthiest employers in Hawaii highlights our never ending journey to celebrate the efforts our employee-owners expend each day to lead a safe and healthy lifestyle in the workplace and at home. "

Dr. Sarah Cunningham, OTD, OTR/L, CDE, ECC's Corporate Wellness Manager added, "With a 70 percent employee participation rate companywide, not only have we seen a boost in morale, productivity, and camaraderie among employees--as well as lower health insurance costs for the company--we have also made significant progress on an individual health behavior change level."

Since 2008, employees company-wide have lost more than 3,582 pounds of fat mass and decreased their intake of prescriptions for preventable conditions, such as high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and cholesterol. Forty-two individuals have successfully quit smoking without relapse.

ECC's Wellness Program is promoted through awareness, education, action, advocacy, and sustainability. It assists employees and their families in making voluntary, positive health changes that reduce health risks and enhance well-being.

Established in 1985, ECC is an employee-owned company that delivers its clients' missions, including renewable energy, design-build, construction, operation and maintenance, environmental remediation, and munitions response services. ECC serves several U.S. government agencies, including the Army, Air Force, Navy, Department of State, and Department of Energy. Established in 1996, ECC's Hawaii office serves clients on projects throughout the Pacific. ECC is Hiring! For more information, please visit http://www.ecc.net . ECC--Never Compromising Safety