February 2015
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FEBRUARY 2015 VOL 10 • NUMBER 6
Business Journal CENTRAL VALLEY
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STOCKTON • TRACY • LODI • MANTECA • LATHROP • LINDEN • RIPON
MODESTO • CERES • TURLOCK • OAKDALE • PATTERSON
Port sees best shipping year Amazon Tour How robots, computers and workers get your stuff to you.
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Hackathon Nerds take on the water crisis.
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High-Speed Rail California’s bullet train project is finally off the drawing board.
New rail welding project builds on port’s momentum By CRAIG W. ANDERSON Business Journal writer canderson@cvbizjournal.com
STOCKTON – In many ways, 2014 was the Port of Stockton’s best year ever. Between the improving economy and new projects, 2015 looks as if it will be even better, port officials say. “The port handled commodities worth an estimated $1.5 billion in 2014,” port Director Rick Aschieris told business leaders in January. “Ninety percent of the fertilizer used in San Joaquin County comes through the port, and the number of ship arrivals reached an all-time high of 230 in addition to the 52 barges docking at the port, the highest number since 1978 when the tracking of arrivals began.” Port officials can tick off its growing list of assets: its strategic location, the port’s ability to build facilities on its 4,000 acres, the availability of seven million square feet of covered storage and the deepwater channel which
PHOTO COURTESY PORT OF STOCKTON
In December, the specially built ship, Pacific Spike, delivered a test shipment of 480-foot rails that Union Pacific welders will connect to make quarter-mile long lengths.
provides easy access for the big ships and the goods they carry to the port. “We have several miles of railroad track, and many different projects and increased
ship numbers have come to the port over the last four to five years,” Aschieris said. Mark Tollini, senior deputy port director for trade and operations, said the movement of steel
through the port in 2014 was twice as large as 2013. He’s confident 2015 will be even better. “We’re seeing big cargo mixes Please see PORT Page 11
Downton Abbey Wine gets a taste of Lodi By ELIZABETH STEVENS Business Journal editor estevens@cvbizjournal.com
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WHAT’S INSIDE Publisher’s Notes.............Page 2 On the Web.......................Page 4 Community Voices..........Page 35 Briefs......................Pages 44, 45 PHOTO COURTESY DOWNTON ABBEY WINE
ACAMPO – The life of an aristocrat is the stuff of fantasy for many Northern Californians, but now thanks to Lange Twins Family Winery and Vineyards and Wines that Rock, at least we can drink like one. The companies have partnered on the newest release of Downton Abbey Wines, the
Countess of Grantham Collection, a tie-in to the wildly popular PBS show “Downton Abbey.” “We are thrilled to broaden our Downton Abbey Wine portfolio to include these popular varietals crafted with exceptional California fruit,” said William Zysblat of Wines that Rock and co-founder of Downton Abbey Wines. Wines that Rock pairs pop culture and wine in an effort to promote local farmers and promote sustainability as well as to
have fun. Its labels are licenced by the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd. It also has a label tied in to the book “50 Shades of Grey.” When “Downton Abbey,” came along with its emphasis on elaborate dinner parties and fine wines, it seemed right for Wines that Rock. It also didn’t hurt that the show’s audience appeals to a broad age-range and is 75 percent female. Please see DOWNTON Page 15
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Pray for rain, snow Greetings from the Central Valley. I hope by the time this you read this, it’s raining. I sure had high hopes for a rainy season, December started out with such a bang. I guess we should all do a rain dance and pray -- really pray -- for rain! We need a little help from above. I’ve been Sharon living in CaliAlley Calone fornia for just over 37 years, and I can’t remember a time when it was 70 degrees in January. It’s my understanding this was the driest January the Central Valley has ever recorded. My heart goes out to those who own and operate ski resorts. There’s been no snow and many closures, and it’s peak season. Very sad. We sure miss snow skiing. It’s been two years, and snow skiing was part of my New Year’s weight loss resolution. It looks like walking and joining a gym are going to have to be the plan.
Publisher’s Notes
As we walked around the vineyard today, we noticed the cherry trees next door had begun to bud. Geez, this is scary. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a rainy February, March and April. On a brighter note, our chickens began laying after two months of no eggs. Now we’re back to fresh egg omelets. Love those fresh eggs! Is it just me, or do you notice that traffic has increased and more folks are out shopping (hopefully spending their dollars at local businesses)? It seems like I’m always in traffic, no matter where I drive. That’s got to be due to the lower cost of gas and more disposable income as a result. Now that’s good news! I’ve seen prices drop to as low as $1.99 for regular from more than $3.50 a gallon a year ago. Now I can afford the premium gas, and my car is loving it. If lower gas prices have put more money in your pocket, stop by your favorite local business and get your sweetheart something special for Valentine’s Day. The merchants will appreciate it, and your loved one will love it. Speaking of good business news, Stockton has the green light to execute its bankruptcy exit plan. That will go a long way toward removing
February 2015
the uncertainty that has kept the brakes on our economic recovery. In this issue of the Business Journal, we’re taking a look at commercial real estate. We’ve learned that the biggest area of growth has been in the industrial sector -- especially warehouses and distribution centers. You can read more in Kent Hohlfeld’s story on page 6. Our 2014 edition of the Book of Lists is headed to the printer and will be available in March. It’s awesome, packed with valuable local information and, I think, one of my favorite cover designs, Thank you to our creative director, Sophia Machado. A big thank you to all of you. Your prompt responses to our research manager Dani Conley helped tremendously in gathering current data to ensure the most accurate information is contained within our lists. Dani has worked extremely hard. Thank you, Dani. We are proud to present our annual CV Book of Lists. Reserve your copy today by calling our office at 209-4770100 or by emailing our subscription department at subscriptions@cvbizjournal.com. Supplies are limited, so
reserve yours today! Each year, I’m thrilled to see the plethora of businesses located within our Valley, thriving and choosing to make this their location of choice. Together we succeed, unstoppable in fact. God Bless America! Happy Valentine’s Day, Sharon Alley Calone
VISIT US AT WWW.UNITEDWAYSJC.ORG OR CALL (209) 469-6980 of San Joaquin County
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February 2015
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Tour inside Amazon By ELIZABETH STEVENS and KENT HOHLFELD Business Journal TRACY – More than a year after the Amazon fulfillment centers opened in Tracy and Patterson, the company invited area media and elected officials for a rare look inside the giant facilities Jan. 20. The Tracy facility, which has been in operation since October 2013, has 1.2 million square feet of space and more than 1,500 full-time associates. “If you lined up all of the infrastructure we have in this building, it would cover 59 football fields,” said Mike Roth, Amazon’s vice president for North American Operations. “There are a lot of things that you don’t necessarily see just by looking at the building.” The Patterson facility is a similar size, but Amazon managers would only say there are “hundreds of associates” working there. The Tracy facility handles the smaller items customers purchase that can be shipped quickly. The facility in Patterson ships some small items but also handles larger items such as big-screen TVs and outdoor barbecue grills. “The infrastructure we have here is a little different than what we have in Patterson,” Roth said. “We have differ-
ent kinds of production equipment. Here, we deal with the small, fast-moving items. In Patterson we deal with the bigger, slower moving products.” In Patterson, Roth showed off the facility’s huge robotic arm that can lift up to six tons. Amazon associates voted to name it “Armazon.” The Patterson and Tracy facilities were also among the first 10 centers in the United States to employ Kiva robots. The small orange robots glide across the floors carrying pods that are approximately four feet wide, seven feet tall and weigh up to 750 pounds. The pods take the products that have been ordered to an employee who then takes the item from the pod and puts it on a conveyor belt to be carried down the line where it is boxed, labeled and shipped. The robots also take in-bound products from employees who place the items in pods which the robot carries to a location to be stored. “We don’t store things like most facilities,” Roth said. “It looks random. You might have books with DVDs or house supplies. The system is about optimizing location. An algorithm determines where things are stored based on conditions like how often it is ordered.” Roth said that in Patterson, tens of thousands of items leave the facility every day. Incoming items spend between
Products for customers’ orders are delivered via conveyor belts throughout Amazon’s 1.2 million-square-foot center in Tracy.
WAYNE DENNING/CVBJ
Kiva robots deliver pallets of products to workers and navigate by coded stickers on the floors of the fulfillment centers.
a day and two weeks in the center. The company uses 3,000 of the robots in Tracy. The robots navigate by scanning coded stickers on the floor, following digital commands that are beamed wirelessly from a central computer. The use of the robots allows items to be stored closer together, allowing the Please see AMAZON Page 10
WAYNE DENNING/CVBJ
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ONLINE EXTRAS CVBIZJOURNAL.COM
The Lists for March
Events:
► Colleges, universities ► Vocational schools ► Private schools, K-12 ► Credit unions ► Nurseries, landscape
If your business has an event you would like to add to our Business Journal calendar, email the information, including date, time, location and cost to editor@cvbizjournal.com.
If you have a business in one of these industries and you haven’t been contacted, you can request a survey by emailing Danette Conley at research@cvbizjournal.com.
Feb. 7-8 Various wineries, Lodi ► Modesto’s State of the City Feb. 19 Double Tree Hotel, 1150 9th St., Modesto ► Celebrate Stanislaus Feb. 26 Modesto Centre Plaza, 1000 L St., Modesto
► Wine & Chocolate Weekend
News Tips Contact our editor directly with story ideas, new hires or promotions, business expansions or information about events. Email Elizabeth Stevens at editor@cvbizjournal.com.
Subscribe Subscribe by calling 209-477-0100 and ask for subscriptions.
Advertise with us For advertising information, call 209-477-0100.
Slideshows & Video ► Amazon tour ► USS Lucid restoration ► Pelandale interchange work (Find slideshows in our Media Gallery)
(Find details on our calendar at www.cvbizjournal.com)
Notable Quote
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.
“One of the big things in the marketing industry is creating ‘loyalty beyond reason.’ It’s how you’re messaging things. How it feels when you walk into their business. How they interact with you in a social media format.” -- David Boring, president and creative director, Never Boring Design
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February 2015
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 • Fax: (209) 477-0211 Web: www.cvbizjournal.com Publisher Sharon Alley Calone
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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 2015 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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Commercial real estate shows signs of life By KENT HOHLFELD Business Journal writer khohlfeld@cvbizjournal.com
STOCKTON – The old real estate adage about location being everything rang true in the commercial real estate sector in 2014. If you happened to be in the Bay Area or Sacramento, the sector showed large improvement. Central Valley brokers and builders say that while they have seen some improvement, the local market still has a Swehla way to go to climb out of the recent recession. “There has been very little new development in the area,” said Tom Solomon, partner, part-owner and broker with CoSoL Commercial Real Estate. “Existing properties have returned to pretty good levels. If it’s good real estate, it will be filled.” Solomon, who has been involved in commercial real estate for more than 30 years, said that despite the epic climbs and precipitous falls of the last decade, commercial real estate values have been fairly consistent over the last 20 years. “If you took the overall health of the industry from 1990 to 1999, there was between 15 to 20 percent growth,” he said. “The next decade, from 20012011, it went skyrocketing up and then down. But when it was all said and done, it saw pretty similar growth.” The latest plunge, that occurred between 2007 and 2010, hit the Central Valley especially hard. The area led the nation in home foreclosures and saw commercial real estate foreclosures jump as well. With the recent recovery, area commercial real estate growth has slowly begun to return to its historical norms. One of the biggest areas of growth in the area has been in the logistics and warehouse industries.
In November, Prologis broke ground on a state-of-the-art logistics center in Tracy. It’s the first part of the Prologis International Park of Commerce, a planned 19 million-square-foot industrial park. The main purpose of the park is to serve as a distribution hub for the nine-county Bay Area and parts of Northern California. Ultimately, the company hopes to include high-tech manufacturing, final assembly and related commercial activities. The complex could result in tens of thousands of area jobs. This isn’t the first such project the company has been involved in. The company was a major developer involved with the construction of the Amazon fulfillment center, located just seven miles east of the current park. In Patterson, also home to an Amazon fulfillment center, another huge distribution center is in the works for home decor retailer Restoration Hardware. “The Patterson market has an interesting dynamic with the Bay Area influence,” said Ryan Swehla, partner of NAI Benchmark. He said that dynamic, also present in Tracy, has led to those areas recovering faster. “Oakdale, Ripon, you don’t Santana see it there.” Swehla added that in Modesto, the industrial market has tightened to the point where there are nearly no vacancies. He expects the area could start seeing more construction in the next year or two. “The industrial sector has recovered. We’re definitely getting to where demand has outstripped supply,” Swehla said. “The office market is still trying to catch up. Retail is somewhere in between.” CoSoL’s Solomon agrees. “The commercial office side has been tough,” he said. “Our rates for the commercial rentals are back where they were 1990s rates. I own property so I
WAYNE DENNING/CVBJ
The walls went up last September on a 257,000-square-foot Class A warehouse/distribution facility built by contractor Buzz Oates.
have seen it from the side of an owner as well as an agent. It’s not been fun.” He said that with the increase in activity by agricultural businesses, there is hope that it will eventually trickle into other sectors of the market. “Most tenants and owner/users are taking a cautious wait-and-see attitude,” he said. One thing they will see in Turlock will be a new brewing facility just west of Highway 99 on Dianne Drive and Fulkerth Road. The project received approval from the city planning commission in November and groundbreaking is expected in March. The project is one of the efforts to boost industry on the city’s west side. Real estate brokers credit Turlock as well as Patterson with aggressively seeking projects. Another issue that can have a major impact the area’s growth can be a city’s perceived problems. While areas in south San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties have seen projects spring up over the last few years, Stockton has struggled. Xavier Santana of Northgate Commercial said crime is one of the things that has held retail expansion
back in Stockton. “Crime doesn’t keep people from shopping, but it does make them cautious about the times they go shopping,” Santana said. “People need to feel safe.” He added that the region’s high unemployment rate affected retail in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties as people had less money with which to shop. That drove a lot of stores out of business. During the height of the recession retail vacancy rates were between 1215 percent in Stockton and 8-9 percent in Modesto. Retail vacancies of 5-7 percent are considered healthy. Stockton’s retail vacancy rate is down to about 9 percent now, while Modesto’s is at about 5 percent. News about Stockton’s bankruptcy has also kept investors away. “The bankruptcy has deterred investors because they’re looking at the overall health of the economy,” Santana said. He added that some tenants have shown interest in opening stores on the periphery of the city, but they can’t because the city’s problems have halted annexation plans. Brokers believe things may improve in 2015 now that the bankruptcy is coming to an end.
February 2015
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If you are a California citizen, you will probably be asked, at some time, to serve on a jury. Do you expect to hear the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? ...Think again! Juror Oath If you serve on a jury, California law requires you to take an oath. You must pledge that you will render your verdict “according only to the evidence presented to you and to the instructions of the court.” This is a fair and reasonable safeguard... as long as defendants are allowed to present relevant evidence during the trial.
Did You Know? In California courtrooms, the current evidence code can block your right to present factual evidence that explains your behavior. In a business setting, an employee who commits criminal acts that cause a dispute in the workplace can sue his/her employer, and a judge can prevent the accused employer from mentioning any details about the illegal actions that caused the dispute (on the grounds that such knowledge would create juror prejudice against the employee).
Case in Point: In 2011, a California man sued his employers, claiming that he was fired for absences relating to an on-the-job injury. (The employee had not been fired; in fact, he was repeatedly contacted and asked to return to work.) Much of the lawsuit hinged on a verbal ultimatum—“You need to straighten up your act!”—issued by an employer who died a few weeks before the trial.
able to mislead the jury. He falsely argued that the ultimatum was directed at injury-related absences. The accused employers were unable to reveal the actual causes for the reprimand, because they were not allowed to share the simple truth.
Defendants & Jurors Feel Violated After the trial, four jurors heard the evidence that had been withheld from them, and they signed legal declarations in support of a motion for a new trial. You will find an excerpt of their declaration online at: www.CommitteeForCourtroomJustice. org/juror-declaration.
Protect the Innocent, or Protect the Criminals? The existing evidence code can be manipulated, allowing lawbreakers and those who commit
malicious acts to mislead a jury about the causes that lead to negative reactions or reprimands by others. To protect the innocent, we must change the evidence code by adding a simple statement: “In a civil action, courts cannot exclude evidence solely because it is prejudicial where the evidence is critical to a primary issue in dispute.”
Support a Change in the Evidence Code! “Like” our cause on Facebook: facebook.com/CommitteeForCourtroomJustice
Tell our state lawmakers! Clip this ad and mail it to your legislator: • Assemblymember Susan Eggman • 31 E. Channel St., Ste. 306, Stockton 95202 • Assemblymember Adam Gray 1010 Tenth St., Ste. 5800, Modesto 95354 • Assemblymember Kristin Olsen 3719 Tully Rd., Ste. C, Modesto 95356 • Senator Cathleen Galgiani 31 E. Channel St., Ste. 440, Stockton 95202 • Senator Anthony Cannella 918 15th Street, Modesto 95354
The managers of the company knew the reasons for the ultimatum, but they were prohibited from sharing evidence about the many issues that led to the employer’s statement. These reasons included: • DUI arrests that interfered with the man’s work schedule and licensed operation of work vehicles; • Additional arrests and detainment that interfered with his regular attendance at work; • Restraining orders for spousal abuse that prohibited the man from living with his wife and daughter. As a result, the employer provided separate housing for the man. Because employers could not mention these reasons for the harsh words, this man was
this advertisement was paid for by the committee for courtroom justice.
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February 2015
H2O hackers wanted Stockton to host competition to solve region’s water problems By KENT HOHLFELD Business Journal writer khohlfeld@cvbizjournal.com
STOCKTON – Area water engineers, students, programmers and industry experts with ideas on dealing with the Central Valley’s water challenges will have a chance to test and promote their ideas at the H2O Hackathon in March. The event will be held March 27 and 28 in Stockton. The aim of the challenge is to focus the area’s minds on the issue of water use and conservation. “We are hoping to bring around 200 people to this competition,” said David Nelson, chairman of the board of iHub San Joaquin, one of the organizers of the event. “This is the first one we’ve done. We hope this will elevate the focus on the water issues that have faced San Joaquin county.” The competition came from a collaboration between iHub San Joaquin, which fosters innovation and entrepreneurship and Cafe Coop, which serves as a small business cooperative. Other groups involved in organizing the event include the San Joaquin Partnership, Restore the Delta, AG Spanos, San Joa-
quin County and the city of Stockton. “One of the constructs of the competition is that we are leaving it up to the participants of the hackathon to come up with ways to answer to the questions,” said Nelson. The questions competitors will address include issues such as groundwater depletion, balancing urban and agricultural water use and water use monitoring. There will also be a “grab bag” question which will come from the participants themselves. Participants will be able to team up to combine their ideas and brainstorm solutions. “It will kind of be a chance to build their resume,” said San Joaquin Partnership President and CEO Mike Ammann. “I think, here locally, it’s another opportunity for younger people to mix with the Bay Area and Silicon Valley people they may not have a chance to meet with usually.” He said that one of the key elements of the competition will be the chance to meet with people who can commercialize and bring their ideas and products to market. “The exposure these teams get could provide the chance for future employ-
BUSINESS JOURNAL PHOTO
Organizers hope 200 engineers and programmers will participate in the area’s first hackathon to generate solutions to California’s water crisis.
ment,” he said. The competition will be split into two days. On Friday the teams will focus their efforts on solving the problems presented in the competition. Saturday, the competition will move to the Hilton Stockton hotel where the best ideas and products will be presented. Those with the best solutions will win a variety of prizes ranging from cash to in-kind services aimed at helping bring those solutions to market. “We will award some prizes for the
most innovative solutions,” said San Joaquin County Supervisor Kathy Miller, who sits on the planning committee. “It might be some in-kind products and services. We are still looking for sponsorships to provide those prizes.” She said the hope is that the competition will grow and tap into some of the excitement that similar competitions in the Bay Area have generated. Visit www.h2ohackathon.org to register for the competition and more information.
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February 2015
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February 2015
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Employees at Community Business Bank in Lodi have donated 500 pounds of food to the Emergency Food Bank of Stockton.
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LODI – Employees at Community Business Bank, including its Lodi branch, have donated 1,000 pounds of food to local food banks through a program at the bank called “Food Bank Fridays.” Employees are allowed to wear jeans to work on Fridays if they bring food items to donate. “[The idea] was a combination of employees and our marketing director, Courtney Clark,” said Community Business Bank Vice President Scott Meyer. “We started it in 2014 as a way of giving back to a local charity organizations.” Since then, employees have donated about 500 pounds of food each to the Emergency Food Bank of Stockton and the Sacramento Food Bank. “We are so very grateful for these donations,” said Emergency Food
CVBJ
Bank of Stockton Executive Director Mario Supnet. “Programs like ‘Food Bank Fridays’ demonstrate the strength and value of our communities and help us serve more than 6,000 residents every month.” On Fridays, participating employees wear pins that let customers know about the program. “It’s nice, too, because we have the box in the lobby. We’ve had customers put things in the box,” Meyer said. He added that businesses interested in doing something similar should know it was a simple program to set up and that many nonprofits are looking for help. In the bank’s case, the food banks pick up the donations once a quarter. “First we looked at it as a short term thing,” Meyer said. “It morphed into something bigger than we intended.”
AMAZON Continued from Page 3
warehouse to hold more merchandise. The Tracy facility can hold more than 20 million items. The robots also save the human employees from having to constantly run the miles of corridors to fetch items as they are ordered. Despite the high level of automation, Amazon still depends largely on its human workers to actually package and ship the items customers order. “Every time I come here, I have seen the dedicated associates that we have,” said Sanjay Shah, Amazon’s regional director. “We want to provide great full-time jobs with great benefits.” He said that one reason that the company held off on having a grand opening was Amazon’s desire to make sure the facility was running up to its full capability. “This is the eighth generation of fulfillment center,” Shah said. “We want to grow this building to its fullest capability. We have been humbled by the support we have had in Tracy.” The city helped facilitate building the center by streamlining the permit
and regulatory process. “From start to having the building finished was less than a year,” said Tracy Mayor Michael Maciel. “We were able to sit down with Amazon and say ‘What will make you succeed?’ This really was a win-win-win situation. We are thrilled to have [Amazon] here.” In Patterson, Amazon general manager Dan Fay talked about the importance of the company’s connection to the community. He cited two partnerships, one with the Stanislaus County Humane Society and one with the Patterson Unified School District in which Amazon donated dozens of its signature e-readers, the Kindle, to schools. “Our associates are the reason for and often the driver behind our partnerships with community organizations,” said Fay.
* WEB EXTRA:
To see more photos of the Amazon fulfillment centers as well as video, visit cvbj.biz/gab_gallery.
February 2015
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PORT Continued from Page 1
with a marked increase in steel products which indicates that construction projects are underway in the San Joaquin Valley,” Tollini said. “Imported cements are coming back in. We expect the tonnage to continue increasing into 2016.” One port facility that will be unique when construction is completed in early March is Union Pacific Railroad’s $18 million ribbon rail welding facility. Thirty workers are building the facility near the West Complex, which has its own electrical supply, perfect for welding and its high peak power demand. The facility features 17,000 feet of track, a rail storage yard, a welding and inspection building, extra milling capacity and a gantry crane for off-loading 480-foot-long bundles of steel rail from Japan. When in full operation, a team of a dozen or so permanently employed welders earning about $50,000 each annually will connect the lengths into quarter-mile long sections of continuous-welded rail. “The finished product will be 1,920 feet long, connected by only three welds,” said Tollini. “With the semiautomated welding process on line when the facility’s completed in early March, the results of the port having all the components required for such a facility along with a deep-water channel, will be obvious.”
Tollini said the thrice welded, 1,920 lengths of rail will be able to carry Gov. Brown’s bullet train and all regular rail traffic as well. “It’s the largest single piece of rail assembly in the world.” The first official delivery of the rails for welding will take place sometime around the first week in March, followed by another rail arrival in the second week of March. In December, a shipment of 10,000 tons of the 480-foot rails arrived at the port aboard the Pacific Spike, a ship designed specifically to carry the long rails from Japan to Stockton. The ship is equipped with three built-in 50-ton cranes that carefully lift the rails in bundles of five from the hold directly onto specially built railcars on the dock beside the ship. For welding, the rails are pushed into tiers of racks which hold them in place during the welding process. “Our on-dock rail allows the ships to discharge directly onto the shuttle cars,” Tollini said. “Stockton’s the only port in the U.S. receiving this cargo and delivering it from ship to rail in this way. This is the first time this sort of cargo has been discharged from a ship using these types of cranes.” The rail will be used to replace Union Pacific track and for other UP
WAYNE DENNING/CVBJ
The first shipment of rail arrived from Japan on a specially built ship. Lengths rail will be welded together into 1,920-foot sections.
projects and expansions along the west coast. Tollini confirmed that the annual financial benefit to the port from the ribbon-rail welding facility will be about $2 million, “[It’s] additional revenue that we wouldn’t otherwise have had,” he said. It is expected the additional revenue will come from maritime service fees, land lease rents and port electric
utility charges. The current lease is for 10 years with eight options to extend the contract for five years each. “We expect this welding operation to be here for quite some time, for the foreseeable future, certainly,” said Tollini. He added, “We can take on more business, more rail space is available, and we’re looking forward to what the future holds for the port of Stockton.”
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Central Valley Business Journal
February 2015
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING FIRMS In San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. Ranked by Total Local Registered Engineers. Ties are Listed in Alphabetical Order.
1
Provost and Pritchard Consulting Group 4701 Sisk Road, Ste. 102 Modesto, CA 95356
2
Condor Earth Technologies, Inc. 188 Frank W. Circle, Ste. I Stockton, CA 95206
3
Advanced GeoEnvironmental, Inc. 837 Shaw Road Stockton, CA 95215
4
Kleinfelder 2001 Arch Airport Road, Ste. 100 Stockton, CA 95206 1224 6th Street, Ste. A Modesto, CA 95354
5
Cardno, ATC 1117 Lone Palm Avenue, Ste. B Modesto, CA 95351
6
ENGEO, Incorporated 580 N. Wilma Street Ripon, CA 95366
7
Ground Zero Analysis, Inc. 1714 Main Street Escalon, CA 95320
8
Geological Technics, Inc. 1172 Kansas Avenue Modesto, CA 95351
9
Geo-Phase Environmental, Inc. 2937 Veneman Avenue, Ste. B-240 Modesto, CA 95356
10
Muir Consulting, Inc. Land Surveyors 139 Church Avenue Oakdale, CA 95361
11
SCS Engineers 4730 Enterprise Way Ste. E Modesto, CA 95356 3117 Fite Circle #108 Sacramento, CA 95827
EIR Studies
Wetlands Evaluation
Well Installation and Monitoring
Phase 1 Site Assessments
Address
Environmental Studies
Company Name
Storm Water Monitoring
Rank
Top Local Executive Total Number of Local Staff Licensed Local Phone Professionals Local Registered Web Address Engineers
Bioremediation
Services Offered
Other Services Provided
Year Est.
X
Environmental services, agricultural and civil engineering, planning, land surveying, geographic information system (GIS) hydro geology construction services
2008
X
Geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing, environmental regulatory compliance consulting, RMP’s, SWPPPs, Wastewater discharge permitting support
1983
1992
Kevin Johansen P.E., Vice President (209) 808-2300 ppeng.com
5 63 4
Robert J. Job PE President (209) 234-1507 condorearth.com
50 13 3
Robert Marty President (209) 467-1006 advgeoenv.com
17 6 3
X
X
X
X
X
X
Environmental remediation, environmental contracting, industrial hygiene services, asbestos, lead and mold sampling
Nancy Walker (209) 948-1345 kleinfelder.com
34 5 1
X
X
X
X
X
X
Hazardous materials phase 2 assessment
1961
Jeanne Homsey, P.E. Branch Manager (209) 579-2221 atcassociates.com
12 1 1
X
X
X
X
X
X
Asbestos, lead, mold, geotechnical, SPCC plans and indoor air quality
1988
Joe J. Tootle Principal (209) 835-0610 engeo.com
12 3 1
X
X
X
X
X
Geotechnical engineering, testing and inspection and structural engineering
2003
Russell Juncal Owner (209) 838-9888 groundzeroanalysis.com
11 1 1
X
X
X
X
Litigation support
1995
Cher Tonge, CEO (209) 522-4119 geologicaltechnics.com
8 1 1
X
X
X
X
X
Surface and groundwater monitoring
1987
Steve Lankford President (209) 569-0293 cal-geo.com
2 1 1
X
X
X
X
X
Phase 11 Health risk assessment
1996
Jack M. Smith President (209) 845-8630 muirconsulting.com
4 2 0
X
Environmental surveys
2000
X
Greenhouse gas verifications, landfill engineering operations and maintenance of environmental control systems, solid waste planning and materials management
1978
Patrick S. Sullivan Senior Vice President (209) 545-8490
48 261 11
reflect (916) 361-1297 Numbers Northern CA
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
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 01/2015
February 2015
www.cvbizjournal.com
Advanced GeoEnvironmental, Inc. www.advgeoenv.com
“Dedicated to meeting your environmental needs” • Litigation Support • Industrial Hygiene Services • Installation of Monitoring Well Networks • Phase I and II Environmental Assessments • Professional Consultation • Soil and Ground Water Remediation • Underground Storage Tank Removal • Industrial and Construction Stormwater Services • Asbestos Sampling and Abatement • Lead-Based Paint Sampling and Abatement • UST Fund Reimbursement Assistance
837 Shaw Road Stockton, California 95215 Phone: (209) 467-1006 • (800) 511-9300 Fax: (209) 467-1118 Environmental • Industrial Hygiene • Geotechnical • Contracting
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February 2015
Economist: 2014 saw best growth in years By ELIZABETH STEVENS Business Journal editor estevens@cvbizjournal.com
STOCKTON – If the Central Valley’s economy were a car, Stockton’s bankruptcy and the recession would be receding in the rearview mirror; new jobs and housing starts would be a growing presence in the windshield (though maybe not approaching as fast as we’d like); and in the distance to the east and west, a few storm clouds. Positive economic trends are pretty much what business people heard at the Business Forecast breakfast presented by the San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on Jan. 7. Scott Anderson, chief economist for Bank of the West, took a snap poll of the couple hundred gathered people gathered at the Robert J. Cabral Agricultural Center and asked whether they thought 2015 would be better than 2014. Nearly everyone raised their hands. He said economic statistics, for the most part, backed up their optimism. He said the last couple months of 2014 saw the country’s best economic growth in years — 5 percent in the final quarter. “We’re back,” Anderson said. “It feels different this time.”
Anderson chalked much of the improvement to lower gas prices, which acts like a tonic the way a tax cut does, leaving more money for households. In fact, he said consumer spending among Americans in 2014 saw its best year since 2006. With regard to housing, Anderson believes affordability will improve, which will prompt first-time homebuyers to return to the market. He also said homebuilders were beginning to show signs of optimism. If he feels any trepidation, Anderson said it was about Europe, where the risk of deflation in the eurozone is very high. Prices for goods and services are dropping, driven largely by the plunging price of oil. The economy in Europe, he said, is “basically flatlining.” Anderson said he is also concerned about the decline in property prices in China. Economist Jeffrey Michael, from the Business Forecast Center at the University of the Pacific, looked at the local economy. Among the positives: lower prices, consumer sentiment is up, debt service is down, the local labor market has improved and tech still looks strong. On the downside, he agrees with Anderson’s assessment about global weaknesses.
BUSINESS JOURNAL PHOTO
Economist Scott Anderson said lower gas prices have boosted the economy much like a tax cut would have.
As far as job growth, employment in both the United States and California is above pre-recession levels. “The last two months have been real blockbuster months for California,” Michael said, pointing out that California is also growing jobs at a faster pace than most western states. Much of that growth is driven by the tech industry in the Bay Area, he said. In San Joaquin County, the employment rate is still about 4 percent lower than before the recession, but the “trajectory is mostly positive” and
the county’s recovery got off to a late start, Michael said. Industries that have grown the most jobs are education and health care (thanks to the new prison hospital in Stockton), trade and transportation (think Amazon and trucking) and hospitality. Michael expects job growth to slow and thinks 2015 will be a year of “setting the table” for future growth. He also believes housing starts will begin to rise in 2015 but not really pick up until 2016 and ‘17.
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Sutter Health, Blue Shield sign agreement SACRAMENTO – The Sutter Health network has reached an agreement on a two-year contract with Blue Shield of California, the company announced Jan. 30. Sutter Health said the deal applies to all Blue Shield products in which Sutter Health providers have been participating including HMO, PPO and those offered through Covered California. There will be no lapse in coverage for Sutter Health patients, the network said.
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The deal was announced just one day before Blue Shield was expected to send letters to more than 140,000 HMO members across Northern California telling them they they would be reassigned to non-Sutter doctors by April 1 unless they made they found a new doctor on their own. The dispute between Sutter Health and Blue Shield centered around costs, which the insurer claimed were as much as 30 percent higher than
other hospitals. Blue Shield also accused Sutter Health of hiding some of its business practices. For its part, Sutter Health said Blue Shield wanted significant rollbacks in rates that would hurt the quality of care it offers. “We take seriously our role in helping control rising health care costs, and the contract we reached with Blue Shield reflects our significant progress,” said Sutter Health Chief Medi-
cal Officer Steve Lockhart. The contract agreement continues to call for arbitration of all disputes, Sutter Health said. “Blue Shield is pleased that our existing legal rights and those of our customers have been protected. The principles Blue Shield fought for in this negotiation with Sutter have been preserved,” Blue Shield said in a released statement. Sutter Health affiliated hospitals include Memorial Medical Center in Modesto, Memorial Hospital in Los Banos and Sutter Tracy Community Hospital in Tracy.
DOWNTON Continued from Page 1
“Downton Abbey rings true to wine,” said Zysblat. “It harkens back to a simpler time when you had wine with every meal but breakfast.” The first wine the labels offered were bordeaux blends made in France, very much in keeping with what Edwardian aristocrats like “Downton Abbey’s” Crawleys would have drunk. Zysblat said they were very popular, even among customers who didn’t consider themselves bordeaux drinkers. Customers also indicated they wanted the option of a more modern wine, so the company decided to broaden its offerings with other wines made from California grapes. The question was how to stay true to the Downton Abbey Wine brand with wine people in the Edwardian era would not have drunk. “What would be appropriate to do in California? Noble whites and reds -cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay,” said Zysblat. He added the key was to look to the only American-born character on “Downton Abbey,” Cora Crawley, the countess of Grantham, as inspiration. Grapes in California were first planted in the 1860s, about the time the character would have been born, Zysblat said. The company also wanted to work with a family with a deep history in the area. “We went in search of a producer who was multi-generational, with old world roots,” said Zysblat. That narrowed the field to a few families in the Lodi area, and the company settled on Lange Twins in Acampo. “Our family has been here in Lodi region for five generations,” said Marissa Lange, who leads Lange Twins winery operations. She added that gives “credibility to the brand.” The result was the Countess of Grantham Collection, a cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay, that are meant to be opened and shared with friends, rather than drunk at meals. Lange said she liked what the Downton Abbey brand stands for. “It’s a domain that has great consumer appeal and a sense of place,” said Lange. “The wine is crafted to be enjoyed.” The wine will be released in February, during “Downton Abbey’s” fifth season. It will retail for $14.99 and will be available at grocery stores and wine retailers.
Assistant Superintendent by day. Passionate coach by night. Ricardo Navarro keeps our cranes running and the cargo moving, much like he’s done with local Little Leaguers on the baseball diamond. With Ricardo’s help, the Port exports nearly 1.5 million tons of American goods annually. But what really makes his smile light up is helping Stockton’s greatest asset, its youth.
For more information call 888.635.8143 or visit portofstockton.com/proud3 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.
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February 2015
Walnut growers keep eye on China market By CRAIG W. ANDERSON Business Journal writer canderson@cvbizjournal.com
STOCKTON – California’s walnut industry is expecting a record high crop, but there are questions about its overseas markets. The state’s in-shell walnut exports have dropped in the first few months of the current season, thanks to a combination of causes including the strong U.S. dollar, a big walnut crop in China and political unrest in Hong Kong. Overall, exports of California’s inshell walnuts were down 20 percent from September through December 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, according to the report from the California Walnut Commission. Exports of in-shell walnuts to Asia and the Pacific Rim were off by 30 percent, the report said. Hong Kong, which has been a leading customer for California, was down 42 percent, China was down 18 percent and Thailand was down 85 percent. “We’ve seen a huge fall in exports to China over the last few years. But an upswing from other Asian buyers has nearly offset China’s downturn,”said
David Taylor, CEO and ranch manager of Anderson Barngrover Ranch Co., a family-owned and operated walnut and cherry operation near Linden. “This season we had a solid multi-container shipment to our regular buyer in China and we did OK.” The upswing Taylor referred to was India, which increased its imports of in-shell California walnuts from 132,000 pounds in 2013-15 to 1.4 million pounds -- a whopping 958 percent. But it wasn’t enough to compensate for the loss in demand from Hong Kong, which imports tens of millions of pounds of California walnuts. “The Indian market is opening up, but sales to India aren’t sufficient to make up for the losses incurred when China cut back its imports due to its much bigger domestic crop that was helped by good weather,” said Kevin Stevens, international sales representative with CalDak International, an exporter of nuts, dried fruits and seeds headquartered in Pleasanton. “The country remains hampered by bizarre small operations that are offset by some larger, more modern operations.” San Joaquin County is one of the state’s leading walnut producers. The
BUSINESS JOURNAL PHOTO
Growers expect a record crop of walnuts this year, but they’re concerned that exports have dropped 20 percent.
crop was valued at $443 million in 2013, third among all county crops, according to the San Joaquin Agricultural Commissioner’s Annual Agricultural Report. Any significant decrease could have serious consequences for the area’s walnut growers. This comes as the California walnut industry is projecting a record yield of 545,000 tons. The decline in walnut exports is the result of a number of factors, including China’s own 2014 walnut crop, which was 35 percent larger than aver-
age and supplied most of the nation’s domestic demand, so it didn’t need to import California walnuts. In the last four months of 2014, it imported 12 million tons compared to 15 million tons in the fall of 2013. Prices are down, too. Lower exports to China caused the price of California’s popular Chandler variety to drop more than 30 percent in two months to $2.10. a price some fear could drop below $1.90 a pound. Please see WALNUTS Page 20
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February 2015
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Central Valley Business Journal
February 2015
Agency’s video vision ready for the spotlight Never Boring Design showcases video team with its own location By ELIZABETH STEVENS Business Journal editor estevens@cvbizjournal.com
MODESTO – The video division at Never Boring Design Associates is ready for its closeup. The company is showcasing the service by giving it a standalone location at 11th Street and Needham Street near downtown Modesto. Called Film at 11th, the department produces videos for training, advertising, documentary and other marketing purposes. Boring’s son started the video production department in 2009. It worked out of Never Boring’s sign shop at College and Needham until it outgrew the space and moved to the new location last November. “I feel like it’s been a really wellkept secret,” said David Boring, partner and creative director of Never Boring Design Associates. Boring’s son moved to Michigan to start a family, so a year and a half ago, Never Boring needed to find someone to oversee its film efforts. The solution came to the company when Bay Area director and editor T.J. Glines dropped off his resume at Never Boring’s office in downtown Modesto. For Boring, hiring someone with San Francisco-caliber experience who was also familiar with the Central Valley was the best of both worlds. “He’d done national-level work in San Francisco but was from here. It was wonderful,” said Boring. “I worked for a startup in San Francisco called SideReel. We produced all our own original content. It was a TV entertainment site.” Glines said. “As far as environment, [Never Boring] has a very startup culture, so I fit right in.” Glines works with production
specialist Tiffany Ferreira on video projects for clients, including Prime Shine Car Wash and Save Mart Supermarkets. No two projects are the same. The key is to tailor videos to the customer’s needs, Glines said, even if it means steering them toward a less expensive project. “I know plenty of other companies where it’s ‘You need a seven-minute video? Perfect! All right,’” Glines said. “But with us, we try to see, ‘What’s the audience? I’m not sure if you need this.’” As an example, Glines cited a corporate video he produced recently for a dinner for Save Mart’s leadership team. The video would open the event, and Save Mart wanted to use it to build up enthusiasm. At first, the company asked for a five-minute video. Glines explained to them why he thought 90 seconds was all they needed. “I said, ‘If this is your opening, you don’t want a five to seven. You want something that’s a minute, minute-30.’ I knew their audience. I knew their demographic that was going to be in there,” he said. “And after the video played, I got a couple of text messages that were like, ‘A minute 30 worked perfect!’ You’re right. Couldn’t imagine a five-minute video. Good call.’ Boring said your company doesn’t need to be as big as Save Mart to benefit or even afford well-produced videos. “I remember when we used to talk about business cards that if nobody sees your business, at least have your business card be great,” Boring said. “[Using video] you can create a vibe for their company and their brand. You can really put it out there in a way that starts the process moving. It does it more than anything else.” Many of the videos Never Boring produces are called “virals,” which refers to the casual style or format of the video. They’re meant to be posted online and then, it’s hoped, shared in order to create brand awareness for a business. Boring believes it’s the way his company will promote many small
ELIZABETH STEVENS/CVBJ
David Boring, T.J. Glines, Tiffany Ferreira and Julie Orona outside the new Film at 11th, located at the intersection of 11th and Needham streets in Modesto.
businesses in the near future. “When you’re talking about local, smaller Valley accounts, a lot of them need to be more resourceful with their advertising and marketing dollars,” Boring said. “Viral video’s really where we see their future. And just doing it yourself doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to get done right.” Boring’s company has come a long way since he started it after being laid off from his sign job in 1983. He and partner Julie Orona have built it into one of the area’s largest advertising agencies. It handles marketing accounts, makes signs, publishes magazines and places media buys for local companies. With the addition of Film at 11th, the company now has four offices -- three in Modesto and one in the Waterfront Warehouse in Stockton. Boring said his company prides
itself on having an army of 30 employees who are responsible as well as creative and know how to manage accounts so details don’t fall through the cracks. “I once asked Jerry Warden [of Warden’s Office Products] about the secret of his success,” Boring remembered. “He said it’s ‘doing what you say you’re going to do.’” The next step for Never Boring is to go after accounts in Sacramento and the East Bay Area. “Over the years we’ve built this large agency now that can compete with Fresno and Sacramento agencies. We’re reaching that point where we’re the size of them and in some cases bigger. And we’ve got a lot of firepower,” Boring said. “We feel like that’s our next horizon is doing more national work.”
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February 2015
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Pay by smartphone For Save Mart, phone pay option is start of changes for shoppers By ELIZABETH STEVENS Business Journal editor estevens@cvbizjournal.com
MODESTO – Saying they want to anticipate the needs and wants of customers, Save Mart, FoodMaxx and Lucky grocery stores began providing Apple Pay, Softcard and Google Wallet payment options to customers on Jan. 15. “It’s just the beginning of changing everything, in my opinion,” said Save Mart’s Chief Information Officer James Sims. Using what is known as “contactless pay technology,” customers use the same electronic card slider they use for debit and credit card purchases, pressing the digital pay icon. By holding their smartphone near the card slider, customers can then approve payments through an Apple Pay, Softcard or Google Wallet app. Sims said it streamlines the purchasing experience for customers. “It’s secure. It’s convenient. It’s fast and fun and hip and cool.” Save Mart, which has its headquar-
ters in Modesto, is the first among its direct competitors to offer contactless pay. Sims and his team have been working for a year and a half to implement it. The system has been running secretly in stores for several months as the IT team worked to get the various platforms working at the checkstands. Sims said the store wants to make grocery purchases faster and more secure. “It’s my professional opinion paying with a phone, especially an iPhone, is the most secure way to pay in the world,” Sims said. Apple Pay, in particular, puts barriers around customers’ private information, Sims said. When customers add a credit or debit card to Apple Pay, the actual card numbers are not stored on the device, nor on Apple servers, Save Mart explained in a released statement. Instead, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted and securely stored in the Secure Element on devices. Each transaction is authorized with a one-time unique dynamic security code, instead of using the security code from the back of the card. The process is called EMV (Euro Mastercard Visa) tokenization. Sims said the information would not be available to hackers. Putting payment information in
ELIZABETH STEVENS/CVBJ
Assistant manager of Save Mart’s Pelandale store in Modesto demonstrates how to use an iPhone to pay for items.
a phone means customers no longer have to carry a card, and therefore they don’t need a bulky wallet. “I have a wallet that looks like a triple decker sandwich,” Sims said. “(Now I just need) one card, and my drivers license. I carry my phone anyway. Now that’s all I carry.” Sims and a team of managers have been spending a lot of time looking at the landscape of grocery store customer service to figure out what’s working, what isn’t and what
customers want. “Customers are asking themselves ‘Why can’t store function the same way it does on the web?’” Sims said. “We must be conscious, even predictive of the consumer’s expectations, and desires are changing. Then [we need to] be there to meet and fulfill these paradigms as they appear.” Sims said this is just the first in a series of customer service improvements Save Mart has in store this year. “This was an appetizer,” Sims said.
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Flames buy Thunder By ELIZABETH STEVENS Business Journal editor estevens@cvbizjournal.com
STOCKTON – Stockton joins Hartford, Conn., Cleveland and Chicago, among others, as cities with an American Hockey League team, the equivalent of a Triple-A team in baseball. Stockton’s ECHL hockey team, the Thunder, has been bought by the NHL’s Calgary Flames, the team announced Jan. 28. Stockton will finish this season as an ECHL team and move to the AHL for the 2015-16 season. It’s part of a league expansion aimed at bringing AHL hockey to the west coast by creating the Pacific Division. Other California cities getting AHL teams include San Jose, San Diego, Bakersfield and Ontario. Calgary Flames General Manager Brad Treliving said much of Stockton’s attractiveness as a hockey property had to do with the city’s active fanbase and the Stockton Arena. “Stockton put itself at the top of the list very quickly,” Treliving said during the Jan. 29 press conference at the arena. “This building is the envy of a lot of minor league locations. It is a world-class facility.” Mayor Anthony Silva voiced the city’s enthusiasm for the new AHL team. “For Stockton, this is about a sense
of community pride. This is about establishing ourselves as a minor league sports city,” Silva said. “This organization has stepped out on a leap of faith for our city, and I’m asking the residents to embrace them and show our support by attending games and filling these seats.” Treliving praised the Thunder’s management and arena employees and said there were no immediate plans to make changes. The team’s coaches and players will change, however, owing to its new AHL standing. Thunder president Dave Piecuch said ticket prices may go up, but fans who hold season tickets and have a contract will not see their prices increase. The team’s name and mascot will change. Treliving said the team will conduct a naming contest for fans. The winner will receive season tickets. The team has been one of the ECHL’s most successful franchises in the last 10 years.
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February 2015
WALNUTS Continued from Page 16
Experts say China is becoming more proficient with improved infrastructure, but the country still lags behind California and the rest of the world in walnut production. The world economy is also playing a part. “A stronger U.S. dollar had made it harder for some countries to afford walnuts, countries that had bought walnuts previously,” Stevens said. “Of course, the walnut market could be in for some uncertain years, but we’ll have to wait and see if China’s absence from the walnut export market will be a long-term trend or not.” One bright spot in the report was the export of shelled walnuts, which improved by 15 percent. Growth was particularly strong in Central and South America, which imported 683,000 pounds of shelled California walnuts from September to December 2014. That was 309 percent more than the 167,000 pounds in the same period in 2013. Europe also saw increased demand, especially in Germany and the United Kingdom. California exported 25 million pounds of shelled walnuts to Europe in the last four months of 2014, up 32 percent from 2013 when it exported 19 million pounds. The walnut industry is keeping an eye on stalled labor negotiations between west coast dock workers and terminal operators, which has delayed
An upswing from other Asian buyers has nearly offset China’s downturn. David Taylor Anderson Barngrover Ranch
overseas shipments. The standoff has created a growing lack of warehouse storage space and compelled buyers to cancel contracts. It increased the angst of importers and exporters whose goods are stalled at ports in Oakland, Los Angeles and Long Beach. The delays have also driven some cargo ships to cancel their contracts and leave. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 80 percent of U.S. agricultural exports -- 146.5 million metric tons -- and 78 percent of imports were shipped in 2011, an indication of the heavy reliance agriculture places on ocean transportation. Despite the woes and worries afflicting the 2014-15 walnut crop’s exports to China and cutbacks from other countries, the California Walnut Board said in a statement: “Global demand for walnuts remains strong, and we’re confident that consumers throughout the world will continue to appreciate the culinary versatility and health benefits that walnuts provide.”
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1710 E. March Ln. #2B | Stockton, CA 95210
209.474.1000 | www.villagedentalcarestockton.com
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Lodi Wine & Chocolate event to showcase area By PATRICIA REYNOLDS Business Journal writer
preynolds@cvbizjournal.com
LODI – For those interested in a deliciously mouthwatering experience, the Lodi Wine and Chocolate Weekend won’t disappoint. On Feb. 7 and 8, visitors can tour the region’s many wineries and taste locally produced wines specifically paired with a variety of chocolate treats. “It’s the first big event that we host each year, promoting the Lodi Wine region,” said Jenny Heitman, marketing and communications coordinator for the Lodi Winegrape Commission. In its 18th year, the Wine and Chocolate Weekend is expected to draw more than 5,000 samplers to approximately 56 wineries throughout the Lodi area. Tickets are $55 if purchased in advance and $65 that weekend. To encourage safety, designated drivers will be admitted, to sample food products only, for free. “The event is a passport weekend with tickets being valid the entire weekend. It is self-guided, and people can choose which winery they’d like to visit first. A list of participating wineries is available when tickets are purchased online and visitors can preplan their trip,” Heitman said. Upon presenting a ticket at their first tasting, attendees will receive a wrist-
PHOTO COURTESY MARY GILLESPIE
This year’s Lodi Wine and Chocolate Weekend expects to attract 5,000 attendees on Feb. 7 and 8.
band for admission to all tasting locations, a wine glass with this year’s event logo and a piece of Brix chocolate. Confectioner Brix Chocolate is sponsoring the weekend and donated the chocolates each ticket holder receives. The company exclusively develops chocolate for pairing with wine and will be the Lodi event’s only chocolate sponsor for its third consecutive year. For Borra Vineyards, the Wine
and Chocolate Weekend marks the winery’s 40th anniversary and will serve as an additional occasion for celebration. Established in 1975, Borra was the first of Lodi’s small boutique wineries. “This event is definitely a boost for the region. Wine and Chocolate brings in people from San Francisco, Sacramento, Modesto and Fresno. It’s huge for us and the biggest event for the
region,” said Mary Jo Ford of Borra Sales and Marketing. Borra will pour a select group of wines including the winery’s Fusion Red, Fusion White and Old Vine Barbera, all paired with Swiss and Italian chocolates. In addition, tasters can sample the winery’s famous chocolate nut shots. Shots are made with wine infused chocolate sauce using Borra’s Heritage field blend red, poured over nuts, such as hazelnuts. Shot kits, which include wine, nuts, chocolate sauce and cups also will be available for sale to take home. This year will be Klinker Brick Winery’s sixth year participating in the Wine and Chocolate Weekend, and the winery is expecting a big turnout. “It’s all hands on deck. We will have 25 to 30 staff members working the three bars we will have open, tasting, parking, and of course cleanup,” said Farah Felten-Jolley, vice president of sales and marketing for Klinker Brick. The winery will serve homemade truffles paired with champagne, wines, whiskeys and bourbons. Wine selections will include Klinker Brick Old Vine Zinfandel, Marisa Old Vine Zinfandel, Albarino Spanish White, 1850 Degrees Cabernet Blend and Klinker Brick Petite Sirah.
Please see LODI Page 27
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Central Valley Business Journal
February 2015
CIVIL ENGINEERING FIRMS
In San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. Ranked by Total Local Staff. Ties are Listed in Alphabetical Order.
Rank
Company Name Address
Total Local Staff — Local Phone/Fax Number Total Licensed Web Address Professionals Top Local Executive
1
O’Dell Engineering 1165 Scenic Drive, Ste. B Modesto, CA 95350
Randall O’Dell R.C.E., President (209) 571-1765 Fax (209) 571-2466 odellengineering.com
2
Mid Valley Engineering (MVE) 1117 L Street Modesto, CA 95354
Kirk DeLaMare, President/CEO (209) 526-4214 Fax (209) 526-0803 Fax (Southern Calif) (866) 932-9683 mve.net
3
Kjeldsen, Sinnock & Neudeck, Inc. 711 N. Pershing Avenue Stockton, CA 95203
Stephen Sinnock, President (209) 946-0268 Fax (209) 946-0296 ksninc.com
4
Siegfried Engineering, Inc. 3244 Brookside Road, Ste. 100 Stockton, CA 95219
Anthony J. Lopes, P.E., S.E., President (209) 943-2021 Fax (209) 942-0214 siegfriedeng.com
5
NorthStar Engineering Group, Inc. 909 14th Street Modesto, CA 95354
Brian Jones, President (209) 524-3525 Fax (209) 524-3526 nseng.net
27
6
CTE Cal, Inc. 242 W. Larch Road, Ste. F Tracy, CA 95304
Rod Ballard RCE, GE, CEO (209) 839-2890 Fax (209) 839-2895 cte-inc.net
18
7
Dillon & Murphy 847 N. Cluff Avenue, Ste. A-2 Lodi, CA 95240
Cecil Dillon & Joe Murphy, Partners (209) 334-6613 Fax (209) 334-6613 None
15
8
MCR Engineering, Inc. 1242 Dupont Court Manteca, CA 95336
Tony Marshall & Dan Eavenson (209) 239-6229 Fax (209) 239-8839 mcreng.com
15
9
Nolte Vertical 5 (NV5) 1215 W. Center Street, Ste. 201 Manteca, CA 95337
Dave Richard, VP (209) 239-9080 Fax (209) 239-4166 nv5.com
12
10
GDR Engineering, Inc. 3525 Mitchell Road, Ste. G Ceres, CA 95307
Richard Ringler, President (209) 538-3360 Fax (209) 538-7370 gdrengineering.com
11
Associated Engineering Group, Inc. 4206 Technology Drive, Ste. 4 Modesto, CA 95356
Dave Skidmore, President/L.S. (209) 545-3390 Fax (209) 545-3875 assoceng.com
10
12
Benchmark Engineering, Inc. 1121 Oakdale Road, Ste. 1 Modesto, CA 95355
Rick Mummert, President (209) 548-9300 Fax (209) 548-9305 bmeng.net
8
13
HCS Engineering, Inc. 4512 Feather River Drive, Ste. 7 Stockton, CA 95219
Richard C. Smith, P.E. (209) 478-8270 Fax (209) 478-2169 hcs-eng.com
8
14
KANE GeoTech, Inc. 7400 Shoreline Drive, Ste. 6 Stockton, CA 95219
William F. Kane, President & CEO (209) 472-1822 Fax (209) 472-0802 kanegeotech.com
8
15
DF Engineering (formerly DeLaMare-Fultz) 3421 Tully Road, Ste. J Modesto, CA 95350
David J. Hoberg, PE, QSD/QSP (209) 529-7450 Fax (209) 529-0457 dfengineering.com
6
16
Provost & Pritchard Consulting Group 4701 Sisk Road, Ste. 102 Modesto, CA 95356
Kevin Johansen, PE, Vice President (209) 829-1685 Fax (209) 829-1675 ppeng.com
5
17
Baumbach & Piazza, Inc. 323 W. Elm Street Lodi, CA 95240
Josh Elson, P.E., P.L.S., President (209) 368-6618 Fax (209) 368-6610 bpengineers.net
5
Jack M. Smith, President (209) 845-8630 muirconsulting.com
4
Zachary C. Wong (209) 476-0011 Fax (209) 476-0135 None
4
18
Muir Consulting, Inc Land Surveyors 139 Church Avenue Oakdale, CA 95361
19
Wong Engineers 4578 Feather River Drive, Ste. A Stockton, CA 95219
49 16 43 10 28 11 25 16
10
1
3
7
7
Corporate Headquarters
Modesto
Modesto
Stockton
Stockton
3
1
2
1
3
4
2
2
2
—
Year Est.
Notable Project Civil engineering and surveying California high-speed rail Urban design, civil engineering, land surveying Stanislaus County HSIP/HR3 cycle 5 Civil engineering, land surveying California Health Care Facility Phases 1 and 3 Civil engineering, structural engineering, landscape architecture, surveying and planning
1994
1969
1956
1957
California Health Care Facility Phase 2 NA North Highlands
Lodi
Manteca
Hollywood, FL
11 4
Primary Services
Ceres
Modesto
Civil engineering, land surveying Hilmar Cheese, Turlock CA Testing & inspection, geotechnical services, and environmental engineering Folsom Dam, Santa Clara square, Tracy Toyota Civil engineering and construction management Port of Stockton Navy Drive BNSF underpass Civil engineering, surveying and construction management Water resources, waste water, recycled water, storm drainage Transportation (roadways, interchanges), general civil, construction
2002
1989
1980
1997
1985
City of Manteca Atherton water storage tank and booster pump station Land planning, civil engineering and land surveying Arambel Business Park, restoration hardware distribution center Civil engineering land surveying and land planning Stanislaus County public safety center
1978
2002
Modesto
Land surveying, construction staking and civil engineering
1999
Stockton
Full service electrical engineering consulting primarily in the Central Valley
1969
Civil Geotechnical Engineering Stockton
Modesto
Fresno
Lodi
Engineering, design and construction oversight of debris flow barriers in Santa Clara Pueblo New Mexico Civil engineering and land surveying Monte Vista Crossings, South Site Shopping Center; Turlock CA Civil, Agriculture, environmental and water resources Engineering. Surveying, Hydrogeology planning and construction management services Design of app. 10,000 linear Ft of 16 “ water transmission line along Blaker Rd and Richland Ave. from Service Rd to Hatch Rd. Subdivision and commercial site design, boundary survey, construction staking, lot line adjustments and elevation certificates
1997
1957
2012
1961
Lodi Grape Bowl survey and design
Oakdale
Boundary surveys, topographic surveys, ALTA land title surveys, environmental surveys, construction staking, subdivision mapping, lot line adjustment and easements
2000
Stockton
Civil engineering and land surveying
1965
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 01/2015
February 2015
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Central Valley Business Journal
February 2015
$68 billion bullet train line breaks ground California’s bullet train project gets underway; efforts to halt it persist By ELIZABETH STEVENS Business Journal editor estevens@cvbizjournal.com
FRESNO – After nearly two decades of planning, financing and politicking, California is now home to the nation’s first high-speed rail project. A ceremonial groundbreaking in downtown Fresno on Jan. 6 marked the beginning of construction on the first leg of what will eventually be 800 miles of rail that will connect the megaregions of the state and make it possible to travel Dan Richard between San Francisco and Los Angeles in less than three hours. “We now enter a period of sustained construction on the nation’s first high-speed rail system—for the next five years in the Central Valley and for a decade after that across California,” said High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors Chairman Dan Richard. “This is an investment that will forever improve the way Californians commute, travel, and live. And today is also a celebration of the renewed spirit that built California.” During the hour-long ceremony at the site of the future high-speed rail station at G and Kern streets in downtown Fresno, representatives from the California High-Speed Rail Authority, government agencies, construction workers and Congress touted the benefits of the ambitious rail project. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, who in the 1990s wrote the legislation that created the California High-Speed Rail Authority, today called the groundbreaking a “historic event,” compared the high-speed rail project to the Transcontinental Railroad and said it would have a “profound” effect on California’s future. “Are we capable of making similar serious investments for our future?” Costa asked. “Yes, we can. And yes, we will.” According to economist Jeffrey Michael of the University of the Pacific, one of the big beneficiaries of highspeed rail could be Merced, which will be a point of interchange in the bullet train’s system. “They’ll be operating between Merced and L.A., and Merced will be the point of connection by rail for the whole Bay Area,” Michael said. “The last piece will be to go over the Pacheco and connect into San Francisco, but that piece will take five or 10 years to do, even if they do it according to
schedule. And so for a very long time, Merced’s going to be that point of rail interchange for the whole system.” The rail project has been promoted as a way to clean up California’s air, particularly in the Central Valley where environmental officials say one in five children has asthma. The electric trains are projected to reduce auto travel on the state’s roads by more than 400 billion miles of travel over the 58-year period from the start of operations in 2022 through 2080, according to the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA). The $68 billion project has also been sold as a way to provide jobs for the Central Valley where unemployment is considerably higher than other parts of the state. CHSRA said its goal is to award 30 percent of its contracts to local small businesses. One such business is Martinez Steel in Fontana, which will provide the rebar for the Madera-Fresno leg of the project. The business’s owner, Debbie Martinez, said the company expects to add as many as 80 new jobs during the contract period. “We’re proud our product will be used on the nation’s first high-speed rail project,” said Martinez. However, the Jeffrey Michael project has its critics, including a dozen protesters on the sidewalk who shouted, “Stop picking my pocket,” and carried signs that read “HSR robs Peter to pay Paul.” Many Republicans in the state and in Congress are skeptical about the viability of the project’s financing. They say its cost has ballooned and the project is not what voters agreed to finance when they approved a $10 billion bond in 2008. Central Valley Congressman Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials. He has moved to block additional federal funding of the project. California received more than $3 billion in federal stimulus money but has to spend it by September 2017. “There is simply no way the Authority will meet the 2017 deadline to spend the stimulus funding, a failure 10 years in the making,” Denham said.”It’s hard to celebrate breaking ground on what is likely to become abandoned pieces of track that never connects to a useable segment.” Pacific’s Michael said the most challenging part of the project, both in terms of financing and engineer-
ELIZABETH STEVENS/CVBJ
Backed by member of the unions building the rail system at January’s groundbreaking, Gov. Jerry Brown tells the audience the state can afford the project.
QUICK FACTS
HIGH-SPEED RAIL - BY THE NUMBERS
2029
200 mph
The year high-speed rail is expected to begin running from San Francisco to Los Angeles
Expected top speed of bullet train
81-89
$
320 billion
Estimated cost of a one-way ticket between San Francisco and Los Angeles
The number of vehicle miles high-speed rail is projected to save over 40 years
146 million
237 million
Hours in traffic high-speed rail is projected save annually
Amount of auto fuel high-speed rail is projected annually
SOURCE: California High Speed Rail Authority
ing, is the second section from Kern County to Los Angeles. But he believes there is a lot of incentive not to abandon the project. “That’s the train to nowhere scenario,” Michael said. “That would be ridiculed, so there will be a pretty heavy push to get it into the L.A. basin.” To keep the money flowing, the California Legislature approved a bill by now-Sen. Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, which will provide an estimated
$67.5 billion through cap and trade allowances. CHSRA has credited the funding with helping accelerate the high-speed rail project. “My inclination is not to spend a thing, but I like trains,” Gov. Jerry Brown, who has been a stalwart supporter of the project, told the Fresno audience. The high-speed rail project is seen as an important part of Brown’s legacy. “We can afford it. In fact, we cannot NOT afford it.”
February 2015
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High-Speed Construction Phases
SOURCE: California High Speed Rail Authority
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Central Valley Business Journal
CVBJ
ON THE JOB
February 2015
Valley architects see opportunity growing By PATRICIA REYNOLDS Business Journal writer preynolds@cvbizjournal.com
Some of the local buildings designed by the area’s architects.
BUSINESS JOURNAL PHOTOS
TURLOCK – Visitors to Turlock’s Carnegie Center of the Arts, the Stockton Airport and the Stanislaus County Office of Education in Modesto all enjoy a sampling of local architectural talent. The area’s architecture firms have resumes boasting designs that also include hospitals, fitness centers, auto dealerships, country clubs, jails and schools. With the exception of skyscrapers and perhaps large stadiums, architects here design the same variety of structures as do firms in other parts of California. “The Central Valley is a vast geographic and economic region that has provided the opportunity for architects to design a multitude of projects,” said architect Peter Rosado of LDA Partners. Located in Stockton, LDA Partners specializes in healthcare, government, education, commercial and interior designs. Some of the firm’s projects include the Stockton Golf and Country Club, the University of the Pacific Alumni House, and Lincoln High School’s press box and concession grand stand. Still, the Central Valley’s economic demographic is reflected in the number and size of the region’s architectural designs. “No matter where you live, project types are predominantly the same. However, in cities and regions with higher population and larger household incomes you will see larger and more types of projects,” Rosado said. Architecture firms serving wealthier communities are able to develop, over time, the office infrastructures capable of handling larger designs. Firms in the Central Valley, on the other hand, tend to remain small and support the types of projects more common in this area. “The Valley region’s biggest company is maybe a bit more than a dozen people.
That sized firm can handle a variety of projects but not the largest. So the people doing the new Stanislaus County Courthouse are not going to be from the Valley but may team up with a firm here to have a local presence,” said Timothy Huff, president of TPH Architects in Modesto. Two-thirds of TPH’s work Rosado is school-related. The firm has renovated campuses in Modesto, Ripon, Newman and Patterson. TPH also remodeled Modesto Toyota, while keeping the dealership open and operational throughout the project. The 80,000-square-foot new-construction job was THP’s largest to date. Regardless of where California’s architects are located and what they specialize in, all must gain years of education and experience and pass licensing exams in order to practice. According to the California Architects Board, there are 21,000 licensed architects in the state and 11,000 candidates in process. Prospective architects must verify five years of education, three years of intern experience and pass both national and state exams. “The most common path is to first obtain an accredited degree. There are two primary educational routes. One is offered at both Cal Poly campuses and the other at Cal Berkeley,” said Doug Davis, principal architect of WMB Architects, also located in Stockton. California Polytechnic State University’s architecture program is a five-year first professional degree accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). The University of California, Berkeley’s bachPlease see ARCHITECT Page 27
QUICK FACTS
Career Outlook Median pay (2012) …….. $73,090 per year/$35.14 per hour Entry level education ….........………...… Bachelor’s degree Work experience in related field ................................… None On the job training ……....………….... Internship/residency Number of jobs (2012) ….........................…………. 107,400 Job outlook (2012-22) ……......… 17% (Faster than average) Job change projection (2012-22) ….......... 18,600 jobs added SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2014-15 Edition
February 2015
CVBJ
LODI Continued from Page 21
To keep Klinker Brick wine tasters well-fed, Lodi’s Tin Roof BBQ and Catering will sell chocolate tri-tip chili and other barbecue choices, such as pulled pork, during the event. While it has been difficult to measure, wineries believe the Wine and Chocolate Weekend has been successful in spreading the word about Lodi wine. “Most people are coming from a 90-
CVBJ
27
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mile radius, but we see some coming from Canada and back east. People knowing more about wines are visiting and they recognize that we are a wine region,” Felten-Jolley said. Over the past seven to eight years, the area also has become more popular with younger wine enthusiasts, and a growing number of visitors are between 25 and 30 years old. “In the earlier years of the event, older people were not as educated in the region itself. Visitors come now for the love of the wine and are more knowledgeable about Lodi and what
Lodi has to offer,” said Felten-Jolley. The Lodi Wine and Chocolate Weekend also has earned participating wineries the huge benefit of repeat business. “We have seen that people who first come into the area for the Wine and Chocolate Weekend will come back at a later date to enjoy a more intimate face-to-face experience at the winery,” said Jenise Vierra, who owns St. Jorge Winery with her husband, Vern. During this year’s event, St. Jorge will feature Portuguese fare such as imported Topo cheese, Portuguese sweet
ARCHITECT
- MATAGA OF STOCKTON -
Love
Continued from Page 26
elor’s program is a pre-professional degree and enables students to then enter the Masters of Architecture program. San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton offers a third local educational option with an Associates of Science degree program in architectural drafting. “I’m a product of Lincoln High School and Delta College before I transferred to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo to earn my Bachelor of Architecture degree,” Rosado said With degree in hand, prospective architects must then complete a formal internship under the guidelines of the Internship Development Program (IDP) administered by the National Council of Architectural Resource Boards (NCARB). “WMB or any firm that recruits current students or recent graduates typically offers support for IDP. We generally recruit out of Cal Poly and the University of Oregon. I meet with each intern on a quarterly basis to assess their progress because interns have to log hours and make progress in different categories of architecture,” said Davis. WMB’s projects include Stockton’s Bob Hope Theater, large fitness centers in Sacramento and Brentwood, and several religious structures. In additional to post-degree internships, the firm hires students during their breaks from college as well. “We feel early internships during school are our best recruitment tools because we get to know them, their work ethic and habits, and they get to know us as well,” Davis said. For students interested in the profession, business in the field seems to be on the upswing. “In the last two years we have experienced a 20 percent increase over the previous five years. That’s a good sign. With the projects we have in the pipeline, it looks like next year will be positive,” said Huff. While architects enjoy success, the job is also about fulfillment. “You don’t get into the field purely for the money. You can take an eight-year investment of time and do something else to make more money. But it’s different with architects,” Davis said. “It’s the type of profession where you will see students spend an insane amount of time in design labs because they want to satisfy themselves with their design and not be worried about the grade.”
bread and “pigs in the mud” paired with their Verdelho White, Tempranillo and zinfandel wine selections. According to Vierra, “pigs in the mud” consists of linguica sausage in chocolate and is actually quite tasty. The Wine and Chocolate Weekend is expected to benefit more than just the area’s wineries. “The event does expose us. It’s a good way for all of Lodi to gain business since people attending the event visit wineries, stay in local hotels and eat dinner out. It benefits the entire region,” Vierra said.
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Central Valley Business Journal
February 2015
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE FIRMS
In San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. Ranked by Total Local Licensed Staff. Ties are Ranked in Alphabetical Order. Industrial Leasing
Industrial Sales
Commercial Leasing
Commercial Sales
Retail Leasing
Retail Sales
20 2
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
1947 Modesto, Calif.
16 2
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
1993/2009 Modesto, Calif. Commercial property & asset management, receivership services
12 2
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
1965 Newark, NJ
Total Local Licensed Staff Local Phone Number of Web Address Local Offices
Duke Leffler, SIOR, President (209) 527-5640 pmzcommercial.com shackett@pmz.com Joe Muratore,Principal Ryan Swehla,Principal Kevin Dougherty,Principal (209) 576-2240 naibenchmark.com Craig C. Lewis, CEO (209) 529-9610 prucommercialre.com Mike Goldstein, SIOR, Managing Partner (209) 475-5106 colliers.com David Brennan, Senior Managing Director (209) 473-7800 cbre.com Tom Davis, President (209) 983-1111 lee-associates.com
1
PMZ Commercial 1120 Scenic Drive Modesto, CA 95350
2
NAIBenchmark 1031 15th Street, Ste. 4, Modesto, CA 95354 2920 Pacific Avenue, Stockton, CA 95204
3
Prudential Commercial Real Estate 1101 Sylvan Avenue, Ste. A-25 Modesto, CA 95350
4
Colliers International 3439 Brookside Road, Ste. 108 Stockton, CA 95219
5
CBRE, Inc. 1776 W. March Lane, Ste. 170 Stockton, CA 95207
6
Lee & Associates 241 Frank West Circle, Ste. 300 Stockton, CA 95206
7
Commercial Real Estate Investors 151 N. California Avenue Oakdale, CA 95361
Steve Vella, Director (209) 845-3836 cricommercial.com
7 1
8
Cornerstone Real Estate Group 1919 Grand Canal Blvd., Ste. C-6 Stockton, CA 95207
Randy Thomas, Broker (209) 955-2022 sellingstockton.com
6 1
9
Northgate Commercial 6506 Pacific Avenue Stockton, CA 95207
Xavier Santana (209) 477-4400 NORTHGATECRE.com
6 1
10
ProLogis 17284 W. Commerce Way Tracy, CA 95377
Ryan George, First VP (209) 839-0209 prologis.com
3 1
11
Rand Commercial Properties 1718 H Street Modesto, CA 95354
Richard Rand, Owner (209) 577-0484 racps.com
5 1
12 13 14 15
16
17 18 19 20 21
Souza Realty & Development 105 E. 10th Street Tracy, CA 95376 Stone Bros. Management 5756 Pacific Avenue, Ste. 220 Stockton, CA 95207 CoSoL Commercial Real Estate 2020 Standiford Avenue, Bldg. A Modesto, CA 95350 Brekke Real Estate 1500 Standiford Ave., Bldg. D Modesto, CA 95350 RT Yee & Associates 4118 Fort Donelson Drive Stockton, CA 95219 4850 Verena Lane Sacramento, CA 95835 Tahoe Group, Inc. 1919 Grand Canal Blvd., #B7 Stockton, CA 95207 Velthoen Associates Commercial Brokers 300 Banner Court, Ste. 1 Modesto, CA 95356 ARS Commercial aka Albert Realty Services, Inc. 503 W. Larch Road, Ste. D Tracy, CA 95304 Buzz Oates Real Estate 2385 Arch Airport Road, Ste. 100 Stockton, CA 95206 Cort Companies 343 E. Main Street, 10th Floor Stockton, CA 95202
Anthony F. Souza, President (209) 835-8330 souzard.com John Godi, GM (209) 478-1791 stonebrosmgmt.com Thomas Solomon (209) 521-1591 cosol.net Randy Brekke, President (209) 571-7230 brekkere.com Diane Correia, Agent Rita Somera, Agent Suzanne Stone, Agent (209) 473-3799 Lisa Hill, Broker (209) 951-9451 tahoegroup.com Brian Velthoen, CCIM, President (209) 575-3800 vacb.com Jacqueline Turney, President (209) 836-9492 arscommercial.com Lesa Stewart (209) 982-1200 buzzoates.com Dan Cort, President/CEO (209) 235-5222 cortco.com
Financing
Address
Top Local Executive
Appraisals
Rank
Company Name
Investments
Services: Year Established Company Headquarters Other Services
11 1
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
1999 San Jose, Calif. Property management
9 1
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
1988 Torrance, Calif. Asset services, project management
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
1993 Stockton, Calif.
X
2007 Oakdale, Calif Brokerage forecasting, real estate investments for communities and agricultural lands
8 1
6 1
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
1996 Stockton, Calif. Real estate sales 2012 Stockton, Calif. Real estate sales, tenant representation, property management 2004 San Francisco, Calif.
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
2005 Modesto, Calif. Property management 1984 Tracy, Calif. Consulting, ranch and land sales 1948 Stockton, Calif. Property management
6 1
X
5 1
X
X
X
X
1984 Modesto, Calif.
5 1 4 2 4 1
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
1996 Modesto, Calif. Property management and fee development services
X
X
X
X
X
X
1998 Sacramento, Calif.
X
X
X
X
X
4 1
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
2 1
X
X
X
X
X
2 2
X
X
X
X
X
3 1
X
X
X
2007 Stockton, Calif. Residential sales an leasing, property management 1986 Modesto, Calif. Asset management and property management 1992 Tracy, Calif. Management 1996 Sacramento, Calif.
X
X
1979 Stockton, Calif.
1986 Stockton, Calif Property inspection and management, commercial and residential 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 01/2015 22
Romero Management Services Inc. 5613 Tamworth Way Stockton, CA 95207
Robert Romero (209) 951-5090 romeromgmtservices.com
1 1
X
X
X
X
February 2015
29
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gateway to the bay
Prologis INTERNATIONAL PARK OF COMMERCE TRACY, CA Scan with QR code reader to view animation
3D
VIDEO
www.PrologisIPC.com Exclusively represented by Colliers International. For more info, contact: Mike Goldstein, SIOR Gregory O’Leary, SIOR Greig Lagomarsino, SIOR +1 209 475 5106
The Central Valley has long been supporting the Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay Area as leaders in the future of technology and innovation. Many of the world’s largest high tech corporations, thousands of startup companies, and numerous businesses are headquartered right here in our backyard. With the market on an upturn, expanding companies are outgrowing their space and looking to relocate. Prologis International Park of Commerce is strategically positioned to connect our area’s thriving business climate to a sophisticated transportation hub in Tracy, CA. The first building of this fully entitled, master-planned park will be delivered Summer 2015, and offers 1,001,378 square feet, 40’ clear height, and extended truck staging lanes. International Park of Commerce is an optimal location for logistics and distribution, e-commerce fulfillment, high technology manufacturing, and food and beverage manufacturing. To learn more about Central Valley’s newest development, visit www.PrologisIPC.com.
FORGING A NEW DIRECTION
®
30
Central Valley Business Journal
CVBJ
February 2015
FOCUS: NON-PROFIT
Foundation provides businesses with easy philanthropic tools By NORA HESTON TARTE Business Journal writer nhestontarte@cvbizjournal.com
MODESTO – When Modesto businessman Carl Boyett was looking for a way to organize his fundraising efforts, he turned to the Stanislaus Community Foundation. “It’s a very interesting concept,” Boyett said. “It’s just an easier way to handle [charitable efforts].” As CEO of Boyett Petroleum, he created a corporate-advised donor fund with the Stanislaus Community Foundation (SCF). The fund streamlines the philanthropic efforts of his company’s sponsored golf tournament, which allows him to underwrite the event so all the proceeds benefit the fund. In 2015, that fund is expected to reach $1 million, 10 percent of which will be donated to charitable efforts for disadvantaged youth, Boyett said. The rest of the money will stay in the fund and SCF’s team of investment advisers will
grow it through investments to increase donation potential for the following year. ”They have an investment committee that invests the money and tries to maximize the return on it so I can give them the money and know it is going to make money,” Boyett said. The Stanislaus Community Foundation was organized in 2002 as an independent, 501(c)3 public charity. Over the past 12 years it has granted more than $10 million to nonprofits and scholarship recipients in Stanislaus County. It now has more than 100 charitable funds and totals more than $18 million in assets. The foundation’s CEO Marian Kaanon said SCF’s purpose is to keep money in Stanislaus County and to transform the community. “Every day we’re investing in our region,” Kaanon said. The foundation is in the top 5 percent among community foundations in the United States that house less than $25 million in investments, according to Kaanon. While 700 community founda-
MARK RICHEY/CVBJ
Donor Services Coordinator Ruhi Sheikh, CEO Marian Kaanon, Program Officer Amanda Hughes and Controller Doris Daniel-Brima work behind the scenes at the Stanislaus Community Foundation to help businesses maximize their philanthropic efforts.
tions exist around the country, SCF is the only one that operates in this area. SCF handles corporate philanthropic efforts so business owners can focus on running their businesses, but Kaanon said clients can be as involved in the management of their accounts as they wish. The foundation alleviates donor fatigue by personalizing donation strategies for clients and advising investments. Donors are welcome to change
their fund’s direction at any time. Donor-advised funds, such as the one Boyett set up, are the broadest funds – and the fastest growing. “[They are] broadly focused and rely on the donor’s goals. Donors do not have to specify a charity or a field of interest,” Kaanon explained. Boyett said he likes the model because Please see FOUNDATION Page 31
Presented by
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February 2015
31
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Central Valley Community Bank hires Ford as new CEO FRESNO – James M. Ford became president and chief executive officer for Central Valley Community Bankcorp., the parent company of Central Valley Community Bank, Feb. 1, the company announced. Ford replaces Daniel J. Doyle as CEO, but Doyle will continue to serve on the company’s Board of Directors and as the bank’s chairman of the board. Ford was hired in 2014 to replace Doyle and has slowly been transition-
CVBJ
ing into the role of president and CEO. Ford has been working as president. The role of CEO was added to his title as of Feb. 1. “We wanted to make sure our customers, employees and the community was comfortable with the change given that I’m only the third CEO for this company,” Ford said in a telephone interview in late January. The bank is headquartered in Fresno but has branches in Stockton,
FOUNDATION
Modesto, Tracy, Lodi and Merced. Ford has 34 years of experience in the banking industry and is no stranger to the Stockton area. He was an executive at Union Safe Deposit Bank from 1997-2005. Most recently, Ford was president and CEO of PremierWest Bancorp in Medford, Ore. Ford said his main concern was to the make sure the bank keeps up with new products and services,
and stays on top of cyber security and innovations in online banking to stay relevant to its customers. “If we’re not relevant, we’re not going to have customers,” Ford said.
Ford
FEBRUARY IS HEART HEALTH MONTH
Continued from Page 30
instead of simply giving an annual monetary gift to an organization of his choosing, he is able to grow his investments and essentially save money for his supported groups, donating large chunks to fund specific projects and scholarships. Boyett operates two additional funds through SCF. One helps the community parks and recreation district to build and improve parks, including Modesto’s first dog park. The other is a general family fund that benefits the arts. Under a donor-advised fund, a donor -- a business, family or individual -puts cash into a fund. That investment is then managed by SCF and money is available to be granted to charities at the fund owner’s discretion. Those types of funds are often used as alternatives to private foundations. Businesses benefit from investing through SCF because they are working with a nonprofit and donating to other nonprofits, which allows them to take a tax deduction while growing their assets through an investment portfolio. What Kaanon calls “organized approach to giving” makes business owners more efficient and savvy while benefitting from the foundation’s expertise, she said. SCF operates many types of funds: unrestricted funds, field of interest funds, scholarship funds, designated funds and agency funds. Of those funds, approximately 30 percent are donoradvised funds and of that 30 percent, 10 percent are created by companies. SCF focuses its own charitable efforts on raising third-grade reading levels because studies show that children who can’t read by the third grade have increased risk for teen pregnancy and incarceration rates. According to Kaanon, 60 percent of third grade students in Stanislaus County do not read at grade level. SCF aims to change that statistic through charitable contributions to local libraries, the County Office of Education and the Headstart program. SCF also supports the First Five initiative, which educates parents, teachers and caregivers on health and nutrition, early literacy and language development, quality child care and smoking cessation. SCF is located at 1029 16th St. in downtown Modesto. You can learn more about the foundation at its website at www. stanislauscommunityfoundation.org.
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Exercising at least 5 days a week Maintaining a healthy weight Eating a healthy diet
• •
Not smoking Limiting alcohol intake
•
Checking blood pressure regularly
For physician referral call 888-284-6641, or to find out your risk for heart disease, visit valleyheartinstitute.com
32
Central Valley Business Journal
February 2015
COMMERCIAL BUILDING CONTRACTORS
In San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. Ranked by Total Number of Local Employees. Ties are Listed in Alphabetical Order.
Rank
Company Name Address
Total sq ft of all commercial Total Number projects started in Local Phone of Local 2014 or number Employees of units started in Web Address 2014
Top Local Executive
Percentage of projects classified as: Industrial Office Retail
Apartments Other
Year Established Locally Headquarters
1
Diede Construction, Inc. 12393 N. Hwy. 99 Lodi, CA 95240
Steven Diede (209) 369-8255 diedeconstruction.com
140
40 projects
10% 3% 4%
0% 75%
1978 Lodi
2
Simile Construction Service, Inc. 4725 Enterprise Way, Ste. 1 Modesto, CA 95356
Guy Simile President (209) 545-6111 simileconstruction.com
84
454,000
0% 10% 70%
0% 20% (auto dealerships)
2000 Modesto
3
Meehleis Modular Buildings 1303 E. Lodi Avenue Lodi, CA 95240
Bill Meehleis, Chris Meehleis Owners (209) 334-4637 meehleis.com
67
480,000
10% 05% 0%
0% 85%
1986 Lodi
4
Huff Construction Company, Inc. 4917 Stoddard Road Modesto, CA 95356
Gary Huff, CEO (209) 545-7505 huffcon.com
40
NA
NA
NA
1971 Modesto
5
Patriot Construction. Inc. 4646 Quantas Lane, Ste. B-4 Stockton, Ca 95206
Christopher Cotta President/CEO (209) 982-9900 patriotbuilds.com
30
60,000
20% 0% 0%
0% 80% (federal government)
2008 Stockton
6
Roland Construction, Inc. PO Box 8670 Stockton, CA 95208
Jim Hoagland Presedent (209) 462-2687 rolandconst.com
28
322,000
40% 10% 0%
0% 50%
1986 Stockton
7
CMC - Construction Management Corporation 627 Bitritto Court Modesto, CA 95356
Bruce Russo President (209) 574-1300 constmgmtcorp.com
10
150,000
0% 10% 10%
0% 80% Medical
1995 Modesto
8
DeGraff Development, Inc. 538 S. Fifth Avenue Oakdale, CA 95361
Chad DeGraff President (209) 847-2563 degraffdevelopment.com
14
203,953
50% 10% 10%
0% 30%
1985 Oakdale
9
Hanley Construction PO BOX 808 Stockton, CA 95201
Jim Hanley President (209) 462-2446 hanleyco.com
12
22,000
0% 65% 15%
0% 20%
1954 Stockton
10
Bob Leonard & Associates 1325 El Pinal Drive, D-4 Stockton, CA 95205
Bob Leonard Owner (209) 931-4625 bob-leonard.com
12
6 Units
30% 30% 40%
0% 0%
1977 Stockton
11
Steel Blue Corporation 1919 Grand Canal Boulevard, B-5 Stockton, CA 95207
Greg Murphy (209) 951-9451 tahoegroup.com
10
Call for info
0% 25% 25%
0% 0%
2010 Stockton
12
Souza Development Inc. 105 E. 10th Street Tracy, CA 95376
Mike Souza V.P. Development (209) 835-8330 souzard.com
6
Call for info
50% 20% 30%
0% 0%
1988 Tracy
55 *
1.5 Million * May reflect other Counties
80% * 5% * 15% *
0% 0%
1960s Sacramento
13
The Buzz Oates Group of Companies 2385 Arch Airport Road, Ste. 100 Stockton, CA 95206 8615 Elder Creek Road Sacramento, CA 95828
Larry Allbaugh CEO (209) 982-1200 (916) 379-3800 buzzoates.com
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 01/2015
February 2015
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THE CENTRAL VALLEY’S MOST VALUABLE BUSINESS REFERENCE GUIDE
2014 Book of Lists is arriving soon! Purchase our $50 Book of Lists today and receive 12 issues of the Central Valley Business Journal. If you would like to be featured in the next Book of Lists, reserve placement across from your business industry list and ensure your customers will see you first! To receive a subscription, email subscriptions@cvbizjournal.com or call 209.477.0100 and ask for Danette
Book of Lists
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33
34
Central Valley Business Journal
February 2015
Restoring USS Lucid Students build their own future while embracing the past on ship project By CRAIG W. ANDERSON Business Journal writer canderson@cvbizjournal.com
STOCKTON – At first, restoring the USS Lucid may have seemed like a mad dream. After all, it’s an all-wood, 60-year-old minesweeper, 171-feet long and weighing 775 tons. Who thought transforming the decrepit boat into a maritime museum on the Stockton waterfront would be doable? However, with significant help from San Joaquin County Building Futures Academy students, the Lucid’s restoration has made remarkable progress. “When the Lucid Maritime Museum is downtown on the waterfront near Weber’s Point, it will be a spectacular addition and a major attraction,” said John Van Huystee, a general contractor who is the students’ instructor and the Maritime Museum’s first paid employee. “And all these great people and students who’ve worked on it will be part of something entirely unique in the world.” The project began in March 2012. Since then, crews have restored the galley, the crew’s mess and battle dressing station, the top level pas-
sageway, CPO quarters, bunk area and officers’ wardroom. The porthole covers have been cleaned and polished. Electrical wiring has been installed in many areas. Holes have been patched in the decks, walls and bottom of ship. The septic tank has been installed beneath the stern deck. If the project keeps its current pace, it will be finished sometime in 2017. The Building Futures Academy (BFA) teaches construction skills through a grant-funded national program, which San Joaquin County Superintendent James Mousalimas calls “one of the best in the nation.” Between 100 and 140 students are enrolled with about that many on a waiting list. In addition to helping students complete high school, the program also helps them make contacts with unions and businesses. Many BFA students have become union apprentices after finishing the program. Mousalimas said the Lucid project was a perfect fit for the academy. “It’s essentially an all-wood ship,” Mousalimas explained. “That’s why we became involved. The students working on it are learning wood-
Work began on the USS Lucid in March 2012 and is expected to be finished in 2017.
BUSINESS JOURNAL PHOTO
Monica Cortez BFA student painting in “her” room aboard the USS Lucid. She’s prepared, primed and painted the room as part of restoring the minesweeper and turning it into a maritime museum.
working, painting preparation, construction methods, handling tools, safety measures, and continuing their commitment to hard work and doing a good job under the guidance of a contractor.” Please see LUCID Page 46
PHOTO COURTESY LUCID MARITIME MUSEUM
Doctor focuses on keeping workers healthy By KENT HOHLFELD Business Journal writer khohlfeld@cvbizjournal.com
STOCKTON – Providing a safe work place is one of the most important and often most challenging parts of operating a business. “Things as simple as lifting techniques can make a big difference (in reducing injuries),” said Co Occupational Medical Partners Director of Marketing Carol Brehmer. “The size and shape of containers being worked
with, all of those things need to be looked at.” Dr. Johnston Co, owner and physician at Co Occupational Medical Partners, helps businesses deal with what can be a morass of workplace safety laws and workers compensation claims. Originally, Co’s business operated as a department at St. Joseph’s Medical Center. It has operated as an independent business since 2012 and has offices in Stockton and Manteca. It opened a new office in Tracy in January.
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“This is a very positive area of medical care,” said Co. “This is about making sure that people are healthier. This is where medicine meets the workplace.” Co and his colleagues often do worksite evaluations to help identify areas that could cause injuries to employees. They also provide flu shots, physicals and new-hire drug screenings. The largest percentage of Occupational Medical Partners’ patients come from workers compensation claims. “It varies, but about 70 percent of our patients come from workers compensation,” Co said. Brehmer said that having a physician that can navigate laws governing such claims can be a big help. “I think it would be a challenge for those who aren’t used to working within the workers compensation system like Dr. Co is,” she said. Co has been working in the field of occupational medicine since 1993. He started his practice in the Los Angeles area before moving to the Central Valley in 2006. “It’s a little less adversarial here between employees and employers,” he said. “Down in L.A., there was a lot more suspicion between the employer and the employee: that the employee was faking or that the the employers were trying to pull something.”
Another difference is the workforce that Co and his colleagues deal with. “The kind of workforce is also different,” he said. “Here you have more logistics (warehouses/product fulfillment centers) and agriculture. You have different injuries -- muscular, skeletal and exposures to things like pesticides.” A lot of potential costs to employers and injuries to employees can be avoided through proper workplace design and training, Co said. “He has been helpful in helping us provide injury prevention programs,” said Dawn Bacon, manager of employee health and workers comp and infection control for St. Joseph’s Medical Center. “If he sees something like a workstation design that might be causing an injury, he will talk to our people about how to change that.” Once injuries do occur, having good communication among the doctor, employee and employer can be a big step in helping get the patient healthy and back to work quickly. “It’s very important to us that our employees feel they are being taken seriously and that their concerns are being taken seriously,” said Bacon. “Their communication is excellent.”
February 2015
35
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Business Journal Community Voices CENTRAL VALLEY
Deflation: When falling prices are a bad thing If you were at the San Joaquin Hispanic Chamber’s Business Forecast breakfast, you heard the Bank of the West’s Chief Economist Scott Anderson say that while the economy is slowly but steadily improving in the United States, a black cloud is forming over Europe. The fear is that Europe’s economy is on the brink of a deflationJohn Anderson ary spiral that Construction could linger as long as 10 Industry Consultant years. Economists say it gravely threatens the decade-long growing standards of living. In January, prices in the eurozone were down 0.6 percent from January 2013, according to the BBC. Energy prices dropped 8.9 percent in January. The last time Europe saw prices drop like this was in July 2009 during the recession.
Big Picture
Last October the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, pointedly warned that the eurozone could fall back into recession if action was not taken to prevent it. In mid-January, the European Central Bank finally launched a big program of quantitative easing (QE), creating money to buy financial assets, in order to fight the eurozone’s slide toward deflation. The fear is that it won’t be enough to repair the damaged eurozone economy. The plan to create more growth will not be achieved by writing checks. As we said, at the heart of Europe’s problems is deflation, a general drop in the price of goods and services. While many of us who lived through the ‘70s have been brought up to fear inflation, deflation in some ways is even worse for the economy. Deflation means the euro is devalued. In fact, compared to the British pound, one euro is worth just around £0.80, which creates a worry for the European Central Bank, European Commission and the European Parliament which legislates the 18 eurozone nations.
Deflation is occurring in Europe because eurozone economies are crashing, particularly in Greece and Cyprus. The euro is not sustainable as a combined currency. The idea of connecting the European currencies in order to build security and limit currency fluctuations started after World War II, continued through the ‘70s and finally, Europe is seeing the result. America, on the other hand, has regained substantial economic milestones after suffering near financial disaster. A rally in 2015 would mark the seventh consecutive year of gains for the S&P 500, which would be a first. Since 1928, the S&P 500 has only rallied more than that twice (eight years from 1982 - 1989 and nine years from 1991-1999). It’s estimated and expected that 2015 will produce earnings growth of 10 percent. Here are expectations for 2.15: • U.S.: +3.2 percent economic growth • China: +6.8 percent focusing on quality of growth • Euro Zone: +1.2 percent slow recovery continuing • Japan: +1.2 percent (with economic policy failing?)
INSTITUTE FOR FAMILY BUSINESS
Global growth is expected to accelerate to 3.8 percent in 2015 from 3.3 percent in 2014. After considering policies and economic forecasts, coupled with growing reality that “we are all in this together,” it appears United States has a green arrow pointing upward while other countries will continue struggling to right there economies for many, many years.
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BUSINESS JOURNAL PHOTO
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36
Central Valley Business Journal
February 2015
ARCHITECTURAL & BUILDING DESIGN FIRMS In San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. Ranked by Local Licensed Architects. Ties are Listed in Alphabetical Order. Rank
Company Name Address
1
WMB Architects, Inc. 5757 Pacific Avenue, Ste. 226 Stockton, CA 95207
2
LDA Partners, LLP 4 S. Central Court Stockton, CA 95204
3
Architechnica 555 W. Benjamin Holt Drive Ste. 423 Stockton, CA 95207
4
Derivi Construction & Architecture, Inc. 924 N. Yosemite Street Stockton, CA 95203
5
TPH Architects 519 McHenry Avenue Modesto, CA 95354
6
API 4335-B North Star Way Modesto, CA 95356
7
Pires, Lipomi, Navarro Architects 1720 G Street Modesto, CA 95354
8
Della Monica Snyder Architects 212 W. Pine Street, Ste. 1 Lodi, CA 95240
9
San Joaquin Design Group 7877 N. Pershing Avenue Stockton, CA 95207
10
Chris Schrimpl Architectural Corp. 3350 Deer Park Drive, Ste. E Stockton, CA 95219
11
DL Smith Design Studio, Inc. 918 13th Street, Ste. D Modesto, CA 95354
12
L Street Architects 1414 L Street Modesto, CA 95354
13
Pacific Design Associates, Inc. 1218 K Street Modesto, CA 95354
13
Wilson Architecture, Inc. 609 15th Street Modesto, CA 95354
14
Yoshino/Shaw Architects 1016 N. Golden State Boulevard Ste. A Turlock, CA 95380
Top Local Executive
Number Services or Specialties of Local Total Primary Local Phone Licensed Staff -Notable Local Project Web Address Architects
Thomas Bowe President (209) 944-9110 wmbarchitects.com
6
Mark C. Holley, AIA, Managing Partner (209) 952-5850 architechnica.net
4
11
16
9
Timothy P. Huff, AIA (209) 571-2232 timhuffaia.com
4
11
Bill Johnston Jim Tibbens (209) 478-4013 None
3
12
3
10
2
2
3
2
Dennis L. Smith (209) 579-7208 dlsmithdesignstudio.com
1
3
Robert DeGrasse, AIA President (209) 575-1415 lstreetarchitects.com
1
4
Jim Shaw Architect and Owner (209) 667-2603 yoshinoshaw-architects.com
Full architectural services, LEED consulting and interior design
Master planning, historic restoration and construction administration
1979
Full project and construction management
1979
LEED & BIM consulting
1979
Structural Engineering
1988
Planning
1982
Sustainable design, facility master planning, BIM Modeling, 3=D rendering, construction administration
2012
Planning, Master planning and Re-stabilizing
1995
Brookside Elementary School and Edison High School master plan up grades Architecture, landscape architecture and interior design Humphreys College main campus expansion and CHCF central utilities plant in Stockton K-12 education, commercial construction Modesto Toyota renovation/expansion Commercial, office, retail, multi-family housing and custom residential
Architectural design, planning, healthcare design, commercial and civic design, medical office buildings, retail design Beckwith Veterinary Hospital, Modesto
1
Norman E. Wilson President and CEO (209) 577-0114 None
1971
In Shape health clubs
Chris Schrimpl Architect (209) 956-4566 cschrimplarch@aol.com
Donald Phillips President (209) 577-2288 pacdesign-aia.com
Accessibility compliance
Public school design 7
4
Thomas Snyder John Della Monica (209) 367-0296 None
Stockton Collegiate downtown Stockton, Carnegie Arts Center in Turlock
Stockton Golf & Country Club
Linda Derivi President (209) 462-2873 dcaaia.com
Mike Navarro, AIA,LEED AP (209) 522-8900 plnarchitects.com
Year Est.
Architecture, master planning and interiors 6
Brent Lesovsky, AIA, Partner (209) 943-0405 ldapartners.com
Frank C. Boots President (209) 577-4661 apiarc.com
Other Services Provided
3
Commercial, residential and medical architectural services Delta Blood Bank of Sonora and Delta Blood Bank of Stockton
Residential-design and remodeling and commercial design Structural engineering Woodbridge Irrigation District offices Custom residential new homes, remodels and additions Many custom homes in Brookside Estates
1
4
Architecture and planning MarketPlace and UC Merced Commercial, industrial, retail, food service and more
Architecture, space planning, interiors and site planning Del Rio Country Club and Galletto’s
1989
Commercial tenant improvements
1992
Commercial tenant improvements
2007
NA
1987
Construction estimating and construction management
1979
NA
1980
Interior design and color consulting
1976
Commercial, industrial, hospital, educational and residential 1
1
5
2
3 story (51,000 sf) medical building at Oak Valley Hospital campus 26,975 sf nut processing building in Turlock Architectural design services, construction administration and master planning Patterson City Hall, Dust Bowl Tap Room and Turlock Funeral Home
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 01/2015
February 2015
37
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Design for
Education, Business & Life
Timothy Huff, AIA Larry Bell, AIA John Hedlund, AIA Jeff Morris, AIA Andrew Huff, PE
TPH ARCHITECTS 519 McHenry Avenue, Modesto, CA 95354 Tel: 209.571.2232 | Fax: 209.571.1936 www.timhuffaia.com Email: thuff@tpharch.com
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Central Valley Business Journal
February 2015
Bullet trains and housing How high-speed rail could affect housing in the Central Valley With the Jan. 6 groundbreaking in Fresno for California’s high-speed rail project and the success of the Altamont Corridor Express, it seems rail systems are taking center stage in the Central Valley, albeit with cheers and jeers from both sides. The debate rages around concerns over noise as well as business and traffic disruption from construction. Proponents point Michael Blower to positive envi2015 President, ronmental impact Central Valley and economic Assoc. of Realtors growth through job opportunities and increased visitors in cities with rail stations. What all can agree on is that the $68 billion high-speed rail project will impact numerous areas, including a direct – as well as a peripheral – effect on the real estate market. Directly, construction will present challenges for property owners who
Bringing it home
are considering selling their homes. Buyers with a long-range view will find the best opportunities to pick up reasonably priced, or even underpriced, properties that will considerably appreciate down the road when the project is finished. However, with the earliest expected completion date of 2022, homeowners may need to hold onto their property for several more years to enjoy a return on their investment. Indirectly, the real estate market will benefit from the uptick in jobs related to construction and new business moving into the market in anticipation of the new rail line. This means greater demand for homes and rental properties that can have a positive impact on pricing. A study entitled “The Economic Impact of the California High-Speed Rail in the Sacramento/Central Valley Area” conducted by economist Shawn Kantor of the University of California, Merced, delves into the implications for California real estate in areas connected to the project. According to Kantor, with Merced and San Joaquin counties expected to grow in population by more than 80 percent over the next 20 years, Merced would benefit most from the high-
PHOTO COURTESY CALIFORNIA HIGH-SPEED RAIL AUTHORITY
Artists’ rendering of what the High-Speed Rail station in Fresno may look like.
speed rail project, as its population will increase 5 percent as a result of the train’s introduction. Kantor also points to research that consistently shows that houses in areas with better schools, better weather, more community amenities or better access to transportation systems tend to command higher prices. Highspeed rail’s ability to reduce travel or commuting times, as well as costs, and its ability to open up Central Valley communities to wider economic markets, means more people will be drawn
to these communities and demand for housing would be expected to go up. The result: higher property values and a boom market for sellers. While it’s hard to predict whether the impact of this particular project will be mostly favorable, one can look at regions where high-speed rail has been operating long enough to have a literal track record. In China, bullet trains have proven to have a positive effect, triggering real estate booms for Please see BRINGING IT HOME Page 46
Manage properties as if they’re always for sale It’s a great time to be a seller of commercial real estate (CRE). As all the sectors (retail, office, industrial, and multifamily) continue to improve, investors have an increasingly positive outlook for the future. With few income-producing properties available for sale in our market, and continued historically low interest rates, the regional demand for commercial real estate investment properties continues to build. In addition, there’s an enormous amount of institutional capital that’s been earmarked for CRE. Finally, capitalization rates, the ratio of net operating income to capital cost, are by traditional standards in most markets relatively low, which reduces investment risk. Add to this the fact that the IRS permits 1031 exchanges (a means of swapping properties among multiple parties which greatly expands flexibility and can defer taxes) and conditions overall become extraordinary. So what steps should would-be sellers be taking to maximize their property’s sales value? As it turns out, there are many. But the trouble is that if sellers wait until just now to take such steps, they’re probably too late. The basics of valuation The fact is, you can’t wait until it’s time to sell to address the drivers of property valuation. Instead, you need
to proactively and systematically optimize individual property and overall portfolio value at all times. Start with the basics: location matters. So does overall architectural desirability and property condition. The first step in ongoing property and portfolio optimization is to make sound decisions in areas such as initial acquisition and ongoing maintenance. Ryan Swehla Maintenance is particularly criti- Principal, NAI Benchmark cal, as you don’t First Commercial want to create a reason for a valued tenant not to renew. Another way to optimize valuation is to continuously evaluate how a property is being financed. We recommend constant communication with a sophisticated mortgage expert to conduct quarterly or semiannual reviews of property financing. Even minor improvements to a financing can significantly improve cash flow and value. The one caveat here is to be aware of potential covenants, such as a prepay-
Business Space
ment penalty, that might be triggered in a sale. If you’re proactively looking to sell, look carefully at financing terms or hold off on refinancing. “Be sure your financing reflects your investment strategy for a given property,” says Robert Daneke, Delta Bank’s credit administrator. “If you have a long-term hold strategy, then you may be more open to restrictive loan covenants that can reduce financing costs. If you have a shorter horizon, then flexibility in financing may be a primary driver.” David Quinonez, vice president with NAI Benchmark observes, “If an owner secures assumable long term financing at favorable rates, this can become a major selling point as interest rates rise in the future.” Retain those tenants Owners need to keep their buildings occupied. The loss of any tenant can lead to significant expenses including lost rental income, new tenant build-out allowances and brokerage commissions, to name just a few. In general, higher renewal rates translate into more secure cash flow and higher valuations. So one of the most important steps to optimizing the value of any CRE portfolio is to build and maintain a robust tenant retention program. Key components of such a program include: • Identifying “most valuable” tenants Some tenants are just more valuable
than others. It could be their sheer size in relation to the rest of the portfolio – their failure to renew represents too great a risk to cash flow and value. It could be that they are less cost sensitive than other potential renters or lessors – negotiating less hard to obtain the lowest all-in costs. Or theirs could be a marquee name, aiding in attraction and retention of other retail or office building tenants. Regardless of the reasoning, CRE managers need to understand the relative value of their tenants and to allocate retention efforts and resources accordingly. • Conducting ongoing relationship assessments Property managers should conduct ongoing assessments of the state of all, but especially their most valuable, tenant relationships. Ongoing communication with key tenants should be a given. Of course, the more valuable the tenant, the more intimate the interaction. Address issues proactively to prevent small issues from growing into larger concerns that could lead to nonrenewal. Even in cases of many smaller tenants, property managers can use tools such as customer surveys to get a sense of conditions and what might be done to improve satisfaction and boost renewal rates. Please see BUSINESS SPACE Page 46
February 2015
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39
Reforms could simplify code, raise taxes Last month we looked at Tax Reform Act of 2014, sponsored by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp as it relates to tax provisions for individuals. This article will explore some of the provisions relating to businesses. Camp’s bill proposes lowering the C corporation tax rate from a graduated scheduled to a flat 25 percent rate beginning in 2019. The rate would start from a flat 33 percent in 2015 and reduce Jason Harrel to the eventual 25 Calone & Harrel percent in 2019. Camp also Law Group wants to repeal the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) recovery periods and methods. Instead, rules substantially similar to the alternative depreciation system (ADS) would apply to depreciable property, which requires longer recovery periods and the use of the straight line depreciation method. In general, class lives would more closely match the true economic useful life of assets. Depreciation deductions would be determined under the straight line method. In addition, a taxpayer could take an additional depreciation deduction to account for the effects of inflation on depreciable personal property. That would be calculated by multiplying the year-end adjusted basis in the property (determined without regard to inflation deductions) by the chained Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate for the year. The provision would repeal bonus depreciation. Another provision in Camp’s bill would affect expensing. Code section 179 expensing would be made permanent at 2008-2009 levels. Taxpayers would be able to expense up to $250,000 of investments in new equipment and property in the year, with the deduction phased out for investments exceeding $800,000 indexed for inflation. The provision would also allow investments in air conditioning and heating units to qualify for section 179 expensing. C corporations could deduct a net operating loss (NOL) carryover or carryback only to the extent of 90 percent of the corporation’s taxable income (determined without regard to the NOL deduction), conforming to the current law Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) rules. The special rule for immediately deducting expenditures for fertilizer and other farming related materials would be repealed under proposed reforms. The deduction for domestic production activities would be phased out. The deduction would be reduced to 6 percent in 2015 and then to zero for tax
Taxing Matters
years after 2016. Under Camp’s proposed reforms, there would be no deductions for entertainment, amusement or recreation activities, facilities or membership dues. In addition, no deduction would be allowed for transportation fringe benefits or for amenities provided to employees that are primarily personal and that involve property or services not directly related to the employer’s trade or busi-
ness, unless such benefits are taxable compensation to an employee. The 50 percent limitation under current law would apply only to expenses for food or beverages and to qualifying business meals but no deduction allowed for other entertainment purposes. The special rule allowing deferral of gain on like/kind exchanges would be repealed. Under the provision, businesses
YOU DON’T PROFIT FROM SICK EMPLOYEES. WHY DOES YOUR HEALTH PROVIDER? In an industry built on fee-for-service care, Kaiser Permanente succeeds because we’re built around prevention and the highest quality care. One Harvard Business Review article described our care as “untainted by any economic conflict of interest.” * And in an industry report by The Economist, Kaiser Permanente’s care was described as promoting economy and quality care with “no financial motive to order unnecessary procedures.”† To learn more about Kaiser Permanente, call 1-800-464-4000 or visit kp.org/choosebetter.
Discover a better way.
* Lew McCreary, “Kaiser Permanente’s Innovation on the Front Lines,” Harvard Business Review, September 2010. †
”Another American Way,” The Economist, May 1, 2010.
kp.org/choosebetter
with average annual gross receipts of $10 million or less may use the cash method of accounting. Businesses with more than $10 million would be required to use accrual accounting. The provision in Camp’s bill would not apply to farming businesses, which would still be able to use the cash method regardless of the level of gross receipts. Please see TAXING MATTERS Page 46
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Central Valley Business Journal
February 2015
SENIOR HOUSING In San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. Ranked by Total Number of Units. Ties are Listed in Alphabetical Order. Level of Care
Assisted
Skilled Nursing
Utilities
Meals
Overnight Guests
Pets
Total Number of Units/ Web Address Capacity
Misc.
Independent
Company Name
Local Contact
Services Included
Andrew Lee, Executive Director (209) 599-4221 bethanyripon.org
420
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
$745 to $7,564
Multilevel care facility, memory care, rehabilitation and in-home care Provide care that enhances life
Covenant Village of Turlock 2125 N. Olive Avenue Turlock, CA 95382
Laura Bemis, Interim Director of Marketing (209) 216-5610 covenantvillageofturlock.org
375
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
$1,262 to $9,311
Worship services, fitness center, woodworking shops, creative arts and life enrichment programming
3
O’Connor Woods 3400 Wagner Heights Road Stockton, CA 95209
Scot Sinclair, Executive Director (209) 956-3400 oconnorwoods.org
500
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$2419 and up
Full fitness center, (open to public seniors for fee) enclosed pool, extensive activities, putting green, chapel, pastoral services, senior day program, outpatient therapy, aquatic therapy, memory care. Walking paths on 34 acre campus and 2 BR assisted living apts available.
4
Samaritan Village 7700 Fox Road Hughson, CA 95326
Gary Lunsford, Administrator (209) 883-3000 svliving.org
277
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$1,740 and up
Fitness classes, weekly trips, aquacise, book clubs, travel clubs, writers workshops and happy hour
5
Casade Modesto 1745 Eldena Way Modesto, CA 95350
Beauty Salon, Fitness programs and equipment, ice cream socials, bingo, family nights, meal outings, Gallo Center outing, shopping outings and on site entertainment. *Independent living does not include all the services listed
6
Courtyard at Venetian Terrace 5020 Virtue Arc Drive Stockton, CA 95207
On site beauty salon, hot lunches, bingo, casino trips, resident dinner parties * With paid deposit
7
Rio Las Palmas Retirement 877 E. March Lane Stockton, CA 95207
8
The Ashley Place 1321 S. Fairmont Avenue Lodi, CA 95240
9
Plymouth Square 1319 N Madison Street Stockton, CA 95202
10
Standiford Place 3420 Shawnee Drive Modesto, CA 95350
Rank
Local Phone
Address
1
Bethany Home 930 W. Main Street Ripon, CA 95366
2
11
12
13
14
15
16
The Vintage 2145 W. Kettleman Lane Lodi, CA 95240 Prestige Senior Living at Manteca 1130 Empire Avenue Manteca, CA 95336 Paramount Court Senior Living 3791 Crowell Road Turlock, CA 95382 The Commons on Thornton 10711 Thornton Road Stockton, CA 95209 The Commons at Union Ranch 2241 N. Union Road Manteca, CA 95336 Arbor Senior Apartments 115 Louie Avenue Lodi, CA 95240
17
Eskaton Manteca Manor 544 Eastwood Avenue Manteca, CA 95336
18
Villa Marche 1119 Rosemarie Lane Stockton, CA 95207
19
Stratford at Beyer Park 3529 Forest Glenn Drive Modesto, CA 95355
20
Pacifica Senior Living 2325 St. Pauls Way Modesto, CA 95355
Approx. Cost Per Month
Other Services and Activities
Kathy Lewis, Admissions Director (209) 529-4950 casademodesto.org
180
Yes*
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$987 to $8,029 for skilled nursing
Maria Soltero, Manager (209) 951-1545 seniorsatvt.com
166
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes*
$640 to $1015
Jacqueline Powell, Marketing Director (209) 957-4711 riolaspalmasretirement.com
163
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$2,100
Beauty salon, weekly outings, private dining and 24-hour security
Brad E. Kluza, Administrator (209) 334-3436 theashleyplace.net
145
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
$2,099 to $2,899
Church services, entertainment, bingo and exercise
Chantel Howard, Marketing Director (209) 466-4341 rhf.org
126
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
IL: $1,500 AL: $1,963 SN: $197 a day
118
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$2500 to $4500
Travel programs, on-site managers and daily activities
117
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$2000 to $4,700
Travel programs, on-site managers and daily activities
Linda Nickolisen, Executive Director (209) 239-4531 prestigecare.com
114 90 ALF 24 Memory care
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
ALF
Movie theater, fall prevention program, licensed nurse, excursions, monthly buffets, restaurant and dining
Cheryl Gerhardt, Marketing Director (209) 664-9500 paramountcourtseniorliving.com
100
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes*
No+
$3,250
Social, spiritual, recreactional, therapy, educational and dementia support group * With prior approval +Visits only
Yolanda Atwood, Marketing Director (209) 800-8746 commonsonthornton.com
100
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$2,290 to $3,650
Exercise, cards, bingo, bunco, Wii bowling, entertainment, field trips, assistance with services and medication
Chelsea Neal-Ricker, Marketing Director (209) 242-8492 commonsatunionranch.com
98
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$1,900 to $4,200
Internet and cable included, pet exercise area, gardening, exercise, salon, walking paths, private patios and memory care
Joanne McReynolds, Executive Director (209) 333-3338 arborseniorapartments.com
95
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Starting at $1,200
Casino trips, live entertainment, bingo, exercise classes, BBQ’s, shopping trips, pool table and beauty and barber shop
Judith A. Collins, Executive Director (209) 823-8828 eskaton.org
84
Yes
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
HUD 202/8
Bingo, potlucks, social service coordinator, coffee time and movies
Rita Vasquez, Family Care Coordinator (209) 477-4858 villamarchecare.com
84
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes*
Private $4,000 Shared $3,200
Family support group meet every Thursday from 10 to 11:30. Activities hourly, 7 days a week *yes, after discussion
Christina Mize, Marketing Director (209) 236-1900 stratfordbp.com
107
Yes
Yes
*No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Call for info
Weekly happy hour, movie theater, Cafe’, Salon, garden club, bridge club, weekly outings and more *Memory care available
Rebekah Martin, Community Relations Director (209) 846-2185 pacificamodesto.com
60
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
$4,000 is average
Barbara Arrington, Community Sales Leader Jessica Lavato, Community Sales Leader (209) 521-7000 standifordplace.com Barbara Arrington, Community Sales Leader Jessica Lavato, Community Sales Leader (209) 339-1500 the-vintage.net
Activities 7 days a week
Nurse on duty seven days a week, memory care and exclusive floor plans
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 01/2015
February 2015
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NOT-FOR-PROFIT NOT-FOR-PROFIT AND AND SERVING SERVING CENTRAL CENTRAL VALLEY VALLEY FAMILIES FAMILIES SINCE SINCE 1996 1996 Nearly Nearly 300,000 300,000 members members in in San San Joaquin Joaquin and and Stanislaus Stanislaus Counties Counties experience experience improved improved access access to to health health care care through through Health Health Plan Plan of of San San Joaquin. Joaquin.
1-888-936-PLAN 1-888-936-PLAN (7526) (7526) hpsj.com hpsj.com
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Central Valley Business Journal
February 2015
What is the state of your organization? Before you start planning for the coming year, take stock of your company to refocus vision, goals Each new year brings a fresh chance to ascertain the state of our organizations. While I am a huge proponent of annual strategic planning sessions, I also feel that many leaders overlook a critical step before such planning can effectively take place – addressing the state of the organization. This is the ideal time for the leader to give his or her vision of the future before the organization’s board and management team meet to review last year’s successes and challenges, and to set goals for the future. Of course, the best example would be the annual State of the Union address by the president of the United States. In January of most years, many of us can be found gathering around the television to watch the president deliver his annual address. In this year’s speech President Obama chose to “focus less on a checklist of proposals and focus more on the values at stake in the choices before us” as he discussed topics such as the economy, higher education, terrorism and foreign policy.
The “State of the Union” is actually a constitutional requirement as laid out in Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, requiring the president to periodically give Congress information on the state of the union and recommend any measures he believes are necessary and expedient. (Those Peter Johnson founding fathers Pacific - Eberhardt were pretty School of Business smart guys.) George Washington delivered the first State of the Union in person. However, Thomas Jefferson felt it was better to provide the State of the Union in a written report because he didn’t want it to be perceived as a “speech from the Throne.” For the next 112 years the
commander-in-chief would give his vision in writing. Woodrow Wilson understood the importance of laying out the future direction of our country in a way that can only be accomplished in a face-to-face meeting. Of course there was no television back then, so he could only directly reach the elected folks in Washington. President Harry S. Truman was the first to give the State of the Union speech on television. Now each president uses the event to share his vision, create passion and build support from not only their constituents but other stakeholders around the world. Some states require that the governor report to the legislature each calendar year on the “state of the state.” Additionally, over the past couple of decades many cities have adopted “state of the city” addresses. It seems that leaders are understanding the importance of a pulpit to share the legacy of the past and aspirations for the future with specific strategies laid out over the short term. Furthermore this is an opportunity for a leader to share publicly or privately the successes and failures of the past, as well as the challenges and opportunities of the future. It’s an effective way to lay it all out on the table and get buy-in from stakeholders.
Business owners today struggle to comply with the multitude of laws and regulations that apply to the employer-employee relationship. But what happens if you don’t comply? How are workplace laws and regulations enforced? Sometimes government agencies are involved in enforcement of such laws, but most often it is the employees themselves who take the lead. A new form of such claim is becoming more prevalent in California today – the “Private Attorney General” or “PAGA” lawsuit. This article provides a basic overview of PAGA claims, and provides practical suggestions for minimizing the risk of liability. However, as each factual situation is unique, this general discussion does not substitute for the advice of counsel. Example: I want my overtime! Take a simple labor law violation –a disgruntled employee claims that he often had to work through his lunch break. He claims that he should have been paid overtime on those days (as he worked eight and one-half hours), and also seeks the one-hour penalty that goes along with a failure to provide “duty free” meal periods. He also wants to recover additional penalties for failure to pay all wages when due. The employee has several options. First, he might bring a “one person” claim before the California Labor
Commissioner. However, the employee may also serve as the representative of others, by bringing a class/collective action. Such a lawsuit would seek back wages and penalties on behalf of all employees in the company who had to work through their lunch break. In 2015, however, a third option is becoming Bruce Sarchet Attorney, Littler more prevalent Mendelson Law Firm -- the “Private Attorney General” claim. Here’s how it works. Private Attorney General lawsuits Under the California Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004, California Labor Code section 2698, employees can bring claims and seek civil penalties on behalf of themselves and other citizens of the state of California (e.g., their co-workers). The PAGA, sometimes referred to as the “bounty hunter’s law,” specifically authorizes the pursuit of such penalties. In addition, the PAGA adds a separate
civil penalty for the violation of any provision of the Labor Code for which there was not previously a penalty. The employee must first give notice to California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency and the employer of the alleged violation of law. The Agency may issue a citation, but if it does not, then after a period of time (either 33 or 158 days, depending on the nature of the alleged violation), the employee may bring a PAGA lawsuit in County Superior Court. If penalties are awarded as a result of the lawsuit, 75 percent of the penalties are distributed to the Department of Industrial Relations for enforcement and education, and 25 percent are distributed to the aggrieved employee. Significantly, the prevailing employee is entitled to an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred in prosecuting the action. The prevalence of PAGA lawsuits suggests that attorneys representing employees find them much easier to pursue than traditional class actions, and just as lucrative. Furthermore, a recent ruling of the California Supreme Court held that employees could waive their right to pursue class actions by signing employment arbitration agreements, but that PAGA claims could not be similarly waived. As a result, there has been a significant growth in this type of litigation in the last
Clear Vision
State of the Union addresses always have a positive overtone to them. After all, who wants to follow a doomand-gloom leader? A good address inspires us to reach higher than we think is possible and creates a clear vision of the path ahead. A good address incorporates a story that crystallizes, personalizes and summarizes the key points. It paints the picture of the message. I work with many organizations where the CEO, president, executive director or other key leader annually gives a state of the organization address as the precursor to strategic planning sessions. Those speeches set the tone and focus and helps build the parameters for discussion. How have we done in the past year in accomplishing our SMART goals? Where are we going in the future? How are we going to get there? What do we need to do to be successful? What are the challenges and opportunities facing us? Why is it important that we go down this road? I would challenge every leader to prepare a state of the organization (department, office, etc.) address even if they never stand at a podium and speak to their stakeholders. It’s an opportunity for you as a leader to impact the present and future of your organization in a powerful way.
six months. Practical suggestions As mentioned at the outset, labor and employment laws are complex, confusing, and even contradictory. However, compliance is still the key. Business owners should regularly audit their pay practices to ensure legal compliance. When is the best time to do so? Before one of your employees asks an attorney to do so! Here are a few key areas that should be evaluated (this list is not exhaustive). • Overtime: Evaluate employees who are paid a fixed salary regardless of hours worked. Are they truly exempt from the payment of overtime? • Breaks and meals: Are employees provided with meal and rest breaks as required by law? Are practices in place to deal with employees who skip meals/breaks? • Contractors: If you are using independent contractors, do they meet the applicable test for true independence? • Paychecks and reporting: Do you provide all required information on your paychecks? These are just a few of the areas in which PAGA claims are currently being brought. Business owners can take proactive steps to audit practices and correct deficiencies in order to minimize the risk of being sued by one of their own employees (or former employees) acting as a “Private Attorney General.”
Is your employee a ‘Private Attorney General’?
Human Element
February 2015
43
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Casa de Modesto celebrates 50 years By ELIZABETH STEVENS Business Journal editor
estevens@cvbizjournal.com
MODESTO – Casa de Modesto, a retirement center on Modesto’s northeast side will mark its 50th anniversary in May and is planning a year’s worth of activities to celebrate the milestone. The not-for-profit retirement center was founded by three men from the Church of the Brethren in May 1965 to provide a home for seniors. “Casa isn’t affiliated with any church, but it was some gentlemen from the Church of the Brethren that got the project going. So we kind of have a rich history with that church,” said Admissions Director Kathy Lewis. That relationship with Church of the Brethren is what led resident John Heisel to move to an independent living apartment in 2003. “Being a Brethren, this came out of our church, and my folks were here and all my cousins that were all Brethren, this is the first place they come,” Heisel said. Heisel still takes advantage of Casa’s activities program at the age of 83. “I have a hard time accepting that number. It has no bearing on who I am,” Heisel said. “I have a car, and I can go to McDonald’s. I have a coffee group there. I can go to movies. I have the freedom to come and go.” Casa puts a lot of emphasis on its activities program, Lewis said. The center provides social events twice a week and celebrations around the holidays.
Residents go to the Gallo Center. They also to dinner at a restaurant once a month and Black Oak Casino from time to time. There is also bingo on Wednesdays. In May, Casa throws a senior prom with pictures and a band. Dinner is catered, and the activities center is decorated. “We have a huge activity center that they just transform into whatever major party or event they’re having that the residents really enjoy,” said Lewis. To celebrate Casa’s 50th anniversary, the center is adding other activities, including several open houses and a fundraiser in the fall. The staff and residents are also putting together a time capsule to be opened in 2065. The center provides the broadest spectrum of care for residents in Modesto. It has 68 units, including apartments and cottages for independent living residents; 50 units at the assisted care level; and a 59-bed skilled nursing center for long term and hospice care. Residents range in age from late 60s to more than 100. “We have a couple ladies here who are turning 103,” Lewis said. “And they’re not in the nursing unit. They’re in assisted living.” As far as cost, Lewis said retirement centers offer different packages and amenities, so it can be difficult to compare, but she believes Casa de Modesto is moderately priced. Prices range from $987 a month for a
PHOTO COURTESY CASA DE MODESTO
One of Casa de Modesto’s premier events for residents is its senior prom, which features a catered dinner and live band.
studio apartment for independent living to $280 a day for a private room in the skilled nursing facility. Lewis said there is a lot of longevity among the employees at Casa de Modesto. She has worked there for 18 years, and she is one of the newer
employees. Some employees, including the recently-retired executive director, have been there 37 years. “It’s like a second home for us,” Lewis said. “It’s a privilege to be here and see these people through in the years when they need us.”
Hackathons spur creativity, showcase talent At 6 p.m. on Jan. 23, dozens of the most talented programmers in the Valley converged on downtown Turlock to take part in the first “Valley Hackathon.” They formed teams of four or less to create something from nothing that they would have to display in front of judges just 24 hours later. This was my first hackathon, and I really had no idea what to expect. To start with nothing and have a working Jerad Hill piece of softOwner ware within 24 Hill Media Group hours is a lot of work. Each team was encouraged to use leading edge technologies. One such technology, RethinkDB, offered a reward to the top three teams that placed using its database technology. Beyond that, there were prizes for the top three finishers and plenty of food to keep us all awake for the full 24 hours.
Social Maverick
Before I discuss why an event like this is so important for the Valley, let me tell you about our third-place finishing product. In 24 hours, we built an online training platform to help companies organize and deploy compliance training courses for their employees that we felt had some unique features. A typical use would be for OSHA compliance related content. With less than an hour to go, we ran our final test and our software was ready to go. We spent that last 30 minutes going over our presentation. My team consisted of fellow programmers from Modesto and Turlock: Nathan Bunney, Robert Huffman, Matthew Davies and myself. We felt really good about our third place win. The top two finishers produced very impressive software. You can see more details about the event at valleyhackathon.com. A hackathon brings together top talent and rewards them for trying something new. Most of us write code all day but for client projects. Getting together to write code with a group of programmers is like throwing a bunch of hotrod car builders into a garage with tools and an unlimited supply of parts. It allows programmers, designers and engineers to come together and create together.
In the Bay Area and other tech centric locations of the world, hackathons are a normal occurrence. Businesses are formed during these events. Google used to have a policy called “20 percent time,” which gave employees the opportunity to hack on whatever they wanted for up to 20 percent of their working hours. A popular product we all know as Gmail came out of that extra curricular programming time employees were allotted. A major crippling issue in the Central Valley is the that a lot of our talent leaves the area to work for companies in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area. The large companies and startups are located there, and they have the money to pay these talented individuals. There are not many options in the Central Valley for talented programmers, designers and engineers. Beyond that, there is not (yet) a thriving startup community. Events like the Valley Hackathon are slowly changing that. There is nothing wrong with going to work for a tech company in Silicon Valley, but there is also nothing wrong with living in the Central Valley to start or work for a tech company either. We simply need more entrepreneurs to create companies in our area. Hackathons are a way to showcase
the talent we have and encourage those folks to get together. They get creative brains working together to create new and exciting things. The Central Valley badly needs more of these events. I will go as far as to say that the future of our children depend on it. Technology moves extremely fast and it’s hard to keep up with it. What we do know is that it is here to stay, and it will only increase in relevance. I encourage all business owners, CEOs, parents and students to embrace technology. There are talented people and a lot of great ideas in the Central Valley. It’s time we redirect the flow of talent leaking over the Altamont and invest in the future of our community. We need to develop a thriving tech community of our own. That starts with those of us who are here running businesses and generating ideas. Do what you can to keep those ideas and businesses in the Central Valley. If you are interested in hackathons, make sure to check out valleyhackathon.com. In the coming months there will be information about the next scheduled event. In order to secure growth and help our local economy, it’s important that we support events such as these.
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its branch in Merced. Ginger Taylor is vice president, retail branch manager in Merced, the bank said. Taylor has 36 years experience in the banking industry and most recently worked with Citibank where she served as vice presiTaylor dent and branch manager responsible for all daily retail branch operations, sales and customer service. Her management skills include sales coaching, team building, and operational compliance.
SJ COUNTY
Civil courts undergo changes
BRIEFS St. Joseph’s Medical Center awards community grants
STOCKTON – St. Joseph’s Medical Center awarded $208,548 in grants to three local organizations that provide critical health and human services to residents in San Joaquin County, the hospital said. The three organizations receiving the grants were Catholic Charities, in partnership with Community Partnership for Families and Lao Family; YMCA of San Joaquin; and Women’s Center Youth and Family Services. Catholic Charities received received $75,000 for the Health Connectors in a Community Health Worker Program which will focus on linking individuals with primary care providers, preventive care, and health education. YMCA of San Joaquin, in partnership with San Joaquin County Office of Education and UOP Dental Hygiene School, received $70,860 to develop a program of dental services at schools and after-school programs. Women’s Center Youth & Family Services, in partnership with the Stockton Police Department and District Attorney’s office, received $62,688 to provide training on human trafficking for service providers. The Community Grants Program was established in 1990 to provide funding to community-based organizations that provide services to individuals in need. Since its inception, the program has distributed over $2.2 million.
Taylor hired to manage Farmers & Merchants Bank’s Merced branch LODI – Farmers & Merchants Bank has hired a new manager to head up
STOCKTON – San Joaquin Superior Court’s Civil Division will undergo a number of changes in February and March. Judge Barbara Kronlund is now the Supervising Judge for the Civil Division, and on Tuesday, Feb. 17, she will move from Department 11 to Department 42. Judge Bob McNatt is retiring soon. His caseload will be divided among Judge Kronlund, Judge Roger Ross, Judge Linda Lofthus and Judge Carter Holly, the court said. On Feb. 23, Judge Lofthus will move from Department 33 to Department 11. Judges Ross and Holly will remain in their current departments. On Monday, March 2, Judge Charlotte Orcutt will move to Department 33 and will hear criminal matters, including jury trials.
Giants World Series trophies on display Feb. 12
STOCKTON – The San Francisco Giants World Champions Trophy Tour comes to Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium Thursday, Feb. 12. Fans will get a chance to see the trophies from the 2010, 2012 and 2014 Giants’ World Series wins between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. The three trophies will on display for visitors to see, photograph (but not touch). Fans will be admitted on a first come, first served basis. Photos are limited to one per person to accommodate as many fans as possible. Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium is located at 525 N. Center St. The trophy viewing is free.
February 2015
The World Champions Trophy Tour is made possible by the San Francisco Giants and Bank of America.
Stockton Ports detail 2014 charitable donations STOCKTON – The Stockton Ports gave $41,200 to local non-profits and $248,769 of in-kind donations to local charities and schools in 2014, the team announced in January. The Ports said it was part of its ongoing effort to support the San Joaquin Valley. The Ports raised more than $18,000 through various fundraisers. The money was distributed to local organizations. According to the team the two leading in-stadium fundraisers in 2014 were the eighth annual Pink Night, which generated a $7,855 donation to St. Joseph’s Breast Health Services and the second annual Prostate Cancer Awareness Day, which raised $3,514 for Sutter Gould Medical Foundation. The Ports also sponsored education programs such as the Silver Sluggers, Kids’ Club, Baseball by the Books, and Summer Reading programs. In all, 48,000 children participated in the programs. The Ports distributed more than 36,500 tickets to program participants. The team established the Stockton Ports’ Anchor Fund in early 2007 and has helped support community projects that primarily focus on youth centers and youth sports. Nearly 440 non-profit organizations received donations in 2014.
KeHE Distributors bringing 200 jobs to Stockton STOCKTON – KeHE Distributors, LLC announced Jan. 23 that the company anticipates adding 200 jobs in Stockton this year. The company, which is the largest distributor of specialty food products and one of the largest distributors of natural food products in North America, plans to open its newest distribution center in the city. The company will move into 450,000 square feet of the NorCal Logistics Center, near Arch Road and New Castle Road, east of highway 99. They will distribute frozen and fresh grocery products to customers throughout Northern California. The facility was originally built in 2009 by Fresh & Easy, but the company went bankrupt before ever occupying the building. KeHE was aided by the San Joaquin Partnership in its site location search.
The Partnership also provided assistance with incentive analysis, permitting and human resources. The center will add to San Joaquin County’s growing reputation as a distribution hub. “Stockton’s strength in transportation and logistics paired with its ideal central location and available workforce made it a perfect choice for KeHE’s latest operation,” said Micah Runner, Stockton Economic Development Director in a release.
Education office to hold recruitment fair STOCKTON – The San Joaquin Office of Education will hold a recruiting fair from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Saturday March 7 at the San Joaquin County Office of Education Wentworth Educational Center, 2707 Transworld Drive, in Stockton. Local school districts are looking to fill teaching vacancies and fill other certified positions for the 2015/16 school year. Attendees can pre-register at http://formbuilder.sjcoe.org/form. aspx?f=346 and should bring copies of their resumes.
Serenity House provides shelter, resources for abuse victims TRACY – Battered women and children in Tracy have an new resource to help them escape their abusive situations. The Women’s Center-Youth and Family Services has opened a 12-bed undisclosed emergency shelter, named Serenity House, that can serve up to 12 women and children at a time. The group purchased a three bedroom, two bath home in Tracy with an initial gift of $115,000 from Sutter Tracy Community Hospital. The City of Tracy also helped provide funds to purchase and renovate the house to meet Americans with Disabilities Act specifications. The Tracy Sunrise Rotary club also donated a Gorilla Playset and helped acquire funding for new sod at the house. The house will provide safe refuge and free services for abuse victims and their children. The shelter will operate year-round, 24 hours a day. The house is expected to serve 70 women and children during its first year. Victims can access services through a 24-hour domestic violence crisis line at 209-465-4878 or they can contact the Tracy satellite office at 209-833-0300.
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dent and CEO, Chris Courtney said, “We are incredibly fortunate to have an individual who possesses the ability to harmonize enterprise risk with that of Oak Valley’s customer service culture.” Oak Valley Bancorp operates Oak Valley Community Bank & Eastern Sierra Community Bank. There are currently 15 branches in Oakdale, Sonora, Turlock, Stockton, Patterson, Ripon, Escalon, Manteca, Tracy, three branches in Modesto, and three branches in their Eastern Sierra Division, which includes Bridgeport, Mammoth Lakes, and Bishop.
STANISLAUS COUNTY
BRIEFS Modesto mayor to deliver State of the City Address MODESTO – Mayor Garrad Marsh will present his State of the City Address at 11 a.m. Feb. 19. It is the sixth year for this event and provides an opportunity for Modesto business leaders to hear first-hand about the mayor’s plans for 2015 and 2016. The address is followed by audience questions,which allows the public direct contact with local government. The event is followed by the Modesto Chamber of Commerce’s 10th Annual Business Expo, next door at Modesto Centre Plaza. Contact Lynda Jost at 209.577.5757 for information on buying tickets for the State of the City or a booth at the business expo.
Oak Valley Community Bank promotes Powers to risk management officer OAKDALE — Oak Valley Community Bank has promoted Janis Powers to executive vice president of risk management, the bank announced in late January. Powers joined the bank in 2000 and became senior vice president, risk management officer in 2005. “Janis embodies operational excellence and understands that the highest level of customer service comes from error free execution,” said Rick McCarty, Oak Valley Bank executive vice president, chief accounting officer and chief financial officer. “Her detailed nature lends itself to risk management, as she employs thorough analysis to evaluate organizational impact.” Oak Valley Community Bank Presi-
Stanislaus businesses recognized for hiring MODESTO – The Stanislaus Business Alliance and the Chambers of Commerce within the county will celebrate businesses that added jobs last year in the area’s inaugural Celebrate Stanislaus event. The goal of the event is to showcase companies that have added more than 10 employees in the past year. It’s an effort to recognize the private sector’s role in driving the economy. The event starts at 11:30 a.m., Feb. 26 at Modesto Centre Plaza. Tickets are $35. Visit http://www.modchamber.org for more information.
Vieira joins Northwestern Mutual in Modesto MODESTO – Nathaniel Vieira has been appointed financial representative by Northwestern Mutual in Modesto. Vieira will offer guidance on financial solutions including life insurance, long-term care insurance, disability insurance, annuities and investment products. Before joining Northwestern Mutual , Vieira was working in domestic sales Vieira at Pearl Crop Trading in Manteca. Vieira is an active member of Saint Mary’s of the Annunciation Catholic Church in Oakdale and Stanislaus County Young Farmers and Ranchers.
Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts gets accreditation MODESTO – The Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts Physical Therapy program has been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). Gurnick has campuses across Northern California, including one in Modesto. CAPTE is an accrediting organization that is nationally recognized by the US Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accredi-
tation. The group grants specialized accreditation to qualified entry-level education programs for physical therapists and physical therapist assistants. Gurnick’s Physical Therapist Assistant program is an Associate of Science Degree program. The program runs 80 weeks including 36 weeks of general education and related science courses taken prior to enrolling at Gurnick Academy. That is followed by and 44 weeks of technical courses. Graduation from an accredited PTA program allows the graduate to sit for the National Physical Therapy Exam for PTAs and the California Law Exam. Upon successful completion of these exams, the student will be licensed to practice in the State of California.
Dairy Leader Program accepting applications MODESTO – The Western United Dairymen (WUD) is accepting applications for its California Dairy Leaders Program. The leadership program was designed to develop a better understanding of the economic, legislative, marketing and environmental issues facing the industry. The program is targeted toward dairy producers and those in dairy-related enterprises who want to assume leadership roles within the California dairy industry. The program will cover environmental issues, the state and federal legislative process, dairy pricing and economics, biotechnological developments, marketing and promotion and public relations skill development. The program’s material will be covered in five multi-day sessions, including a trip to the U.S. Capitol to meet California lawmakers. Successful applicants will be from various backgrounds, experiences, and education levels. Visit the WUD website at www.westernuniteddairymen. com to download an application. Completed packets are due by March 31.
Horatio Alger scholarships give students needed aid MODESTO – Forty area junior college students found out in January
they are the newest recipients of the 2014 Horatio Alger scholarships. The scholarships went to students that currently reside in, or have graduated high school in San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced or Madera counties. Recipients of the scholarships will receive $2,500 per semester for up to four consecutive semesters ($10,000 max) for a qualifying school. Locally, Modesto Junior College and San Joaquin Delta College are qualifying schools. “In recognition of their resilience and their unwavering desire to pursue higher education, Horatio Alger Association is proud to support these 40 outstanding students on their journey to success,” said Horatio Alger Association Chairman David Sokol. The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc is a nonprofit group that honors the achievements of outstanding individuals and encourages youth to pursue their dreams through higher education. The $10,000 scholarships are funded by the Cortopassi Family Foundation and awarded to students selected by Horatio Alger Association. Students must have enrolled at a two-year vocational certificate program at a qualifying community college and overcome personal adversity, demonstrating financial need.
Designer turns attention to Ecco Domani Wines MODESTO – Ecco Domani Wines announced that fashion designer Zac Posen will dress its Pinot Grigio bottle in an exclusive limited-edition design for summer 2015. This is the first time that Ecco Domani Wines, which is marketed and distributed by Galo Wines in the U.S., will use a fashion designer to dress one of its bottles. “I’ve dressed many people in my life, but never a bottle of wine,” Posen said in a release about the move. “This is such an exciting project because it weaves together my work as a fashion designer and my passion for food, cooking and entertaining.” This isn’t the wine brand’s only tie to the fashion world. Ecco Domani has contributed more than $1.8 million to support new designers such as Rodarte, Proenza Schouler and Prabal Gurung through the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation.
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BRINGING IT HOME Continued from Page 38
cities where stations were located. According to a study conducted by economists with UCLA and China’s Tsinghua University, high-speed rail had an interesting effect on those cities with stops along the rail line. These smaller communities became new “suburbs” to the larger cities they connected to, and as a result, they enjoyed a new appeal with people looking for affordable real estate. Considered second-tier cities to the “megacities,” these communities discovered that high-speed rail provided big-city benefits without the downsides of high housing costs, overcrowding or air and water pollution.
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Additional research provides further support that rail transportation positively impacts the real estate market. Economics Research Associates (ERA) conducted a survey of existing studies on the potential benefits of anticipated commuter rail and bus transit expansion in Austin, Texas. ERA found that all of the studies consulted agreed that “rail-based transit can have a positive impact on real property values; properties within walking distance experienced the greatest price appreciation; the price effect deepened over time as the system and usage matured; and properties located in densely popu-
lated settings experienced relatively greater increases.” Nearly 48 percent of the high-speed rail track is expected to run through the Central Valley, so those residents looking to buy or sell over the next several years should go into the market with short-term and long-term strategies, as well as an understanding of the current market dynamics. In 2015, the region is predicted to have modest growth thanks to a more stable labor market and resulting demand for housing. A key demographic to consider is the millennial generation who embrace public transportation and more commonly eschew cars.
“Millennial buyers make up about 60 percent of first-time, or potential first-time, homebuyers and this segment of the population saw 60 percent better job growth last year,” said MLSListings, Inc. President Jim Harrison. “Many real estate professionals have pegged this generation as the next wave of consumers to drive the real estate market.” Although the high-speed rail project has been hotly debated, there is no doubt it is becoming a reality. What effect it will have on the Central Valley’s housing market remains to be seen, but there will be many eyes on it as progress unfolds.
LUCID Continued from Page 34
Monica Cortez is one of the BFA students who works on the Lucid from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., three days a week. She has spent a lot of time sanding, caulking, priming and painting. She’s proud of her work. “When I come back years from now with my kids I can show them the Maritime Museum aboard the Lucid and say ‘I helped restore this ship!’” Cortez said. “There’s not another like it in the world, and I’m a part of something historic.”
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Van Huystee brought organization and his expertise to the restoration. He meets with the student work crews each day to go over safety issues and gives them the day’s work schedule. “The students know about all the idiosyncrasies of this boat,” he said. “The hull is oak and fir and is five inches thick. Everything is fastened together with fasteners – screws primarily – made of copper or brass. No steel or iron nails allowed. Every rib making up the hull
support is one piece and is curved, tapered and distinctly different from every other rib.” Because the Lucid was a minesweeper, everything metal on the ship is non-magnetic, including the engines, anchors and porthole covers. There is even a degaussing locker that holds small metal items necessary for the ship’s operation. Anyone can volunteer to work on the Lucid. Volunteer weekends are held the second and fourth weekend
of every month. The work is supervised with food provided in the ship’s galley. Cortez said that even after she graduates, she will continue to volunteer. “I enjoy working on the Lucid,” Cortez said. “I never thought I’d be doing something like this.”
* WEB EXTRA:
To see photos of the restoration project, go to cvbj.biz/gab_gallery/
BUSINESS SPACE Continued from Page 38
• Renewing proactively Be equally proactive in renewing leases and rental agreements. All too often, property managers wait until 180 or so days before the end of the contract term before seeking renewal. Instead, formal renewal efforts should begin at least 12 months if not two years for larger and/or most valu-
able tenants. The earlier the process begins, the more likely it is that the property manager can identify potential problems that can often be overcome in time to still secure a renewal. “It is easy to be passive with tenant relationships – collect rent and assume everything is fine until a problem,” says Matt Kozina, director of asset
and property management for NAI Benchmark. “Having an engaged, ongoing relationship with all the key decision makers for an important tenant takes time, effort, and diligence – but it pays off tenfold.” Proactive, ongoing, disciplined. Indeed, it’s a seller’s market across most of the nation’s major CRE seg-
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ments, and the Central Valley is no exception as investors in major markets look to increase yield in tertiary markets. To take full advantage of the market and investor demand for quality properties and achieve top valuations for your asset, it’s important to deploy an ongoing, proactive and disciplined approach. And the time to start is now.
TAXING MATTERS Continued from Page 39
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A taxpayer on the accrual method of accounting for tax purposes would be required to include an item of income no later than the tax year in which such item is included for financial statement purposes. The provision would provide that cash and accrual method taxpayers may defer the inclusion of advance payments for certain goods and services in income for tax purposes up to one year (but not longer than any deferral for financial statement purposes). Reforms also call for change in installment sales. The interest charge rules would apply to any installment sale in excess of $150,000, provided the obligation remains outstanding at the end of the tax year, eliminating the $5 million limitation. The provision also would repeal the exceptions and special rules for sales of farm property, timeshares and residential lots. Under the provision, the last in, first
out (LIFO) inventory accounting method would no longer be permitted. Taxpayers could use first in, first out or any other method that conforms to the best accounting practices in a particular trade or business and clearly reflects income. Other possible repeals include the lower of cost or market method of inventory and the farm income averaging method. Of course there are many other provisions that may affect a wide range of taxpayers. The provisions can be reviewed on the House Ways and Means Committee’s website at waysandmeans.house.gov. It appears an attempt is being made to simplify the tax code, but what is also clear is that the reform provisions are seeking to raise additional revenue (increase your taxes). Keep an eye out to see if this legislation gains any traction and be ready to voice your opinion.
February 2015
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February 2015