Bay Area Home Remodeling Picks up as Economy Mends

In another sign of an improving economy, residential remodeling is picking up in the Bay Area after several lean years, helped along by homeowners who are deciding to fix up places they can't sell because of the housing crunch.

"There is an awakening," said Rick Evans of Bauman Builders in San Jose. Last year "was like a switch that flipped."

Fueling the upward trend is growing confidence in job stability and a booming tech stock market that helps pay for new kitchens, bathrooms and landscaping. Few homeowners are borrowing for the work, builders say.

"It's all cash, nobody's borrowing anything. It's savings or stock money," Evans said. He said his clients "are employed someplace in the tech sector --the eBays, the Googles, and I'm sure there's a whole boatload of Facebookpeople about to do the same thing."

The Bay Area and coastal cities up and down the state are having what is "among their better years in the last five," said Mike Winn of the California Building Industry Association.

Jennifer and Julien Schreyer are remodeling the kitchen of their Oakland home, paying cash from savings and investments for the job.

"The economy is getting a little bit more stable, we are feeling a little more secure, and the stock market is going up a little so we could sell some stock," said Jennifer Schreyer, a real estate agent whose husband works for Pixar. "The economy had a lot to do with it."

The Schreyers have been waiting for the right time to redo the kitchen of the home they bought seven years ago.

"It was a little scary to take those steps to do something substantial," Jennifer Schreyer said, but a new kitchen was a lifestyle essential. "I love to cook; my husband is French; our two boys were born in Paris, and they love to cook."

Jim Tibbs of HDR Remodeling in Berkeley, which is doing the Schreyers' kitchen, said some of his clients are remodeling instead of moving up. "People seem to be staying in their homes longer, opting for improving the home they're already in as opposed to selling and taking on a heavier mortgage at a larger home," he said.of Harrell Remodeling in Mountain View, which is doing the job. "I think people are giving themselves permission to take the leap. The uncertainty is starting to clear a little."

But a lot of homeowners are spending more cautiously than they were before the crash, said NAHB economist Stephen Melman. "The projects aren't quite as robust. They're looking for value versus the big-ticket projects during the boom."

"Instead of a whole new $150,000 kitchen, people will replace appliances and refurbish cabinets. They're more likely to do the bathroom than kitchen because it's less expensive," Melman said.

R&R Development of San Jose, which has seen business increase in the past few months, is starting on an outdoor kitchen for Donna Hecke's Almaden home in San Jose. Hecke and her husband, who works in high tech, have been remodeling their home a little bit at a time, saving up the money for each project. "We don't do anything until we have the money saved," she said.

Contact Pete Carey at 408-920-5419.

Cuban National Symphony to Perform in Tampa Bay Area

In its first U.S. tour since Fidel Castro took power in 1959, the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba will perform in the Tampa Bay area in November, including a chamber music concert at the Cuban Club in Ybor City.

“This is significant,” said E.J. Salcines, a retired prosecuting attorney and judge, and Latino elder statesman in Tampa. “The Cuban Club has been the site of a long cultural connection with the musicians and composers and theatrical performers who frequently came from Cuba to perform at the Cuban clubs in Ybor City. I look at this as an important event from a cultural point of view.”

The Cubans will be presented by the Florida Orchestra as part of its multiyear cultural exchange with the island nation, which began in September when a wind quintet from the orchestra performed in Havana.

The Cuban orchestra may play elsewhere in Florida, but tour producer Leonid Fleishaker of New York-based World Touring Entertainment said that contracts have not been finalized. The orchestra will not play in Miami.

“Miami, I don’t think, is in the works,” Fleishaker said. We could not get the right kind of venue on the right date in Miami.”

Cuba’s symphony orchestra will be in the Tampa Bay area at least three days. On Nov. 5, the chamber music concert at the Cuban Club will combine musicians from both orchestras. On Nov. 7, the day after the U.S. presidential election, the entire Cuban National Symphony will perform at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg.

Those concerts are part of a U.S. tour that will begin in Kansas City in October and tentatively include 17 cities in 10 states.

The Florida Orchestra said it wanted to do more than simply present the Cuban orchestra in a single concert.

“They aren’t just coming into town, playing a concert and leaving the next morning,” Florida Orchestra president Michael Pastreich said. “What we’re able to do is have a full-fledged residency where we can embrace the Cuban national orchestra into the fabric of our organization and the fabric of our community.”

Pastreich said it would cost the Florida Orchestra “in the neighborhood of $30,000” as the concert fee to the Cuban orchestra, plus quite a lot more for hotels, food, hall rentals and other costs of the residency.

At the Mahaffey concert, the program will feature Cuban pianist Ignacio “Nachito” Herrera performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, along with Gershwin’s Cuban Rhapsody, Guaguanco by Cuban composer-conductor Guido Lopez-Gavilan and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The conductors will be music director Enrique Perez Mesa and Lopez-Gavilan.

The chamber concert program is yet to be determined. In addition to the concerts, Perez Mesa and members of the National Symphony will offer master classes. Also on hand will be Roberto Chorens, executive director of the NSOC and director of the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory, where the Florida Orchestra quintet members gave master classes during their visit to Havana.

This May, the Cuban cultural exchange will continue with Perez Mesa making his U.S. debut as guest conductor of the Florida Orchestra in a program that includes Cuban music. Stefan Sanderling, the Florida music director, has been invited to guest-conduct the Cuban orchestra in Havana in February 2013. Cuban guest artists and composers are likely to be featured in Florida Orchestra programs. The ultimate goal is to send the entire Florida Orchestra to Cuba to perform as early as the 2013-14 season.

With about 85 musicians on the tour, the Cuban orchestra may have to cope with possible defections. “They know the math,” said Ann Louise Bardach, author of √Without Fidel: A Death Foretold in Miami, Havana and Washington√ and other books about Cuba. “They’re not all going to go back, because they get some defectors on every tour. They have to figure out what their PR losses are, too.”

At one point in the planning of the tour’s dates in the Tampa Bay area, the Florida Orchestra was concerned about having the concerts flanking the November elections, but in the end decided to go ahead.

“I think a great part of an artistic exchange like this one is bringing together a commonality of our communities entirely divorced from any political gyrations that might go on,” Pastreich said. “So far, this cultural exchange with Cuba has been untouched by politics.”

Roberto Ferrer, a native of Havana and a longtime musician and radio announcer in Tampa, does not think having members of the Cuban orchestra play the Cuban Club is a good idea. “Any other theater or club, OK, but this looks like provocation,” he said.

Nevertheless, Ferrer said he would go to hear the Cuban national symphony even though his family’s business was confiscated by the Castro government.

“There will be some people picketing, that’s for sure,” he said. “But I will go because I’m an entertainer and I can separate music from politics . . . and I’ve learned to forgive and forget.”

Bay Area Could See $5 a Gallon Gas by Summer

We may see $5 per gallon gas by summer. Prices have already soared 18 cents per gallon in just the last month, to an average of $4 per gallon.

A USC business school report estimates that for every penny increase in a gallon of gas, as much as a billion dollars is pulled from our economy. So another $1 increase in gas could sap $100 billion in other spending.

AAA says the price of a gallon of regular unleaded is 20 cents higher. Gas prices hit $4 last year, but the rise this time has been rapid and unusual for February.

Higher pump prices put a squeeze on the budget, and there's already an indication consumers are thinking about ways to cut back on spending.

"If you spend more money on gas, you're not going to spend more money buying some other goods," Belmont resident Alex Kholodenko said.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) will do First Pressure Test in Mountain View and Antioch, Calif. in May

That could impact the economic recovery.

The benchmark oil price, known as West Texas Intermediate, hit $105 per barrel Monday. One year ago, it was $89, an increase of $16 a barrel. The Department of Energy says a $20 increase leads to a four-tenths of a percent drop in the gross domestic product and a one-tenth of a percent increase in unemployment.

Terry Connelly, Dean Emeritus of Golden Gate University's business school, says reduced consumer spending creates a domino effect.

"So what happens to the stocks of Walmart, Target and so forth," he said. "We've had a nice run-up in the stock market. Then you start seeing stock analysts start downgrading these stocks. They're not going to be making as much money in this quarter because of higher gas prices. That affects people's 401Ks, so you get a feedback loop."

Analysts are predicting gas prices could hit $5 a gallon as a result of escalating tension with Iran over its nuclear program. Iran already has blocked oil shipments to Great Britain and France.

A significant chunk of what we pay for gas is taxes. The federal government tacks on 18.5 cents per gallon and states and counties add more. California has the highest average gas tax at more than 64 cents per gallon, including the federal tax. New York is close behind. Oil rich Alaska has the lowest gasoline tax.

Bay Area College Baseball Preview

This has the makings of a special season for Bay Area college baseball.

Stanford is ranked No. 2 nationally by Baseball America and is the preseason pick to win the Pac-12. Cal has most of its College World Series team back from last season. San Jose State was picked to finish second in the Western Athletic Conference coaches poll, and USF is coming off a West Coast Conference championship and NCAA tournament appearance.

Stanford coach Mark Marquess, now in his 36th year, can't recall the Bay Area baseball scene ever being as strong.

"This is unusual that we have so many teams that could go to postseason play," he said.

Stanford has three potential first-round draft choices returning in pitcher Mark Appel, shortstop Kenny Diekroeger and third baseman Stephen Piscotty. All three, who are on the initial watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, given to college baseball's best player, are from the Bay Area: Appel from Monte Vista of Danville, Diekroeger from Menlo School and Piscotty from Amador Valley.

Appel is a power pitcher whom some project as a potential first pick in the draft.

"I don't know if I've ever had a pitcher who threw harder," said Marquess, who has had a number of pitchers go on to notable major league careers. "And he's filling out, getting bigger and stronger."

In addition to Diekroeger and Piscotty, the Cardinal has a number of returning starters off last year's super regional team, including first baseman Brian Ragira, second baseman Lonnie Kauppila and outfielders Austin Wilson, Tyler Gaffney and Jake Stewart.

Brett Mooneyham, a left-hander who missed last season because of a finger injury, will join Appel in the starting rotation with A.J. Vanegas and Dean McArdle competing for the third weekend starter's slot. The closer's role is up for grabs.

No. 22 Cal is coming off an incredible 2011 season, a story that began with the threat of the program's elimination and ended with a trip to the College World Series. The Bears are also loaded with experience in the field, led by returning Pac-10 player of the year Tony Renda (Serra), who also is on the Golden Spikes Award list. Renda, a junior, says the team has some unfinished business.

"Last year was a great year, a Cinderella story," he said. "But the fact of the matter is we didn't win a (national) championship."

In addition to Renda at second base, catcher Chadd Krist, first baseman Devon Rodriguez and third baseman Mitch Delfino are returning starters. Shortstop Derek Campbell and a group of five outfielders also all saw plenty of playing time. Justin Jones (9-6, 2.93) is the No. 1 starter, followed by Kyle Porter and Matt Flemer (St. Mary's). Logan Scott (Serra) is the closer. But as coach David Esquer is quick to point out, you need more than four pitchers.

"You need eight," he said. "The key is our second-line pitching. The thing we do best is something that is the least reliable, offense. I think our defense is pretty solid, but we've got to develop on the pitching side."

San Jose State went 35-26 last season. Coach Sam Piraro, in his 25th year, has 16 players who have been in the program three or more years. Former Spartans player Mark O'Brien, after 10 years as coach at Santa Clara, has been added to the coaching staff.

Piraro calls Zack Jones (Santa Teresa) "My most dynamic player. He'll be a high draft choice. Scouts want me to start him, but he will be my closer if we have a chance to win three games in a week as opposed to one. He can also hit and could be my starting shortstop, but I'm not going to play him in the field."

Piraro is also high on catcher Kyle Gallegos, a Chabot transfer out of California High, outfielder Tim Quiery (Serra), his best offensive player, and speedy outfielder Andrew Rodriguez (Logan). Pitcher/shortstop Mike Aldrete is the son of the former major league first baseman and Stanford standout.

USF is hoping to build off last season's success. Santa Clara has a new coach in Dan O'Brien, previously at UC San Diego. Saint Mary's is looking to turn the corner with the bulk of its starting lineup returning off last season's 27-28 team.

Bay Area Native has Front-Row Seat to Vietnam's Economic Growth

Fred Burke has watched gleaming high-rises and Mercedes-Benz sedans replace squat shacks and bicycle taxis in this communist country that has embraced capitalism at a frenetic pace.

"It was just desolate," he said of conditions in 1991, when he first arrived in the Southeast Asian country after working in China. "The streetlights weren't on. There wasn't a coat of paint put on (buildings) since the U.S. military pulled out. There were literally lepers on the street. You could openly see people suffering from malnutrition."

The Bay Area-born partner at Baker & McKenzie law firm came to Vietnam not long after the government's doi moi economic reform began -- and before the United States lifted its trade embargo against the country of about 90 million people. The changes eventually set off a scramble to get rich. While still a nation with a lot of poverty, Vietnam has one of the world's hottest economies that has created a host of newly minted multimillionaires.

Burke, a Stanford University graduate who provides legal advice to domestic and international companies, recently spoke with the Mercury News about doing business in Vietnam. Here is a transcript of his remarks, edited for brevity and clarity.

Q You were among the pioneers to first go to China as it was opening up in the 1980s. Why did you move to Vietnam as China was beginning to explode with opportunities? and Shanghai most of the time from 1981 to 1991, when I started coming to Vietnam. Vietnam was just opening. I ended up getting sucked into Vietnam. We had hundreds of lawyers in China but we had no one in Vietnam. The climate is nicer and it's on a more human scale. People are very friendly here. People ask me, after the war, is there resentment? No. Americans are generally pretty outgoing and down to earth and doing good things here. It's always been an open place. It's not an entitlement culture where people expect the government to give them handouts. Every Vietnamese looks in the mirror and sees a millionaire. They want to better themselves and they want to work hard.

Q In the years you have been here, how has America's relationship with this country evolved? Vietnam finds itself between China, the emerging global giant, and the United States, the dominant super power.

A Nobody wants to be completely dependent on China for everything. There is obviously some tension with China. Everyone in Vietnam is nervous about China. But it's not the old Cold War, when you have to choose sides. Countries like Vietnam wisely chose a multilateral foreign policy so they can trade and be friends with everyone.

Q Describe your work as a member of the Prime Minister's Advisory Council on Administrative Reform.

A The first three years of that was a huge reform that dealt with existing administrative procedures. The idea was to suggest simplifications or elimination of red tape. In December 2010, they issued a list of 4,700 directives from the prime minister. Baker & McKenzie was involved with at least 300 of those. Some of the red tape was eliminated and we are continuing to implement these reforms to cut red tape. But frankly, there is a lot of skepticism about how effective it was. Meanwhile, government ministers were up to the same monkey business, creating new regulations that need to be vetted. Vietnam is suffering a trade deficit and one of the responses has been a bit of protectionism in the form of new regulations to protect local businesses from overseas competitors. You see some Vietnamese companies asking for protectionism.

Q It wasn't long ago that investors were stepping on each other to get a piece of the action in Vietnam. Are you seeing a pullback amid the global downturn?

A I don't see a lot of people pulling out of Vietnam. For a lot of these multinationals, their business in Vietnam is growing faster than anywhere else. I hear that again and again. Even though there are troubles here, it's better than everywhere else. There is also manufacturing coming in from China. Companies are finding China's coastal regions becoming expensive and they are looking for alternatives.

Canon started with a small factory here 15 years ago. Now it's their biggest printer factory in the world. Victoria's Secret is very big here. The garment sector isn't producing cheap T-shirts; it's high-quality work that takes a lot of skilled knitting. It's the same for the furniture industry. Clients come to Vietnam for the high-end furniture. The craftsmanship is here. Nokia just announced it is going to open up a big smartphone plant outside of Hanoi. Intel (INTC) (which opened a $1 billion chip factory in Ho Chi Minh City in November 2010) was a big coup. They've been investing here. They've been a good corporate citizen. The one thing that didn't meet their expectations was the education of engineers coming out of school, so they've put a lot of resources into training.

Q With so much focus on the economic problems of the United States and Europe, Asia is almost assumed to be the new frontier of economic growth and stability. Yet the Asian Development Bank has warned that Asia's rise is not preordained -- and that nations such as Vietnam, as well as China, will need to make tough political choices. Do you see dangers?

A Some people do. A lot of people believe their own propaganda that the world is beating a path to their doors. No matter what they do, the foreigners will keep pouring money in. On the other hand, I do think the Vietnamese government, if nothing else, is very quick to see when the tide is turning and make necessary reforms.

Bay Area Firms Carve Out Socially Responsible Niche Within Financial Industry

Starting a company at the tail end of a recession is a risky bet for any would-be entrepreneur. But for a single mother of three who is living in Section 8 housing and has been making ends meet by carefully rationing her (now exhausted) unemployment checks, it’s a high stakes gamble.

Jessica Nowlan, 32, prefers to call it “a leap of faith.” The single mom launched Hope Solutions last year—a company that equips small businesses with payments processing and e-commerce capabilities—despite having no savings, no business loan and just 6 months of experience in the merchant services industry. “This is not the ideal way to start a business,” said Nowlan.

Today, she has about 50 clients—mostly very small businesses—but said that she needs about 250 more to become financially healthy.

Hope Solutions grew out of Nowlan’s own short-lived experience as a sales agent for a national merchant processing company. Tasked with finding new clients and setting up their credit processing systems, Nowlan grew disenchanted with the nature of her job, which she said included misleading business owners into buying costly services they didn’t need—and, sometimes, couldn’t afford. Such practices, she later learned, were not particular to her own company, but endemic to the industry as a whole.

Merchant services is a part of the credit card industry that flies under the radar of most consumers, but it’s familiar to business owners. Before retailers can take credit cards or web developers can accept online billing, for example, they require a host of services and equipment: debit machines, e-commerce gateways, technical support and financial backing, among others. Big banks and credit processing firms like the one for which Nowlan worked deal with the set-up and administration of these payment systems—for a percentage fee that is lopped off the top of every transaction.

That’s where things tend to get muddy. Shop owners seeking merchant services deal with many of the same questionable business practices endured by consumers seeking credit cards: Banks may charge a host of dubious fees, agents may exploit customer naiveté to up-sell accounts and customers may buy into a sales pitch that may be much different than what’s detailed in the fine print of their contracts.

Over the last two years, as public trust has eroded and consumers have increasingly chosen to divest from corporate financial institutions, business owners have similarly looked for alternatives to big bank merchant services. Nowlan thought she could satisfy that demand by starting her own firm. “I thought, wouldn’t it be cool if I could create my own credit processing company that would really meet people’s needs,” she said.

In 2010, she launched Hope Solutions. She started small, taking on one client, then using that revenue to take on another, until she was able to rent a “smallish, kind of dumpy,” one-room office in the Laurel neighborhood of East Oakland, as well as hire a part time administrator.

Charities Concentrate in Bay Area

If it feels like there are more charities found locally than anywhere else in the country, that's because the perception isn't far from reality. 

According to Ken Berger, chief executive officer and president of Charity Navigator, the San Francisco Bay Area has a higher concentration of charities than even the region surrounding New York City. 

Berger's New Jersey-based company is an online organization dedicated to tracking and evaluating the practices and performances of charities across the globe, and ranking their quality according to performance in categories such as financial health, accountability and transparency. 

"New York has most charities in the world," said Berger. "But San Francisco is equal to it, or may have more based on a city of the size."

According to Berger there is no hard data available to back up his claim, but he said that charities favoring San Francisco have had a widespread influence on the surrounding area. That impact is not only in terms of popularity. He said that the Bay Area is recognized within the charity industry as the home of an innovation that is altering the current landscape. 

Continuing the legacy of groundbreaking advancement spawned in Silicon Valley, companies in the Bay Area are on the cutting edge of developing a hybrid business model that blends traditional charity practices with an entrepreneurial philosophy, said Berger. 

"Creating for-profit businesses that have a social mission; that can do more good with new money because it is venture capital," said Berger, of the new business model. 

He said that the industry is changing thanks to the creative spirit of companies that favor methods familiar in the business realm, such as analyzing return on investment. 

"It is driving a change to the culture of the way that we help people," said Berger. "Changing the way charities operate, and creating whole new ways of doing it."

Hybrid charities follow how money invested into the business make a difference in the communities that are targeted for improvement. This new method has become increasingly popular over the course of the past few years in the midst of a stagnant economy, said Berger. 

He said that now, more than ever, people are looking to get more bang for their scarce dollars. 

"Business savvy and skills can make helping others even more attractive," said Berger. 

He said impact of gauging such techniques is being felt across the industry. 

"If you ask any mid to large sized charity today, if measuring results of performance matters more today than it did 10 years ago? To a person, they would say yes," said Berger.

But according to Berger, not all charities are embracing the change brought forth by hybrid companies.

"Whether they like it or not, they are being forced to change," Berger said. 

Despite the new wave of methods and influences, Berger was reluctant to predict that the charity industry would be permanently transformed. 

"The notion that you can do good, and do well financially at the same time is enticing," said Berger. "But it may be too early to tell how it will catch on for the long term."

Hearst Media Services/Bay Area's Latest Service Offers Bay Area Businesses the Ability to Seamlessly turn their Current Websites into Highly Readable Mobile Sites

Hearst Media Services/Bay Area's latest service offers Bay Area businesses the ability to seamlessly turn their current websites into highly readable mobile sites so that customers can quickly and easily find information on their products and services.

According to Google, one in seven queries is from a mobile device with some business segments getting as much as 30% of their queries from these devices. Google also reported that 77% of all smart phone owners conduct online searches, compared to the 68% who use apps. This trend, along with the forecast that mobile devices will surpass PCs for web access in 2013, means that businesses must have mobile-ready websites that are user-friendly and readable to connect to this audience.

The Mobile Optimization service allows businesses to present their websites in a user-friendly, readable format for mobile devices. It connects them with this hard-to-reach mobile audience where they search -- online and on-the-go.

Hearst Media's Special Services for Bay Area Businesses

"It's more important than ever that businesses showcase their products and services on mobile devices to reach an ever-growing, search audience," said Mark Adkins, president of Hearst Media Services/Bay Area and the San Francisco Chronicle/SFGate.com. "Our Mobile Optimization service gives businesses the help they need to have user-friendly, highly readable mobile displays that reach this active audience."

Mobile Optimization is a part of Hearst Media Services/Bay Area's GateList program, a digital marketing service for small and medium-sized businesses. It is designed to save business owners valuable time and resources while delivering a high return on investment.

Find out more about mobile optimization for your website by visiting us online at SFGate.com/adsolutions or by calling 877-775-1868 to speak with one of our consultants about the program.

About Hearst Media Services/Bay Area 

In addition to the vast resources of the San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate.com, Hearst Media Services/Bay Area provides everything from social media campaigns to search engine marketing to direct mail and e-mail advertising. Whether targeting customers based on behavior, demographics and geography or using the broad reach of Hearst Media Services products to reach 1.7 million Bay Area adults each week, advertisers can find all their marketing solutions in one, easy-to-implement place.

Bay Area Cities Kick Off 'Small Business Saturday'

Small businesses from throughout the Bay Area participated in the "Small Business Saturday" event, hoping to get a cut of the holiday spending.

At Small Business Saturday, store owners had high hopes. It's the second year for the national event, which highlights the independent business owner who also needs this holiday shopping season to be a good one.

"Most of the neighborhood stores have taken a big hit because of the economy," said Al Ribaya of Al's Attire. "Having a day like this really promotes the small business."

Event organizers credit Small Business Saturday for boosting sales by 28 percent last year. This year, event organizers were confident that sales would be even better, mostly because new communities joined the effort.

"The time, the attention, the incentives and the care they give are worth a lot of money to members of the community," said organizer Barbara Kasoff.

Shopping with major retailers is still the route to go for many. Black Friday sales increased from last year, which means people are spending again, but according to consumer psychologist Kit Yarrow, shoppers still want their dollar to stretch as far as possible.

"Small businesses can't offer the price points that large companies can," said Yarrow. "So I think, ultimately, consumers are going to lean more toward buying at major retailers because they'll save more money."

Foot traffic was light in the North Beach community. In the Marina District, boutiques offered some savings.

In San Jose's Willow Glen neighborhood, many shoppers admitted they're spending less this year while still looking for unique holiday items.

"It's definitely not the mall," said shopper Patience Lutz. "That's what I'm trying to escape this year."

Eighty-nine million people are expected to take part in the small business event. According to a study conducted by American Express, San Francisco ranked second in the country for small business vitality.

Bay Area Chamber of Commerce Honors Long-Time EHPS Board Member at Business and Education Event

After 20 years on the Essexville-Hampton Public Schools Board of Education, including 18 years as vice president of the board, Don Massnick was awarded the Jerome L. Yantz Partner in Education Award by the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce Business and Education Partnership on Friday.

In addition to his time on the board, Massnick has also served on the Bay Regional Medical Foundation board of directors since 1987 and was named president of the Michigan Eye Bank in 1978.

EHPS Superintendent John Mertz presented Massnick with the award.

The award ceremony was a part of the chamber’s “Navigating the New Economy” event focused on preparing current students to enter the work force.

Sandra Marshall, program director of business partnerships for Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, spoke to the crowd of about 90 business and education leaders about the importance of manufacturing.

“I thought it was very good,” said Ed Oberski, CEO of Michigan Works Great Lakes Bay. “We know how important manufacturing is in our area and we know manufacturing is on the rebound.”

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Following Marshall’s presentation, each of the tables the attendees were at were given a question to discuss.

“We’re putting business people and educators together to talk about key issues that are going to impact us for years to come,” Chamber President Mike Seward said. “Basically, it’s forcing them to think together and talk together about solutions to challenges and report on them.”

Oberski said the mix of attendees helped foster discussion.

“At our table, we had big business, we had education and we had small business, and it was a nice diversity of input,” Oberski said.

Seward said the chamber plans to compile the ideas out of the small groups and keep the discussion going between business leaders and educators.

MVLA Named First Green District in Bay Area

The Santa Clara Green Business Program recently named the Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District a Certified Green high school district.

Following the recent green certification for Alta Vista High School, the MVLA Adult School and the District Office, the high school district was recognized as the first totally green school district in the Bay Area.

The Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District turned on its solar panel system at Los Altos High, left, in April.

Los Altos High School led the way in 2010 when it became one of only three county high schools to receive green certification, followed last year by Mountain View High School, the fourth in the county to earn the recognition.

To secure green certification, organizations and businesses must meet high standards of environmental performance in the areas of solid-waste reduction and recycling, water and energy conservation, pollution prevention and greenhouse-gas emission controls. In each of these areas, the district exceeded the number of required and recommended green actions.

Many individuals and organizations contributed to meeting the certification standards. The MVLA Board of Trustees made sustainability a strong district priority. Principals Wynne Satterwhite (Los Altos), Keith Moody (Mountain View), Bill Pierce (Alta Vista) and Director Laura Stefanski (Adult Education) were instrumental in the process.

Students on each school’s green teams, parent liaisons and Environmental Club advisers Greg Stoehr (Los Altos), Teri Faught (Mountain View) and Elvis Lopez of the District Office supported the program.

“Because of their efforts, we will continue to go green,” Superintendent Barry Groves said.

The district presented a report, “Energy Efficiency Makes for Successful Bond Campaigns,” to the statewide Green Technology conference in Pasadena Oct. 17.

Dodge Boosts Share of Female Car Buyers in the Bay Area

Female car buyers in the San Francisco market are making up a larger customer base for Dodge cars and trucks, according to an analysis by Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information.

The Bay Area market analysis found that of all automotive brands, Dodge has by far made the largest market share gain among women. From January through August 2011 the female share for the mainstream domestic brand has grown to 28 percent, compared to 24 percent during the same period last year. The growth accounts for a 16.7 percent proportional change for the brand year over year.

Biggest Increase in San Francisco Female Market Share, By Brand

Buick placed second in San Francisco by improving its share of sales to women by 10.0%. Luxury brands Porsche (+10.0%) and Infiniti (+9.4%) placed third and fourth, respectively, while GMC (+7.7%) rounded out the top five. Overall, women account for 39 percent of all new cars registered in San Francisco this year -- down about 1.5 percent compared to last year, but on par with the nationwide average.

"One thing that the top five brands have in common is that their shares of female buyers all fall well below the industry average of 39 percent within the Bay Area market," notes Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Jessica Caldwell. "It's smart for these brands to develop new and refreshed products that have a stronger appeal with women so that they don't miss out on an important part of the market."

Not every car brand is boosting its appeal with women in San Francisco. Chrysler has seen its market share of females shift from 40 percent in the first eight months of 2010 to 34 percent during the same period in 2011, for a proportional change of -15.0 percent. Korean brands Hyundai (-9.3%) and Kia (-8.2%) followed in the bottom five.

Bay Area's First Electric Car Charging Station

To complete this study, Edmunds.com analysts examined new car registration data provided by Polk during the periods of January 2010-August 2010 and January 2011-August 2011. Only brands selling a minimum of 50 vehicles to females within the market during each time period were considered for the analysis.

For more automotive trends and analysis, please visit Edmunds.com's Data Center at http://www.autoobserver.com/car-data-center/ .

About Edmunds.com, Inc. ( http://www.edmunds.com/help/about/index.html )

Edmunds.com Inc. publishes Web sites that empower, engage and educate automotive consumers, enthusiasts and insiders. Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information, launched in 1995 as the first automotive information Web site. Its mobile site, accessible from any smartphone at www.edmunds.com , makes car pricing and other research tools available for car shoppers at dealerships and otherwise on the go. InsideLine.com is the most-read automotive enthusiast Web site. Its mobile site, accessible from any smartphone at www.insideline.com , features the wireless Web's highest quality car photos and videos. AutoObserver.com provides insightful automotive industry commentary and analysis. Edmunds.com Inc. is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit. Follow Edmunds.com on Twitter@edmunds and like Edmunds.com on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/edmunds .

Western Star Bay Area Nursery Certified as Preferred Small Business for Alameda County

Western Star Nursery, a wholesale nursery in the Bay Area and Sacramento, is excited to announce it has recently been approved as a small business under the County of Alameda's Small, Local and Emerging Business (SLEB) Program. The program, which aims to promote the patronage of small and local businesses, gives preference points to bids from contractors for government jobs within the County when they partner with SLEB businesses.

Any business bidding on a city, county, state or federal project that will be installed in Alameda County can qualify for up to10% preference points (5% local and 5% certified) by partnering with Bay Area landscape supply wholesaler Western Star Nursery.

"This competitive advantage may very well mean the difference in the job being awarded to you," says Sally Painter, owner of Western Star Nursery. "Please call us to for our certification number and a copy of the certificate to include with your bid(s)."

The program was developed because "the County is vitally interested in promoting the growth of small and emerging local businesses by means of increasing the participation of these businesses in the County's purchase of goods and services." For more information about the Alameda County SLEB program, visit www.acgov.org/auditor/sleb/.

For more information about partnering with Western Star Nursery to receive SLEB points on a bid in Alameda County, or any of the Bay Area landscape design company's products or services, call them at (925) 233-0023 (East Bay) or (209) 744-2552 (South Sacramento), view them on the web at western-star-nursery.com, or visit one of their locations in Sunol or Galt.

About Western Star Nursery 

Western Star Nursery is a wholesale nursery in Sacramento and the Bay Area serving landscaping contractors, developers, and commercial nurseries. Founded in 1996 by Robert and Sally Painter, Western Star Nursery has earned a reputation for growing high-quality products and offering superior service. From the most commonly used ornamental varieties to unusual phormiums, they stock a large and diversified selection of 1 gallon through 36" box trees and shrubs on over 100 acres. They also offer an efficient brokerage service and contract growing. The Western Star staff, many of whom have been with the company since its start, bring with them many years of nursery and customer service experience. Western Star features will-call, delivery and shipping services.

Western Star Nursery has locations in Sunol and Galt, and provides landscape design services and landscape supply to the Bay Area, Sacramento, and northern California. They offer delivery service throughout California and Nevada.

Jancis Robinson Hired Well-Known Bay Area Wine Blogger Alder Yarrow

Wine guru and publisher Jancis Robinsonsaid Tuesday she’s hired well-known Bay Area wine blogger Alder Yarrow, of the award-winning Vinography.com blog, to join London-based JancisRobinson.com as a columnist.

Yarrow, who has won a number of blogging awards, actually broke the news late Monday on Facebook .

He will report on the “American wine scene,” much of it in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and the Golden State, which accounts for about 90 percent of U.S. wine exports.

Robinson said the choice of Yarrow to help expand her site’s coverage of American wine culture “reflects the vibrancy of the wine blogging world, her appreciation of the growing universe of online wine voices and Yarrow’s impressive body of work” and insights on American wine.

Yarrow’s “Alder on America” column will debut at JancisRobinson.com Wednesday, beginning with an analysis of wine critic extraordinaire Robert Parker’s retreat from reviewing California wine and the appointment of Antonio Galloni as the Wine Advocate’s new California correspondent. Alder’s first column will be free. After that, it's available only to paid subscribers.

“Alder represents the best of the wine blogosphere,” said Robinson. “His writing at Vinography.com is refreshing, thoughtful, objective and literate, qualities that have been justly rewarded by a large readership and six Wine Blog Awards.”

Rock Wall Wine Co. Will Host Summer Rocks Event

JancisRobinson.com was founded in 2000 with a paid-subscription element, Purple pages, added in 2001. It has members in 100 countries, Robinson said in the Oct. 18 statement, and includes a backlog of 60,000 wine reviews.

Yarrow began publishing his blog, Vinography, in 2004, as a part-time labor of love.

Jobs, Legislative Plans Topics as Gov. Rick Scott Makes two Bay Area Stops

At two stops Monday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott was asked about the things that have come to dominate his public schedule: his plan for the 2012 legislative session, his belief that the state doesn't need more anthropology majors and his inconsistent math when it comes to creating 700,000 private-sector jobs in the state.

During a morning visit at Advanced Protection Technologies, a Clearwater manufacturer that produces industrial surge protectors, Scott reiterated a legislative agenda for next year that includes business tax cuts despite a projected budget shortfall.

Scott toured the manufacturing plant for about 30 minutes before meeting with a handful of workers, asking them for ideas on how to create jobs.

The East Bay Posted a Gain of 8,100 Jobs During June

One worker asked about the prospect of Cuba drilling for oil near Florida's coast, and whether Florida should drill itself. "Right now, we ought to be careful," Scott answered.

Later, Scott rolled through more of his legislative agenda during a 25-minute talk to the Westshore Alliance, a Tampa business group.

Scott told the group he wants to emphasize science, technology, engineering and math degrees, or "degrees in things where you can get jobs." Scott faced criticism last week when he told a radio talk show host that Florida doesn't need "a lot more anthropologists in this state."

One of Scott's daughters, Jordan Kandah, has an anthropology degree from the College of William and Mary.

"I love anthropology degrees, just so you know," Scott told the crowd of about 400, which included Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

Scott then recounted a phone conversation with his daughter after the story broke.

" 'Dad, do you know I'm the No. 1 story on Yahoo! today?' " Scott said, mimicking his daughter to laughter.

Later in a session with reporters, Scott was again asked to explain how he planned to keep his central campaign promise of creating 700,000 private-sector jobs over seven years. During his campaign, Scott said those jobs would be in addition to "what's projected" as normal growth. State economists projected Florida would gain 1 million jobs in the same period, regardless of who was elected governor.

Scott deflected the predictions of state economists Monday, as well as his previous statements.

"Whether the economy goes up or goes down, my focus is what I've committed to, 700,000 jobs over the next seven years," Scott said.

Bay Area CEOs' Dark Outlook Casts Doubts on Hiring

"Say this for Bay Area business leaders: They're an optimistic lot," I wrote in July. Since then, they seem to have contracted a bad case of the economic blues.

According to the Bay Area Council's latest survey, local CEOs are "expressing strong disappointment with the pace of recovery over the past six months and offering an equally unsettled outlook for significant improvement in the coming six months."

The council's business confidence index - based on responses from 450 CEOs and top executives in the nine Bay Area counties - has plummeted 11 points, from 62 to 51, since the spring survey. That's the biggest quarterly drop since 2002. "Many of those whose attitudes have shifted now believe economic conditions will generally remain the same or worsen slightly over the coming months," the report says.

Compare that with the council's last quarterly report, when two-thirds of those surveyed thought the local economy was not only better but would continue to improve.

So, unless the CEOs regain their previously sunny disposition, don't expect a noticeable uptick in hiring anytime soon. Sixty percent of the executives surveyed said their workforce will stay the same over the next six months. Almost a fifth said they're looking at layoffs, with just 21 percent planning additions to their payroll. A major obstacle to hiring: rising health care costs, the business leaders say.

"Controlling health care cost is one of our top priorities as we work with state legislators and others to influence how national health care reform gets implemented here in California," said council CEO Jim Wunderman.

Business leaders in the leisure and hospitality industries, and those in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, are more positive about the future than those in the construction, manufacturing and retail trades, or who are running businesses in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Those in the public sector, unsurprisingly, are the gloomiest of all.

"The drop in business confidence is consistent with what we're seeing nationwide, although our region's comparative economic advantages" - access to capital, proximity to global markets, the entrepreneurial spirit - "offer a ray of sunshine," said Lenny Mendonca, a director at McKinsey & Co. and past chairman of the Bay Area Council.

The power of more positive thinking might help a bit, too. (The complete report will be posted on the council's website, www.bayareacouncil.org, this morning.)

New "Amazon tax" bill: With the war between Amazon.com and the state of California now over, attention is shifting to Washington, where, all sides agree, the issue of online retailers paying sales tax needs to be settled nationally.

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, offered a bipartisan bill Wednesday that seeks to do just that.

The Marketplace Equity Act, co-written by Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., requires online companies, such as Amazon and Overstock.com, to collect and remit sales taxes on goods sold in states that require the tax payment, whether the companies have a physical presence there or not.

Such legislation would supersede a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows Amazon and other online retailers to avoid paying sales taxes in states where they say they have no physical presence, or "nexus."

Unlike a similar bill introduced last year by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Speier's bill would not require California and other states to sign on to the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which seeks to simplify and make uniform sales-tax procedures and covers 44 states.

Amazon, however, supports Durbin's bill and the Streamlined Sales initiative, which California and other large states have consistently rejected on the grounds that it limits their taxing authority.

"Ours is a different model," Speier said. "It doesn't trample on states' rights. It allows states to choose whether to impose the tax, how to collect it - or not to impose it at all."

The bill also contains an exemption for smaller online retailers with sales of no more than $100,000 in an individual state per year, or no more than $1 million nationally.
Speier's bill has the backing of the influential Retail Industry Leaders Association and a California coalition including state Board of Equalization Member Betty Yee and the California Retailers Association, which was instrumental in pushing California's law.
 

"It's a more realistic approach to the problem that potentially can get broad support from retailers and the states," said Bill Dombrowski, president of the California Retailers Association. "That should lead to bipartisan legislative support."

That's what Speier is hoping for. The next step, she said, is to get more signatures on the bill, from both sides of the aisle, before handing it over to the congressional sausage machine.

Whatever happens, California will begin collecting online sales tax from Amazon and others by September - unless, come January 2013, by some miracle, federal legislation actually gets passed.

Perfect timing: On Tuesday, the Senate voted overwhelmingly to seek trade sanctions against China unless it stops what the bill's supporters (and many others) say is China's deliberate undervaluing of its currency. Much controversy and angry finger-pointing ensues.

On Saturday, the University of San Francisco is hosting a conference on "the globalization of the Chinese yuan and its effect on financial markets worldwide." Executives from Merrill Lynch, HSBC, Silicon Valley Bank, IBM, Cisco Systems and Chinese companies Huawei and Neusoft are slated to attend.

The program is "designed to help achieve a deeper understanding of the key issues and challenges involved with doing business in China," said Stanley Kwong, director of China programs at USF.

No wonder the conference (at USF's Lone Mountain Conference Center, 1:30 to 6 p.m.) is fully booked. But I'm told more seats may be added, and if you're interested in the free conference, e-mail stanley.kwong@yahoo.com.

Business Confidence Plunges in the Bay Area Amid Plans for more Layoffs

Bay Area executives have soured about the region's economic outlook and have intensified their plans to chop jobs in the coming months, according to a new survey released Thursday.

The quarterly business confidence index compiled by the Bay Area Council plummeted, hitting 51 on a scale of 1 to 100. The summer 2011 reading on the index represented an 11-point drop from the reading for the spring -- and the worst quarterly decline since 2002.

"There is a lot of negative sentiment out there," said Michael Yoshikami, chief investment strategist with Walnut Creek-based YCMNet, an investment firm. "There is a lot of uncertainty."

The latest survey found that 21 percent of businesses in the Bay Area intend to increase staffing levels in the region in the coming six months. That's down sharply from the 33 percent that had planned to increase hiring in the spring survey.

"When CEOs are uncertain, they hold back on hiring," Yoshikami said.

An estimated 17 percent of Bay Area businesses plan to slash their regional workforce, the most recent study found. That was up from 13 percent of employers that were planning layoffs in the spring survey.

Bay Area executives said the prospect of rising health care costs has curbed their appetite to add workers.

"The drop in business confidence in the Bay Area is consistent with what we're seeing nationwide," said Lenny Mendonca, a member of the executive committee of the Bay Area Council, and a director at McKinsey, a consulting firm.

The region's economy has eroded in recent months, business leaders told the researchers.

Business conditions in the Bay Area are getting worse, according to 26 percent of the executives surveyed for the summer report. During the spring, just 9 percent said things had become worse.

The summer survey found that an estimated 31 percent of businesses in the region saw an improving economy. In the spring survey, 64 percent of businesses said the Bay Area economy was on the upswing.

Despite the dreary outlook, business leaders said the Bay Area still is better off than the country generally.

"Our region's comparative economic advantages offer a ray of sunshine," Mendonca said.

Among them: Bay Area businesses have good access to capital, the region boasts a well-educated workforce, the area is close to global markets and the area has a strong entrepreneurial spirit.

The survey polled about 450 CEOs and top executives in the nine Bay Area counties. A reading above 50 for the index shows positive economic conditions and a reading below that shows a negative situation. The index is derived from a compilation of the executives' assessment of local and national conditions for the economy and their industries, as well as their hiring and firing plans.

The Bay Area and the nation should manage to avoid a second recession, Yoshikami said. But that doesn't mean boom times beckon.

"We will have a slow recovery," Yoshikami said. "But for most people, it's going to feel like the recession never ended."

Marvell Recignized as One of the Healthiest Companies in the Bay Area

Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL), a worldwide leader in integrated silicon solutions, today announced that the Company has been recognized as one of the healthiest companies in the Bay Area. The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, in partnership with its sister paper, The San Francisco Business Times, ranked Marvell among the top ten companies with more than 2,000 employees, to receive a 2011 Healthiest Employers of the Bay Area award.

"Wellness at Marvell is more than just eating right and exercising. Marvell's Wellness Program takes into account the various physical and mental aspects that contribute to employees' overall wellbeing," said Reid Linney, vice president of Human Resources at Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. "We view wellness as the Company's ability to assist employees with resources for personal and family care, financial fitness and maintaining a work-life balance. By providing for employees in this way, we hope to promote a culture of wellness extending from the workplace to the home."

According to the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, companies ranked in this publication know that healthy employees are happy and productive employees. They understand that creating a culture where good health practices are encouraged and incentivized is an investment that pays off both in attraction and retention of a quality workforce. With this ranking of the healthiest employers in the Greater Bay Area, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal takes a snapshot of companies that invest time resources, training and dollars in creative policies and programs that promote wellness and healthy lifestyles.

Nearly 100 companies, representing 146,000 employees, nominated themselves for this award. Winners were selected by the Healthiest Employers LLC based on their scores from a comprehensive online survey.

Marvell accepted the award on Sept. 30, 2011, at a ceremony at the Hotel Sofitel in Redwood City, Calif.

About Marvell

Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL) is a world leader in the development of storage, communications and consumer silicon solutions. Marvell's diverse product portfolio includes switching, transceiver, communications controller, wireless and storage solutions that power the entire communications infrastructure, including enterprise, metro, home and storage networking. As used in this release, the term "Marvell" refers to Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries. For more information, visit Marvell.com.

Top Ten Video Countdown by Bay Area Block Report

Bay Area Block Report is announcing its Top Ten Video Countdown coming to Comcast Hometown Network CHN this Fall. Videos will be promoted in Comcast Home Network channel 1O4 and Bay Area Block Report YouTube channel, The Erika Blue Show on Oz Cat Radio KZCT 89.5 fm. With total exposure via TV, FM Radio and internet promotions, this is a high impact marketing, advertising and promotions of artist videos at its best.

“Need help promoting your music, event, or business? Come to the place where local artists and businesses get to shine. Bay Area Block Report and The Erika Blue Show work together to promote Local Music, New Artists, Local Events and businesses. Bay Area Block Report airs on BET through nation, local media networks and over FM radio. We provide New Artists with a complete cross platform promotional service to get their start in the recording industry. If your not on the Bay Area Block Report, Your not on the Block! Call or email us to get started today.,” said Tim Lewis of Bay Area Block Report.

Bay Area Block Report’s top ten countdown is a great idea for local artists to promote their talents to everyone online and on air at an affordable rate. It is offering commercial ad placement for local, regional and national TV on BET MTV and Vh1 Networks. The top 4O artists can have their music videos, promo commercials and YouTube Videos seen on Network TV. They can submit there videos to be played on the show with a $5 submission fee per video. They can send the video to videos@bayareablockreport.com in mpg, mov or avi format. All their videos will be reviewed and chosen videos will be featured on the show. This is also an opportunity for Event Promoters and Businesses to use Mass media promotions to build their product demands regionally, locally or nationally. This upcoming project of Bay Area Block Report definitely brings everyone the heat from the street and what's hot on the block.

For more information about Bay Area Block Report, call (877) 448-4845 or visit www.bayareablockreport.com.

About Bay Area Block Report

The Bay Area Block Report is the best place to hear new, upcoming artists from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Through Television, Radio and Digital Promotions and Distribution, Bay Area Block Report gives local artists and businesses a multi-media approach to promote their music, events and businesses.