10 cvbj oct2014 final lowres by Central Valley Business Journal

October 2014

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OCTOBER

2014 VOL 10 • NUMBER 2

Business Journal Central Valley

www.cvbizjournal.com

StOCKtOn • traCy • lODI • ManteCa • latHrOP • lInDen • rIPOn

MODeStO • CereS • tUrlOCK • OaKDale • rIVerBanK

Innovation Challenge

Valley inventors pitch products, battle for prizes

Gamemaker Turlock’s Chris Handy launches tiny games.

Page 7

By ELIZABETH STEVENS Business Journal editor

fortunate to have enough water this year. “We were lucky this year. We were in the areas where we survived with the water,” Perry said. “If you were down south, you were in trouble.” George Perry and Sons has decades of farming experience. The company traces its roots back to 1925, when Azores immigrant Delphino Vierra “D.V.” Perry set up a dairy on 30 acres near Manteca. He also grew fruits and vegetables to sell at a roadside stand. His son, George, who was 2 when they moved to Manteca, expanded

MODESTO -- The night began with seven contestants, including an app maker, a security firm, an enchilada sauce maker, a music festival promoter, and the creator of a calendar for the first year of marriage. But in the end it was an idea for a lowcost solution to make seniors’ lives better that won out. Fred Axton won the first night of the Stanislaus Innovation Challenge with his idea for a sliding door that could be installed in a bathtub to make showering easier for seniors. The Stanislaus Innovation Challenge was organized by the Stanislaus Business Alliance. It’s a series of contests in Modesto, Oakdale, Patterson and Turlock to encourage entrepreneurship in the Valley. The judges were Modesto Mayor Garrad Marsh, entrepreneur John Paoluccio and Stanislaus Alliance CEO David White. “I thought it was a great kickoff,” said White. “We had seven companies. We had some good ideas, had some good presentations.” The Innovation Challenge is patterned after the San Joaquin Entrepreneur Challenge, and the overall winner of Innovation Challenge will go on to compete in that event in Stockton next spring. “It’s ‘Shark Tank’ meets ‘American Idol,’” Alliance Program Director Kurt Clark told the audience. Each entrepreneur gets two minutes to pitch his or her

Please see PUMPKINS Page 12

Please see INNOVATION Page 14

Embezzlement How to survive employee theft.

Page 30 Art Perry is a partner in his family’s 89-year-old farm operation in Manteca.

WAYNE DENNING/CVBJ

Pumpkin dynasty By MARIE SARDALLA-DAVIS Business Journal writer

Gigafactory Did California try hard enough?

Page 48

WHAT’S INSIDE Publisher’s Notes............Page 2 Community Voices.........Page 48 Briefs.....................Pages 54, 55 Legals....................Pages 57, 58

MANTECA -- No agricultural commodity is more associated with autumn than the pumpkin. And in California, no area grows more of them than San Joaquin County, which produces 80 percent of the state’s pumpkins. The climate around Manteca is particularly good for pumpkins. But it’s the people who have made the industry a big success. “We’ve got some very innovative growers here in this county who decided to settle

here and grow pumpkins,” said Assistant Agricultural Commissioner Gary Stockel. One of the west coast’s largest growers and distributors of pumpkins, (as well as watermelons and squash) is Manteca-based George Perry and Sons. Co-owner Art Perry said this year’s crop looked like it would be at least as good as last year’s, especially in terms of quality. “I think we got the right weather at the right time. It’s cooled off,” Perry said. “If you get too much heat during the shipping time, it’s not good.” Perry said his farms were

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Cheers

Central Valley Business Journal

By: Sharon Alley Calone

Fall is in the air, and with it has come some much needed rain. About time! On the last weekend of September my husband, Rich, and I had the pleasure of attending the spectacular wedding of Courtney Thomas and Cullen Chesnut of Honolulu. The weather was perfect for an outdoor wedding and the setting was over the top -- no surprise there. The Thomas family really knows how to throw a first-class party. What a gorgeous couple and so well-matched. May your lives be filled with joy and blessings! Congratulations to the newlyweds!

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Chesnut, September 27, 2014, married in Lodi, CA.

I’m so excited about the first bottling of our very own 2013 old vine zin. I never realized how much effort goes into producing wine. It’s been aging in oak for 12 months. At the end of September I got to sample a couple of variations of our sweet nectar. After deciding on my favorite sample with the help from the professional vintner from Watts Winery in Lodi, I set out to design a label for my 35 cases. Deciding on just one was easier said than done. So, I designed two: one for Rich and one for my dad. What a thrill! We probably won’t be doing this again. After all, 35 cases equals 420 bottles. Speaking of grapes, did you see grapes are San Joaquin County’s most

Randy and Julie Thomas, mother and father of the bride, embracing Courtney on the dance floor.

October 2014

valuable crop once again? The agricultural commissioner revised his initial report, and the total for the grape crop’s 2013 value is $496 million rather than the $441 million initially reported. That figure makes grapes San Joaquin County’s most valuable crop for 2013 rather than almonds. We’re also taking a look at the legal industry in this issue. We discovered a number of industry trends that affect the legal side of business in the Valley. We asked veteran lawyers what area of law is among the most in-demand in our region. See the article on page 13. It’s a very telling indication about the seriousness of one of our Valley’s biggest issues. I can’t end my column without mentioning Chris Schrimpl. He was a second-generation Stockton businessman and the son of one of the founders of the Delta Rubber Company. He recently passed away. Chris was an architect and an expert in reverse floor plans. He honed his skills designing custom homes along the Delta levees in our area. In fact Chris has worked for us personally, and it was fascinating watching our desires transition to reality as he sketched ideas on paper, erasing, changing, adding, suggesting and then the unveiling his final design. It was unbelievably magnificent. We always loved what he created. Chris was a gentleman, a wonderful father, a great friend and an awesome architect. Until we met again… God bless America, Sharon Alley-Calone

Our Old Vine Zine, wine labels, 2013.

Elect businessman

Russ Munson County Supervisor, District 4

• Lifelong San Joaquin County resident • Community leader • 30 years of successful business experience • Veteran - Naval Aviator • Owner, Wine and Roses Hotel, Restaurant and Spa To create jobs in San Joaquin County, we must elect leaders who understand the needs of business. Red tape and overregulation drive new businesses away - lets roll out the red carpet for jobs...not the red tape! Visit us on Facebook - www.facebook.com/russmunson2014 or on the web - http://russmunson2014.com/

Paid political advertisement “Agriculture needs a leader like Russ Munson. He would be an outstanding voice for our industry, not only preserving and protecting our family farms, but advancing policies that will carry San Joaquin County agriculture into the future.”

“Russ Munson is the right choice for County Supervisor. Excessive regulation, taxes and fees hinder job creationwe need an experienced businessman who knows what it takes to create good paying jobs.”

Robert Lauchland, J.R. Lauchland & Sons (Lodi District Grape Growers Past President)

Leroy Ornellas, Former San Joaquin County Supervisor

“I am proud to support Russ Munson for San Joaquin County Supervisor. As a local business owner, Russ has dealt with the challenges we face in running a business in San Joaquin County. We need a leader with the business know-how to help our region thrive and Russ is the right candidate for the job.”

John Ledbetter, Vino Farms, Inc.

October 2014

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Fighting ADA abuse Valley businesses learn to comply with the ADA after wave of lawsuits By ELIZABETH STEVENS Business Journal editor MODESTO -- When Brad Bilson received a letter two years ago telling him the parking lot at his Turlock sporting goods store was out of compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations, he talked to three lawyers to see if it was true. “I consulted three attorneys at the time and they all said it’s bogus. It’s just an attorney looking for money. You’re owner-occupied,” Bilson said. “All three attorneys I spoke to all thought I was grandfathered in. So I responded to the complaint, sent the lady a letter and said, ‘I’m in compliance.’” Six months ago Bilson received a subpoena, and he has spent the time since considering whether to fight or settle and how to pay for what he estimates will be at least $20,000 in awards, attorneys’ fees and the cost of making changes to his parking lot. The woman suing Bilson is Atwater resident Aurora Cervantes. She has filed 20 other similar claims against businesses in Stanislaus and Merced counties.

Kim Stone of the Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC) said Bilson’s case and his belief about his business’s ADA compliance standing are all too common. “People look for a reason that they think it doesn’t apply to them: ‘I’m a tenant. My parking lot is small. It’s too expensive. It’s old so I’m grandfathered in. My cousin is in a wheelchair and comes in here every Saturday morning for breakfast and can get around,’” Stone said. “And so they think, mistakenly, that they’re OK. But none of those are legal defenses.” Small businesses in the Central Valley are increasingly finding themselves the targets of ADA claims by a handful of people who file lawsuit after lawsuit claiming discrimination. In fact, nearly 40 percent of the ADA lawsuits filed in the United States are in California. Tort reform advocates say that is largely because our state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act paves the way for bigger awards and California doesn’t require plaintiffs to demonstrate injury. The Unruh Civil Rights Act, which Please see ADA Page 15

ELIZABETH STEVENS/CVBJ

One of the most common compliance problems for businesses has to do with parking lot signage. Disabled parking signs require a notice about the fine, as this sign has.

Central Valley Business Journal

CVBJ

October 2014

ONLINE EXTRAS

The Lists of November

CVBIZJOURNAL.COM

If you haven’t been contacted by our research department, you can request a survey by emailing Dani Conley at research@cvbizjournal.com.

Slideshows

►Banks ►SBA lenders ►Auto dealerships ►Women-owned businesses ►Retail centers ►Trucking companies

Digital and Social Media • Twitter: Follow us at @cvbizjournal • Find us: LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook • Daily newsletter: Sign up for our free daily digest of local business news. Send your email address to editor@cvbizjournal.com

News Tips Contact our editor directly with story ideas, new hires or promotions, business expansions or information about events. Call 209-477-0100 or email at editor@ cvbizjournal.com

HOMECOMING OCTOBER 17–19, 2014

Everyone is invited to celebrate! Parade on the Miracle Mile •

Tiger Rally: United We Roar •

Alumni Reunions •

5k Tiger Dash •

Health Fair

Paciﬁc.edu/Homecoming or 866.575.7229 •

•

#PacificHC

►Look at photos of the classic cars featured at the Concours d’Elegance at Ironstone Vineyards Sept. 27. ►See how pumpkins are harvested by Perry & Sons. (Find slideshows in our Media Gallery)

Events: ►Economic Summit - Oct. 16

DoubleTree by Hilton, Modesto ►San Joaquin County Ag Hall of Fame Induction - Oct. 16 Robert J Cabral Ag Center, Stockton ►State of the Region - Oct. 22 Modesto Centre Plaza, Modesto (Find details on our calendar at www.cvbizjournal.com)

New platform to speed Stockton’s permitting STOCKTON -- The city of Stockton is streamlining its permitting process to allow residents and business owners to apply and pay for permits online. The city has chosen Accela Civic Platform from Accela of San Ramon for its planning, zoning, permitting and inspecting tool. The goal is to save time for residents, business owners and agency staff, increase productivity and help the city better serve its growing population. “No question about it,” said Community Development Director Steve Chase when asked if the new platform will speed up the permitting process. “It will also eliminate multiple trips to City Hall or from City Hall to the site.” Chase said he expects the platform will shave off about a third of the permitting time. Smaller projects that have been taking 30-40 days to issue a permit will now take four to six days. Larger, more complex projects that take from one month to nine months will now take three to five weeks. “That translates into, not only time, but time is money,” Chase said. The platform will allow field inspectors to call up any type of permit history on their tablets or smartphones through Accela’s Mobile

Office program. Agency staff will be able to create inspections, investigations and code enforcement cases from the field. Another program called GIS will provide agency staff with an easy way to interact with Geographic Information System data through integration with their Esri or Internet maps. Citizen Access will enable city residents, building contractors and tradespeople to search for, submit and pay for permit applications. The Accela platform will cost the city $367,000, which will cover installation and licensing for the first three years. Another $100,000 has been allocated for annual updates, depending on how many licenses the city will need. Chase believes it’s possible other city departments may want to use the system as well. Chase said over time, Accela will save the city money because it is much more efficient than the previous database that was installed in 1990, which Chase called “antiquated.” “I have people working for me who were in elementary school when that system was installed,” Chase said. The platform is being installed now and Chase said the city would likely start using it late next spring.

October 2014

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Business Journal STOCKTON • TRACY • LODI • MANTECA • LATHROP MODESTO • CERES • TURLOCK • OAKDALE • SALIDA

4512 Feather River Dr., Suite E • Stockton, CA 95219 Phone: (209) 477-0100 • General Fax: (209) 477-0211 Web: www.cvbizjournal.com Publisher Sharon Alley Calone

Columnists Peter Johnson Jerad Hill James Dempsey Jason Harrel John Anderson

Editor Elizabeth Stevens Stanislaus County Sales Manager Ron Posey San Joaquin County Account Executives Gloria J. Wright Jeff Johnson

Contributing Writers Craig W. Anderson Kent Hohlfeld Patricia Reynolds Paula Hildebrand Johnsen Nora Heston Tarte

Assistant Manager/ Subscriptions/Research Danette Conley

Photographers Wayne Denning Mark Richey

Creative Director Sophia Machado

Legal Adviser Calone & Harrel Law Group, LLP Richard Calone

Accounting Lisa Delany-Duffy

Printer Paradise Post

Office Administration Rebecca Barreras-Oseguera

The Central Valley Business Journal, LLC published monthly at 4512 Feather River Drive - Suite E, Stockton, CA 95219. Circulation 17,000 verification letter available upon request. Contents copyright 2014 by the Central Valley Business Journal, LLC. No part of this publication may be reproduced, reprinted or placed on any electronic medium, without strict, written permission from the publisher.

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October 2014

Stronger growth predicted for Valley By KENT HOHLFELD Business Journal writer

MARK RICHEY/CVBJ

The business forecast predicts residential construction will continue to recover with as many as 2,000 housing starts in San Joaquin County next year.

Partners: Steven A. Herum / Steven D. Crabtree / Jeanne M. Zolezzi Karna E. Harrigfeld / Brett S. Jolley / Dana A. Suntag

Herum Crabtree and the Suntag Law Firm joined forces in 2014, enhancing our ability to provide exceptional legal services throughout California.

Practice Areas Include: ► Appeals

& Writs ► Bankruptcy ► Business & Tax ► Civil Litigation ► Employment ► Environmental ► Estate Planning

► Land

Use ► Natural Resources ► Public Agency ► Real Estate ► Mediation ► Receivership ► Water

209.472.7700 / www.herumcrabtree.com 5757 Pacific Avenue, Suite 222 Stockton, CA 95207

STOCKTON -- California’s job and economic output will continue to grow at a modest rate of 2 to 3 percent, according to the latest figures from The University of the Pacific Eberhardt School of Business Forecasting Center. “We’re projecting a little stronger growth next year,” said Jeffrey Michael, the forecasting center’s director. “2013 was the first really strong comeback year.” The forecast for San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties also hasn’t changed much from May, with nonfarm employment expected to increase 2.5 percent in 2015 followed with a smaller increase of 2.2 percent for 2016. “This year was really driven by Amazon and the (state prison) healthcare facility that helped put the region into a growth mode,” said Michael. “We don’t have those big projects driving things next year.” The center’s latest forecast predicts the drought will have only a minimal impact on the state’s economy overall. However, it could affect the Central

Valley more than other areas because of its reliance on agriculture. The drought could reduce employment by about 1 percent in the San Joaquin Valley this year which is not large enough to stop economic recovery in the region. “The drought is a bigger impact in this area than it is in the rest of the state,” said Michael. “Our forecast assumes that next year is normal. If we get another dry year we’ll see even more impact.” He said that much of the lost acreage has been in the southernmost parts of the Valley. The longer the area goes with below-average precipitation, the more the losses will spread to other parts of the state. “If we have another dry winter, we could have real problems,” said David White, CEO of the Stanislaus Economic Development and Workforce Alliance. “In our county the No. 1 thing is agriculture. So far, it hasn’t had too much of an impact yet.” One area expected to see the biggest continued improvement is in the unemployment numbers. Please see GROWTH Page 16

October 2014

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Fun in small packages Turlock gamemaker uses crowdfunding to launch card games By NORA HESTON TARTE Business Journal writer TURLOCK -- In this age of video games, one gamemaker in Turlock is proving board and card games are alive and well. Chris Handy is not only coming up with new games, but he’s getting people to invest in them. After spending 15 years designing board games, mainly as a hobby, Handy now wants to push his game design career to the next level with a series of micro card games no bigger than a classic pack of Wrigley’s gum, called Pack O Game. Working from his workshop in downtown Turlock’s Mercantile Building, he’s using the crowdfunding website, Kickstarter, to finance it. “Kickstarter has been a huge gamechanger -- no pun intended -- to this hobby,” Handy said. He started with a goal of $30,000, but Handy exceeded his expectations by raising $50,104 in just eight days. Nearly 1,500 backers donated to his Pack O Game project. The extra money allows Handy to produce eight games rather than the four he originally planned to sell.

“To my knowledge, no one has ever released two games at once, and we’re doing it times eight,” he said. Backers will receive various rewards for their donation, including copies of the card games and deluxe carrying cases. The one person who donated $2,000 can take advantage of a full day of game design in Handy’s game workshop dubbed “The Dreamery.” “What brought so many of us here was the sheer genius of the idea of simplicity and portability brought together in a game that does not need a screen to entertain us,” one Kickstarter backer who identified herself as Ashley, commented on Handy’s project page. “I miss the days where I could look at someone’s face and read their expressions during games, or have a simple eye-to-eye conversation.” The innovative card games have a bigger mission than just fun game play. Handy said he wants to encourage people to get off of their screens and engage face to face. “Especially in America, we have really devalued the board game experience, and many of us growing up played games like Monopoly and Risk, and they are good in some ways, but they are a very negative experience in other ways,” he said. Handy cites the lack of interaction, the length of play and the limited

MARK RICHEY/CVBJ

Chris Handy has been making games for 15 years, but recently used Kickstarter to fund his micro card game project.

number of decisions as problems in the mass board game market. Pack O Game aims to fix that and change the negative feelings Handy says Americans associate with board games today. The eight different games, published by Handy’s game publishing company Perplext, take anywhere from five to 30 minutes to play, are small enough to be carried in your pocket and cost only $6 per game. As both a marketing tool and a spacesaver, all eight games have three-letter names – HUE, TKO, GEM, FLY, TAJ,

LIE, SHH and BUS. Games are available in three different levels of play: level one (casual), level 2 (intermediate) and level 3 (challenging). The games offer a wide variety of game play options. TKO, short for technical knockout, is a two-player, fast-paced advanced rock paper scissors, while FLY is a 3D dexterity game where players lay out a picnic table, set up the game box to an established height and drop the flyswatter card, Please see GAMEMAKER Page 16

downeybrand.com

Litigation isn’t a four letter word – “lose” is. We know business leaders and successful people don’t ask for a fight, but when they’re in one, they want to win. So do we. We are ranked as the largest litigation law firm in the area with over 60 litigators. It’s here that you’ll find some of Sacramento’s most highly sought-after trial attorneys – ones who play to win. Your move.

Advancing your interest s.

Central Valley Business Journal

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October 2014

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Patterson High gets millions for logistics Warehouse program helps train workers for growing industry By PATRICIA REYNOLDS Business Journal writer PATTERSON -- Patterson High School has been awarded $2.5 million to build an 8,000-square-foot warehouse on campus for its logistics training program. “We will be breaking ground within the next 90 days, and we hope to be operational by the middle of the 2015-16 school year,” said Patterson Joint Unified School District Superintendent Phil Alfano. The school, in partnership with Modesto Junior College, trains local students and adults who want to work in the logistics industry. The program was designed with input from key employers and the Stanislaus Business Alliance. Students can pursue training and coursework leading to immediate employment, two-year, or four-year degrees in logistics management. “We are developing the programs together so it is a seamless transition from high school to college and employment with the pathways all mapped out. And we are meeting a current industry demand for jobs instead of being behind the ball,” said Marla Uliana, director of Workforce Training and Development at Modesto Junior College. The program currently operates out of a small 400-square-foot warehouse on campus. The high school has contracted with First Book, a distributor of publishers’ overstock to needy students at highly discounted rates. In addition to running the school’s warehouse, students in the program also go on field trips to distribution centers in the area and get classroom instruction in safety, communication, technology, ethics, career planning and other skills to make them more employable. The new, bigger warehouse will allow the high school to double the enrollment of the logistics program to 120 students and ship a higher volume of product. The facility will include four classrooms for instructional purposes and will also house all of the district’s school supplies. Patterson High’s program is part of local efforts to ensure the Valley will have enough workers for the growing logistics industry. Companies such as Kohl’s, CVS Caremark, Grainger Industrial Supply and mega Internet retailer Amazon.com all operate distribution centers in Patterson. Restoration Hardware, a high-end home décor retailer, is following suit with its own recent Patterson groundbreaking, and at least one other yetto-be identified company is seriously considering Patterson as a distribution center location.

MARK RICHEY/CVBJ

Students in Patterson High School’s business logistics program get real-world training by running their own warehouse on campus.

“That industry is definitely the fastest growing industry in Stanislaus County,” said Stanislaus Business Alliance Chief Workforce Development Officer Jeff Rowe. According to Rowe, the California State Employment Development Department projects a 37 percent job growth rate per year through 2020 translating to approximately 230 jobs per year in Stanislaus County alone. Patterson High School’s business logistics program enables students to begin training in the field and provides a stepping stone to entry level warehouse jobs, vocational certification, college-level courses, or a combination thereof. Launched in 2010, the program began with a grant from the Central Valley Leadership Institute in Fresno. “The impetus was the fact that they recognized a growth industry in our area and wanted to provide seed money to begin our logistics program,” said Alfano. With help from the Material Handlers Institute (MHI), a trade association for logistics and material handling, Patterson High staff attended trade shows, met with professors from Georgia Institute of Technology, and networked with other high schools and junior colleges that had well developed inventory programs in place. “With all these connections, we’ve put together a solid program,” said Alfano. Patterson students started shipping product last spring and have already distributed 3,000 cases of books to customers in more than 30 states. In addition to the bond funding for the warehouse, Modesto Junior College was the lead grant writer for a $4.9 million grant awarded by the California Career Pathways Trust through the California Department of Education. The grant will benefit a consortium of recipients including MJC, and other high schools and com-

munity colleges, with Patterson High receiving roughly $500,000. “We’re looking for these funds to equip the new building and provide staff development as well,” Alfano said. Patterson High is relying on the area’s employers to help with the process. “We have a solid business advisory

team consisting of representatives from Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, Grainger, CVS, Amazon, Sierra Pacific, G3, and others providing industry input on blueprints for the building, and what we should put up in terms of scanning guns and conveyor belts to most closely represent their fulfillment centers,” Alfano said. Business logistics students will exit the Patterson High program either as certified logistics associates or certified logistics technicians after passing a skill-based test developed by the Manufacturing Skilled Standards Council. They then have a variety of options open to them for employment and further education. “High school students can opt to continue on to earn a two-year or four-year degree. Or, they can exit at any point to go into the employment realm, or have a job while attending college at the same time,” said MJC’s Uliana. The benefits these choices offer to students and the local economy are great. “Any kind of program that prepares people for those kinds of jobs and makes sure we have workers to fill what these employers need is a plus. It will also attract new employers to the area because they know they will have a skilled workforce available to them,” said Jeff Rowe.

Central Valley Business Journal

October 2014

LAW FIRMS

In San Joaquin and Stanisluas Counties. Ranked by Number of Local Attorneys. Ties are Listed in Alphabetical Order. Company Name Address

Number of Phone Attorneys Fax Web Address Number of Paralegals

Number of Support Staff

Types of Law Practiced

Year Established Managing Partner

Neumiller & Beardslee, A Professional Corporation 509 W. Weber Avenue Stockton, CA 95203

209-948-8200 Fax 209-948-4910 neumiller.com

21 3

Agricultural, banking and finance, bankruptcy, business, commercial, community association, eminent domain, employment and labor, environmental, intellectual property, land use and development, public agency, litigation, personal injury, trusts and estate planning and water rights

Damrell, Nelson, Schrimp, Pallios, Pacher & Silva 1601 I Street, 5th Floor Modesto, CA 95354

209-526-3500 Fax 209-526-3534 damrell.com

20 3

Agriculture law, business transactions, business formations, complex litigation, wills and trusts, estate planning, personal injury practice, alternative dispute resolution: Family, administrative, government agency, employment, copyright, trademark and health care law

Mayall Hurley 2453 Grand Canal Blvd. Stockton, CA 95207

209-477-3833 Fax 209-473-4818 mayallaw.com

15 3

Employment law, serious injuries, business and probate

Kroloff, Belcher, Smart, Perry & Christopherson 7540 Shoreline Drive Stockton, CA 95219

209-478-2000 Fax 209-478-0354 kroloff.com

13 4

Civil, business and commercial transactions, estate planning, health care, labor and employment

1946 Kathleen M. Abdallah

Herum, Crabtree, Suntag 5757 Pacific Avenue #222 Stockton, CA 95207

209-472-7700 Fax 209-472-7986 herumcrabtree.com

12 0

Natural resources, land use, business, taxation and civil litigation

1997 Steve Herum

Freeman Firm 1818 Grand Canal Boulevard, Ste. 4 Stockton, CA 95207

209-474-1818 Fax 209-474-1245 freemanfirm.com

10 3

Civil litigation, eminent domain, business law and appellate advocacy

McCormick, Barstow, LLP 1150 Nineth Street, Ste. 1200 Modesto, CA 95354

209-524-1100 Fax 209-524-1188 mccormickbarstow.com

9 4

Civil litigation, family law, school district defense, employment, medication

1992 Jeffrey R. Olson

Curtis Legal Group, A Professional Law Corp. 1300 K Street, 2nd Floor Modesto, CA 95354

209-521-1800 Fax 209-572-3501 curtislegalgroup.com

8 15

Personal injury, employment, estate planning, and probate law

1953 Ralph S. Curtis

Downey Brand, LLP 3425 Brookside Road, Ste. A Stockton, CA 95219

209-473-6450 Fax 209-473-6455 downeybrand.com

8 1

Brunn & Flynn, Inc. 928 12th Street, Ste. 200 Modesto, CA 95354

209-521-2133 Fax 209-521-7584 brunnandflynnlaw.com

7 5

Calone and Harrel Law Group, LLP 1810 Grand Canal Boulevard, Ste. 6 Stockton, CA 95209

209-952-4545 Fax 209-952-8751 caloneandharrel.com

7 5

Estate planning, tax, real estate, corporate, partnership

1974 Richard S. Calone

Gianelli & Associates, a Professional Law Corporation 1014 16th Street Modesto, CA 95354

209-521-6260 Fax 209-521-5971 gianelli-law.com

7 7

Estate planning, business planning, litigation, and family law

1974 David L. Gianelli

Hakeem, Ellis & Marengo 3414 Brookside Road, Ste. 100 Stockton, CA 95219

209-474-2800 Fax 209-474-3654 None

5 5

Family and criminal law, land use, probate, personal injury and civil litigation

Law Office of Corren & Corren 5345 N. El Dorado, Ste. 7 Stockton, CA 95207

209-478-2621 Fax 209-478-3038 correnlaw@sbcglobal.net

5 1

Employment and business/real estate law, workers compensation, estate planning and personal injury

1974 Craig Lee Corren

Shore, McKinley, Conger & Scott, LLP 3031 W. March Lane, Ste. 230 Stockton, CA 95219

209-477-8171 Fax 209-477-2549 smcslaw.com

5 1

Estate planning, trust admin., probate, family law, commercial & business litigation and business law

1984 John H. McKinley

Harris, Perisho & Ruiz 3439 Brookside Road, Ste. 210 Stockton, CA 95219

209-957-4254 Fax 209-957-5338 harrisperishoruiz.com

3 3

Mediation, arbitration, civil litigation, land use, water law, criminal and business matters, estate planning and probate

1980 John M. Harris

Randy E. Thomas Law Office 18826 N. Lower Sacramento Road Woodbridge, CA 95258

209-369-9255 Fax 209-369-9288 none

3 1

General law practice, criminal defense, civil litigation and personal injury

1976 Randy Thomas

Keen & Keen, LLP 5405 N. Pershing Avenue, Bldg C, Ste. 2-A Stockton, CA 95207

209-948-0434 Fax 209-948-9451 bgrn.com

2 0

Estate planning, public agency, civil litigation, family law

2013 Charles E. Keen

Lane, Duncan & Lambertson 7540 Shoreline Drive, Ste. C Stockton, CA 95219

209-956-5700 Fax 209-956-5774 laneduncanlambertson.com

2 0

Family law and dissolution of marriage

Petrulakis Law & Advocacy, APC 1130 12th Street, Ste. B Modesto, CA 95354

209-522-0500 Fax 209-522-0700 modestorealestatelaw.com

2 0

Real estate and land use, environmental and business regulation, advocacy and special projects

Corporate planning, business litigation, employment law, tax, real estate, incorporation, construction, banking, estate planning, environmental, insurance and eminent domain, inverse condemnation and bankruptcies Civil litigation, arbitration and mediation, business and corporate law, estate planning, probate, trusts, wills, personal injury and wrongful death, property and family law

1903 Clifford W. Stevens

1968 Fred A. Silva

1935 William J. Gorham III

1965 Michael Gurev

2000 Kevin Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brian 1974 Charles K. Brunn

1985 Michael D. Hakeem

1981 2012 George Petrulakis

These lists are provided as a free service by the Central Valley Business Journal for its readers. As such, inclusion is based on editorial consideration and is not guaranteed. If you would like your business to be included in a list, please write to: Research Department, Central Valley Business Journal, 4512 Feather River Drive, Ste. E, Stockton, CA 95219, fax your information to Research Dept. (209) 477-0211 or email research@cvbizjournal.com. Copyright Central Valley Business Journal.

Researched by Danette Conley 09/2014

October 2014

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Calone & Harrel Law Group, LLP E s t a t e Pl a n n i n g , Ta x a n d Bu s i n e s s At t o r n e y s

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209.952.4545 WWW.CALONEANDHARREL.COM

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PUMPKINS

CVBJ

Continued from Page 1

the business with his sons. They later sold the dairy to focus on growing crops on what is now 6,500 acres. People magazine dubbed George the “Pumpkin King” in its November 1982 issue. Now 95, he was instrumental in establishing the Manteca Pumpkin Festival, now called the Kiwanis Sunrise Pumpkin Fair, to which George Perry and Sons regularly donates pumpkins. His son, Art Perry doesn’t like to talk about how much produce the company grows and moves, but consider this: in 2013, San Joaquin County harvested and sold 54,000 tons of pumpkins with a gross value of $16.2 million, according to the latest crop report. The agricultural commissioner’s office says it’s the work of just a handful of companies, and George Perry and Sons is one of the largest. “Ninety percent of the pumpkins stay in California; the rest are shipped to other states and overseas,” Art Perry said. “The pumpkins go to major supermarket chains, wholesalers and pumpkin patches.” County agriculture officials say the Perry name is well known throughout the state and associated with pumpkins. “You can go into any grocery store in California and see their label on the side of the bin,” said San Joaquin County Farm Bureau Executive Director Bruce Blodgett. “A lot of produce moves out of

►

this county because of this family.” Thirteen family members work for the company. George Perry and Sons now belongs to six partners and their families: Art Perry and his wife, Dianne; Art’s son, Ron, and his wife, Linda; Art’s daughter, Karen, and her husband, Joe Widmer; George Perry, Jr. and his wife, Gail; their son George M. Perry and his wife, Melissa; Paul Gomes and his wife, Jenny. George Sr. was inducted into the San Joaquin County Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2006. Several members of the Perry family have been inducted into the Manteca Hall of Fame, including George, Sr. in 1999, Art Perry in 2005, and Gail Perry in 2010. Art Perry is credited with developing the higher quality and sizing standards in the pumpkin and watermelon industries now used throughout the country. Gail Perry is known as one of the top salespeople in both industries in the United States. Paul Gomes went to work at George Perry and Sons in 1986 at 18. He became an active partner 10 years ago and was fully vested two years ago. “I was going to start farming on my own to have something for my family. Art said ‘No, you’ll stay here with us. This will become yours.’ I’ve always wanted to farm. I realized you can’t do everything by yourself. I like coming full circle and doing it all together. It’s like being a part of Art’s dream but living my dream, too,” Gomes said.

Income Taxes

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October 2014

WAYNE DENNING/CVBJ

George Perry and Sons still harvests pumpkins by hand. The company expects this year’s crop to match the quality of last year’s.

“The leadership of the elders is key. It’s a lot of give and take, and a lot of forgiveness. It started with George Sr., and Art carries it forward very strongly. He always aims to protect a person’s dignity.” Gomes added. Dell’Osso Family Farms in Lathrop has sold its pumpkins to George Perry and Sons for about 35 years. It sells about 150 truckloads (2,500 tons of pumpkins) a year, which is about 90 percent of what it grows. The rest are used for its own October Festival

pumpkin patch. “We’re so fortunate to be a part of the Perry group. They are without a doubt the most honest, sincere people to deal with. If they owe us a dollar, they’ll pay us $1.01,” Ron Dell’Osso said. “They have a lot of family members working together, and usually family barely gets along under one roof. If you walk into their office, everybody gets along,” he observed. “They really are role models for how to conduct yourself in business and in life.”

October 2014

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Lawyers call water rights a growing trend By NORA HESTON TARTE Business Journal writer STOCKTON -- Law school graduates face a new world compared to those entering practice even a decade ago. The days of making it as a general practice lawyer are pretty much over, according to local attorneys. One of the most in-demand areas of specialization in the Central Valley is in the area of water rights. Such attorneys represent water districts, municipalities or landowners in negotiations over water rights and help guide and advise clients about regulations or management. “There’s only a handful of lawyers in San Joaquin County who do water,” said Stockton real estate attorney Mike Hakeem. “Water in the Valley and San Joaquin County has always been a huge issue. It’s now on steroids because of the drought and legislation coming out of Sacramento.” The Freeman Firm in Stockton is also seeing an increase in clients who have water-related issues, and not just because of the drought, according to principal Thomas Keeling. “In the past seven or eight years, increasingly a number of our clients have water or water rights-related issues,” Keeling said. “Water in the Delta area is so over-subscribed. Because

of the pressure on businesses that are dependent on water, largely agricultural, we’ve seen a marked tick upward in that. We’ve also seen increasingly complex land use disputes that are eminent domain or inverse condemnation. The value of property has gone up, so Hakeem that makes it more sensitive.” Technology is also driving trends in law. As social media pushes to the forefront of business communications, more law firms are becoming experts on new litigation and familiarizing themselves with people’s concerns regarding privacy and reputation management. Angelica Anguiano, an associate attorney at the Law Offices of Mark S. Nelson in Modesto, said she has seen an increasing number of cases related to social media. Business specifically want to sue the review site, Yelp, for negative reviews and potentially false claims. Clients are also miffed by what others have written about them on

Facebook or Instagram. People are attempting to claim defamation with these cases, Anguiano said. However, they are hard to win. “If you are a private person and the statements made are a matter of private concern, then you don’t have to prove fault or falsity,” Anguiano said. “However, the defendant can defend the lawsuit by proving that the statements made were true. If you are a private person and the statements were in regards to a public concern, then you must at least prove negligence as to the statement’s truth or falsity.” Law offices are also using social media as a tool to boost their relationships with the community, and Anguiano says the practice keeps her office “cool.” “We have a person in the office whose focus is on public relations, which has a lot to do with Facebook. She posts pictures of staff at work (and sometimes having fun) and is constantly updating on community events that we are involved in,” Anguiano said. The Freeman Firm’s Keeling, which specializes in civil litigation, real estate, medical malpractice and appellate work, often advises his clients to avoid social media altogether. “It can only hurt you,” Keeling said. “Trial lawyers wring their hands over the stupid things their clients do on

social media.” The firm has a website, but Keeling said it doesn’t use social media to promote the business because its clients are mainly cities and large corporations, which wouldn’t use social media to find a lawyer. Another Anguiano trend in California comes from a recent California Supreme Court ruling regarding the fault associated with injury claims where alcohol is involved, said Anguiano, whose firm specializes in personal injury law. The new law states that a social host, who furnishes alcohol to a minor who then drives and hurts somebody, can be found partially responsible if they charged the minor to enter their home. Under the new law, Anguiano said those hosts could be held to the same standards as a bartender. If the person charging entrance to their party is also a minor, their parents Please see LAWYER Page 15

Central Valley Business Journal

CVBJ

October 2014

STANISLAUS INNOVATION CHALLENGE

INNOVATION

One finalist from each city’s challenge will compete in a final round. The winner will receive $2,500 in cash and $2,500 in professional support services.

Continued from Page 1

product before three judges and the audience. At the end of the pitch, the entrepreneur receives feedback from the judges. After all the entrepreneurs present, the judges and the audience vote. The three contestants with the top scores move on to the night’s second round. On this night, the top three contestants were Dale Boucher, who invented an all-in-one tent/sleeping bag; Corine Boulton, who wants to market her restaurant’s enchilada sauce; and Axton and his step-through tub. After the first round, the contestants faced the judges again for 10 minutes of questions and answers about their products. The judges said this is where preparation and knowledge of the marketplace separate the winners from losers. “I think a lot of them when they look at the competition, they may just do a cursory glance,” said White.”They might do a Google search, but they don’t realize there are companies out there that might be doing what they’re doing. They need to do much more research.” Paoluccio said it’s also important to think about protecting intellectual property with patents before presenting it in a public forum. “You’ve got to make sure your idea is protected and you should have it protected even before you come to

these rounds,” he said. Paoluccio knows what it takes to win over the crowd. He won the San Joaquin Entrepreneur Challenge in 2012 with his invention for controlling odor from manholes. But it was the second time he’d competed. He said the first time, his product focused on a solution that was too narrow. He said it’s important to present a solution to a problem the judges and audience can relate to. “(I said) have you ever been in a situation where you saw this? Well, guess what? I have solution to solve that problem.’ And I made them want it,” Paoluccio said.

One question that appeared to trip up all three of the first night’s finalists was the estimate of costs. They either didn’t have specific numbers or the judges thought the numbers they had were too low. “I think they totally underestimate the amount of money it’s going to cost,” said White. “I think they also don’t plan far enough ahead. They’re just thinking about the next year.” Paolucci said it’s also important to bring a model or prototype so the judges have a clear understanding of the product that’s being pitched, especially in the first round which only lasts two minutes.

California’s worsening drought has led the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to designate 42 of California’s 58 counties as disaster areas. The designation includes both San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties and will help cover some damages and losses dating back to January. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. The counties in alphabetical order include: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Lassen, Los Angeles,

Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Orange, Plumas, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, and Yolo. Farmers and ranchers in 15 other counties in California also qualify for natural disaster assistance since the counties are contiguous with the primary disaster counties. These include: Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Fran-

cisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sutter, and Yuba counties. The sole California county not included in the USDA declaration is Imperial County. All counties listed above were declared natural disaster areas on Sept. 17 making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA’s

In addition, the winner will have an opportunity to present their idea in front of the local Stanislaus/ Merced Angels group for funding consideration.

Next challenges:

BUSINESS JOURNAL PHOTO

Entrepreneur Fred Axton won the Innovation Challenge in Modesto with his step-in shower invention.

Oakdale - Oct. 8, 6-8 p.m. Patterson - Oct. 29, 6-8 p.m. Turlock - Nov. 12, 6-8 p.m. Final Round - Dec. 10, Modesto

Tips from judges: • Bring a prototype or a visual

that clearly shows what your product or idea is. • Clearly explain who your market is. • The winning product is often the one that is most practical to take to the next level. • Have a good understanding of how much money it will cost to develop your product.

Valley farmers to qualify for drought assistance

SHORE McKINLEY & CONGER

Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met, to help cover part of their actual losses. Additional programs available to assist farmers and ranchers include the Emergency Conservation Program, The Livestock Forage Disaster Program, the Livestock Indemnity Program, the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program, and the Tree Assistance Program. Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs.

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October 2014

CVBJ

ADA Continued from Page 3

was passed in 1959, provides for $4,000 per violation plus the possibility of getting attorneys’ fees. The claim against Bilson cited three violations: for the paint, the disabled parking spot and the signage. CJAC is working to reform laws to make it more difficult to extract such large amounts from defendants. Stone says a big part of the problem is that the Unruh Act treats all violations, no matter how technical, as discrimination against the disabled. “From our point of view, there’s a difference between an actual access barrier -- I can’t get into your store because there’s no ramp -- and I’ve got a van-accessible parking spot that I can get in and out of with my van but it doesn’t happen to say ‘$250 fine.’ That is not an access barrier, but that is an ADA violation. But the law doesn’t distinguish between the two,” Stone said. Other efforts are underway at the state and federal level to change the way ADA laws are enforced to reduce the chance that businesses will be hit with such devastating lawsuits. One bill in Congress, HR 777, would create a 90-day grace period for businesses to fix violations before a lawsuit could move forward. In the meantime, business advocates are trying to educate small businesses about the lawsuits and how to become ADA compliant. The Stanislaus Business Alliance hosted a workshop in Modesto Sept. 25 which was attended by about 75 business owners in downtown Modesto. CJAC’s Stone was the featured speaker and tried to drive home the importance of getting out in front of the problem. Her No. 1 piece of advice: hire a certified access specialist through your lawyer. “This is not a thing you should figure out on your own,” Stone said,

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LAWYER

noting that there are separate federal regulations and state regulations, and the books for each are an inch-and-ahalf thick. “Close or slightly off is going to be a lawsuit.” According to the California Commission on Disability Access, the top 10 compliance claims that show up in demand letters are: van access zones that are not compliant or don’t exist at all; non-compliant parking signage; existing parking spaces that are not compliant; too few compliant disabled parking spaces; routes to and from parking lot or public right of way that

are not accessible; counters, bars or tables that are not the correct height; curb ramps or entrance ramps that are not compliant or non-existent; entry doors that are not accessible or missing signs/symbols of accessibility; access aisles within building that are not accessible; and restroom doors that are not accessible or not on an accessible route. Stone has advice for business owners who can’t afford to fix problems all at once. “Hire a certified access specialist, through your lawyer and then make

the quickest, most obvious, cheapest changes first. Then create a plan to become fully compliant,”she said. Bilson said if he’d known about CJAC two years ago, he probably would have followed its advice, hired a certified access specialist and made the changes. “I understand the compliance thing, but literally, where is that $20 grand going to come from?” he said. “It doesn’t come from stockholders. I can’t just raise my prices. It just has to come out of my pocket, which is my family.”

San Joaquin General Hospital has formed a charitable foundation to assist the Hospital’s efforts to provide the highest level of professional medical care to all residents of San Joaquin County. The new Foundation will help build the Hospital resources and its ability to provide leading medical equipment and services in support of this community. The Foundation will be headed by Rob Wooton, long time resident of San Joaquin County. Mr. Wooton has a history of successful fundraising and charitable asset management for health care services.

ROB WOOTON Executive Director

Continued from Page 13

can become liable. In addition to the areas of law becoming increasingly more prevalent, Anguiano said bankruptcy suits are down in recent years while divorce rates are pretty steady, with an annual spike after the holidays. Keeling said appealing rulings or judgments is becoming more common. “Maybe because cases are more high-stakes, my sense is that we‘re doing more appellate work than ever,” he said. “Increasingly when we win a case, I can almost count on the other side appealing.” According to Hakeem, because of changes in society, many cases that make it to trial are not a clear matter of wrongdoing and are what he calls a case of “right versus right” and are therefore appealed in order to make a clarification or change in the law. “If you want to change the law, you have to appeal it,” Hakeem said.

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Patrick Burda, Commercial Loan Officer, 209-579-3385 Lupe Rodriguez, Modesto 12th & I Branch Manager, 209-343-7609 and Ron Davenport, Area Manager, 209-343-7627 (far right), with Central Sanitary Supply’s Dave Martini, Katie Whitman, and Chris Martini

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GROWTH Continued from Page 6

California’s statewide unemployment rate has dropped to 7.4 percent, and the newest trends predict it will drop below 7 percent next year and will reach 6 percent by mid-2016. San Joaquin County’s unemployment rate stood at 10.5 percent in June while Stanislaus County’s was 11.1 percent. Jeffrey Michael Both numbers are significant improvement from highs that reached over 18 percent in both counties during the worst of the Great Recession in 2010. “That is in line what we are seeing,” said Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce CEO Doug Wilhoit. “In October when the (Stockton) bankruptcy is over, we will see the economy get even better.” He said that businesses are far more interested in coming to the area or expanding than they have been in recent years. “We are seeing more than tire kickers,” said Wihhoit. “We are seeing people really interested in Stockton.” White said he has seen similar slow but steady growth in the Stanislaus County. “We are not seeing wholesale expansion,” he said. “Mostly bigger employers adding one or two or five employees. The base employers are the ones that power the economy, as they grow, so will our smaller companies.” He said the biggest positive is that few employers are expected to reduce

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October 2014

their payrolls. “We have done over 160 employers surveys this year,” White said. “I can only think of one company that is planning to shrink and more than half are thinking of increasing their workforce.” Michael said his numbers predict that interest will continue to grow. “We’re predicting that the unemployment rate will get to single digits by 2016,” said Michael. “For this area, that isn’t that bad.” The economy should accelerate slightly, reaching 3.4 percent in real gross state product in 2015, and rising to 3.8 percent growth in 2016 according to the school’s figures. The forecast also predicts 250,000 new construction jobs will be created statewide over the next four years, and the building industry will see 60,000 housing starts next year. “In San Joaquin County, we were under 1,000 single family housing permits from 2008 to 2011,” he said. “We have been close to 1,500 this year.” That is still a far cry from the prerecession number which often neared the 10,000 mark. The Pacific forecast predicts that San Joaquin County housing starts will slowly climb to over 2,000 next year and 3,000 by 2017. Stanislaus County has seen its housing permits nearly double in the last year, hitting 176 from Aug. 2012 to July 2013. “It’s been recovering a little bit,” said Michael. “It’s better than it was with the lows in 2010 and 2011. Starting in 2015 and 2016 we expect to see some movement. It’s been so low for so long that there is some pent up demand.”

GAMEMAKER Continued from Page 7

collecting flies for points. Another new aspect of the games is how the rules are presented. Each pack of cards comes with a single rule card, no bigger than the playing cards themselves (1 inch by 3 inches), with a link where players can visit online and watch a video that explains how to play. The purpose of this feature, according to Handy, is to act as a tool and encourage people to learn new games where intimidating rulebooks may have discouraged them in the past. It is not to encourage more screen time, he said. Another goal of the game sets is to push them into the mass market and appeal to more than just the gamer or hobby market. “We have some really high hopes of getting them into places that wouldn’t usually carry games,” Handy said,

adding that coffee shops would be good places for game playing. Handy said most of the money raised through his Kickstarter campaign will go to manufacturing, while 20-30 percent will be used for marketing and retail efforts. So what’s next for Turlock’s own gamemaker? “This is going to keep me busy for the next couple years,” Handy said. “We’re really going to see if we can get this to take off [internationally].” Pre-orders will be filled in late spring 2015. Those who want to purchase can do so at packogame.com. In the meantime Handy plans to work on marketing the games to other countries, doing another run in other languages and adding more games if the demand is there.

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October 2014

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Targeting Stanislaus’s graduation numbers United Way, SCOE aim to curb dropout rate for high school By PATRICIA REYNOLDS Business Journal writer MODESTO -- Both the United Way of Stanislaus County and the Stanislaus County of Education (SCOE) have launched initiatives to improve the area’s high school graduation rates. Each organization’s goal is to provide a trained and educated work force for existing and new businesses within Stanislaus County. “We have seen responses from companies being excited about our graduation campaign because they know how hard it is to find skilled workers. It’s hard for people without high school diplomas to fill these jobs,” said Amy Vickery, vice president of Marketing and Development for the United Way of Stanislaus County. The United Way of Stanislaus’s graduation program evolved from the parent organization’s transition to initiative-based funding in order

to better serve each community’s specific needs. “The three focus areas for most United Way organizations are education, income, and health,” Vickery said. “We started with education when we shifted to the initiative approach because we felt it was the basis for addressing the other two areas.” After examining data from other states and interviewing school superintendents, principals, and students who had dropped out of school as well as students who excelled, the United Way of Stanislaus decided upon a seventh grade student engagement program as the centerpiece of its education initiative. Launched one year ago, the local United Way’s graduation coach program matches at-risk seventh graders with full-time mentors at three county junior high schools. Contracting through the Center for Human Services, one full-time coach is currently employed each at Hanshaw Middle School in Modesto, Prescott Junior High School in Modesto, and Creekside Middle School in Patterson. The coaches work with 40 students apiece, addressing attendance, academic and behavior issues that hinder success at school.

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The United Way of Stanislaus County’s Power of the Purse event Sept. 17 raised $40,000 for the organization’s graduation coach program.

“We are adding a second coach at Prescott so that coaches can start with seventh graders and follow them through the eighth grade. Ideally we would like two coaches for each middle school. We are funding the program with $250,000 of United Way money,” Vickery said. All of the proceeds from a Sept. 17 fundraising event, Power of the Purse, will help fund the graduation coach program. More than 720 women attended, raising approximately $40,000. The remaining funding for the United Way’s education initiative will come from its workplace campaign. Employees of participating companies can pledge donations directly from their paychecks to help fund the graduation coach program. “We have about 250 workplace campaigns and bring in about $1.8 million. This year we’d like to bring in $2 million. When filling out the pledge form, employees can decide to target education, income, or health, or our education initiative,” said Vickery. The United Way’s graduation coach program complements the Stanislaus Office of Education’s Destination Graduation initiative. Destination Graduation is SCOE’s fourth initiative under Superintendent Tom Chagnon’s leadership and was launched in August 2013. Two books, “When the Boomers Bail” and “The Coming Job Wars,” inspired a focus on high school graduation. “Both of these books make it very clear that our young people need to be skilled and ready for the workforce because it’s so competitive. We’re not dealing only with American kids, but it’s now a global workplace. We started looking at where are we in the big picture and the dropout rate hit us right between the eyes,” Chagnon said. Without a high school diploma, employment opportunities are limited. According to Chagnon, the percentage of available jobs for unskilled workers in 1960 was 60 percent. By 2012, that percentage shrunk to 14 percent. “That’s why we need to focus on

young people graduating,” he said. Destination graduation is based on five pillars which include sharing of best practices; mentoring programs; road trip journey to success; the parent awareness and engagement campaign; and grade level reading. The United Way’s graduation coach program facilitates Destination Graduation’s second pillar, mentoring. “United Way has done wonderful sponsoring coaches at middle schools. There is a spirit of collaboration at each of the sites. Coaches have been working with staff at the schools to identify target students and decide what areas they are weakest in and address those,” Chagnon said. While the county’s current graduation rate is about 82.5 percent, up from between 78 percent and 79 percent, it will take at least four years or the length of a student’s high school experience, to measure Destination Graduation’s direct impact on these rates. “We really can’t really take credit for that (dropout) rate decrease. I do know that from meeting monthly with local superintendents that the awareness is now there. Raising the local awareness at our local schools is important and when we make inroads with parents it will really take off,” said Chagnon. The early success of the United Way’s graduation coach program is a positive indicator for Destination Graduation. In the program’s first six months, the participating junior highs have reported a 45 percent decrease in behavior referrals, 30 percent decrease in detentions, 7 percent decrease in suspensions, and 40 percent decrease in students with a “D” or “F” in social studies among targeted at-risk students. Perhaps most telling of the impact on students is how they themselves view the program after a full year of mentoring. “Ninety-two percent of student participants stated they had a strong relationship with the coaches and felt supported by their graduation coach,” said Vickery.

October 2014

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Truancy rate improves, literacy still a problem in San Joaquin County By ELIZABETH STEVENS Business Journal editor STOCKTON -- Just one in three third-graders in San Joaquin County reads at grade level, according to University of the Pacific’s third annual San Joaquin Literacy Report Card released Sept. 9. “The purpose of the report card is “to let us know how well we as a community are doing with regards to reading,” said Lynn Beck, dean, University of the Pacific’s Gladys L. Benerd School of Education. “The news isn’t all that good.” The results were released at Peyton Elementary school with about a dozen third graders who do read at grade level present. Because of changes in the state’s standardized testing system, thirdgrade English language arts proficiency results for 2014 were not available. The analysis was based on 2013 scores. Pacific has focused on literacy by third grade because research shows that the ability to read proficiently by the third grade is a marker for how

children will do in the future. Students who don’t hit that milestone are more likely to fall behind in school or even drop out. The news was better with regard to attendance. The county’s truancy rate, at 24.7 percent, was better than the state average of 29.3 percent. It was also much improved from 2008 when the county’s truancy rate was 28.5 percent. Truancy is defined as having three or more unexcused absences during the school year. “It is encouraging to see attendance continue to improve, but this year’s numbers underscore the urgency with which we must act to ensure the future success of our children and our community,” said University of the Pacific President Pamela A. Eibeck, who launched the report card in 2012 as a part of the university’s Beyond Our Gates Reading by Third initiative. The study was released during the second week of Pacific’s annual Every Day Counts attendance challenge, which rewards children with perfect attendance in the month of Septem-

“The most trusted source of positive, local business news in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Providing value to readers by helping them grow their business, grow their careers and increase their bottom line through print, digital and local events.” “The most trusted source of positive, local business news in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Providing value to readers by helping them grow their business, grow their careers and increase their bottom line through print, digital and local events.” “The most trusted source of positive, local business news in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Providing value to readers by helping them grow their business, grow their careers and increase their bottom line through print, digital and local events.” “The most trusted source of positive, local business news in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Providing value to readers by helping them grow their business, grow their careers and increase their bottom line through print, digital and local events.” “The most trusted source of positive, local business news in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Providing value to readers by helping them grow their business, grow their careers and increase their bottom line through print, digital and local events.” “The most trusted source of positive, local business news in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Providing value to readers by helping them grow their business, grow their careers and increase bottom line through print, digital and local Chad their Sublet, Vice President, events.” “The most trusted source ofVerve positive, local Networks business news in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Providing value to readers by helping them grow their business, grow their careers and increase their bottom line through print, digital and local Verve Networks hassource partnered with thebusiness Central Valley Business events. ” “The most trusted of positive, local news in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Providing valuethe to readers by helping them their business, Journal for years. Since very first edition, wegrow have seen grow their careers and increase their bottom line through print, digital and local an” “The increase in client inquires andlocal newbusiness client news growth. We look and events. most trusted source of positive, in San Joaquin Stanislaus counties. Providing value as to readers by helping their business, at the Business Journal an extension ofthem our grow marketing grow their careers and increase their bottom line through print, digital and local department and have often wondered how we ever got along events.” “The most trusted source of positive, local business news in San Joaquin and Wevalue looktoforward yearsthem of continued Stanislauswithout counties.them! Providing readers bytohelping grow their business, grow their careers and increase their line through print, digital and local growth with thebottom Business Journal! events.” “The most trusted source of positive, local business news in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Providing value to readers by helping them grow their business, grow their careersCentral and increase Valley their bottom line through print, digital and local events.” “The most trusted source of positive, local business news in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. Providing value to readers by helping them grow their business, StOCKtOn • traCy • ManteCa • latHrOP • lInDen • rIPOn MODeStO CereS • tUrlOCK •print, OaKDale • rIVerBanK grow their careers and• lODIincrease their bottom line • through digital and local events.” “The most trusted source of positive, local business news in San Joaquin and

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Stockton City Councilman Moses Zapien talks to third graders at Peyton Elementary School about reading and school attendance.

ber. Children who attend every day are entered into a drawing to win a Kindle e-reader, Lincoln Center gift certificates, Pacific Athletics tickets or a family membership to World of Wonders Science Museum. Last year, 40 public and private schools in San Joaquin County participated in the attendance challenge and 10,000 students achieved perfect attendance during September. This year, 50 schools participated. City Councilman Moses Zapien was

also at the press conference where the results were released. He talked to the children about the importance of attending school every day and how the city is helping. “We know schools cannot do this alone,” Zapien said. He added that the city has looked at traffic patterns and crime that may keep parents from taking their children to school. He also said agenPlease see LITERACY Page 25

Positive, local business news

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Central Valley Business Journal

October 2014

ACCOUNTING/CPA FIRMS

In San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. Ranked by Number of CPAs. Ties are Listed in Alphabetical Order. Company Name Address

Number Total Staff Top Local Executive of CPAs Primary Services Offered Phone/Fax Number Number Industry Specializations Web Address of NonLocal Offices CPA

Year Est.

Moss Adams, LLP 3121 W. March Lane, Ste. 100 Stockton, CA 95219

Kerry Gordon 209 955-6100/209-955-6199 mossadams.com

28 17

56 1

Accounting, consulting, technologies, utilities, employee benefit plans, healthcare, construction, food, agriculture, telecom,NFP, manufacturing/distribution, financial institutions and wealth svcs

1903

Bowman & Company, LLP 10100 Trinity Parkway, Ste. 310 Stockton, CA 95219

Daryl R. Petrick 209-473-1040/209-473-9771 cpabowman.com

24 16

40 1

Accounting, audit, business valuation, tax Affordable housing, real estate, non-profit, agriculture, wine and employee benefits

1949

Grimbleby Coleman CPAs, Inc. 200 W. Roseburg Avenue Modesto, CA 95350

Clive Grimbleby 209-527-4220/209-527-4247 gccpas.net

21 28

49 2

Tax, accounting, business advisory services, agriculture, estates/trusts and health care

1973

Iacopi, Lenz & Company 3031 W. March Lane, Ste. 300-E Stockton, CA 95219

Susan Lenz & John Iacopi 209-957-3691/209-957-0841 iacopi.com

17 9

26 1

Tax preparation, auditing and accounting services, business consulting, litigation support, forensic accounting, QB support, retail businesses, medical, professional, manufacturing, and AG

1978

Croce & Company, A.C. 501 W. Weber Avenue, Ste. 500 Stockton, CA 95203

Jerry Butterfield 209-943-2222/209-943-2220 croceco.com

18 6

38 1

Tax management, assurance, estate planning, bookkeeping, agriculture, real estate, professional services, estates, trusts, and manufacturing

1987

Kemper CPA Group, LLP 3031 W. March Lane, Ste. 133-S Stockton, CA 95219

Lammert Van Laar 209-473-2001/209-473-1761 kempercpa.com

12 12

24 3

Tax, audit, payroll, bookkeeping, valuation, litigation support AG, manufacturing, contracting, professional practice, wholesale and retail Stockton, Tracy and Modesto locations

1977

Schmidt, Bettencourt & Medeiros, LLP 865 Geer Road Turlock, CA 95380

Michael F. Schmidt & Carol L. Medeiros 209-668-4857/209-669-0995 sbm-cpa.com

13 10

25 1

Tax preparation, review and audits, financial statement preparation, estate planning, and accounting

1949

DeGregori, Gormsen & Ringer, LLP 1401 N. Hunter Street Stockton, CA 95202

John H. DeGregori 209-944-0740/209-944-9503 dgr-cpas.com

9 15

24 1

Income tax research and return preparation for individuals and businesses, trusts and estates estate planning and return preparation, accounting write-up services, compilation and review engagements, business valuations and accounting system consultations

1974

Schwartz, Giannini, Lantsberger & Adamson CPAs 4578 Feather River Drive, Ste. D Stockton, CA 95219

Tim Schwartz 209-474-1084/209-474-0301 sfgac.com

6 2

13 1

Tax, auditing, accounting and consulting real estate and health care

1989

Dougherty CPAs, Inc. 3031 W. March Lane, Ste. 210 Stockton, CA 95219

Steven M. Dougherty, CPA/MS-Tax 209-476-1111/209-476-1111 doughertycpas.com

3 4

7 1

Tax preparation, tax planning, Quickbooks training and financial statement: Professional services, real estate, construction

1978

Pastenieks, Bucheli & Falasco, LLP 1301 L Street, Ste. 1 Modesto CA 95354

Eileen Pastenieks, Ralph Bucheli, Dan Falasco 209-529-5515/209-529-5533 pbfcpa.com

3 5

8 1

Tax, auditing, litigation services Fraud research and accounting

2010

Kalfsbeek & Company Accountancy Corporation 4529 Quaillakes Drive, Ste. c Stockton, CA 95207

Donna Hammel Jane Kalfsbeek 209-235-1040/209-2351044 kalfsbeek.com

3 6

9 1

Accounting, tax preparation and planning, business consulting, Quickbooks consulting Agriculture, HOAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, small businesses and medical

1983

Richesin Accountancy Corporation 7510 Shoreline Drive Stockton, CA 95219

Chuck Richesin 209-477-4834/209-477-2935 richac.com

3 2

5 1

Financial reporting, tax preparation and personal service

1983

Vermeulen & Company an Accountancy Corporation 1180 W. Main Street, Ste. 2 Ripon, CA 95366

Thomas L. Vermeulen 209-599-5051/209-599-5052 vermeulencpa.com

3 6

9 1

Business coaching and planning, tax and financial statement preparation Agriculture, almonds, walnuts, dairy, heating and air, heavy equipment contracting, transportation, retail, service businesses, construction, custom fabrication, automotive, real estate

1980

Michael L. Dalton CPA Inc. 5345 N. El Dorado Avenue Stockton, CA 95207

Michael L. Dalton 209-235-5200/209-235-5206 mikedaltoncpa.com

2 1

6 1

Full service accounting firm for preparation of accurate and complete financial information, tax preparation and business specialization

1986

Mizuno CPA 527 W. 11th Street Tracy, CA 95376

Craig I. Mizuno, CPA 209-832-1611/209-832-1285 mizunocpa.com

2 4

7 1

Tax preparation and planning, Quickbooks pro advisor.

1985

Warmerdam CPA Group 1500 Standiford Avenue, Bldg C Modesto, CA 95350

E. Ventura 209-579-0306/209-579-1219 warmerdamcpas.com

2 2

5 1

Tax return preparation, accounting, bookkeeping and payroll services tax returns and accounting

2003

Crane & Ostrowski, an Accountancy Corporation 4525 Quail Lakes Drive, Ste. B Stockton CA 95209

Howard J. Crane 209-478-9616/209-478-9616 crancecpa.com

1 1

7 1

Tax and accounting services Specializing in agriculture, hotels, restaurants, medical practices

1971

Gordon Forensics & Accounting 1040 W. Kettleman Lane, Ste. 147 Lodi, CA 95242

Richard C. Gordon, CPA/CFF, CFE 209-269-6704/855-728-7878 gordonforensics.com

1 1

2 1

Forensic accounting, litigation support, fraud investigation CPA certified fraud examiner (CFE), certified in financial forensics (CFF), traditional CPA services

2013

Lindstrom & Winsborrow Accountancy Corporation 6820 Pacific Avenue, Ste. 2-A Stockton, CA 95207

Gordon Lindstrom & Tom Winsborrow 209-451-0428/209-451-0593 landwaccounting.com

1 2

3 1

Full-service accounting firm, with tax, financial and business emphasis Tax planning, tax preparation and business solutions

2011

Michael A. Pimentel CPA 3509 Coffee Road, D-6 Modesto, CA 95355

Michael Pimentel 209-527-1070/209-527-1080 pimentelcpa.com

1 2

5 1

Tax planning and preparation, business consulting, and accounting Real estate, agriculture and manufacturing

1997

The James Company An Accountancy Corporation 3031 W. March Lane, Ste. 123 S Stockton, CA 95219

John H. James 209-952-1901/209-952-2201 none

1 4

5 1

Tax planning and preparation, estate and family succession planning, business planning Small business consulting, business acquisition and sales, IRC section 1031 exchanges, accounting services

1996

October 2014

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Voted Best of San Joaquin 2014 “Look to Iacopi, Lenz & Company for your business and personal finance matters - we are here to help”

IACOPI, LENZ & COMPANY

Accountancy Corporation

John T. Iacopi, CPA • Susan H. Lenz, CPA • Michael S. Butler, CPA • Michael D. Luis, CPA • James J. Acosta, CPA • Paula M. Frago, CPA • James H. LaForest, CPA • Constance D. Logan, CPA, Esq. • Tami K. Horita Louie, CPA • Louis B. Machado, CPA • Dina P. Marasigan, CPA • Kathy L. Morris-Marr, CPA • Kathleen M. Solari, CPA • Revo Somersille, CPA • Sunny Y. Williams, CPA • Amber E. Hibbs Bell, CPA • Myra Garcia, CPA • Shelley Crivello, E.A. • Patricia Melton, E.A.

This resourceful and innovative accounting firm provides comprehensive services in a timely manner to clients in a wide range of industries. Since 1978 it has remained dedicated to delivering the highest quality, personal service to its clients, as well as giving back to its community.

• Tax Planning & Preparation • Accounting & Auditing Services • Business Consulting • Business Acquisitions & Sales • Business Valuation Services

• Litigation Support Services • Marital Dissolution Accounting • Quickbooks Support • Estate Planning • Estate and Trust Tax Preparation

3031 West March Lane • Suite 300 - E • Stockton, CA Phone: (209) 957-3691 • Fax (209) 957-0841 • www.iacopi.com

Central Valley Business Journal

October 2014

CSU Stanislaus moving past budget austerity By KENT HOHLFELD Business Journal writer TURLOCK -- An overflow crowd filled the Snider Recital Hall on the campus of CSU Stanislaus Aug. 27 to hear school President Jospeh F. Sheley’s annual address to faculty and students. The speech comes at a time when CSU Stanislaus is seeing improving budgets, a growing student body and improved public perceptions. The school was recently ranked 28th out of 2,500 schools by Time magazine based on access, affordability and educational outcomes. Sheley spoke on a wide range of issues aimed at continuing the university’s improvement. He said the institution faced issues from its budget outlook to avoiding incidents of violence and sexual assault on campus. “It would be wonderful were I not to feel the need to begin with budget news,” he told the crowd. “But such is life in higher education.” After four years of austere budgets, the school has seen some improvements during the last two budget cycles. Its student body has grown by 362 students during the last two years. “We will be fine - even if ‘fine’ falls

short of what we were hoping for,” said Sheley. “We’re not making cuts, we’re moving forward.” One of the biggest challenges facing the school’s budget is ongoing negotiations with school’s myriad of faculty and staff unions. One of those unions, the California State Employees Union (CSEU) which represents non-faculty staff, staged a small protest before the speech over the wages of current staff members. “CSU (Stanislaus) average salary ranks 23rd out of 24 (offices),” said Neil Jacklin, president of CSEU and instructional support technician in the biology department at the school. “We think, with the better economy, this is something that should be looked into.” While he avoided specifically addressing that issue in his 45-minute speech, Sheley did speak to the wages issue during a 10-minute questionand-answer session with reporters after the speech. “I am somewhat constrained at the moment in terms of being able to discuss salary situations for our employees because we are right in the middle of contract talks,” said Sheley. “I have learned over time to let that run its course. It will work itself out.”

PHOTO COURTESY CSU STANISLAUS

CSU Stanislaus President Joseph Sheley spoke to students and faculty at the beginning of the school year about the state of the university’s budget.

Sheley did say he hopes that once those union contract negotiations finish that the school would be able to address remaining concerns of staff and faculty. “Once those contracts are ratified, we can look again at the situation, look at our budget and try to best address the concerns that may still be on the table,” he said. “And to be fair, there are reasonable concerns.” One of the biggest challenges facing the school is uncertainty as to what future budgets may look like. Dur-

ing the Great Recession, money from Proposition 30 helped schools supplement their budgets. The $142 million that helped the 23-school CSU system get by runs out in two years. “The Prop 30 dollars have helped us out a lot,” he said. “We’ve got two more years before that becomes the topic du jour again. That money is being used by the system for a variety of issues including collective bargaining.” Another issue facing the university Please see STANISLAUS Page 25

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CVBJ

October 2014

FOCUS: TAXING MATTERS

How to avoid common tax audit triggers If you are one of those taxpayers who waits until the last minute to file your personal income tax returns, this is your last chance reminder to watch out for various audit triggers. The last extension deadline to file your 2013 personal income tax returns expires Oct. 15. This articles will discuss itemized deductions, business income and supplemental income -- all issues that could trigger an audit on your personal income tax return. Medical and dental expenses: The law changed with respect to medical and dental expenses in 2013. If you were under the age of 65 at the end of 2013, you can only deduct unreimbursed medical and dental expenses that exceed 10 percent of your adjusted gross income. However, if you were older than 65 at the end of 2013, the percentage limitation is 7.5 percent. In 2017, the percentage limitation will be 10 percent for everyone. Please note, the IRS knows how old you are so make sure the correct percentage is taken. Home mortgage interest and mortgage interest premiums: Deductions for these payments can create audit issues if not completed properly. On Schedule A, Line 10 is for re-

porting mortgage interest and points resulting from a Form 1098. However, line 11 is for nominee reporting where the mortgage is in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name and paid by another party. Line 13 is for mortgage insurance premiums. That remains deductible in 2013, but not in 2014. Taxpayers should plan accordingly. Gifts to charities: Such deductions are often the Jason Harrel subject of audit. Calone & Harrel Schedule A, Line Law Group 16 is for gifts to charities by cash or check under $250. Remember, contemporaneous records of the gift are required. Cash put into a bell ringerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collection bowl or money placed into a church collection plate without a written record made at the time of the donation will not be deductible. For gifts of cash or check over $250, a taxpayer must receive a written acknowledgement from the charity indi-

Taxing Matters

As As an an accounting accounting firm, firm, we we love love numbers. numbers. Here are a few of our favorites. Here are a few of our favorites.

101 101

Years in business Years in business

10 10

California offices California offices

97 97

Countries served Countries served (Through Praxity, aisbl )

5.0 5.0

33 33

Industries served Industries served

1 1

Staff-to-partner Staff-to-partner ratio ratio Goal: to help you Goal: to help you succeed succeed

(Through Praxity, aisbl )

( 2 0 9 ) 9 5 5 - 610 0 ( 2 0 9 ) 9 5 5 - 610 0

cating the amount of the donation. Gifts of property in excess of $500 must be accompanied by Form 8283, Noncash Charitable Contributions. For the most part, noncash charitable contributions that exceed $500 require a contemporaneous appraisal. Casualty and theft loss: An issue often arises as to the value of the property lost. Remember to obtain substantiation of the value. Additionally, the loss is also reported on a Form 4684, Casualties and Thefts. For 2013, a new loss was added for Ponzi schemes. Payments requiring form 1099: Line 1 on Schedule C asks whether you made any payments requiring the issuance of a 1099 in the form of a yes or no questions. Do not leave this blank; check either yes or no. With some exceptions, payments to service providers that exceed $600 require you to issue a 1099. The deduction can be lost if the 1099 is not issued. Gross receipts or sales, Form 1099K: On the 2013 Schedule C, the line for payments from payment cards and third party network transaction reported on a 1099-K has disappeared. However, the IRS will audit returns where the 1099-K does not match up to the line 1 gross receipts. So, if your 1099-K exceeds the

amount reported on line 1, discuss the issue with your accountant or tax attorney about making a disclosure to reduce the chance of audit. Home office deduction: There is a new method for calculating the home office deduction found on Schedule C, line 30. It is the simplified method, and allocates a deduction of $5 per square foot up to 300 square feet. The simplified method does not allow a deduction for depreciation or a loss carryover. Actual expenses can be used in place of the simplified method but make sure the allocation is correct and the other rules for the deduction are met. This is a common audit trigger. Net profit/loss: If you are reporting net income of $20,000 and have itemized deductions of $50,000, a question can easily about you managed to pay expenses of $50,000 for which you are claiming a deduction? Schedule C filers reporting less than $100,000 of income are the highest percentage of taxpayers that are audited. Make sure you report all your income and your return is accurate, or at least be prepared for the audit and be able to substantiate how you Please see TAXING MATTERS Page 25

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LITERACY Continued from Page 19

cies are addressing dental and other health care issues that keep students out of school. One Stockton student who has overcome everyday obstacles to attend school is Bianca Guerra, a Peyton Elementary seventh-grader who has had perfect attendance since kindergarten. She credited her mother with keeping her on track. “If I got sick or something was

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wrong, my mom would fix it right away,” Guerra said. Guerra said keeping a perfect attendance record was about treating school as a priority and realizing how easily and quickly students can fall behind once they’ve missed school. “Why have your kids be lost?” said Guerra. Guerra said all the effort has paid off. Her grades are good and she intends to keep her spotless record through high school and college. Other highlights from the Literacy Report Card:

• Preschool enrollment down The percentage of 3-and 4-year-olds enrolled in preschool in San Joaquin County has dropped from 46 percent in 2011 to 34.2 percent in 2013. Education officials say that could be because employment in the county has been slow to recover, and parents can’t afford preschool. • More new mothers without a high school diploma The percentage of new mothers who haven’t graduated from high school is up to 26 percent from 23 percent in 2011.

Experts say that statistic is key because a child’s success at school is closely tied to his mother’s education level. That is partly because better-educated mothers are less likely to live in poverty, but also because parents who are better educated are in a better position to support their children at school. • Library participation The rate of books borrowed in San Joaquin County has not changed since 2011, but it is lower than the state rate of 6.1 books per capita. In San Joaquin County, that number is 2.7.

STANISLAUS Continued from Page 22

is how to keep the 9,000 full and part time students safe on campus. Dealing with issues of violence and sexual assault is a major focus of the school. “One instance (of sexual assault) is major,” he said. “I don’t think, rate wise, we stand out. This is a very safe campus. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. That doesn’t mean if it does happen we don’t find out about it. It’s time for us to step up at the front end and reduce the potential.” He said another focus will be to make sure that incidents are reported and investigated correctly. “Nobody should feel ignored,” he said. “We should be dealing with this in the proper way.” Among other issues Sheley touched on was giving the campus a better sense of identity including revamped school logos and improved communications with the community.

CVBJ

Did you hear about the bank that helped a client get

his health in tune?

TAXING MATTERS Continued from Page 24

paid expenses without the necessary income, i.e., through savings, credit cards, loans. However, use of savings will require past tax returns or gifts showing that you had the money. Passive loss limitations: This deduction on Schedule E, line 22 has been an audit playground for the past few years. Many professionals are being advised to purchase farm property for the income and write offs. However, if the taxpayer is not actively or materially participating in the activity, the loss may be passive in which case it is only deductible against passive income. Many taxpayers claimed to be active or materially participating without the necessary records to substantiate their involvement in the activity. Contemporaneous logs should be maintained to substantiate the involvement in the activity to claim active or material participation. This can sometimes be a substantial tax adjustment. If you have this type of activity on your return, you should discuss the issue with your accountant or tax attorney. The key to surviving an audit is having the substantiation necessary. It is a lot less work to maintain the substantiation contemporaneously rather than try to put it together two years later. Be careful out there.

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Central Valley Business Journal

October 2014

FINANCIAL PLANNING FIRMS

In San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. Ranked by Number of Local Credentialed Advisors. Ties are Ranked in Alphabetical Order. Rank

Company Address

Total Top Local Executive Number of Local Number Phone Credentialed of Business Services Offered Fax Advisors Local Web Address Staff

Year

Wells Fargo Advisors 3203 W. March Lane, Ste. 100 Stockton, CA 95219

209-957-8100 Fax 209-957-7955 wellsfargoadvisors.com

Retirement plans, investment advisory services, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities and lending

1978

United Capital Private Wealth Counseling 909 Fifteenth Street, Ste. 1 Modesto, CA 95354

Terry Swehla, Jason Gordo Chris Battreall, Jeff Burrow 209-530-1515 Fax 209-530-1522 unitedcpcentralcal.com

Personalized guidance designed to help our individual and business clients make good financial decisions. Independently designed and managed investment solutions tailored to meet our clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs and expectations

1996

Valley Wealth, Inc. a Division of United Capital 1101 Sylvan Avenue, Ste. C-203 Modesto, CA 95350

Jason Gordo & Jeff Burrow 209-579-5900 Fax 209-579-2773 valleywealth.com

Financial services to individuals and businesses. 401 K management

2008

Ameriprise Financial Olsen & Associates 431 S. Ham Lane, Ste. A Lodi, CA 95242

Christopher J. Olsen, CFP 209-367-8700 Fax 209-367-3700 ameripriseadvisors.com/ christopher.j.olsen

Comprehensive financial planning, asset management, retirement planning, tax planning and estate planning

1984

Attentive Investment Managers, Inc. 5345 N. El Dorado Street, Ste. 4 Stockton, CA 95207

Michael L. Dalton 209-235-5200 Fax 209-235-5206 mikedaltoncpa.com

Fee-only, Investment advisory, financial planning, retirement planning, education planning and wealth management

1991

Edward Jones 834 W. Benjamin Holt Drive Stockton, CA 95207

Kate Lindell 209-477-1334 Fax 877-222-0228 edwardjones.com

Comprehensive financial planning, stocks, bonds, mutual funds and insurance

1998

Northern California Planners 5637 N. Pershing Avenue, Ste. B-8 Stockton, CA 95207

Gary Santos 209-476-8095 Fax 209-476-8088 planmembersec.com/gsantos.com

Retirement planning, Life insurance

1975

Randolph and Klein 1625 W. March Lane, Ste. 101 Stockton, CA 95207

Norm Randolph Phyllis Klein 209-956-1212 Fax 209-955-1327

Financial and retirement planning, life and health insurance

Stull Financial 4529 Quail Lakes Drive, Ste. A Stockton, CA 95207

David J. Stull, CLU/ChFC 209-957-1673 Fax 209-957-1676 stullfinancial.com

Insurance (life, health, disability, etc.), Securities, separate accounts financial, retirement, estate planning and installation

1977

Valley Financial Services 5757 Pacific Avenue, Ste. 248 Stockton, CA 95207

Lindsey Randolph, CFP 209-474-3465 lindseyrandolph.com

We help individuals and families with higher net worth to implement customized strategies to minimize their taxes, secure their retirement income, maximize their legacy to family and their community

1987

Zeiter Financial & Insurance Services 1111 J Street, Ste. M-105 Modesto, CA 95354

Michael E. Zeiter, CLU, ChFC, ChSNC 209-566-1366 Fax 209-566-1372 zeiterfinancial.com

Wealth management, life & disability insurance, retirement planning, 401K, IRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, long term care and annuities

2000

Aspire Advisory Services 104 N. School Street, Ste. 216 Lodi, CA 95240

David Worcester, Jr. 209-339-8971 Fax 209-339-8981 myfinancialplans.com

Fee-based financial advisory, money management, investment advise and financial planning

1987

Christopher H. Weed, CPA, Inc. 1313 W. Robinhood Drive, Ste. A-2 Stockton, CA 95207

Christopher H. Weed, CPA/PFS/CFP 209-957-5025 Fax 209-957-5027 chrisweedcpa.com

Fee only financial planning and investment management, tax planning and preparation

1981

Drummond & Associates 404 W. Pine Street, Ste. 6 Lodi, CA 95240

Darrell Drummond 209-366-1264 Fax (209) 334-4217 ddrummond.net

Financial advising

1989

Edward Jones 1806 W. Kettleman Lane, Ste. C Lodi, CA 95242

Phil Lenser, CFP/AAMS 209-339-0843 Fax 888-677-3746 edwardjones.com

Financial service to the individual investor and personalized consultations with each client

1990

Goldstrand Planning Group 2800 W. March Lane, Ste. 326 Stockton, CA 95219

Dennis J. Goldstrand, CLU, ChFC, AEP 209-472-7000 Fax 209-472-1551 goldstrand.com

Fee-based financial planning and investment advisory services

1976

Legacy Financial Advisors 1508 Coffee Road, Ste. D Modesto, CA 95355

Doug Hearon 209-238-3200 Fax 209-238-9127 legacyorg.com

Estate planning, financial planning, insurance services, investment services, retirement planning, social security planning and life insurance/annuities

2000

Northwestern Mutual Financial Network 207 W. Oak Street Lodi, CA 95240

Scott R. Marcus, CLU 209-369-5555 scott-marcus.com

Retirement and investment advisory services, life insurance, long-term care insurance and disability income replacement insurance

1857

Raymond James Financial Services 215 W. Oak Street, Ste. 1 Lodi, CA 95240

Grant Fletcher, CFP 209-333-4500 Fax 209333-4505 raymondjames.com/fmis

Financial planning, asset management, cash management, retirement planning, life insurance, annuities

1962

Thorson Financial Estate Management, Inc. 1101 Standiford Avenue, Ste. C-2 Modesto, CA 95350

Thomas K. Thorson 209-522-0250 Fax 209-576-0065 thorsonfinancial.com

Portfolio management, asset protection, retirement and estate planning

1993

Willson & Company 612 W. 11th Street, Ste. 101 Tracy, CA 95376

Penny Van Der Meer 209-832-2997 Fax 209-832-4184 willsonco.com

Retirement planning, short and long term investment services and life and long term care insurance

1992

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Central Valley Business Journal

CVBJ

October 2014

FOCUS: FINANCE

Protecting long-term health of your company As a successful business owner, you have no doubt worked hard and made many sacrifices to grow your business. You know there are no short cuts to success! That is why you should put just as much energy into protecting it as you did building it. When you look at long-term plans for your business, you should ask yourself these important questions: • What plans do I have for retirement? • In the event of my or my partner’s untimely death or disability, is my business capable of surviving and thriving? • Is my family adequately protected upon my death or disability? • Have I done my best to attract, retain and reward the key employees who are vital to my business success? If you answered “no” to any of these questions, you may want to consider implementing a formal business planning strategy. Proper planning can help you protect your business, attract and retain key employees, and help ensure that your business transfers in the manner that you choose. Take the steps necessary to protect your most valuable assets Start by exploring all your protection options. After that, you’ll be able to develop a long-term strategy that can help protect the continuity of

your business if you, a partner, or key employee decides to retire or leave the business, becomes disabled, or dies unexpectedly. Two of the most important areas in developing this short and longterm strategy are your ability to attract and retain key Michael Zeiter employees and MassMutual Financial the protection Modesto, CA of the business

Smart Planning

you’ve worked so hard to build. Attracting and retaining key employees In this highly competitive executive marketplace it has become increasingly difficult to attract and retain top talent. Some important and effective strategies that are often used are plans such as: nonqualified deferred compensation plans, split dollar plans and executive bonus (section 162) plans. The purpose of these strategies is to attract key employees or prospective employees with compensation over

and above the negotiated salaries. Try to distinguish your business from others so that you can attract valuable executives as part of your workforce. Protect the Business you’ve worked so hard to build You’ve built your business with the hope that it will withstand the test of time, even if you or the key employees you have now aren’t able to participate as you have been. There are strategies that can help cover you if the worst happens. One such strategy is key person insurance. This insurance can offer peace of mind in knowing that the financial stability of your business is protected in the event of a valued employee’s untimely death or disability. The proper life or disability insurance is used to cover this vulnerability. A second strategy is individual disability income insurance which allows a monthly benefit to continue to come into the business if an owner becomes disabled. Also important is creating a buy- sell agreement when there are at least two partners in the business entity. This serves as a way to buy out the other partner’s interest in the business for the benefit of the deceased heirs. Life insurance is commonly and effectively

used to fund these. Business overhead expense is also vital in reimbursing business owners for overhead expenses incurred while they are disabled, keeping the company running while the owner recovers. Qualified sick pay plan is a way that sets company policy before an employee disability occurs. It establishes whom to pay, how much to pay, when to start payments, and how long to pay. The strategy is important in the budget and viability of the company’s continued success. Whether it’s attracting and retaining key employees and executives, or protecting your business and continued success, it is critical to implement the proper and effective tools into your business to achieve these goals. A competent financial adviser or attorney will be able to guide you on your path in improving what you have already implemented or create a strategy that will prove effective. Michael E. Zeiter is a registered financial representative of and offers securities, investment advisory and financial planning services through MML Investors Services, LLC, Member SIPC. Reach Michael Zeiter at mzeiter@financialguide.com / Web www.zeiterfinancial.com / Direct (209) 613-7210

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October 2014

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Truck dealership expands, moves to Lathrop LATHROP -- TEC Equipment, Inc. will move to a bigger facility and expand to become a full-service truck dealership in Lathrop. The company has a small facility in San Joaquin County near Highway 120, but it will move to the former Anderson Truss facility on Louise Avenue in Lathrop, according to the San Joaquin Partnership. That property is 24 acres with a 47,000-squarefoot building. The facility is undergoing construction to make it a “first-class” full-service truck dealership that will employ more than 50 people, the company said. When it is done, it will house refrigerated, dry van and flatbed trailer sales in addition to used truck sales. The dealership will have expanded parts inventories between $1.5 million to $2.0 million as well as truck and

Stockton to host Promise Keepers STOCKTON -- Promise Keepers, the Christian men’s conference, is returning to Stockton next May, Visit Stockton announced in September. The event will be May 15-16 at the Stockton Arena. It is one of only three conferences scheduled for the western United States in 2015 and the only one in California. It is expected to bring more than 5,000 men to downtown Stockton. “We’re excited,” said Visit Stockton CEO Wes Rhea. “It was definitely a competitive event for us.” Rhea believes Stockton had a number of things going for it, including its location. There are 10 million people within a 100-mile radius of the city, but the cost of holding an event in Stockton is much less than it would be in the Bay Area. The arena itself is also a plus, Rhea said. The last time Promise Keepers was in Stockton was in 1999. Then, the event was held at Stagg Stadium at the University of the Pacific and brought 20,000 men. “They were doing stadium tours then,” said Rhea. “They’re doing smaller venues now.” Rhea said that because the conference is a two-day event, the city can expect hotel bookings and business for restaurants, but he hadn’t calculated an exact estimate for economic impact. Visit Stockton worked closely with the arena’s management company, SMG and the Stockton Leadership Foundation to bring the event to Stockton.

trailer inventories above $5 million. In addition to existing truck and trailer leasing business, full truck and trailer shop services, TEC Equipment plans to position itself as a one-stop shopping destination for trucking customers. “We are exceptionally grateful to be chosen and we look forward to the job opportunities and economic benefits that this project will bring to our community,” said Lathrop Mayor Sonny Dhaliwal.

TEC has 22 other locations in Oregon, Washington, Nevada and California. The company’s franchises include Volvo, Mack heavy-duty trucks, Hino and Isuzu medium-duty, and GMC light-duty commercial trucks. “We are very excited to be entering this market, and we look forward to continuing a good relationship with the City of Lathrop, which, through the guidance of Matt Browne in Community Development-Building Division,

has been very responsive to work with in fast-tracking our facility remodel,” said TEC founder David Thompson. According to the San Joaquin Partnership, Lathrop’s location near the Bay Area and Sacramento Valley have made it a logistics hub. “It is a natural fit for TEC to locate its truck equipment sells where the action takes place,” said the Partnership’s Vice President for Client Services Shelley Burcham.

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GOT NEWS TO SHARE?

We here at the Central Valley Business Journal like to keep up-to-date with everyone in the business community. Email press releases and other news to: editor@ cvbizjournal.com

Chair Victor Mow, Vice Chair Gary Christopherson, Commissioners Sylvester Aguilar, R. Jay Allen, Elizabeth Blanchard, Michael Patrick Duffy, Stephen Griffen and Port Director Richard Aschieris.

Central Valley Business Journal

Embezzlement Survival Guide

October 2014

How to prevent losing it all if theft happens to you By KENT HOLFELD Business Journal writer STOCKTON -- Dealing with the possibility of betrayal by employees is one of the hardest aspects of owning and operating a business. Still, with the growing number of embezzlement cases both in the Central Valley and across the nation, it’s something no business owner can ignore. “The owner says, ‘We treated this person like family. We couldn’t imagine them doing something like this,’” said Chris Marquet, CEO of Marquet International, a boutique investigative firm. “The owners need to do the right thing and take care of their fiduciary duties. Many entrepreneurs love the creating, social and business aspects of their jobs. A lot don’t care about the back end, the office aspects of it.” Ignoring those “office aspects” can be costly. In two recent Stockton-area cases, employees were accused of stealing more three quarters of a million dollars from their employers. In January 2011, Brenda Kemper pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison for stealing nearly $500,000 from Big Valley Aviation. The 59-year-old bookkeeper was a longtime, respected employee of the firm. Sawtantar Singh Jaspal, a manager at hat manufacturer Dorfman Pacific Company, was arrested in June at his home in Tracy, accused of embezzling $277,000 from the company. In September, Jaspal entered guilty pleas to embezzlement and tax evasion and was sentenced to five years in prison. These are just two of the most recent in what has been an uptick in embezzlement cases across the country. “The first thing to understand is this phenomena is happening all the time, all over the country,” said Marquet. “Employers really have to keep an eye on things.” One of the biggest traps that employers fall into is placing too much trust in a single employee. Bakul Patel, Dorfman Pacific Company’s chief financial officer, found that out the hard way when the company discovered irregularities with Japsal’s work. “You give managers a certain level of trust,” Patel said. “A manager can create a fictitious business, and he then has the power to pay those businesses.” That is a fairly common scam used by embezzlers, according to San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Stephen Taylor. Taylor prosecutes

many of the embezzlement cases in the county and has seen an increase in cases since the recession. “I don’t know that there are more crimes being committed now,” he said. “When you have harder economic times, businesses are more conscious of where every dollar is going. More of these crimes are discovered. You look back in history, and you see the same thing during the depression in the ‘30s.” Marquet International released a report in 2013 that studied the trend nationwide. The average embezzlement scheme went on for 4.7 years before being discovered and the median loss for companies was $340,000. The average prison sentence for a convicted embezzler was 49 months. Marquet said that tough economic times can also prompt people to do things they wouldn’t otherwise do. “Many times, these people led a regular life and any number of issues led them to just say, ‘I’ll borrow this money and pay it back,’” Marquet said. “Well, they can’t pay it back, and it just keeps going on. You have people that are faced with losing a house or maybe a spouse’s business is suffering, and they do things they might not otherwise.” Another contributing factor that Taylor often sees is compulsive behaviors that contribute to the thefts. Nearly a third of cases nationwide involved perpetrators who had gambling issues. “People have drug or gambling problems that they fund this way,” said Taylor. “We’ve had several cases where people used the money for gastric bypass surgery.” So what are business owners to do? Investigators and police agree that monitoring employees’ financial activities is the key to uncovering and preventing such crimes. “These are not difficult crimes to uncover,” said Taylor. “They are all in writing.” That means keeping track of where expenses are going. Employers need to make certain the vendors and employees being paid really exist. That can be a challenge for smaller businesses that lack the employees to doublecheck the books. “Our accountant came in and helped us put in some additional processes,” said Dorfman Pacific’s Patel. “Now we have dual signing of checks instead of just one manager signing.”

The average embezzlement scheme continues for more than four and a half years before it’s discovered, according

Doing extensive background checks and knowing the history of those in charge of a company’s financial dealings is also vital. “We had a case where a lawyer was ripped off by an eighth grade dropout,” said Taylor. “We have had companies that have hired people right out of drug rehab and put them in charge of large sums of money.” Getting stolen money back from an alleged embezzler is often impossible. Embezzlers have often already spent the money that they stole from an employer by the time they’re caught. “It’s not like they usually have the money laying around,” said Taylor.

“They have usually spent that money on trips, or gambling or items they wanted.” That is one reason that protecting one’s business beforehand is so important. Getting various forms of insurance is an important and relatively inexpensive way for businesses to protect themselves. Dorfman Pacific Company had such policy which made up for the majority of the loss. “Our insurance paid us back for most of the loss,” said Dorfman’s Patel. A fidelity bond is a form of insurance protection that covers policyholders for losses they incur as a result of fraudulent acts by specified individuals. While called bonds, these obligations to protect an employer from em-

October 2014

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5 YEAR EMBEZZLEMENT SCHEME FREQUENCY All others 2%

Bogus loan scheme 3%

Cr bit /de

it ed

Fradulent reimbursement 4%

Vendor fraud 8%

u ab

Pay she roll n 7% anega n

Forged/Unauthorized Checks 36%

Unauthorized electronic transfers Theft/conversion of 12% cash receipts 21% SOURCE: Marquet

EMBEZZLEMENT - BY THE NUMBERS

68 Percentage of thefts involving employees who held finance/ bookkeeping positions.

4.7 Number of years the average scheme ran before it was discovered.

49 Number of months the average prison sentence.

SOURCE: Marquet

TIPS FOR EMPLOYERS ► Get insurance against employee theft. ► Require dual signatures for checks larger than nominal

g to Marquet International.

ployee-dishonesty losses are similar to insurance policies in most respects. A $5,000 bond for a company with five employees or fewer can cost as little as $100 per year. A $25,000 bond for the same employer can cost around $170 per year. The larger policies are determined by the employers size, and industry but can still be a companysaving investment. “We recommend these to our business clients,” said Rick Sanguinetti, insurance agent and customer service representative at Sanguinetti Insurance. “The bond will cover whatever you amount you choose. The only hangup is there is a conviction clause in most cases.”

BUSINESS JOURNAL PHOTO

Many insurance policies have endorsements that also cover these kinds of crimes, but business people need to check to make sure the policies cover embezzlement. One of the best things business owners can do is to help prevent theft before it ever occurs. Keeping track of exactly what comes in the mail each day may not be the most exciting part of running a business, but it can save owners a lot of headaches, according to area insurance and law enforcement officials. “Creating an environment where this kind of crime isn’t easy to occur is a big step in preventing losses for businesses.” said Taylor.

amounts. ► Audit petty cash regularly. ► Conduct background checks of employees who will have access to financial information. ► Collect and open mail yourself so you know what is in the mail. ► Approve all employees and vendors who are paid through company accounts and examine canceled checks. ► Make sure “courtesy checks” from banks or credit cards are properly handled and disposed of. ► Regularly audit credit accounts. ► Regularly rotate bookkeeping duties if possible. ► Do not allow bookkeepers to take work home. ► Keep unused checks in a lockbox. ► Conduct regular and random audits of the books. ► Back up records daily. SOURCE: Marquet and San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office

Central Valley Business Journal

October 2014

STOCK AND INVESTMENT BROKERS

In San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. Ranked by Number of Licensed Brokers on Staff. Ties are Listed in Alphabetical Order. Rank

Company Name Address

Number of Top Local Executive Number Licensed Stock Exchange Memberships Phone of Support Brokers on Services Offered Web Address Staff Staff Betu Gill 209-578-2600 ml.com

James Douglas Washington 209-478-2230 morganstanley.com

Merrill Lynch 801 10th Street, 7th Floor, Ste. 1 Modesto, CA 95354

Morgan Stanley 3421 Brookside Road, Ste. A Stockton, CA 95219

Wells Fargo Advisors 3203 W. March Lane, Ste. 100 Stockton, CA 95219

Daniel Christ, CFP 209-957-8100 wfadvisors.com

Merrill Lynch 3255 W. March Lane, Ste. 110 Stockton, CA 95219

Philip Benson 209-472-3500 ml.com

Raymond James Financial Services 215 W. Oak Street, Ste. 1 Lodi, CA 95240

Scottrade 2819 W. March Lane, Ste. A-4 Stockton, CA 95219

Smith, Gatschet & Kobrin Financial Group 4750 Quail Lakes Drive, Ste. B Stockton, CA 95207

The Investment Consulting Group 121 Rue De Yoe Modesto, CA 95354

Blakely Financial Services 2800 W. March Lane, Ste. 324 Stockton, CA 95219

Kurt Blakely 209-956-0267 teamblakely.com

Edward Jones Investments 834 W. Benjamin Holt Drive Stockton, CA 95207

John Lindell 209-477-1334 edwardjones.com

Mass Mutual Financial Services 1111 J. Street, Ste. M-105 Modesto, CA 95354

Michael Zeiter 209-566-1366 209-566-1372 zeiterfinancial.com massmutual.com

Edward Jones Investments 5 S. School Street Lodi, CA 95240

Jerry Hearon 209-339-9010 edwardjones.com

Edward Jones Investments 1026 B Street Tracy, CA 95376

Mark Vien, Financial Advisor 209-833-1325 edwardjones.com

Dennis Goldstrand 209-472-7000 goldstrand.com

Scott R. Marcus, CLU 209-369-5555 scott-marcus.com

David J. Stull 209-957-1673 stullfinancial.com

Goldstrand Planning Group 2800 W. March Lane, Ste. 326 Stockton, CA 95219

Northwestern Mutual 207 W. Oak Street Lodi, CA 95240

Stull Financial 4529 Quail Lakes Drive, Ste. A Stockton, CA 95207

NYSE and NASDAQ Financial management and advisory NYSE, FINRA and ASE Investment services

NASDAQ, NYSE Area, Chicago Board Options Exchange, International Stock Exchange, Boston Stock Exchange, Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Chicago Stock Exchange and Chicago Mercantile Exchange

Year Est.

1914

1935

1978

Fee based portfolio management services, wealth management, investment, retirement planning, estate planning, stocks, bonds and mutual funds 6

NYSE, NASDAQ and all major stock exchanges Wealth management and investments

1977

Member FINRA/SIPC, NYSE and NASDAQ

Grant Fletcher, CFP 209-333-4500 fletcherfinancialgroup.com

Ted Goodsell 209-473-1601 scottrade.com

Chuck Smith 209-474-1602 sgkfinancial.com

Thomas Bryant 209-577-5704 ticginc.net

Investment services, corporate cash management, insurance and annuity products, long-term care, comprehensive financial planning, retirement planning and IRA rollover

1962

NASDAQ, Direct Edge and Bats Online investing, local branch office support, free educational seminars, online trading tools, mobile trading, live webinars, online community, market news, research and real time quotes All major stock exchanges Retirement planning FINRA, NYSE Investment consulting, financial planning and brokerage services

2003

1986

1998

Member FINRA/SIPC 2

Resources for seniors, investment management, retirement income planning, estate planning, IRA roll overs and trust services

1980

No memberships Investments services including:, annuities, banking services, business retirement, individual retirement, education savings, trust services, insurance, money market, roll overs, mutual funds, bonds and more

1998

NYSE, FINRA, SIPC Retirement and investment advisory services, life insurance, long-term care insurance, disability insurance, and estate planning

2001

NYSE Retirement planning, education savings, long term care insurance and estate consideration

1922

NYSE, FINRA, SIPC 1991 Financial planning, investments and insurance Member FINRA/SIPC 2

1976 Investment advisory services, mutual funds, stocks and bonds NYSE, FINRA and SIPC Retirement and investment advisory services, life insurance, long term care insurance and disability income replacement insurance

1995

FINRA and SIPC 1977 Insurance, securities, financial and estate planning

October 2014

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Central Valley Business Journal

Barbecue celebrates San Joaquin County industry and technology By KENT HOHLFELD Business Journal writer STOCKTON – More than 300 business people descended on the University Plaza Waterfront Hotel Sept. 10 for the 50th Annual Industrial Technology Barbecue. The dinner, which is organized by the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce, the San Joaquin Partnership, the SJC Economic Development Association and PG&E, honors companies that have located, expanded or have long ties in San Joaquin County. “It’s amazing that we have been here celebrating businesses for 50 years,” said Bob Elliott, chairman of the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors. “On the Board of Supervisors we take it seriously to be business friendly.” The event honored 23 companies that contributed a combined $800 million to the county’s economy. The businesses honored ran the gamut from new technology companies such as the Amazon fulfillment center, which opened last year in Tracy, to Delicato Family Vineyards which has produced wines in the county for more than 90 years. Wilmar International Limited, which opened an edible oil processing,

October 2014

Expanded Companies Agro-Culture Liquid Fertilizers Glassfab Tempering Services, Inc. Trinchero Family Estates Turkhan Foods, Inc. & Linden Nut Co.

New Companies Amazon Fulfillment AMS (Asset Management Solutions) Central Plastics & Manufacturing Cepheid Crothall Healthcare DTE Energy Menlo Worldwide Logistics NEMO Building Systems Regenesys Glass Processing Wilmar Oils & Fats LLC WAYNE DENNING/CVBJ

More than 300 representatives from Stockton’s business community honored new and expanding companies.

translating and storage facility at the Port of Stockton was honored twice. The company garnered recognition for both being a new business in the area and PG&E honored it with its Green Award for the company’s environmental efforts. Wilmar earned PG&E’s recognition by meeting eight energy efficiency measures that reduced the company’s natural gas and electricity consumption. Event organizers hope that events

like the Industrial Technology Barbecue help promote the business climate in the county to convince new businesses to locate in the county. “Tonight shows these companies have faith in San Joaquin County,” said Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce CEO Doug Wilhoit. “You look at the number of people here tonight and everyone is going to go home and talk about it to someone. That’s advertising you can’t buy.”

50+ Year Companies AT&T Collins Electrical Company, Inc. Delicato Family Vineyards Eckert Cold Storage Co. Guntert Sales Division, Inc./ Guntert & Zimmerman J.R. Simplot Company JM Manufacturing Co./JM Eagle Lodi Iron Works, Inc. Penny Newman Grain, Inc.

Serving Stanislaus County

October 2014

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Mettler leaves banking, community legacy By CRAIG W. ANDERSON Business Journal writer LODI -- Former Farmers & Merchants Bank President and Chairman Ole R. Mettler died Aug. 14 at the age of 96 after a lifetime of involvement and leadership in banking, agriculture and the community. “He was an extraordinary man, and his personal contributions to banking were immense, and his impact on our company was especially significant,” said F&M Bank’s current President, CEO and Chairman Kent A. Steinwert. “During Ole’s 50 years serving as the chairman, president, and CEO of Farmers & Merchants Bank he was a great mentor and encouraged community activism, long careers, and the mastering of those careers. Ole was a humble man who didn’t care about awards or recognition – and he received many -- and he made a tremendous difference in people’s lives.” Mettler arrived at the bank in 1960, served as board member throughout that decade, was elected chairman in 1973, president and CEO in 1994 and was again board chairman from 1994 to 2010. “He was the first recipient of the Distinguished Banker Award from the California Bankers Association in 2001 which honored his lifetime of

commitment and contribution to the banking industry,” Steinwert said. Mettler’s influence in finance extended outside the realm of the Lodibased bank as he also served as the director of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for six years, was president of the Independent Bankers of Northern California, and senior adviser for the Stockton chapter of the Institute of Banking. Mettler’s parents owned a ranch in Lodi and after he graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1940, he returned home to manage it with his father. He married his wife Dorothy in 1941, and they began their life together in the home where Mettler was born and raised. “Ole was a giant in agriculture, business, banking and education in the Central Valley,” said longtime

STOCKTON -- The San Joaquin County Agricultural Hall of Fame announced its five new inductees. This year’s award recipients are Steve Arnaudo, Karen Cultrera, Scott Hudson, Ann Bacchetti Silva, and Joseph F. Stuart (posthumous). The inductees will be honored at a dinner Oct. 16. The Agricultural Hall of Fame, which is celebrating its 30th year, honors individuals who have contributed to agriculture and to the community in significant ways. Steve Arnaudo In 1937, he and his brother official-

ly started a hay brokerage and hauling business. He and his three brothers expanded that farming operation to approximately 11,000 acres. For more than 50 years, Arnaudo was the director of Westside Irrigation District. He served on the California Council of Growers for eight years and was a member of the Farm Bureau. Arnaudo worked with the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors to help plan the town of Mountain House. He also sold 1,200 acres of land for the project. He served on the county’s planning commission for 26 years,

He will be remembered forever for his keen intellect, integrity and kind spirit.

Kent Steinwert F&M Bank CEO

friend and local farmer Jerry Fry. Mettler served in the Army Air Corps in World War II as an aircraft mechanic. During his final year in the military his son Bruce was born and three years later the birth of daughter Joan completed the family. Mettler was appointed to the California State Future Farmers Foundation Board and was president of the organization. He also chaired the group responsible for forming the San Joaquin County 4-H Foundation. “Ole helped start the county’s FFA and 4-H programs. He was a farm bureau member for decades,” said Fry. “I joined in 1965 and Ole was there, his father was there and then his son Bruce joined.” Away from banking and agriculture Mettler was also a key leader in the community. He was a member of Lodi Memorial Hospital and its foundation boards for decades and once was president of both at the same time. “He was the anchor for the whole community and the hospital,” said foundation Executive Director Wayne Craig. “He helped strengthen the hospital, and it has demonstrated a longevity that has surpassed most independent hospitals in the West and nationally as well.” Throughout his lifetime Mettler

PHOTO COURTESY FARMERS & MERCHANTS BANK

Ole Mettler served Farmers & Merchants Bank in Lodi for 50 years.

served in many organizations in a leadership capacity, including the Victor Farm Center, as director of the Northern California Fruit Company, American Legion Post 22, as director of Elmhurst College in Illinois, as a member of the San Joaquin County United Way board of trustees. He also Please see METTLER Page 39

Five named to San Joaquin County Ag Hall of Fame

Industries We Serve

. AGRICULTURE . CONSTRUCTION . MANUFACTURING . RETAIL . PROFESSIONAL

part of that time as chairman. Karen Cultrera Cultrera’s experiences in 4H as a child shaped her passion as an adult for youth education in agriculture as well as her desire to improve her community. She was deeply involved with the Golden Valley Achievers 4-H Club and Ripon 4-H Club where she was a project leader for 10 years. She says especially enjoys working with the San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation where she is currently on the board. Cultrera is the chairwoman of the Agriculture Education Committee and is on the Foundation

Board as well. Cultrera has helped run the Ag in the Classroom program for the last 12 years. She also attends farm days, Ag Venture Farmer’s Market programs, Earth Day, and Ag day at WOW Museum to educate young people on the importance of agriculture in their lives and in our community. She has been involved with the California Women for Agriculture Organization since the ‘90s. Cultrera is a founding member of the Friends of the Fair and has been treasurer for Please see FAME Page 45

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Partnership, LLC’s, Corporations, SCorporations, Trusts and Estates Reviews & Audits Estate Planning Financial Statement Preparation Accounting Services include: Bookkeeping Analysis & Review Payroll & Payroll Reports

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Central Valley Business Journal

October 2014

PAYROLL SERVICES

In San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. Firms are Ranked by Number of Local Accounts. Ties are Listed in Alphabetical Order. Rank

Company Name Address

Phone Fax Web Address

Number of Local Accounts

Number of Local Staff

Services Offered

Top Local Executive

Year Est.

Bettye L. Smith President/CEO

1981

Payroll People, Inc. 2152 E. Copper Avenue, Ste. 105 Fresno, CA 95730 (Serves businesses in San Joaquin & Stanislaus Counties)

209-524-2311 Fax 559-251-1431 payrollpeople.com

1,600

50 +

Integrated payroll, HR, workforce time managment services, tax services, accounts payable and 1099 services from a SAS70/SSAE16 secure facility

Rea & Associates, LLP 1937 Coffee Road Modesto, CA 95355

209-521-2727 Fax 209-525-8919 reaassociates.com

500

Simple to full service payroll-direct deposit impounding, EFTPS, all fed and state quarterly and annual reporting. Web delivery available

Walter T. Rea Jr., CPA

1987

Kemper CPA Group, LLP 3031 W. March Lane Stockton, CA 95219

209-473-2001 Fax 209-473-1761 kempercpa.com

Auditing and accounting services, tax preparation, business consulting and valuations, payroll services, family law support, litigation support and non-profit consulting

Lammert Van Laar

1958

Ascend Financial 2575 Grand Canal Boulevard, Ste. 300 Stockton, CA 95207

Kimberley E. Washer, EA

2007

DeVaney Business Services 1050 N. Carpenter Road, Ste. I Modesto, CA 95351

Account Masters Bookkeeping Service 4598 S. Tracy Boulevard, Ste. 120 Tracy, CA 95377

Paycheck Solutions P.O. Box 690016 Stockton, CA 95269

209-472-7378 Fax 209-472-1778 ascendfinancialmgmt.com

Tax preparation, payroll, bookkeeping, Quickbooks cleanup, QB review service and audit representation

(209-524-4345 Fax 209-524-0775 devaneybusiness.net

Payroll, bookkeeping and tax preparation for individuals and small businesses

Karen DeVaney

1976

209-836-4961 Fax 209-229-1009 accountmastersbkg.com

Payroll, bookkeeping, sales tax reports, weekly or monthly services

Lydia Ferreira

1994

209-956-3800 Fax 209-956-3841 paychecksolutions.biz

Payroll, bookkeeping, business consulting and notary

Doug Clark

1998

Quality Business Service 1920 Tienda Drive, Ste. 101 Lodi, CA 95242

209-333-8488 Fax 209-339-8631 qbstax.com

Payroll, taxes and bookkeeping

Connie Lorz

1985

Valley Payroll Services P.O. Box 578253 Modesto, CA 95357

209-551-5086 Fax 209-551-5087 valleypay.com

Complete payroll processing, direct deposit, electronic time & attendance, full government reporting and certified payroll

Angela Asher

1999

Workplace Solutions, Inc. 801 Tenth Street, 5th Floor, Ste. 101 Modesto, CA 95356

209-338-5847 Fax 209-338-1119 trustwsi.com

Human resource outsourcing and payroll for businesses of all sizes

Jennifer Doll

2007

All About Numbers 4512 Feather River Drive, Ste. G Stockton, CA 95219

Laura Strombom

1995

Olive Payroll Services 903 W. Center Street, Ste. 1 Manteca, CA 95337

R First Bookkeeping & Consulting 6702 Inglewood Avenue, Ste. K Stockton, CA 95207

Precision Payroll Solutions, Inc. 7 W. Acacia Street Stockton, CA 95202

209-955-2244 Fax 209-955-2245 allaboutnumbers.com

Direct deposit, electronic transmission of reports and payments, employee portals, â&#x20AC;&#x153;green payrollâ&#x20AC;? and more

209-823-9719 Fax 209-825-5255 olivepayroll.com

Full service tax, accounting, insurance, payroll, investments, and business consulting

Joe E. Cuellar

2009

Income tax preparation, full charge accounting, payroll, A/P, A/R, sage 100 certified, QB certified, consulting, sales & use tax preparation, enterprise zone recovery and records management

Rose Marie DuQuette

1990

Payroll and workers comp

Grace Aprile

2008

209-933-0924 or 209-473-2900 Fax 209-933-0825 rfirst.biz 209-946-4291 Fax 209-946-4702 None

Researched by Danette Conley 09/2014

October 2014

www.cvbizjournal.com

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Central Valley Business Journal

Payroll companies let execs focus on growth By PATRICIA REYNOLDS Business Journal writer MODESTO -- The growing complexity of state and federal payroll taxes and laws has prompted many business owners to hire outside companies for the professional processing of their payrolls. With constantly changing regulations and requirements to track and manage, payroll processing can be burdensome and often requires a time commitment that interrupts a focus on business operations. “I was always under a time constraint to get the checks out to the employees. I had to take the time to sit down and get the task done. But dayto-day business doesn’t always let you do that,” said Anne McCune, administrator at Alpine Orthopedic Medical Group in Stockton. With 75 employees on board, processing payroll for Alpine became a herculean task. The job involved generating checks, calculating payroll taxes, and preparing required reports and W-2 forms within a specific time frame; all while competing with time needed to run the business operations of the medical group.

“The stress was enormous,” McCune said. McCune considered bringing on additional staff to do the work but decided to hire an outside payroll company instead. She handed over Alpine’s payroll responsibility to Kemper CPA Group in Stockton more than 10 years ago and hasn’t looked back. “It was one of the best decisions I ever made,” said McCune. Kemper CPA provides payroll services for more than 77 accounts in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties, serving a wide variety of industries including agriculture, retail, trucking, non-profit, legal, and health care. When businesses do not have dedicated in-house payroll experts on staff, the task of payroll processing eventually becomes too cumbersome. That’s when it is time to bring in an outside professional payroll service, accountants say. “The biggest benefit of hiring a payroll services company is that you gain a payroll department that is proficient in payroll tax laws and will calculate taxes correctly and pay them timely. Payroll tax penalties are very high, and once you get into that problem it is hard to get out of,” said Christine

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October 2014

MARK RICHEY/CVBJ

Payroll services such as Kemper CPA generate checks, calculate taxes and prepare reports for businesses.

Franklin, a partner in the Kemper CPA Group. According to Franklin, California has the most complex labor laws in the nation. Add in the intricacies of the Affordable Care Act and businesses could easily find themselves overwhelmed. Tracking when businesses reach the 50 full-time employee threshold dictated in the new health care law, for example, isn’t necessarily straightforward.

“We will calculate the full-time employee equivalent required by law. It is not an easy calculation. A lot of companies have part-time employees, but if they have 25 part-time workers, how do these equate to having full time? Companies cannot get around the 50 full-time segment of law by only hiring part-time staff,” said Franklin. Please see PAYROLL Page 39

October 2014

CVBJ

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PAYROLL Continued from Page 38

As the size of a company’s payroll grows, additional issues come into play that further complicate the process itself and increase the benefit of utilizing a professional service. “There are other areas that will raise the complexity of the payroll processing that the business owner should consider such as the size of the payroll; are benefits provided — health insurance, life insurance, HSA, Cafeteria plan, garnishments employee benefit accruals, 401(k) or other retirement plans?” said Timothy Taylor a partner at Rea & Associates LLP. Located in Modesto, Rea & Associates services 40 payroll clients in the area including businesses in the agriculture, non-profit, service, retail, dental and medical industries. According to Taylor, business owners ready to hire a professional payroll service should search for companies willing to meet the needs of their specific operations. “Many large payroll providers have rigid rules to follow for their mass production of the payroll, whereas smaller local companies will be much more flexible with the processes and can give you a more customized experience,” he said.

CVBJ

METTLER Continued from Page 35

dedicated his time to the San Joaquin County Heart Association. For 61 years Mettler was on the board of directors of the Lodi Grape Festival. “At Grape Festival time Ole took over the grape growers and the display of their grapes, working tirelessly from the opening of the festival,” said Grape Festival and Harvest Fair General Manager Mark Armstrong. “He was a rock on the board, dependable and reliable to a fault. When Ole spoke, everyone listened. The festival was very important to him.” Mettler received the Grape Festival’s highest honor, the Barrel Award for his dedication to the festival. Mettler also received the Western Fairs Blue Ribbon Award. Mettler was a member, deacon and elder of the Zion Reformed Church. “The Mettler family has been a driving force behind the growth and success of this community,” said Craig. “Ole was extremely respectful of the flag and American traditions,” Steinwert said. “He was proud of and loyal to his country. He influenced me and many, many others in banking, agriculture, education, and fulfilling their civic duty. He will be remembered forever for his keen intellect, integrity and kind spirit. Ole Mettler was a true American.” Mettler was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy, and daughter-inlaw Barbara. He is survived by his children, Bruce and Joan (Richard), grandchildren David, Amy, Blair, and Eric, and great-grandchildren Chance, Jennifer and Quentin.

Kemper’s Franklin agrees. “Businesses should look for a company that has years of experience, and is a company that is flexible and service oriented. Issues usually have to be dealt with on the spot such as hiring and firing. The biggest complaint we get from clients about their previous payroll company is that they didn’t provide services, didn’t respond immediately, and didn’t answer phone calls,” she said. Clients such as Alpine appreciate when a payroll service company understands their exact business situation and specific needs.

“When I was processing our payroll, I was wearing many different hats. Kemper is now focusing on our payroll. They are dedicated to us. Their service is more personalized and is on a personal level. I am so thankful for them,” said McCune. What is in store for payroll customers in the coming years? “Clearly the industry is becoming more paperless with electronic delivery of the pay stub, W-2 etc. Coupled with the direct deposit, it truly becomes a paperless environment. These options are readily available on most

payroll systems with a nominal cost to the payroll processor,” said Taylor. For customers that do not have bank accounts, a direct deposit onto a pay card is another paperless payment option. Employees can use the pay card like a credit card to obtain goods and services. Still, electronic transfer of wages to a bank account seems to be the preferable choice. “We haven’t had any of our clients ask about a pay card and they don’t seem to be going in that direction,” said Franklin.

Central Valley Business Journal

October 2014

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TOP 10 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY Ranked by Gross Value in 2013 Rank

Crop

Grapes, All *

AlmoGnd, Meat

Walnuts, English

Milk, All

Cherries, All

Tomatoes, All

Hay, All

Cattle & Calves

Acres Production Per Total Production Harvested Acre

Year

Gross Value

2013

$496,370,000

96,400

8.93

861,000

2012 2013

$554,400$46,000 $467,940,000

110,300 56,800

8.09 1.25

900,000 70,900

2012 2013

$300,426,000 $442,753,000

56,100 60,200

1.23 2.25

69,000 135,000

2012 2013

$456,966,000 $429,358,000

57,800

2.75

2012 2013

$404,109,000 $143,638,000

Doesn’t Apply

159,000 23,158,000

20,700

2.16

23,771,000 44,800

2012 2013

$225,416,000 $102,427,000

20,660 28,500

3.08 36.96

63,800 1,139,000

2012 2013

$102,632,000 $92,527,000

30,200 62,300

38.44 6.71

1,161,000 418,000

2012 2013

$89,602,000 $76,043,000

6.50

2012 2013

$66,987,000 $64,124,000

63,700 113,000 107,000 (Number of Head) 52,500

414,000 826,000 782,000 (Live Weight) 1,394,000

Doesn’t Apply 26.56

TON TON TON CWT TON TON TON CWT

Per Unit Value $577 $616 $6,600 $4,354 $3,270 $2,874 $19 $17 $3,210 $3,534 $90 $88 $221 $216 $92 $86 $46

TON

Silage, Corn

Grain, Corn

Unit

2012 2013

$72,495,000 $62,109,000

52,300 58,100

30.80 5.23

1,611,000 309,000

2012

$69,788,000

60,600

4.82

292,000

TON

$45 $201 $239

* Grapes All: Table crushed, wine all, fresh, crushed

Silage, Corn $64,124,000

Grain, Corn $62,109,000

Cattle & Calves $76,043,000

All Other Crops $599,708,000

Hay $92,527,000 Tomatoes $102,427,000 Cherries $143,638,000

Almonds $467,940,000

Milk, All $429,358,000

Grapes $496,370,000

Walnuts $442,753,000

Researched by Danette Conley 09/2014

Central Valley Business Journal

Stanislaus County utilities hit state’s electricity goals By CRAIG W. ANDERSON Business Journal writer By 2013, 20 percent of the electricity utility companies in California provided to customers was supposed to come from renewable resources, such as wind, solar or dams. Achieving that goal has not been a problem for the Modesto Irrigation District (MID), according to MID’s public affairs specialist Melissa Williams. “Our Renewable Portfolio is currently at 26 percent with the majority of this renewable energy from wind power contracts in California, Oregon and Washington,” Williams said. She added that about 3 percent of MID’s renewable energy is generated in Modesto at the McHenry Solar Project, a solar farm located at McHenry Avenue and Patterson Road. “These renewable resources are part of a diverse and balanced mix of electric resources,” Williams said. California has been working on increasing its renewable energy use

since 2002. It has been updated by executive orders from the governor’s office and laws passed by the Legislature. Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill X1-2, which mandated that all electricity retailers in the state would have to adopt Renewable Portfolio Standard goals: an average of 20 percent of retail sales from renewables by the end of 2013, 25 percent by the end of 2016, and the 33 percent requirement being met by the end of 2020. The Turlock Irrigation District (TID) also has a diverse portfolio of renewable energy sources. Its Renewable Portfolio is 24 percent, according to figures provided to the Business Journal. In 2008, TID invested in a 136.6 megawatt wind facility located in Klickitat County, Washington called the Tuolumne Wind Project. “TID was an early actor. We acquired most of our renewable assets before we had to,” said TID utility analyst Dan Severson. “We’re looking at procurement to get us through the 2020 33 percent requirement.”

October 2014

BUSINESS JOURNAL PHOTO

Modesto Irrigation District gets about 3 percent of its renewable energy from the McHenry Solar Project at McHenry Avenue and Patterson Road.

TID also has installed solar panels on its newly renovated parking structure which is expected to generate 132,460 kilowatt-hours a year. The utility has been generating electricity from hydroelectric power plants, which it started building on local canals in 1979. The district provides electricity to more than 98,000 accounts and irrigation water to 150,000 acres of farmland, and the utility said sometimes choices have to be made. “The drought caused low water flow over the dams and that affects the power side of what we do,” TID’s public information officer Calvin Curtin said. “TID has always made

water our first priority. We have contingency plans to ensure water keeps flowing even when another dry year seems inevitable.” MID provides Modesto with up to 40 million gallons of drinking water per day via its water treatment plant. And the impact of the drought on MID? “Not much because only between 4 and 8 percent of our power is hydroelectric from Don Pedro Reservoir and our diversification with short term and long term contracts from various sources – including solar and wind -- limits our exposure to energy shortages,” she said. “We have a good, diverse power mix.”

California Department of Food and Agriculture officials approved grading and labeling standards for California olive oil that local producers hope will have an impact on the $54.8 billion global industry. The standards took effect Sept. 26, just ahead of the olive harvest. The guidelines are the first in the world to require testing of every lot of oil produced. The recently-formed California Olive Oil Commission, the state’s oil trade and marketing association, recommended the standards in recognition of the fast-growing industry. “California agriculture has an enviable reputation for high-quality products sought by consumers here and around the world,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “We believe the time has come to designate a ‘Californiagrown’ olive oil, and these standards are an excellent way to do it.” They will set California-specific guidelines that will apply to handlers producing 5,000 gallons or more of olive oil made from olives grown in California. It’s estimated about 100 olive growers and a dozen millers meet the minimum standard. Importers and distributors of bulk olive oil produced outside of California as well as smaller-scale in-state

millers are exempt from the standards. The standards are based on scientific research at the UC Davis Olive Center. They are unique to California production. Only extra-virgin olive oil is produced in the state, and the standards will establish a more stringent limit for free fatty acids, a negative attribute that signals a breakdown of olive oil quality due to exposure to heat, light and oxygen. The standards explicitly define three grades of olive oil, two grades of refined-olive oil, and three grades of olive-pomace oil. Currently California olive oil makers supply only about 2 percent of the olive oil consumed in the United States. The state’s olive oil industry hopes it will get a boost from the new testing and labeling requirements. “The California olive industry will now be able to distinguish itself as the authentic, premium-quality, extra virgin olive oil producer to American consumers,” Jeff Columbini, chair of the commission said in a release. “Consumers will now be able to know that when they are purchasing and consuming California extra virgin olive oil, it truly is 100 percent extra virgin olive oil.” The European Union and olive oil importers fought the change calling them “manipulative.”

Almond Board taking California sets olive award nominations oil labeling standards The Almond Board of California (ABC) is accepting nominations for its Almond Achievement Award and members for its 2015 Almond Leadership Program. The board began giving the Almond Achievement Award in 2011 as a way to recognize an industry member who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to California’s Almond industry. The yearly honor will be presented for the fourth time at the Almond Conference gala dinner, Dec. 11 in Sacramento. Past award recipients include consultant and former Almond Board Chairman Ned Ryan, president of Paramount Farming Company Joe MacIlvaine and Martin Pohl, founder of Hughson Nut, Inc. Nominations can be made by emailing Jenny Nicolau at jnicolau@almondboard.com, stating your nominee’s name, company and reasons for nomination. The deadline is Oct. 17. Almond Board staff will fill in the background of each individual and submit the candidates’ qualifications to ABC’s Industry Services Committee. The committee will evaluate the candidates and make a recommendation to the Board of Directors. The 2014 winner will be selected by ABC’s

Board of Directors and recognized during the gala dinner at the Almond Conference by ABC President and CEO Richard Waycott. The Almond Leadership Program is also looking for new members to apply for the 2015 class. The Leadership Program is an opportunity for future industry leaders to gain an education and explore the different facets of almond production, marketing and other issues. The one-year program covers topics ranging from the budding process at a nursery to marketing almonds all around the world. Current environmental, production, food safety and trade regulation topics are also discussed throughout the program. Anyone interested in the Almond Leadership Program can get additional information by visiting the program’s web page at www.almonds.com emailing Jenny Nicolau at jnicolau@almondboard.com or calling (209) 343-3248.

October 2014

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Central Valley Business Journal

October 2014

Art Space to feature artists in Turlock TURLOCK -- CSU Stanislaus opened its new art gallery in downtown Turlock Sept. 5. The university said it intends Art Space on Main to be the school’s cultural presence off-campus in the heart of Turlock. “Many local residents come to campus to enjoy art, theater and music events, as well as sporting events,” President Joseph F. Sheley said. “It gives us great pride to also be able to reach into our local communities in new ways and meet so many of our alumni and supporters.” The gallery also features workspace for students in the university’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program. “Having an art gallery and student workspace in downtown Turlock will help expose university artists to a wider audience, while also providing local residents with a new venue in which to enjoy high-quality art exhibits,” said Roxanne Robbin, chair of the Department of Art. “Art Space on Main has the potential to become a regional source of pride and culture.” “We are excited to be able to offer the community so many different avenues into the arts through a single facility,” said professor and center

director Jessica Gomula-Kruzic. “Our hope is that the gallery and studios will facilitate greater interaction between the community, the University and the arts.” The space is also the new home of the Building Imagination Center, a video arts exhibit space that focuses on creating of new and original films in and about the Central Valley. It opened two years ago in Modesto and already has events scheduled to bring local filmmakers together. Art Space on Main is located at 135 W. Main Street, in a historic building that has undergone a year of restoration. The original hardwood flooring and brick walls have been preserved. Much of the new woodwork in the building was custom built using the original floor joists, which were removed during seismic retrofitting. The space will feature work by local artists as well as university faculty, students and alumni. Art Space is managed by University Art Gallery Director Dean DeCocker and is open to the public from noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and from noon to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

MARK RICHEY/CVBJ

Art Space on Main is a project to extend CSU Stanislaus’ cultural reach outside the campus.

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October 2014

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FAME Continued from Page 35

the last five years. Scott Hudson Hudson recently retired as San Joaquin County’s Agricultural commissioner. He had worked for the commission in various capacities since 1979. He had been commissioner since 1996. In 2000, Hudson played a crucial role in forming a Glassy-Winged Sharp Shooter Prevention Task Force to deal with that epidemic. Hudson has also been a huge advocate and founder for many county-wide agricultural education programs such as the AgVenture Program for third graders and its follow up program about farmers markets for fourth graders. Hudson adopted the Select San Joaquin Program in 2004 to encouraged shoppers to buy local asparagus at participating local stores in an effort to promote buying local produce. Ann Bacchetti Silva Silva is a dairy owner known for her innovative approach. She was among the first in California to build a rotary milking parlor by adopting the proficient New Zealand design. Her dairy was also among the few that utilized an on-farm truck scale to weigh all products. Silva Dairy was one of the first in San Joaquin County to receive certification through the California Dairy Quality Assurance Program. In 2002, the dairy began producing award-winning Mount Diablo cheese inspired though her Italian heritage. Silva became involved with the California Milk Advisory Board, eventually became chairman of the local state board committee and ultimately served as a member of the executive committee for nine years. Silva was one of the first to invite USDA experts on her farm to develop mitigation programs for the animal pathogen causing Johne’s Disease. In addition, she was one of the few to allow a University to use her facilities to research the effectiveness of various dairy animal welfare measures. She was also asked to be a board member on the Western Institute for Food Safety & Security and was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture. Joseph F. Stuart (Posthumous) Stuart was born Oct. 19, 1864 in Solano County. In 1912, the Ripon Nursery was established with Stuart as president and general manager. In 1887, Stuart’s mother, Lydia, purchased 200 acres near Oakdale. The next year she appointed Stuart to run all operations, which he did until 1904, when with his brother, Agustus, bought 320 acres near Ripon, known as the Ruhl tract. Two years later the partnership was dissolved and Agustus Stuart continued in the olive industry while Joseph devoted his time to orchard development. In 1912, Joseph Stuart established the Ripon Nursery.

Thunder’s Fan Fest set for Oct. 8

STOCKTON – Fans of Stockton’s hockey team, the Thunder, will get their first chance this fall to see the team on the ice Oct. 8 at the Black & White inter-squad scrimmage and Fan Fest. The hour-long scrimmage will start at 6:30 p.m. at Stockton Arena. Fans will be able to sit wherever they want. After the scrimmage, fans interested in exploring seating plans will have an opportunity to meet with Thunder

Sales reps and select seats. Following the game, the team and the hockey staff will stage an autograph and Q&A session for those in attendance. “It’s really important to see the guys play a game because you can’t tell what a player is about until you see him in game situations,” Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Rich Kromm said. “Some guys excel during drills but that doesn’t always translate to performance during game

situations. The Black & White game gives me an opportunity to better evaluate a player and see their compete level.” Fans will also be able to purchase brand new Stockton Thunder merchandise at the Fan Attic and Thor will be available to pose for pictures.

Smart Network Security for a mobile world Smart Network Security for a mobile world

Employees today are INNOVATIVE. INSPIRED. CREATIVE. RESOURCEFUL. FORWARD-THINKING. VISIONARY?... Employees areby INNOVATIVE. INSPIRED. CREATIVE. RESOURCEFUL. VISIONARY?... They are nottoday bound location, device, tool or application. But, withoutFORWARD-THINKING. visibility into the devices and They are not bound by location, device, tool or application. But, without visibility into the devices and applications on your network, your organization is at greater risk than ever before. applications on your network, your organization is at greater risk than ever before. How can you securely enable an increasingly mobile workforce to perform at its best, How can you securely an control? increasingly mobile workforce to perform at its best, while bringing shadowenable it under while bringing shadow it under control? With WatchGuard! With WatchGuard! WatchGuard’s high-performance AP100 and AP200 wireless access point (AP) devices extend the WatchGuard’s high-performance AP100 and AP200 wireless (AP)todevices extend the next-generation visibility and protection of WatchGuard XTMaccess smartpoint firewalls wireless environments. next-generation visibility and protection of WatchGuard XTM smart firewalls to wireless environments. With WatchGuard wireless APs: With WatchGuard wireless APs: • extend best-in-class utm security to the wlaN, for safe and controlled connection of • smart extend best-in-class utm security to the wlaN, for safe and controlled connection of mobile devices on your network smart mobile devices on your network • leverage unified device management, making administration of both firewalls and • wireless leverage unified device management, making administration of both firewalls and access points a breeze wireless access points a breeze • easily integrate wired/wireless security policies to ensure consistent, • network-wide easily integrate wired/wireless security standards security policies to ensure consistent, network-wide security standards Regardless of what devices and applications your employees are using, or where they are working from, Regardless of what devices and applications your employees are using, or where they are working from, WatchGuard empowers you with total visibility and control to securely manage the entire network. WatchGuard empowers you with total visibility and control to securely manage the entire network. call us today at 209-578-9739 to learn more about watchGuard wireless aPs. call us today at 209-578-9739 to learn more about watchGuard wireless aPs.

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Central Valley Business Journal

October 2014

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROVIDERS Ranked by Number of Energy Sources Provided. Ties are Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Turlock Irrigation District P.O. Box 949 Turlock, CA 95381

FPL Energy P.O. Box 14000 Juno Beach, FL 33408

Lodi Electric Utility 1331 S. Ham Lane Lodi, CA 95242

Modesto Irrigation District 1231 11th Street Modesto, CA 95354

South San Joaquin Irrigation District 11011 E. Hwy. 120 Manteca, CA 95336

All Air Incorporated 1205 E. Vine Street, Ste. C Lodi, CA 95240

Advanced Commercial Enterprises 702 Church Street Modesto, CA 95337 Community Fuels 809-C Snedeker Avenue Stockton, CA 95203

Covanta Stanislaus 4040 Fink Road Crows Landing, CA 95313

Iberdrola Renewables 1125 NW Couch Street Portland, OR 97209

Anthony Earley, CEO (415) 973-5930 pge.com

Casey Hashimoto (209) 883-8300 tid.com Chris Allen, Branch Mgr. (561) 691-7171 fplenergy.com Elizabeth Kirkley, Director (209) 333-6762 lodielectric.com

Other NonRenewable

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. 4040 West Lane Stockton, CA 95204

Large Hydroelectric

Ed Stockon, President/CEO (209) 986-9346 hydrogentechnologiesinc.com

Small Hydro Electric

Hydrogen Technologies Inc. P.O. Box 8540 Stockton, CA 95208

Biomass/Waste

Top Local Executive Phone Web Address

Geothermal

Company Name Address

Solar

Rank

Wind

% Renewable Content

65%

10%

3.5%

11%

Services and Products

26%

23%

18%

15%

Natural gas and power utility

1905 San Francisco, CA

21%

55%

Elctric power and Irrigation water

1905 San Francisco, CA

62%

Clean energy provider operating wind, natural gas, solar, hydroelectric and nuclear power across the nation

24%

42%

Customer owned and city operated utility providing electricity

1910 Lodi, CA

67%

Irrigation water to approximately 3,100 agricultural customers irrigating close to 60,000 acres. Electric service to more than 115,000 customers and treated drinking water to the city of Modesto

1887 Modesto, CA

1909 Manteca, CA

24 % - Eligible Renewable 18%

34%

2009 Modesto, CA

Renewable energy storage

22 % - Eligible Renewable 31%

Year Est. Company Headquarters

1925 Juno Beach, FL

20.1 % - Renewable 0%

19.6%

0.5%

26 % - Eligible Renewables

Roger VanHoy, GM (209) 526-7373 mid.org 23%

Jeff Shields (209) 249-4600 ssjid.com

48%

51%

Wholesale power, irrigation water and domestic water

Kevin Gutierrez (209) 369-4822 allairheatingandair.com

100%

Solar

2011 Lodi, CA

Michael Flood (209) 526-2790 acesolarspecialists.com

100%

Solar

1989 Modesto, CA

Lisa Mortenson (209) 466-4823 communityfuels.com

100%

Biodiesel

2006 Encinitas, CA

Processes 800 tons per day of solid waste, which generates 22.5 megawatts of energy sold to PG&E

1989 Fairfield, NJ

2005 Portland, OR

Jeffrey Ruoss (209) 837-4423 stanislauswte.com

100%

Ralph Currey, President/CEO (503) 796-7000 iberdrolarenewables.us

100%

Shiloh Wind Power Plant, Birds Landing; California customers include PG&E, MID and City of Palo Alto utilities

Pacific Ethanol Stockton 3028 Navy Drive Stockton, CA 95206

Neil Koehler, President/CEO (209) 235-0370 pacificethanol.net

100%

Ethanol and feed products

SunEdison 44 Montgomery Street Ste. 2200 San Francisco, CA 94104

Altmad Chatila, CEO (415 ) 230-3400 sunedison.com

100%

Solar energy provider and services, solar for government, commercial and utility

2007 Sacramento, CA 2007 Beltsville, MD

October 2014

www.cvbizjournal.com

We work as hard as our trucks! George Dzubak Sales Specialist

Calvin Thomas Master Certified Service

Courtney Carpenter Truck Service Assistant

Marty Ferdani Master Certified Sales

Bob Moody Master Certified Service

Doug Subke Master Certified Sales

FORD MASTER CERTIFIED TRUCK SALES CONSULTANTS

Specializing in custom contractor bodies including flatbed, contractor, welding, service, crane, dump gardener, utility & box bodies—Ready for Work!

Stockton Auto Mall · Hammer Lane off 99 · Bigvalleyford.com · 209.870.4473

Central Valley Business Journal

October 2014

Business Journal Community Voices CENTRAL VALLEY

Tesla’s gigafactory goes to Nevada Did California try hard enough? “This is arguably the biggest thing that has happened in Nevada since at least the Hoover Dam!”

– Nevada Assemblyman Ira Hanson, R-Sparks Everyone I have spoken to seems

miffed that California automaker and job creator, Tesla Motors, had not invited California to the bake-off challenge with other states that were vying for Tesla’s gigafactory. The lithium ion battery factory was expected to cost $5 billion and create 6,500 direct jobs. When Tesla made its announcement in February, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas were its top choices. California lawmakers complained about being left off the list so Telsa agreed to take another look at the state, but company leaders called California a “long shot” because it would take too long to permit the project. Most believe California has reacted slowly to being regarded as one of the most anti-business environments in the country. The simple fact that California initially was not even on the short list should give folks in Sacramento heartburn! California Senate Bill 1309 declared the intent to streamline the regulatory and environmental permitting. The idea was to level the playing field with the other states competing for the factory. All those other states have a box full of friendly tax policies, job training and straight cash grants to capture big job-creating factories such as Tesla’s gigafactory. Unfortunately, the Legislature adjourned without passing the bill. The big question now remains, did California do enough to make the decision hard for Telsa? The answer is simply no. Gov. Brown should have called his sister Kathleen for advice on simple

mathematics, since Kathleen Brown is a former state treasurer of California. She could have helped him do the math. The factory is expected to drive $100 billion into Nevada over the next 20 years, according to Nevada planners. That comes to $5 billion a year. Nevada is offering $1.3 billion in tax breaks and incentives. Simple math shows substantial John Anderson benefits to the Construction state Treasury Industry Consultant and economic ripple effects across Nevada. Some tax watchdog groups and business columnists believe Nevada paid too much and under-estimated the advantages Nevada already had over the other states. Those incentives do appear to be dramatic. They are listed in four bills that all passed the Nevada Legislature unanimously: Tesla will pay no property taxes or payroll taxes for up to 10 years and no local sales or use taxes for up to 20 years. It’s a fact that government can either help or hinder business. On one hand, it may over tax or over regulate. Conversely, it can create an environment in which businesses flourish. Because American business is central to a strong economic system, states that create a business friendly environment will likely experience a positive economic impact which will spill over into the lives of its citizens. Nevada may have overpaid to play

Big Picture

PHOTO COURTESY TESLA MOTORS

Tesla’s gigafactory will be built outside Sparks, Nevada.

today, but I’m convinced the state will continue to see substantial dividends in the future. Now, Nevada will be the state to beat in the future. I asked a group of people what California could do to become more business friendly, the following list is the results: • Reduce red tape involved with expansion • Receptive to opening new facilities in the manufacturing area • Reduce or eliminate NIMBY (not in my backyard lawsuits) • Non-union environment • CEQA reform - This has turned into a political tool instead of something to protect the environment • Protection of existing industrial lands from encroachment by nonindustrial uses - We are losing critical areas to build industrial buildings

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• Simplify incentive programs and applications. Existing programs require a CPA to complete the application • Streamline permitting process. One bite of the apple by regulators unless it is a life-safety issue. • Reduction in tax burden The more businesses California can attract, the more workers will be needed. Moreover, the more positions that are filled, the healthier the economy and the higher the standard of living will be for its residents. Statistically, of the top 10 most business friendly states, only two tax the income of their residents. California is listed as 48th least business friendly state, with a tax rate from a low of 1 percent to a high of 13.3 percent. California needs to get business friendly sooner rather than later.

October 2014

www.cvbizjournal.com

Passing your business to the next generation Business succession planning is difficult, and the statistics show it. According to the Family Firm Institute, only about one-third of family firms make it to the second generation, about 12 percent to the third and just 3 percent of all family businesses will make it to the fourth generation. Family business succession planning is an Peter Johnson integration of Pacific - Eberhardt business, personSchool of Business al and legal issues. Like many difficult tasks, significant rewards await those who do it well and before it’s needed. In this issue and next month’s, we’ll look at what you need to consider when planning your business’s succession. Next month we’ll consider the emotional and relationship factors. This month, we’ll examine business and tax factors. General estate planning issues apply to a business succession plan. The main estate planning goal in any estate plan, including business succession plans, is simply who gets “your stuff ” and when (i.e, legacy). When a business is involved, this deceptively simple goal includes transitioning business leadership and control. Estate planning and business succession planning requires legal documentation. General estate planning documents, such as wills, living or revocable trusts, powers of attorney for property management and advance health care directives will be needed. In addition, the documents governing the business must also be reviewed, revised or completely re-done in many cases. Governing documents include bylaws and buy-sell agreements for corporations, operating agreements for limited liability companies, and partnership agreements for general or limited partnerships. Regardless of the name, these governing documents have buy-sell provisions. Buy-sell agreements are unique to businesses and illiquid investments, such as real property. These essential documents are imbedded with estate planning implications. For example, will the agreement favor the person buying or selling? Can a sale be forced? How will the purchase price be determined? Appraisals are commonly used to determine the purchase price.

Clear Vision

The buy-sell agreement should contain rules for choosing the appraisers, timelines for resolving the issues, and can also state rules that govern valuation. Buy-sell agreements also commonly include rules allowing for payment of a purchase price over time. These agreements can also have severe tax consequences if below market prices are required under the agreement.

I Choose DMC

Co-written with STEVE GOLDBERG Partner at Friedemann Goldberg LLP

Ownership is always important and may shift in tandem with a shift of control. However, this is not required. Ownership can legally be separated from control. If they are, will one heir feel that they are working without compensation for another? Who is the right person in the family to run the business? The answers will affect both the business agreements and the estate planning documents.

Business owners are concerned about taxes. As has often been observed, the money you make (important though it may be) is not as important as the money you keep. Regardless of the nature of the taxes, planning is required to minimize them. The three most common taxes are income taxes, estate and gift taxes, Please see CLEAR VISION Page 56

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Central Valley Business Journal

Do you really need an agent? Home buying is one of the most significant investments you’ll make in your lifetime but given agent fees and commissions, why do you need to use one? The answer goes beyond simply accessing available properties through the Multiple Listing Service. The true value comes from understanding the breadth of resources only accessible to a real estate professional. This can include data and statistics related to market pricing, home valuation and comparable pricing, as well as property disclosures and nuances to a transaction that are only shared with the agent, including showing times and other information that helps secure the seller’s privacy. On the financial side, an agent can help assess your financial resources and borrowing capacity to ensure you are pursuing homes you can successfully secure in the lending process. Agents are also invaluable in the negotiating process, which can encompass everything from price and terms, to inclusion/exclusion of repairs or furnishings, to less-common elements such as rent-back options. The inspection and closing processes are both highly complex and an experienced agent helps you navigate these steps, providing both

advice and resources to help them go smoothly. They have access to qualified professionals who can do the required investigations and provide reports, and they will pull and explain all of the paperwork necessary in closing the transaction. We all want to save money where we can, but using an agent in the real estate transaction process is not the place to cut corPaula Hildebrand ners. The money Johnsen you might save in President, attempting to buy Central Valley Assn. a home on your of Realtors own will almost surely be lost in your time or money spent somewhere in the home-buying process due to inexperience. It is also surprising the number of people who try and sell their home without the assistance of a professional agent. For Sale by Owner (FSBO) listings, while on the decline, still represented 9 percent of the total properties on the national market in 2012 (a

Bringing it home

staggering 430,000+ transactions) but what are the reasons driving sellers to take on the daunting task of selling their own home? In some instances, the seller knows the interested buyer, but overwhelmingly it is to save money – primarily the agent’s commission fee. However, statistics show that FSBO listings sell for far less: according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average sale price of a FSBO listing was nearly 19 percent less than the average price of an agent-listed property. What contributes to that? FSBO sellers often don’t market their homes or know where to go to access the marketing tools that are available to them. They also don’t offer incentives or understand how to tap into the proven selling tools agents use. Agents add value in the transaction process by bringing accurate, real time market and neighborhood data to ensure that a home is priced right. They also have experience with current real estate laws that can derail a sale and familiarity with the countless forms that can be confusing to the inexperienced. Before you consider selling your own home without the help of a licensed agent, ask yourself, “Will the risk really yield the reward?”

October 2014

AUGUST HOME SALES Closed Sales

San Joaquin County 569 down from 9.4% Stanislaus County 450 down from 6.6%

Median Price

San Joaquin County $260,000 down from 1.8% Stanislaus County $229,000 down from 2.4%

Average Days on Market San Joaquin County 30 down from 14.3% Stanislaus County 31 SOURCE: MetroList down from 3.1%

Foreclosures

(Combines short sales and distressed sales in August)

Stockton 33.4% Modesto 36.1% SOURCE: RealtyTrac

Negative Equity (As of second quarter 2014)

Stockton-Lodi 17.5% down from 18.5 % in first quarter Modesto 16.8% down from 19.8 in first quarter SOURCE: CoreLogic

Buying versus leasing commercial space As an entrepreneur and business owner who occupies commercial space, this is a question you must know the answer to: why are you still paying rent? The Central Valley’s improving economic climate is prompting many business owners to buy commercial property. Interest rates remain the lowest they have been in years and commercial property values have not yet realized the same upturn that many residential markets have over the past two years. That being said, deciding whether to purchase or lease property can still be very challenging. There are many factors should be analyzed carefully, aside from the obvious financial considerations. For new business owners who are uncertain of future space needs and who want to ensure maximum cash flow as they grow a business, leasing may be a wise option. But for new or seasoned owners with strong financial profiles, a clear picture of future growth and the ability to take advantage of the tax benefits of ownership, commercial real estate purchases can provide a solid foundation for growing their businesses. Space costs represent significant business expense, but making a prudent decision goes far beyond short-term financial considerations. It is a broad process that should include thoughtful

consideration of the following benefits: Appreciating Commercial Property Values Commercial properties are far less expensive today than they were before the recession. In some areas, it may ultimately cost less to purchase and outfit commercial real estate than to lease and improve space. While property values likely will not rise at the aggressive rates seen from 1998 through 2005, it is a safe bet that at today’s lower prices, commerJordan Amarant cial real estate Broker Associate, values are likely NAI Benchmark to appreciate, especially following the recent jump in residential prices that the Central Valley has seen. Property owners will receive the full benefit of that appreciation. Historically Low Rates The most significant cost of purchasing real estate is the mortgage interest rate. Rates for commercial real estate purchases are still at an all-time low, ultimately saving significant money as you pay down your commercial mortgage.

Business Space

However, obtaining financing can still be a challenge, so it’s critical to maintain a spotless financial profile and prepare a comprehensive business plan that shows your business is viable. Also, consider working with a lender who specializes in commercial property financing and understands your particular needs. Equity Appreciation As you build equity in your business real estate, it becomes a more valuable asset that you can leverage to further grow your business without putting the business itself at risk. This gives you greater flexibility to manage your business growth. It also gives you additional options when the time comes to retire. As a commercial property owner, you can sell your business and underlying property outright when you retire, or you can sell the business only and lease the commercial property, which produces an ongoing income stream. Cash Flow Opportunities If you purchase commercial property that has space for additional tenants, you have opportunities for creating cash flow through rental income. You can use tenant income to help pay down the property purchase to offset the cost of your investment. However, it’s important to remember that having tenants involves property management responsibilities that may distract from your core business. That’s

why many property owners use a management company. The additional cash flow from multiple tenants is a proven method for building long term wealth and maintaining additional cash flow well into one’s retirement years. Tax Advantages Owning the property your business occupies allows you to depreciate your asset while writing off all of the mortgage interest you pay during the year. You can also enjoy the benefits of several tax deductions designed for the business or property owner: • Section 179 -- IRS Tax Code Section 179 allows deductions for equipment and furnishings you buy and put into service during the the same year. Congress has granted a generous deduction of $500,000, which can be a significant contribution toward offsetting the cost of the property purchase. • Cost segregation – This technique allows commercial building owners to generate cash flow by accelerating depreciation deductions on their buildings and deferring taxes. Using this method, buyers view a real estate acquisition as consisting not only of land and buildings but also tangible personal property and land improvements. The tax savings come from the accelerated depreciation deductions and possible easier property write-offs. • 1031 exchange -- Investment propPlease see BUSINESS SPACE Page 53

October 2014

www.cvbizjournal.com

TOP 10 10AGRICULTURAL AGRICULTURALPRODUCTS PRODUCTS TOP SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY COUNTY STANISLAUS Ranked Rankedby byGross GrossValue Valueinin2013 2013 Rank Rank

Crop Crop

Grapes, All *

Almond Meats AlmoGnd, Meat

Year Year 2013

Gross Value Value Gross $496,370,000

2013

$1,125,200,000

2012 2012 2013

$554,400$46,000 $735,826,000 $467,940,000

2013

$804,419,000

Acres Acres Production Production Per Total ProductionUnit Harvested AcrePer Total Production Harvested Acre 160,200

96,400

8.93

1.21

861,000

155,114 110,300 56,800

8.09 1.25

1.09 900,000 69,000 135,000

194,000 TON 166,000

70,900

Doesn’t 56,100 Apply 60,200

1.23 2.25

2012 2013 2013

$456,966,000 $247,784,00 $429,358,000

37,435

57,800

2.75

2012 2012 2013

$213,600,000 $404,109,000 $143,638,000

2012 2012 2013

$225,416,000 $214,217,000 $102,427,000

2012 2012 2013

$102,632,000 $245,771,000 $92,527,000

2012 2012 2013

$89,602,000 $148,557,000 $76,043,000

2012 2012 2013

$66,987,000 $64,398,000 $64,124,000

2012 2012 2013 2013

$121,148,000 $72,495,000 $62,109,000 $62,458,000

30,689 12,382

52,300 58,100

30.8014.54-52.00 1,611,000 34,3000-1,473,000 5.2310.26-10.41 309,000 11,800-121,000

2012 2012

$82,439,000 $69,788,000

13,640

60,600

4.8210.77-13.90

* Grapes All: Table crushed, wine all, fresh, crushed2013 10 Almond Hulls 2012

$56,560,000

Milk, All *

Walnuts, English

34 5

Walnuts Milk, All Cherries, All

Cattle & Calves, All * Tomatoes, All

Chickens, All * Hay, All

Silage, All *

Cattle &Fruit Calves Deciduous & Nut Nursery

89 9 10

Silage, Corn Tomatoes, All *

Grapes, All * Grain, Corn

2013

$235,460,000 $235,372,00

$152,785,000 $78,433,000

$67,692,000

$47,320,000

Doesn’t 38,295 Apply 20,700

317,240 326,790 20,660 (Number of Head) 28,500 164,359,164 184,098,58730,200 (Number of Head) 62,300 153,758 63,700 143,714 113,000 868 107,000 (Number of Head) 782 52,500

19,289

Doesn’t Apply

2.16 3.08 36.96

43,476,000 TON

159,000

1.90 23,158,000

Doesn’t Apply

1,100

1.86 23,771,000 Doesn’t Apply

283,741,000

63,800 1,139,000

306,186,000 1,161,000 38.44 (Total Live weight) 6.71 418,000

TON Doesn’t Apply

CWT

TON Doesn’t Apply

57,900, 2,580,000, 824,000 TON 414,000 12.00, 15.60, 28.29 54,900, 2,343,000, 879,000 826,000 Doesn’t 15,470.000 782,000 CWT Doesn’t Apply (Live Weight) Apply 26.5614,030,000 1,394,000 6.50

Doesn’t Apply

12.500-821,000 TON

292,000

CWT

TON

12.00, 14.89, 27.57

TON

10,600-167,000 404,000 338,000

$5,800

$616 $4,354 $6,600

$18.62

CWT

70,900

44,800

15.00-44.50

TON

$300,426,000 $442,753,000 $739,630,000

$577

43,142,000

2012 2013 2012

Doesn’t Apply

Per Unit Per Unit UnitValue Value

TON EA TON TON

$4,354 $3,270 $17.00 $2,874 $19 3,485 $17 $3,000 $3,210 $3,534 $90

Varies $0.71

$88 $0.67 $221

$34-46

$216 $33-48 $92

$5.07

$86 $46

$4.59 $74-$555

$45$72-$440 $201 $456-$509

$456-$483 $239

TON

$140 $140

* Milk All Includes: market, manufacturing and goat milk; * Cattle & calves, All Includes: beef feeders, beef slaughter, dairy slaughter, dairy replacement; * Chicken All Includes: Chickens and chicks * Silage, All Includes: Corn, Sudan, Alfalfa, Barley, Grass, Oats, Ryegrass, Sorghum, Triticale, Vetch, Wheat and Winter Forage; * Tomato All, Includes: Fresh and processing; * Rank #-9, was Turkeys, All: for 2012

TOP TEN CROPS BY VALUE 2012 & 2013

Researched by Danette Conley 09/2014

Central Valley Business Journal

October 2014

It’s time to get a password manager Over the last 10 years, the number of passwords that any one person must remember and maintain has skyrocketed. I blame the Internet (“the cloud,” if you prefer). Walk up and ask any random person, and you will likely find that they have passwords for their computer, phone, Facebook, LinkedIn, several James Dempsey financial sites, Owner/Partner of eBay, DropBox, ITSolutions|Currie Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Amazon, Target, Sears, the Apple Store… the situation is untenable. A quick peek at my personal password database shows that I have more than 100 different logins and passwords to various sites, programs and devices. Many people try to overcome this challenge by simply using the same long and complex (I hope) password everywhere. “The fact that it is long and complex should keep me safe, and by using the same password every-

Practical Technology

where, it will be easy for me to remember, right?” Unfortunately, it isn’t quite so simple. Regularly, we read about huge, well-known online companies getting hacked or mass quantities of passwords being stolen from actual computer users via credential theft malware. Facebook, Gmail, Twitter have all been hit and millions of passwords have been stolen. Just weeks ago, 5 million Google usernames and passwords were posted to an online Russian forum in an event known as “credential dumping.” Hackers are well aware that many people use the same password repeatedly. If you replicate your password everywhere and any single location is hacked (with or without your knowledge), you run the risk of having many business and personal sites compromised and a lot of confidential data exposed. The solution is simple. You should use unique passwords everywhere. The implementation, of course, is more complex because it means you need a way to track and manage a huge list of unique credentials. The most common method is for people to utilize some form of “password manager” A password manager is a program or website that stores all of your passwords for all of the places you visit. The list of credentials is

BUSINESS JOURNAL PHOTO

heavily encrypted so that even if the database of passwords is stolen no one is able to see the data. Now you only need to remember a single password: the one to login to the password manager. The issue, at this point, is balancing security versus convenience. Let’s face it; security in most forms creates inconvenience. Nevertheless, when you leave your home for work, you don’t hesitate to lock the front door. That is in spite of the fact you may return and find yourself juggling four

bags of groceries as you dig for your house key and wrestle it into the lock. It is a temporary inconvenience but one you have learned to accept as necessary. So much of our business and personal lives has transitioned to the Internet that it has become imperative that we carry ourselves in a safe and responsible manner. We must accept some level of inconvenience (ie: a password manager) in order to pro-

Dark posts let you target messages

Hiring tax credit workshop set for Stockton

Facebook dark posts, also known as unpublished posts, are all the rage right now. Many marketers believe they combine the best of Facebook ads and promoted posts. Facebook ads are losing popularity among a lot of marketers because first, they look like ads, which can be a turnoff for some users. They also appear on the right hand Jerad Hill side of comOwner puter screens Hill Media Group and users tune them out. The great thing about them, however, is that you can specifically target the users who see them. Promoted posts appear in users’ news feeds among all the other posts of friends’ vacations and updates from pages they’ve liked. The likelihood of catching a user’s eye is greater for content in the news feed. However, you don’t get the option to target a promoted post until after you’ve posted it to your page’s timeline. If you post too many, your page looks too self-promotional.

Social Maverick

Dark posts from the start allow you to target your posts to those followers who would find them most relevant, and those posts appear in their news feeds. This can be a real advantage now that Facebook has reduced the frequency that non-paid page posts appear in followers’ news feeds. Any way your business’s message can get in front of the right eyeballs is a plus. Dark posts do not cost money to set up, but in order to make the best use of them you need to assign them to a paid campaign. You create dark posts in the Facebook Power Editor, which is found in the Facebook Ads Dashboard. Remember that Facebook calls dark posts “unpublished posts.” When you create your unpublished post, you can choose from a variety of post types, but the important feature to look for is the choice between “This post will only be used as an ad” or “This post will be published on the page.” If you choose the ad option, you will create a post that you can later promote to a portion of your followers. The “post will be published on the page” option means the post will be published on your page. You can target language and location, but the choices are more limited than what you would get with an ad. However, it is more than you would have with a regular post. This is a good option if you are trying to target people in a

specific location with a message. In Facebook Ads Manager, you can create the same type of post to turn into an ad. Marketers call it A/B testing, even though these days we are creating sometimes a dozen variations to test. You then filter out the lower performing ads so you’re left with only top performers. In addition to creating websites, I am also a wedding photographer, and I often post to my Facebook page about photography in general, I could create dark posts to target potential brides. I could also use dark posts to target people who are interested in learning photography through one of the courses I have created. Dark posts would help keep my marketing messages off of my timeline and in the newsfeeds of those who would be interested in them. To decide how to use dark posts for your business, think about the messages you are sharing and with your Facebook audience. Think about how you can keep the marketing messages out of the general public timeline of your page, so you can better target those messages and increase your ROI. With some time and practice, you can master using dark posts.

Please see PRACTICAL TECHNOLOGY Page 53

STOCKTON – GO-Biz, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, is offering a free workshop on how to apply for the California Competes Tax Credit. The workshop will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 8, at the San Joaquin Worknet Center, 56 S Lincoln St. in Stockton. GO-Biz opened the California Competes program for the coming session on Sept. 29. It has begun accepting applications for businesses that want to add jobs in California. The state will provide $151 million in tax credits this fiscal year to small, medium and large companies across the state. Last fiscal year, GO-Biz awarded $28.9 million to 29 companies that demonstrated plans to create a total of 6,000 jobs and invest more than $2 billion in the state. The workshop is being hosted by San Joaquin County WorkNet, San Joaquin Partnership, City of Stockton, San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce, Northeastern California Small Business Development Center – San Joaquin Delta College and California Central Valley Economic Development Corporation.

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CLEAR VISION Continued from Page 49

and property taxes. Federal income tax rates have gone up in recent years for high earners and can be difficult to reduce. On the other hand, federal estate and gift taxes (sometimes called “transfer taxes”) have been reduced. Currently, each U.S. citizen or permanent resident has a lifetime gift and estate tax exemption equal to $5,340,000, a number that is indexed for inflation. As a result,

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significant wealth can be transferred from one generation to the next without incurring gift or estate tax. In addition, and unlike states like Washington or New York, California does not have a gift or estate tax (as unusual as this sounds, California is actually a low tax state in this regard). Still, many business will have a value in excess of even these high values, so careful planning is required to minimize transfer taxes. California’s property tax is also complex and can go up dramatically when ownership of real property

shifts from one generation to the next. Property taxes are based on the value of the property. In most states, value is simply reassessed every year, up or down. In California, however, property is only re-assessed when there is a change of ownership. A sale is an obvious change of ownership. While perhaps less obvious, transfers of real property from one generation to the next are also changes in ownership and can also cause reassessment. This is also true for some changes in ownership of interests in legal entities that own

real property. However, there is an important exclusion for certain transfers from parent to child that can be hugely important to a family. Again, planning can sometimes minimize or even eliminate a reassessment. For larger estates, planning to minimize the estate and gift tax is important and must be integrated with the planning to minimize property taxes. Lao Tzu said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Isn’t time you took a step?

BUSINESS SPACE Continued from Page 50

erties used in a trade or business can be sold and the funds applied toward the purchase of a similar property within 180 days of sale without reaping any tax consequences. The purchased property must be of equal or higher value to avoid a tax penalty. This provides leverage to move your business to a larger facility as it grows, without being hindered by tax penalties. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. The benefits of ownership are many – provided that ownership is the right strategy for your business. Be sure your business goals align with real estate ownership and you can fully realize the value of commercial real estate ownership.

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PRACTICAL TECHNOLOGY Continued from Page 52

vide a minimum level of security and to protect ourselves. There are many free (or very low cost) personal password managers on the market. I have experience with a few. KeePass (www.keepass. info) is free, and works very well. It is a good choice for people who are not comfortable storing important data in the cloud. It creates a password database file right there on your computer. The downside is that this makes sharing that information among multiple devices tricky. You may need to use a service like such as or Microsoft OneDrive to replicate the KeePass database on other computers or mobile devices. Those less reticent about using cloud services may want to check out the software Lastpass (www.lastpass. com) which touts itself as “the last password you have to remember.” It keeps the data securely on the web where it is easily accessible from almost anywhere (thus balancing security and convenience). There are a lot of options out there, but they all require you to recognize our techie society is headed toward more Internet and cloud services, and accept that you have probably already embraced, indeed, immersed yourself in them of your own free will. For my part, I think that is a good thing. However, if you are going live in a world of websites and online forums, find a way to do it safely. Use unique passwords everywhere and limit your liability.

ACTUALLY, GETTING LOTS OF EMAILS CAN LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE. Our members can email directly with their doctor’s office, which in turn allows them to spend more working time in your office.

DISCOVER A BETTER WAY kp.org/choosebetter

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Classic car show raises money for farm education

SJ COUNTY

BRIEFS Calone & Harrel Law Group takes on new attorneys STOCKTON -- The Calone & Harrel Law Group, estate planning, tax and business attorneys, announced the recent additions of two attorneys. Keith R. Wood joined the firm in June as associate attorney focusing on consumer and business bankruptcies. Pluth Wood graduated from Western State College of Law second in his class and was awarded the Dean Maryann Jones Achievement and Leadership Award, recognizing outstanding service and superior academic achievement. Darren J. Pluth was also hired as an associate attorney in June. He has worked in the area of tax controversy since 2009. Pluth earned his L.L.M (Master of Laws) in Taxation, from the University of Washington Wood School of Law. He received his J.D. degree from Golden Gate University School of Law of San Francisco.

Community Business Bank 8th on healthy bank list LODI -- Community Business Bank, with a branch in Lodi, has been ranked eighth on the “2014 Top 200 Healthiest Banks” list developed by DepositAccounts, the bank announced Monday. Community Business Bank received an A+ rating from DepositAccounts, which graded banks on capitalization, deposit growth and loan-to-reserve ratios. “We are very pleased to be nationally recognized as one of the top 10

MURPHYS -- For the 18th year, the Ironstone Concours d’Elegance Foundation’s antique and classic car show was held to raise money for 4-H Clubs, Future Farmers of America and the California State Fair Scholarship Fund. About 3,000 visitors looked over some 300 antique and classic cars as well as vintage trailers and motorcycles. The Ford Mustang, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary was a special draw. The Ironstone Concours d’Elegance Foundation has raised more than $700,000 since it began 18 years ago. In 2013, through the proceeds of Concours d’Elegance, a $130,000 pledge assisted in the development of the Future Farmers of America State Headquarters Building in Galt. healthiest institutions across the U.S.,” said Community Business Bank CEO John DiMichele. “The fact that we have increased deposits by more than 12 percent in the last year speaks highly of our dedicated staff and directors, as well as to our commitment to the communities we serve.” Community Business Bank has increased total deposits by more than $16 million in the past year within its West Sacramento and Lodi branches.

Athena Awards Luncheon tickets on sale STOCKTON --. The ATHENA award will be presented Nov. 20 at the Stockton Golf & Country Club. Joelle Gomez of the Women’s Center, Youth and Family Services is this year’s recipient. Shelby Riley of the Central California Safety Council will receive the ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award. The luncheon starts at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $40 each or $600 for a table of 10. Tickets must be purchased in advance from the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce at its website www.stocktontonchamber.org.

Delta professor appointed to Pacific Islander commission STOCKTON -- Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed Delta College political science professor, Cirian Villavicencio to the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs. The commission was formed to shine light on the political, economic, and social issues of Asians and Pacific Villavicencio

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Islanders. Villavicencio, 34, has been an associate professor at San Joaquin Delta College since 2012. “I believe this will give me unique opportunities to have the governor’s ear on Asian and Pacific Islander American issues - and make important political connections,” said Villavicencio. Villavicencio was born in the Philippines, then immigrated with his family to California when he was five years old. As a first-generation immigrant, Villavicencio says he always encouraged members of his community to become more politically active. He is the co-adviser of Delta’s Politics & Law Club, and faculty adviser to Delta’s Political Perspective magazine and believes Brown appointed him because of his educational experience.

Tourism head now president of regional association STOCKTON – Wes Rhea, CEO of Visit Stockton, was elected to serve as the president of the Western Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus (WACVB) at its annual conference in Albuquerque. The association is a professional association serving 150 Rhea destination marketing organizations in 11 western states and two western provinces of Canada. “The WACVB is an organization of 150 member bureaus,” Rhea said. “For Stockton to have a seat at that table is important, not just for Stockton, but the whole region.” Rhea is a Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) and Certified Tourism Ambassador (CTA) and has led Visit Stockton since 2005. “Basically for me it provides additional visibility for Stockton,” said Rhea. During his tenure at the helm of the Stockton Convention and

Visitor’s Bureau, it has increased the city’s exposure through its expanded web site, its Ambassador’s program and its efforts in aiding groups visiting the area.

Pacific hires new vice provost for enrollment STOCKTON -- J. Michael Thompson has joined the University of the Pacific as vice provost for enrollment management. He begins his new job Oct. 9. Thompson has been associate vice chancellor for enrollment management at UC Merced. “J. Michael is an entrepreneurial and strategic thinker with deep experience in higher education and in the business world,” said University Provost Maria Pallavicini. “He will be able to move quickly to create our next Thompson enrollment plan, help us launch new academic programs and oversee our continued conversion to a data-driven enrollment management model. We are excited to welcome him to Pacific.”   At Pacific, Thompson will supervise the offices of admission, financial aid and the registrar. He will also oversee recruitment and admissions for students across the university’s three campuses and nine schools and colleges. The job also involves defining and structuring administrative and student services functions as well as coordinating the enrollment functions for undergraduate, graduate and international students. Thompson holds a bachelor’s degree from Loyola Marymount University, a graduate certificate in management from UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management and attended the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

October 2014

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Turlock Chamber to host Economic Trends Breakfast

STANISLAUS COUNTY

BRIEFS State of the Region Luncheon set for Oct. 22 MODESTO -- The Modesto Chamber of Commerce hosts its annual State of the Region Luncheon Oct. 22. Attendees will learn about current economic and community issues facing cities in Stanislaus County. David White, CEO of the Stanislaus Business Alliance and Rep. Jeff Denham speak. There will also be a panel discussion with local and Sacramentoarea elected officials. The luncheon is from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Modesto Centre Plaza. Tickets are available from the Modesto Chamber of Commerce. Call 209.577.5757 for more information.

CSU Stanislaus ranks 55th in magazine survey TURLOCK -- For the 19th year in a row, CSU Stanislaus has been ranked among the best regional colleges in the west by U.S. News & World Report magazine. The University placed No. 55 overall and No. 15 among public universities in the magazine’s Regional University West Rankings. The university moved up two places from last year in both the overall and public regional university rankings. U.S. News & World Report gathers data from and about each school in as many as 16 areas related to academic excellence. It then assigns a weight to each indicator based on which measures the publication determines to be the most important. The colleges — separated into national and regional universities — are then ranked by their composite weighted score. CSU Stanislaus’s score was 37.

TURLOCK -- The business community can learn about economic trends that affect Turlock at the second annual Economic Trends Breakfast on Oct. 29. Attendees will hear from Mike Zagaris, CEO of PMZ Real Estate who will talk about property trends. Wayne Zipser, executive director of the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau will give an update on water issues. Dave White, CEO of the Stanislaus Business Alliance will speak about business development in Stanislaus County. The breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m. at the Turlock Golf and Country Club. Tickets are $40. Email the Turlock Chamber of Commerce to make reservations at desa@turlockchamber.com.

NAI Benchmark hires asset and property manager MODESTO — NAI Benchmark added Matthew Kozina as the Director of Asset and Property Management. The new addition to the its team expands NAI Benchmark’s capabilities into asset management. “We are excited to have such a stellar professional join our Kozina team and add depth that is unparalleled in our market” said Ryan Swehla, principal of NAI Benchmark. In his new role, Kozina will direct the growth of the Asset and Property Management Division. Property investment strategic plans include investment recommendations, financial projections for future investment, development, purchase, sale / hold analyses, commercial leases analysis and value-added capital improvements.

Lynch hired to head CSU Stanislaus communications TURLOCK -- CSU Stanislaus has appointed Tim Lynch as its new vice president for communications and public affairs. Lynch previously worked at Cal Poly Pomona as a senior communications coordinator in the public affairs office. His most recent assignments there included editing the university’s magazines and coordinating advancement Lynch communications. “I did my homework and saw that Stanislaus is a real comer in the CSU system,” Lynch said, explaining his move from Southern California, where he has deep family and professional roots. “The opportunity to play a role in advancing this University

was simply too good to pass up.” Before arriving at Cal Poly Pomona, Lynch worked for nearly 20 years at the Los Angeles Times, where he was a senior copy chief and oversaw part of the front page and managed copy editors on the foreign and national desks.

Sutter, Kaiser groups honored as quality performers Two health groups in the Central Valley are among 39 deemed top quality by Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA) at its 2014 Annual IHA Stakeholders Meeting. Kaiser Permanente Northern California Medical Groups-Modesto/Manteca/Stockton were among the quality performers in northern California. Sutter Medical Group, which has facilities in Modesto and Stockton was also honored as a quality performer. Out of nearly 200 physician organizations, IHA presented awards to the 39 quality performers that achieved the highest overall quality in 2013. The results of the program are used by seven health plans: Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California, Cigna HealthCare of California, Health Net of California, UnitedHealthcare, and Western Health Advantage, to calculate incentive payments for distribution to physician organizations in 2014. The 39 recipients named will earn part of more than $500 million in incentive payouts by participating organizations.

Stanislaus Business Alliance receives $20,000 grant MODESTO -- The Stanislaus Business Alliance SBDC has been awarded a $20,000 grant by the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco under its the bank’s AHEAD program. The grant will allow the SBDC to serve Veteran Entrepreneurs in Stanislaus and Merced counties. The SBDC was one of 191 applicants throughout Arizona, California, and Nevada, and the only grantee awarded out of 30 submitted by Citibank. The AHEAD grants are awarded for projects and programs that foster economic development and promote community stability and self-sufficiency.

SunOpta to expand Modesto food packaging operation MODESTO — SunOpta Inc. will further expand its Modesto aseptic processing and packaging operation in order to meet continued customer demand, the company announced. SunOpta will add two multiserve (liter/quart) fillers in addition to the third processor it has already announced. The first new filler will

go online at the end of this year. The other is expected to be operational next April. The Modesto operation, located on Mariposa Road near Yosemite Boulevard, opened in 2010 and has since expanded several times to meet growing demand, SunOpta said. “This expansion will further enable SunOpta to grow in low-acid aseptic categories including non-dairy, dairy, nutritional beverages, teas, broths and others, serving a wide range of customers and addressing growing consumer demand for ‘convenient and on-the-go’ healthy food options,” said SunOpta CEO Steve Bromley.

Stanislaus County Fair sets dates for next summer

TURLOCK — Stanislaus County Fair officials have confirmed that the fair will run for 10-days on July 10–19, 2015. “We have already begun securing great entertainment and exciting exhibits for our guests in 2015,” said Stanislaus County Fair CEO Chris Borovansky. Returning in 2015 will be Wizards Challenge exhibit that debuted in 2013 and many educational exhibits. The fair will also continue to provide cost-effective options for guests who attend next year’s Fair, such as Free ‘til 3 p.m. Sundays and Fair Savings Coupon Book.

Library visitors can now download audio books MODESTO -- Stanislaus County Library has added a new service. Customers can now download free digital audio books through Hoopla. To get started, customers download the free Hoopla app to their iOS or Android smartphone or tablet. They then create an account linked to the Stanislaus County Library using their library card. Once logged in, users can browse or search thousands of popular titles. The audio service can also be accessed through a computer by visiting www.hoopladigital.com, create a user account or log into an account created on a mobile device. The library says the advantages of the service include not having to wait for a popular title and the automatic return of books, which means there are no late fees. Downloadable books are checked out for 21 days. The service is free, but customers are limited to two downloads per month. Visit www.stanislauslibrary.org for more information and instructions.

Central Valley Business Journal

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October 2014

seasonal menu seasonal seasonal menu menu full bar full bar full bar event venue event event venue venue

CHART COURTESY CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION

Solar is a small but growing part of the renewable energy mix in California.

Solar use goes up Californians are buying into solar in a big way, according to data compiled by the California Energy Commission. Solar thermal and photovoltaic (PV) generating capacity increased by 350 percent last year, according to the commission’s latest tracking report. The trend shows no sign of slowing, although solar thermal generation is down slightly. Enough solar thermal and PV systems to produce 825 megawatts (MW) of electricity have been installed so far this year, and an additional 1,650 MW of capacity is being built. Solar is a small but growing part of the renewable energy mix in California. The cost of solar PV panels has dropped 80 percent since 2008, which has helped make large-scale PV plants more feasible. At the same time, incentives from state programs such as the New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP) are helping drive adoption of residential solar. The goal of the NSHP program is to install 360 MW of solar photovoltaic capacity by the end of 2016. The Energy

Commission has distributed more than $100 million with another $80 million reserved for pending NSHP projects. The commission’s tracking report also shows that wind production continues its significant growth. Wind accounted for 45 percent of renewable generation in 2013, up from 41 percent in 2012. The commission said large-scale solar development in California has been on the rise for many years, but 2013 data makes clear that the dramatic transition to large-scale solar is now changing California’s energy portfolio. The report estimates that in 2013, California served about 22 percent of retail electricity sales from renewable energy. That exceeds the required level of renewable energy in the state’s aggressive Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS). California’s growth in solar energy tracks with national growth, which was up 418 percent from 2010 to 2014, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s April 2014 Electricity Monthly Update.

State’s wines well positioned

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GREENS EVENTS GREENS EVENTS GREENS EVENTS CATERING CATERING CATERING 209.602.9099 209.602.9099 209.602.9099 orders@greensmarket.net orders@greensmarket.net orders@greensmarket.net

The state’s wines will hold their own in the global market despite shifts in consumer demographics, scarce water, and competition from imported wines, craft beers and cocktails, according to recent surveys UC Davis conducted of wine industry leaders. Findings from two surveys of wine executives and industry professionals were presented in September during the Wine Industry Financial Symposium. More than 60 percent of those surveyed said they see opportunities for growth in direct sales to consumers. They also see restaurant wine sales going up. While wine consumption by baby boomers is likely to continue to decline as that group ages, consumption by the millennial generation is expect-

ed to increase, the survey found. Millennials are bringing a new interest in craft beer and cocktails, survey participants said. Many respondents suggested that the wine industry must pay close attention to those two competitive trends in the beverage business but seemed confident that the wine industry would eventually benefit from them. Climate change and water scarcity were also on the wine executives’ minds, many of them listing these among the industry’s top issues over the next five to 10 years. UC Davis Graduate School of Management Professor and Dean Emeritus Robert Smiley gathered the opinions and projections from the heads of 26 wineries for the 13th annual wine executives survey.

October 2014

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Amalnape Enterprises Inc Valencia Farm Labor Contr Valencia Farm Labor Contractor 1642 E 7th St Stockton, CA 95206 Zambrano Bernardo Valencia Steves Steam Cleaner Repair Steve’s Steam Cleaner Repair 15181 S Wagner Rd Escalon, CA 95320 S & F Invest Group Llc

SJ COUNTY

LEGALS Fictitious Business Names Events & Occasions By Harmony 502 Morgan St Manteca, CA 95336 Rodriguez Odetta Labamba Magazine Stkn La Bamba Magazine Stockton 2630 Pontemira Way Tracy, CA 95376 Canela Adan Bare Skin & Body Shoppe 103 W Pine St Lodi, CA 95240 Benson Marissa Rose Gcmi 1718 Rhine Ct Escalon, CA 95320 Gligorea Steve Yosemite Ave Arco Am Pm Yosemite Ave. Arco Am Pm 1711 E Yosemiete Ave Manteca, CA 95336 Jesse & Kul Petroleum Inc Marugliano Farms 22133 E Hwy 26 Linden, CA 95236 Reyes Frank J Reyes Carol M Amourvino Winery 3 Executive Way Napa, CA 94558 Watts Trans Llc Aok Uniform Co 1930 Tienda Drive Suite 106 Lodi, CA 95242 Aok Uniform Company

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Hunt Law Group 400 N El Dorado St Suite B Stockton, CA 95202 Hunt Dru Vincent Save On Gas & Liquor Save On Gas And Liquor 420 W Yosemite Ave Manteca, CA 95337 Singh Pritpal Kaur Amrinder Osorios Ins Agy Osorio’s Insurance Agency 68 E 11th St Suite 102 Tracy, CA 95376 Ayon Brenda Liliana Osorio Roxys Quilt & Sewing Outlet Roxy’s Quilt & Sewing Outlet 1005 E Pescadero Ave #171 Tracy, CA 95304 Stroth Roxann S Stroth David S Bebe Wireless 2 Bebe Wireless #2 1385 E Yosemite Ave Manteca, CA 95336 Ochoa Juan C Ione Real Est Ione Real Estate Inez Partners Lp 1313 W Lockeford Street Lodi, CA 95242 Inez Partners L.P. Taunton Ione Violette Your Space Furniture 2425 Naglee Rd Suite 2471b Tracy, CA 95304 Benedetti Nicholas From Me2u 15613 S Kelso Rd Tracy, CA 95391 Neal Danielle Roi 15613 S Kelso Rd Tracy, CA 95391

Matthews Sean M Tobacco Depot 8034 N El Dorado St #5 Stockton, CA 95210 Dougish Amer A Coldwell Bk Valley Central Coldwell Banker Valley Central 1486 W 11th St Tracy, CA 95376 Ormonde David K Delp R Photography R Delp Photography 700 Mccoy Ct #23 Lodi, CA 95240 Delp Theresa C Guild Real Est & Prop Mangmt Guild Real Estate And Property Management 1812 W Kettleman Ln #4 Lodi, CA 95242 Suess Ivan L Accurate Home Inspection Serv Accurate Home Inspection Services 1941 Ralph Ave Stockton, CA 95206 Thomasson Clarence Fashion Addict 3329 Admiral Dr Stockton, CA 95209 Mahan Sontanae Saldana & Assoc Saldana And Associates 16 West Elm Street Lodi, CA 95240 Saldana Patricia Anna East N West Chinese Cuisine 1139 E March Lane Ste B Stockton, CA 95210 East N West Llc Delta Protective Serv Delta Protective Services 141 E Acacia St Stockton, CA 95202 Borgens & Borgens Inc Encore Heritage Encore Heritage Vineyards Encore Heritage Wine Cellar Encore Heritage Wines Endless Soul Endless Soul Vineyards Endless Soul Wine Cellars Endless Soul Wines Opposites Attract Opposites Attract

Vineyards Opposites Attract Wine Cellars Opposites Attract Wines 12001 S Highway 99 Manteca, CA 95336 Delicato Vineyards Precision Cuts 4707 Quail Lakes Dr 100 Stockton, CA 95207 Jimet Corp Kellys Closet Kelly’s Closet 526 W Ben Holt Dr Stockton, CA 95207 Hill Kelly Bali Wines 24849 E Milton Rd Linden, CA 95236 Miramont Est Vineyards & Winery Inc Naked Winery 24849 E Milton Rd Linden, CA 95236 Miramont Est Vineyard & Winery Inc Clp Janitorial Serv Clp Janitorial Services 1837 Lever Blvd Stockton, CA 95206 Paires Carlos L G & J Trucking G And J Trucking 2666 S Fresno Ave Stockton, CA 95206 Cantor Gildardo Balanzar Hernandez Jorge Bellflower Apt Bellflower Apartments 2526 Berryessa Court Tracy, CA 95304 Lodi Real Est Llc A & A Bldr A & A Builders 965 E Yosemite Ave Ste 23c Manteca, CA 95337 Quick Turn Restoration Inc Seg Pro Ins Agy Seg Pro Insurance Agency 1031 Parker Ave Tracy, CA 95376 Abeledo Nicolas Lopez Hanz Singh Bachittar River Road Produce 25180 East River Road Escalon, CA 95320 Guerra Mkt Internatl Inc

Abstracts of Judgment Binh Loi 747 San Pablo Ave. #2 Pinole, CA 94564 $87,121.96 Mountain States, Etc. Marcus L. Thompson 710 Alden Glen Drive Tracy, CA 95376 $104,745.55 Sea West Federal Credit Union Lydia Menchaca 719 W, Center Street Manteca, CA 95337 $23,410.36 Triad Financial Corp. Brigido, Villapando 2520 E Anderson Street Stockton, CA 95205 $5,704.76 Chateau Kishoret Amrit 689 New Haven Drive Tracy, CA 95377 $5,801.89 Capital One Bank Amal M Elder 4880 Peach Road 239 Manteca, CA 95337 $5,442.60 Capital One Bank Robinson, Lois 2164 Nord Road Stockton, CA 95215 $5,807.33 TD Bank USA Tomas Garcia Tomas V. Garcia 443 California Ave. Manteca, CA 95336 $6,303.39 American Express Bank Latrese Keen 441 Chestnut Ave. Manteca, CA 95336 $29,980.97 Fireside Thrift Co. Adan Carrillo Maria Carrillo 3025 Sweet Lilac Way Stockton, CA 95209 $9,742.22 Ford Motor Credit Co. Shaun Perez 1721 Jamestown Drive Lodi, CA 95242 $2,198.62 Capital One Bank Steven J Milligan 1614 NorthGate Dr. Manteca, Ca 95336 $33,440.13 Capital One Bank Oscar J Jackson UPS Store 231 Market Place 330

San Ramon, CA 94583 $21,596.31 Travis Credit Union Helen Berg 18645 N. Lower Sacramento Rd 24 Woodbridge, CA 95258 $8,792.73 Steven Booska Jaime Curiel Jaime Aguilar 504 Rockingham Ct Tracy, CA 95376 $1,425.07 Professional Collection Brandy Feeney 5428 Rockwood Cir. Stockton, CA 95219 $1,570.56 Portfolio Recovery Calvin Mcray 132 Maddux Ave. San Francisco, CA 94124 $5,794.12 FIA Card Services Eduardo A Radrigan 5296 Barbados Cir. Stockton, Ca 95210 $6,124.51 FIA Card Services Barney J. Ng 12 Las Aromas Rd. Orinda, CA 94563 $756,040.39 Wells Fargo Bank Eugene Dorsey 1257 Crom St Apt. 137 Manteca, CA 95337 $2,072.78 Portfolio Recovery Mayra Teran 820 Vallerand Rd Tracy, CA 95376 $2,681.62 Portfolio Recovery Nichelle T Novelo 2291 Port Trinity Cir. Stockton, Ca 95206 $1,646.51 Portfolio Recovery Josefina palomino 2227 Plumeria Pl. Manteca, CA 95337 $8,874.72 Sunlan LLC Tazuko Manabe 1919 Quail Lakes Dr. #38 Stockton, CA 9207 $8,972.13 Capital One Bank Faiza Mozeb 4579 E Acampo Rd Acampo, CA 95220 $3,726.52 Capital One Bank

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The Agents Realty 1825 Mitchell Road, Suite D Ceres, CA 95307 Unknown Name Record Aim Mail Center #20 2601 Oakdale Road, Suite H2 Modesto, CA 95355 Walker, Eleanor Alameda Electrical Distributions 1466 N Carpenter Road Modesto, CA 95351 Alameda Electric Supply

STANISLAUS COUNTY

LEGALS Fictitious Business Names A & K Custom Harvesting 681 Cloverland Way Oakdale, CA 95361 Kuppens, Kevin J A K Auto Sales 2532 Novi Drive Riverbank, CA 95367 (209)201-0041 Khalili, Ashraf M A & A Equine Nutrition Inc 301 S. Blossom Road Waterford, CA 95386 A & A Equine Nutrition Inc A-1 Auto Body And Detail 1130 Bowen Ave Modesto, CA 95350 (209)735-9040 George, Tommy AAA Professional Tattooing By Running Bear 115 Mark Randy Place Modesto, CA 95350 Evans, Duane Accel Air 2809 Canyon Falls Drive Modesto, CA 95351 (209) 380-5380 Sanghera, Gurprit Accuspace 5812 Homewood Way Riverbank, CA 95367 Accurso, Anthony Admin Thrifty 411 E Minnesota Ave Turlock, CA 95382 Gattuso, Rhea

Alphagraphics 2900 Standiford Ave, Suite 5 Modesto, CA 95350 (209) 577-2222 Batchelder Business Communications Inc Ambassador Realty Group 1407 Sunrise Ave Modesto, CA 95350 (209)571-8801 Clover Equities Inc Americlean Carpet Care 326 San Juan Drive Modesto, CA 95354 (209) 523-0900 Gallagher, Ave Maria Gallagher, Jeffrey Amy’s Relaxing Day Spa 1701 Coffee Rd #4 Modesto, CA 95350 (209)541-4243 Shaw, Amy Anesthesia Management Inc 3055 Floyd Ave, APT J237 Modesto, CA 95355 (732) 421-4009 Anesthesia Management Inc Angel Automotive 1545 Morgan Road Modesto, CA 95358 Collins, Jerald Dee Antone L. Gomes and Son 515 E Stuhr Road Newman, CA 95360 Gomes, Leonard Joseph Gomes, Donald J. Gomes, Daniel A AOD Firearms Restoration 337 Dakota Avenue Modesto, CA 95358 (209) 529-6482 Weese, Brian Donald Art Acolyte 5420 Barnstable Court Salida, CA 95368

(209) 605-3545 Art Acolyte LLC Asia House 2912 Whitmore Ave, Suite D Ceres, CA 95307 Zhang, Shoumei Asian Market 1100 Carver Road, Suite E Modesto, CA 95350 (209) 499-6382 Dominguez, Leena Assured Care, Inc. 3300 Tully Road, Suite B-7 Modesto, CA 95350 (209) 579-5540 Assured Care, Inc. Ataraxia Designs 318 Roxanne Drive Patterson, CA 95363 Field, Victor Allen Athwal & Athwal Farms 6543 Vivian Road Modesto, CA 95358 Athwal, Navjot Athwal, Sarbjit Auto Engineering 696 Crowslanding Road Modesto, CA 95351 (209) 222-4223 Hernandez, Maricela Moreno, Alfredo Beauty Addiction 156 N 5TH Street, Suite C Oakdale, CA 95361 Matthews, Rachelle Bella’s Furniture 617 Winmoore Way, Suite G Modesto, CA 95358 (209) 679-0211 Loredo Enterprises LLC Best Buy Mobile 3401 Dale Road, Suite 180 Modesto, CA 95356 BBC Property Co Which Will Be DBA

Pfanner, Monica L Broken Barn Designs 8500 Valk Road Oakdale, CA 95361 (209) 840-3231 Payne, Janessa Bungalow Bay Foods 1529 Melrose Ave Modesto, CA 95350 Torrens, Patricia A Cache Esthetics 42 Lander Ave, Suite D Turlock, CA 95380 (209) 620-2159 Irish, Brittany D Cakes By Patricia 4243 Tully Road Hughson, CA 95326 Mcguire, Patricia Ann Calcoast Carpet Cleaning 805 Foxglove Ct. Newman, CA 95360 Nowden, Irene California Hookah 2737 North Ave Modesto, CA 95358 (209)752-9249 Toledo Tradelink LLC Cambodia Impact 4300 North Avenue Modesto, CA 95358 (209)521-6260 Impact A Life International Inc Car XChange 608 McHenry Modesto, CA 95350 Simon, Leonard Ceja’s Quality Motor’s 828 Cadillac Dr Modesto, CA 95351 (209)605-5963 Ceja, Jose Jaime Ceja, Reina CEMG Inc. 1120 13th St Ste A Modesto, CA 95354 Capital Equity Management Group Inc

Blessings At Home 4120 Dale Road, Suite J8101 Modesto, CA 95356 (952) 202-7683 Walker, Karen L

Central Sweeping 359 Trevor Ave Oakdale, CA 95361 (209)614-5026 Ruvalcaba, Francisco Octavio

Blooma Bella Flowers 1310 Yosemite Blvd Modesto, CA 95354 (209)622-7405 Cruz, Maria

Central Valley Conferences 1619 E Monte Vista Avenue Turlock, CA 95382 Monte Vista Chapel Inc

Brad Alan Investigations 726 14th Street, Suite A Modesto, CA 95354 (888) 688-5314 Pfanner, Bradley A

Central Valley Sedans 538 Flour Mills Drive Newman, CA 95360 (209)595-7943

October 2014

De La Cruz, Marco De La Cruz, Concepcion Ceres Gold Buying 1530 E Hatch Rd Modesto, CA 95351 Vail Creek Jewelry Inc Cesar Rodriguez Y Su Banda Mix 205 S 2nd Street #155 Patterson, CA 95363 Nuevo Orden Music Llc Changuitiro Trucking 1520 Bollinger Ct Modesto, CA 95351 Aguilar, Eduardo Chic La La 517 Wset F Street Oakdale, CA 95361 (209)844-5344 Oliver, Marjorie Lavon Cindy’s Restaurant #2 526 N Golden State Blvd Turlock, CA 95380 (209)664-1108 Casas, Samuel R Casas, Rosa I Cloverland Soap And Candle Co. 849 Cloverland Way Oakdale, CA 95361 LARRABEE, BETTY JANE CO-Team Staffing 1608 Sunrise Ave, Suite 4 Modesto, CA 95350 SOADISARO INC Coit Restoration 4210 Kiernan Ave Modesto, CA 95356 C & S Draperies Inc Common Cider Company 400 Hosmer Ave Modesto, CA 95351 Varni Brothers Corporation Coolidge Market 229 E Coolidge Ave Modesto, CA 95350 Dhillon, Karanvir Singh Singh, Surjeet Country Store 4625 W Main Street Turlock, CA 95380 (209)656-8682 Saad, Nayem Ali Crazy Peaceful People 2708 Santa Fe Ave Hughson, CA 95326 (209) 579-4736 Sanchez, Marco CT Studios 4017 Ballen Court Modesto, CA 95356 (818) 588-0067

Field, Christopher Cuevas Bargain Uniforms 205 West Hatch Road, Suite 6 Modesto, CA 95351 (209) 996-6888 Cuevas, Victor Dan’s BBQ 2101 W Rumble Road Modesto, CA 95350 (209) 585-6088 Rosas, Danny Dancing Fingers Spa 2507 E Hatch Road Modesto, CA 95351 (818) 331-0680 Koll, Lee Roy David’s Roofing 1048 Lone Palm Ave Modesto, CA 95351 David’s Roofing Inc Woody’s Manufacturing Woody’s Golf & Industrial Cart 2900 E. Monte Vista Ave Denair, CA 95316 Woody’s Poultry Supply Wood Men’s Restoration 2742 Kiernan Ave Modesto, CA 95356 Phillips, Charles Dene Wood Colony Nut Company 4267 Becwith Road Modesto, CA 95358 Wenger Ranch Inc Wholesale Auto Liquidators 2742 Kiernan Ave Modesto, CA 95356 Phillips, Charles Dene Western Integrated Invironmental Management Services L 4459 Dale Road Oakdale, CA 95361 Western Integrated Invironmental Management Services L Walker’s A-1 Janitorial Services 201 E Coolidge Avenue #B3 Modesto, CA 95350 Walker, Jacque Village One Dental 3020 Floyd Ave Ste 609 Modesto, CA 95355 Yook, Jong Uk Usa Tire Center 1034 Lander Avenue Turlock, CA 95380 Banka Group

October 2014

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Medical experts expertly located. Medical experts At Sutter Gould Medical Foundation we believe expert care should expertly located. also be convenient care. That’s why we have online services and At Sutter Gould Medical Foundation we believeinexpert care should care centers in almost every community the Central Valley. It’s also beanother convenient care. That’s way we plus you.why we have online services and care centers in almost every community in the Central Valley. It’s another way we plus you.

Check your health plan for access to the Sutter Health network. To find a doctor, visit suttergould.org or call 1(855) 550-3887. Check your health plan for access to the Sutter Health network. To find a doctor, visit suttergould.org or call 1(855) 550-3887. 01572

Central Valley Business Journal

October 2014