Bay Area’s Bike to Work Day Campaign Kicks Off

The San Francisco Bay Area’s 18th Annual Bike to Work Day held on Thursday, May 10, 2012 is kicking off its campaign to lure in regular cyclists and non-bike riders alike. With biking being an affordable form of transportation, fun, and easy way to achieve better health; Bike to Work Day has become a premier event in the 9 Bay Area counties.

Held during National Bike Month, Bike to Work Day incorporates activities all month. Events include a Team Bike Challenge, presented by Chipotle, where teams clock miles biking all month, for a chance at prizes and bragging rights. There’s also a Bike Commuter of the Year award for dedicated bicyclists who epitomize the health, social, and economic benefits of bicycling in their county.

Biking is a great way to get the 30-60 minutes of daily activity recommended for health. The July 13, 2009 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine reported that men who prefer active commuting, such as biking or walking, cut their risk of obesity in half while significantly reducing triglyceride levels and insulin levels compared to those driving. Employers benefit by encouraging employees to bike; it builds morale, reduces cost and demand for parking spaces, saving $750 per space per year.

On May 10th, hundreds of volunteers staff energizer stations to offer complimentary snacks, official Bike to Work Day canvas bags, bicycle information, and encouragement.

Bike to Work Day is presented by 511.org and Kaiser Permanente, with support from Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Beyond Pix Studios, Clif Bar, Chipotle, Adobe, Typekit, REI and Bike MS. This event is made possible through the cooperation of volunteers, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, traffic congestion agencies, local bicycling coalitions and the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition.

Events are held throughout San Francisco, Sonoma, Solano, Napa, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin and Alameda counties. For a complete list of energizer stations and to register for a chance to win a new Public Bike, tour from Grimes Getaways Bike Tours, or ModCloth gift certificate visit 511.org or www.youcanbikethere.com .

Bay Area Adds More than 15,000 Jobs as Employment Surges

The Bay Area economy created 15,400 jobs in February, raising total employment in the region to the highest level in three years, the state's Employment Development Department reported Friday.

But despite positive job growth in the Bay Area, the net gain statewide was a mere 4,000 jobs.

"California's economy is being led by the Bay Area," said Scott Anderson, senior economist with Wells Fargo Securities. "The Bay Area is certainly the bright spot in the state."

The Bay Area has added jobs for seven consecutive months, and all three major urban centers in the nine-county region are now making significant employment gains. The South Bay added 4,100 jobs last month, while the East Bay gained 3,200 and the San Francisco-San Mateo-Marin region added 7,100, seasonally adjusted figures showed.

"The Bay Area is producing what the world wants," said Jon Haveman, chief economist with the Bay Area Council's Economic Institute. "High-end computer manufacturing, information services, professional and business services are all doing well and creating jobs."

To be sure, the Bay Area has a long way to go to recapture the jobs lost during the recession. Still, the current job trends show the region also has come a long way since the depths of the downturn.

Employment totals in the Bay Area are now at their highest levels since February 2009. The East Bay and South Bay are at similar multiyear highs.

The statewide jobless rate was 10.9 percent last month, unchanged from January. The United States had an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent in February, which also was the same as in January.

In February, the South Bay posted a jobless rate of 8.7 percent, down from 8.9 percent the previous month; the East Bay's was unchanged at 9.3 percent, while the San Francisco area's was at 7.4 percent, worse than the previous month's 7.3 percent rate, a Beacon Economics estimate culled from the EDD figures shows.

The overall Bay Area jobless rate was 8.6 percent in February, an improvement from the 8.7 percent rate in January, according to this newspaper's analysis of the Beacon figures.

Through much of the recovery from the recession, the South Bay and San Francisco regions led in job growth, bolstered by the fast-expanding tech sector. The East Bay, ground zero for the meltdown of the housing market, has lagged.

Now, however, the East Bay has joined the upswing, which bodes well for overall economic prospects in the Bay Area. The 3,200 jobs East Bay employers added in February follow a gain of 9,400 jobs in January.

Despite the improvements, the hunt for employment remains a struggle for some job seekers.

Even the information technology sector isn't uniformly hot for job seekers. Gabriel Garcia, a San Jose resident, is finding that IT employers prefer to hire people for temporary contract jobs rather than full-time positions.

"It seems that things are picking up," Garcia said. "But it's been harder than I expected."

Despite the tough times, Newark resident Sarah Babbitt, a mother of two, is not discouraged as she seeks a job in retail or restaurant management.

"I've been looking for work for about two months," Babbitt said. "But I'm confident in my skills. I'll be able to find something."

The region is poised to produce more employment opportunities for job seekers, analysts predicted.

"The Bay Area has long-term fundamentals that are better than pretty much anywhere else in the world," Haveman said. "That is the result of the frontier economy that we have in this region."

CORRECTING and REPLACING Booming Bay Area Specialty Manufacturer Expands to Asia Pacific

Last sentences in fourth graph of release (dated March 21, 2012) should read: IMG is part of IMG Consortium, a $60MM business. IMG's Bay Area location is a $20 million company and expects to reach $60 MM by year 2014 through organic and acquisition growth. (sted Today, IMG is a $60 million company and expects year-over-year growth of 10 percent in 2013).

The corrected release reads:

BOOMING BAY AREA SPECIALTY MANUFACTURER EXPANDS TO ASIA PACIFIC

IMG offers same precision with greater global availability

Integrated Manufacturing Group, LLC (IMG), an engineering and precision machining and fabrication company, today announces it has expanded into the Asia Pacific region through a strategic alliance with Onn Wah Precision Engineering Pte Ltd, (Onn Wah), an Asia Pacific engineering and precision machining and fabrication company. IMG also announces significant local growth in its Bay Area facilities.

The new Asia Pacific joint facilities will operate under the name IMG Precision Technologies (Asia) Pte Ltd. and enable the company to manufacture and fabricate complex critical components and parts at state-of-the-art facilities in Singapore and Suzhou, China.

“We are strategically focused on servicing our global customers as they localize their supply chains. Currently, they need support in high-growth markets including China, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore,” said Kam Pasha, IMG’s CEO. “We’ve spent years aligning with Onn Wah to ensure our partnership offers our global customers access to the same high quality engineering expertise, state-of-the-art precision equipment, machinery, and infrastructure they expect from IMG.”

IMG’s Bay Area growth numbers

IMG’s Bay Area facilities are also looking to hire 15 new employees, including positions with its ever-growing degreed engineering staff. IMG has also recently committed more than $2 million in new equipment, including a new E-Beam Welder machine capable of holding up to 6,000 pounds of metal. This machine will enable IMG to service a growing customer base in the oil and gas, aerospace and defense and semiconductor industries. IMG is part of IMG Consortium, a $60MM business. IMG's Bay Area location is a $20 million company and expects to reach $60 MM by year 2014 through organic and acquisition growth.

“Our growth in the Bay area demonstrates our ability to achieve total cost reduction in production with highest quality results for our customers. Several U.S. OEM’s, based in cities from New York to Houston, are coming to us despite having similar engineering facilities right in their own back yard,” continued Pasha.

About IMG

Integrated Manufacturing Group (IMG) is an engineering and precision machining and fabrication company that manufactures customized and highest quality critical components from prototype through production. It works with OEM’s in the semiconductor, oil and gas, aerospace and defense, food and beverage processing, and government and security industries. The company has a 65-year history, formed as IMG in 2004 to acquire and integrate two leading San Francisco Bay Area precision machining businesses. Global customers include Applied Materials, Boeing, FMC Technologies, L3 Communications, Schlumberger, and the U.S. Government, among others.

IMG strives to be a globally collaborative engineering and manufacturing partner with integrity, quality and reliability, on time delivery, continuous improvement, and total cost reduction as its hallmarks. The company is certified to the most rigorous industry quality standards including AS 9100 C and ISO 9001-2000 as well as committed to the Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) and the Standardized Supplier Quality Assessment (SSQA) program. To learn more about the company, its world-class business processes and management team, visit IMG.

SOURCE: Integrated Manufacturing Group, LLC