209 Business Journal - December 2022

Lower almond acreage could be trend, says ABC president

BY JOE CORTEZ 209 Business Journal

California’s almond acreage decreased for the first time in more than a quarter century, according to a new report to the Almond Board of California.

In a report from Land IQ — a Sacramento-based agricultural and environmental scientific research and consulting firm — total standing

acreage as of Aug. 31 was estimated at 1.64 million acres, compared with 1.66 million acres at the same time in 2021. Bearing acres — orchards producing almonds and planted in 2019 or earlier — increased slightly to 1.34 million from 1.31 million last year. However, non-bearing acres — new plantings going back to 2020 but not yet bearing almonds — dropped to 294,000 acres from 353,000

acres in 2021.

“From all the talk we’ve been hearing this past year, more and more ranchers are pulling out their orchards because of the drought,” said Eric Gemperle, co-owner of Gemperle Orchards on Faith Home Road. “Anywhere south of here gets worse and worse when it comes to water. I’m not surprised that’s SEE ALMOND, PAGE 10

Blue Diamond recaps successful 2022

BY CHRISTOPHER CORREA 209 Business Journal

Blue Diamond Growers held their 112th annual end-of-year meeting in Modesto on earlier this month, giving Board members and staff an opportunity to highlight a number of accomplishments. Among the topics of discussion included the fact that the almond powerhouse was able to achieve historically high production enroute to reporting record profits, all while continuing to navigate several industry challenges.

“Although 2022 was marked by supply chain disruptions, the ongoing COVID-19 impact and a continuing drought, we still fulfilled our mission and provid-

BLUE, PAGE 10

Business Journal file

Non-bearing almond acres — new plantings going back to 2020 but not yet bearing almonds

dropped to 294,000 acres from 353,000 acres in 2021.

209 Business Journal file photo

The Turlock Blue Diamond facility produces the company’s popular Almond Breeze beverage.

SEE

THE CARE YOU NEED, THE WAY YOU WANT IT.

Health care should be hassle-free. At Kaiser Permanente, it is. With connected teams and flexible ways to access care, it’s easy to get the support you need to stay healthy — when and where you need it.

THE CARE YOU NEED, THE WAY YOU WANT IT.

Health care should be hassle-free. At Kaiser Permanente, it is. With connected teams and flexible ways to access care, it’s easy to get the support you need to stay healthy — when and where you need it.

Not

BY CHRISTOPHER CORREA 209 Business Journal

Fabricio Bernal of Modesto is well experienced in the food industry and in the world of wholesale food operations. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Bernal was let go from his longtime job as director at Gaytan Foods. Nevertheless, the bump in the road is not stopping him from putting delicious food on plates.

Earlier this year, Bernal and his family opened up PorkyWow!, serving pork rinds and confits, better known in Spanish as chicharrones. But it’s not your traditional restaurant or storefront.

PorkyWow! is located at 145 S Kilroy Rd. in Turlock within the city’s food truck commissary, with no place for customers to sit down. It is just one small room within the large warehouse. Bernal explained that he is settling for the ghost kitchen as he awaits permits to open a food truck and to become a nationwide distributor.

average chicharrones

nal’s culinary creations is that they are not made the same as traditional chicharrones. Bernal, who participated in UC Merced’s business incubator program, has turned to modern technology to unload a mouthful of flavor in each of his orders.

Inside the small room, there is a flash freezer and a flash oven. Bernal believes that these are technologies that have grown in popularity across the restaurant industry.

“I’ve been in this business for a long time,” Bernal said. “I’ve noticed that there is a market for chicharrones. My original idea is to wholesale and to sell them to restaurants and bars. In order to do that, you need a federal, USDA permit, which is why I’m here.”

Operating with limited space in an industrial setting is the reason why PorkyWow! only offers takeout and Doordash delivery options. He believes the lack of convenience as he waits for the

permits has turned many people away, but it’s the customers who have tried it who have kept him afloat.

“I realize that I’ve lost some potential customers because the kitchen is hard to find and

it can be confusing, but there have been people who have tried it and they keep coming back wanting more, which tells me that I’m doing a good job with the food itself,” Bernal said.

Part of the appeal to Ber-

“This state-of-the-art technology makes all the difference,” he said. “The flash oven is a mix of a microwave and convection oven… The flash freezer is important too because frozen foods tend to lose their flavor when placed in a regular freezer, but this preserves it all.”

And not only does the technology bring out the best flavors possible, but Bernal believes it’s healthier.

“Chicharrones are viewed a lot as snacks and being very unhealthy,” he said. “When they are fried, they are very greasy, heavy and hard to digest. This oven keeps the juices and flavors from leaking out and there is no added oils or grease.”

Grandson takes over Beck’s Christmas tree lot

BY VINCE REMBULAT 209 Business Journal

Julie and Rick Beck are keeping the seasonal business in the family.

Beck’s Holiday Specialties is transitioning to Coe’s Holiday Specialties.

The Oregon couple is transferring Manteca’s longest operating, standalone Christmas tree to their grandson Daniel Coe and his wife Breannna.

“We will continue to be part of this -- it’s still in Rick’s blood -- but only we will have time to attend other family functions,” Julie Beck said on a bustling day-after-Thanksgiving Friday afternoon.

Located at 1156 N. Union Rd., the Becks started the holiday business at this very spot over 22 years ago. They opened the 23rd season earlier this week with a new name, Coe’s Holiday Specialties -- they maintained their old sign during the transition. They know the holiday business will remain in good hands with the Coe family out of nearby Escalon. “Daniel has been coming to the tree lot since he was 6 years old. He would bring his wagon full of hammers and tools, and he would work alongside his grandfather (Rick Beck),” Julie Beck recalled.

She added: “He knows the ins and outs of working on a Christmas tree lot and all about awesome family service.”

Daniel and Breanna Coe will continue to carry The Pie Shop Company’s frozen pies along with nicely decorated green wreaths, cedar garlands, and free candy canes for the children.

They added Kettlecorn to the mix for this year.

Coe’s Holiday Specialty has a good selection of trees -- included are Noble fir, Douglas fir, and Nordmann fir -- ranging in size from table top to 12 feet tall.

Hours of operation are from

CHRISTOPHER CORREA/209 Business Journal

Fabricio Bernal pulls out a fresh batch of chicharrones from his flash oven inside the Porky Wow! kitchen in Turlock. Bernal opened the business as he awaits permits to become a wholesaler.

VINCE REMBULAT/209 Business Journal

The Christmas tree lot on Union Road near Louise Avenue in Manteca was busy with families in search for the perfect tree.

IN PROFILE

Art served up one scoop at a time

BY SARAH LAWSON 209 Business Journal

Located in the hustle and bustle of downtown Lodi is a very unique and creative spot that features a sweet swirl on the original idea of an art gallery; it’s worth the time to check out the Double Dip Gallery.

Originally owned by local fine artist and sign painter Tony Segale, who opened the shop in 2014 as an art gallery that also has an ice cream shop inside of it, the Double Dip is now owned by his daughter Natalie Sauerland, who took over in March of 2021.

The idea to combine an art gallery and an ice cream shop first came to Segale back when he owned an art shop in Walnut Grove and there was a local ice cream shop next door. He would watch people pass by the shop with the sweet treat from next door and knew that when people thought of an art gallery, they typically also thought of no food allowed. But for Segale, seeing how popular the ice cream store was, he got the inspiration to combine the two.

After opening a store in Lodi, later on down the road he combined both the art and the ice cream, his plans officially becoming a reality.

He created the store from the ground up, from the real goldplated leaves decorating the windows to the design of the logo, he did it all.

Segale, being the painter he is, would paint a good amount of the art showcased in the store and soon found that creating time between scooping ice cream and painting was more difficult than he expected. Fast forward to 2021, Segale had decided that it was becoming too much and that he needed to sell the store; his daughter knew then that the store needed to stay in the family and decided to take it over for her father. She explained that all members of

her family have been business owners in Lodi for multiple generations and that it is something natural and normal to own a business in the family.

She also was pregnant with her daughter in the beginning when her father owned it and as time went on her daughter began to grow alongside the shop.

Now Sauerland has ownership while her father still watches over the art side of the store by submitting personal pieces to showcase and approve pieces that artists want to showcase in the shop.

“It’s a family friendly place that helps support the community in our own unique way,” Sauerland expressed.

The ice cream is made by Gunther’s, which is based out of Sacramento and has been in business since the 1940s. Gunther’s is known for its small batch old-fashioned ice cream.

Every season the flavors change except a few fan favorites like birthday cake, which has real chunks of birthday cake in it, and staying most of the time is their red wine sorbet that is made with a special blend made only for the Double Dip Gallery - Michael David’s Petite Petit Sirah.

Other flavors change with the season like their October flavors that included pumpkin

and black licorice, November included run raisin and butter brickle and December features the flavor of eggnog.

All the flavors were chosen by Segale to rotate and feature the flavors community members enjoy the most.

They also have fruit freezes to offer, a dairy and sugar free option, as well as milkshakes, sundaes, and fresh poured espresso to go over the flavor of your choosing or on top of a milkshake. One show stopper item

on their menu is their ice cream tasting palette. You get to choose five flavors that are scooped onto a blank paint palette along with the choice of five toppings that include hot fudge, cherries, hot caramel, nuts, cone chips, sprinkles and whip cream.

There are many things to look at while enjoying the sweet treat such as paintings, ceramic pieces, and local handmade jewelry.

The art work rotates every two months but every month one person gets to be the spot-

light artist and have their own exhibit set up to showcase their top pieces.

The spotlight artist gets to have a kick off at the art shop that occurs the first Saturday of the month from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. where they can choose to paint live or just have a meet and greet with the community.

November spotlight artist was Tracy Abbey and she is also the teacher for the kid’s art classes that recently began. More information on the children’s art classes and the adult classes opening soon can be found on their website: doubledipgallery. com.

Currently their hours of operation are 1 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 1 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Fridays; 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturdays; and 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sundays.

When it gets deeper into the winter months the hours will change slightly by closing an hour earlier on all days and will open at 1 p.m. on the weekends instead of 11 a.m.

The Double Dip Gallery is at 222 W. Pine St., downtown Lodi.

Current owner of the Double Dip Gallery, Natalie Sauerland.

Original owner Tony Segale’s piece called American Woman Cycles of Suffrage done with acrylic on canvas. The same design was painted by Segale as a mural on the local downtown parking garage.

Central Station brings rail-theme eatery back to life

BY JOE CORTEZ 209 Business Journal

The train station theme is back on track at one of Turlock’s oldest eateries.

Central Station Bar & Grill, situated just feet from the Southern Pacific railroad tracks, has embraced the train station motif that was abandoned by 10 East Kitchen & Tap House, its predecessor at 10 E. Main St.

Owner Kris Klair of Turlock has renovated the entire facility, which served as Turlock’s central rail depot beginning in 1915.

Before the restaurant was 10 East it was Wellington Station. Before that it was Traxx Bar & Grill, and before that it was

called Track 29.

Central Station had its grand opening on Tuesday in preparation for the holiday weekend.

“Tonight is going to be big,” Klair said Wednesday as his staff scurried around the pub preparing for Thanksgiving Eve, long regarded as America’s busiest pub night. “We’re not quite 100 percent ready — we’re still putting the finishing touches in back — but we wanted to be open for the community.”

Community is another big theme for Klair, a resident of Turlock since 1982.

In its final days, 10 East Kitchen & Tap House gained a reputation as more tap house and less kitchen. Klair wants to

—Kris Klair

change that.

“It’s a sports bar, yeah, but I want to bring back that family-friendly atmosphere,” said Klair, who also owns Exit Realty Consultants in Turlock. “That’s a major thing for all of us here in Turlock … taking care of family.”

Central Station — so named because the depot was literally the epicenter of old-time Turlock (a stamped seal in the floor near the bar confirms this) — offers traditional pub fare, but chef Lynese Cabida has put her own unique twist on some old favorites. For instance, she’s revved up a standard cheeseburger with the Mack Attack, a 100 percent beef patty with macaroni and cheese and bacon jam.

Customers looking for a more formal dining experience can retreat to one of the famed dining cars, dubbed Wellington, Tracks and Track 29 (the latter of which will be for VIP and private dining only), and Chef Cabida suggests you try the ribeye steak or the rack of lamb.

On the pub menu, burgers, hotdogs and wood-fire pizzas are featured, with vegetarian and vegan options on both the pub and fine dining menus.

General manager Mike Tellez, who has worked in the food industry for 20 years and managed multiple restaurants in the area, is excited about Cen-

tral Station’s potential.

“We wanted to keep the history of the place,” said Tellez. “We fixed up the miniature train that will make its way around the bar every hour on the hour. And the foot rails at the bar are made of discarded railroad track.”

And, of course, there’s still the occasional — and unmistakable — blast of a horn when a real train comes barreling past the restaurant.

“I’ve already gotten used to it,” said Cabida.

Klair believes Central Station will be successful because

it intends to focus on three key factors: service, food and atmosphere.

“With those three things put together, I think we’ll be able to provide a unique dining experience for the people of Turlock.”

Central Station is open Monday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.; Saturday from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For reservations, call 209-6691010.

JOE CORTEZ/209 Business Journal

GM Mike Tellez points out the renovated train cars that make up Central Station.

JOE CORTEZ/209 Business Journal

General Manager Mike Tellez, chef Lynese Cabida and owner Kris Klair pose for a picture in the newly opened Central Station restaurant at 10 E. Main St., in downtown Turlock

JOE CORTEZ/209 Business Journal

In honor of the restaurant’s railway history, a miniature train will make its way around the seating area every hour on the hour.

It’s a sports bar, yeah, but I want to bring back that family-friendly atmosphere

Mobile bar brings boho vibes to local events

BY TERESA HAMMOND 209 Business Journal

Michael and Kimberly Leavitt have perhaps stumbled upon one of the most fun and inviting party ideas to come on to the scene in quite a while.

As the new owners of Wild Willow, the husband and wife team are taking their show on the road, so to speak, and rolling up in a literal statement piece which will no doubt keep guests talking well after the event.

Described by Kimberly as a mobile Boho Dry Bar, Wild Willow is for hire for events such as weddings, anniversaries, birthday parties or company events. The couple further explained they provide the service, the decor and trailer. The client provides the beverages of choices which are served from the trailer.

“Meaning that we don’t supply any alcohol. The client has to supply all of the alcohol,” Kimberly clarified.

With a longtime career in catering, mobile bartending and hospitality service, Kimberly came to Oakdale from New York a decade ago when she met her husband, Michael. Always looking for something to challenge her and keep her busy, the couple stumbled upon Wild Willow while she was helping with an event at Bloomingcamp Ranch.

Taking over ownership of the business, Kimberly has maintained the Boho theme, which goes beyond the trailer itself. Seating is arranged adjacent to the front of the bar, as well as pub tables, umbrellas and additional ice chests for self-serve options.

“It’s one stop shopping,” she shared of the trailer set up. “We have the big coolers, we have two kegerators, we have a full size freezer on board. You don’t have to worry about ice in the summertime.”

They also offer a portable bar service, as part of the business for hosts whose space can’t accommodate a trailer.

“It can go to your home, it can go on your patio, it can go in an office,” she said of the portable bar.

Kimberly also does custom charcuterie boards for events.

Currently the couple is booked through the first of the year most Saturdays and has begun to offer service on Fridays for holiday functions.

“People just love it,” she said of the trailer. “When I brought this home, for the first two weeks I had so many people stop.”

And while it is a conversation piece, it also is a great way to stay in the hospitality arena.

“I’ve always loved this business because I like people,” she continued. “I’ve just

found personally for myself just everybody’s happy. It’s an event where everybody’s happy, so what’s not to like.”

While she enjoys meeting people, Kimberly shared she’s also been encouraged by the success of the mobile units since taking over the business as well as the support from other business owners.

The couple is currently pro-

moting the business through Facebook and Instagram social media pages, and Kimberly is currently in the works of partnering with media company The Knot as well.

“I’m hoping that The Knot will do me proud. I just want it right when we get in there.”

Kimberly said so far, the new venture has been rewarding.

“I’m just really trying to fill

PORKY

FROM PAGE 3

In the kitchen, Bernal has also spent time experimenting with new flavors and products, including ribs. With the modern culinary technology, the possibilities thus far have been plentiful.

“If you love meat and pork, this is heaven for you,” he said. “Once you give us a chance and try them out, you’ll understand immediately.”

Bernal hopes to have his food truck operating by mid to late

December. Meanwhile, he is still anxiously waiting to get his permit to wholesale with pork confits to restaurants and bars, as he believes that there is untapped potential using chicharrones as appetizers.

“It’s been a wild experience for me, but we just have to adapt,” he said. “My original idea of selling to the bars, markets and restaurants, it will still happen. We already have several businesses lined up, so we just have to wait a little bit longer.”

Order at PorkyWow! can be placed at www.porkywow.com or by calling (209) 585-0424.

my time with something I really enjoy doing. It’s a good time,” she shared of her small business. “It’s fun. You get to be creative and it’s not the same thing every day. Every event’s different. I love meeting other people and seeing their ideas. We’re fun on wheels.”

Information on Wild Willow and its services can be found at www.wildwillowbohobar.com.

FROM PAGE 3

9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily from now through Dec. 23 or until all trees are sold.

Rick Beck thanked all of the loyal customers for their support over the years and hopes that they continue to return during the holiday seasons to support the grandchildren in their new endeavor.

Information on Coe’s Holiday Specialties can be found by clicking the name on Facebook.

Photo contributed Wild Willow Mobile Boho Bar, recently set up during a holiday event in Modesto, was available for serving beverages and snacks to attendees.

Photo contributed

Owners Kimberly and Michael Leavitt of Wild Willow Mobile Boho Bar are “fun on wheels” as they travel the 209 offering their services for a variety of events.

Year-end tax planning

As we reach the end of the first “post-COVID year,” it’s hard to even think of another income tax deadline in three to four months.

But as Mark Twain once observed, the only two things you can count on in life are death and taxes.

The good news is that the post-COVID “return to normalcy” means your small business probably had a better year than it did the previous two. The even better news is that the federal Inflation Reduction Act extended some expiring business tax credits and introduced some new tax credits that may benefit your business.

I’m indebted to my good friend John D’Aquila, a certified public accountant and head of D’Aquila and Company LLP in Jacksonville,

Florida, (www.daquilallp. com) for sharing some of his year-end tax tips with me and allowing me to share them with you.

SECTION 179 EXPENSING AND BONUS DEPRECIATION DEDUCTIONS

The two business tax deductions that present opportunities for reducing your business’s taxable income are the Section 179 deduction, where your business can elect to deduct the entire cost of certain property acquired and placed in service during the year, and the bonus depreciation deduction, where 100%

of the cost of business property may be expensed. Under the Section 179 expensing option, your business can immediately expense the cost of up to $1,080,000 of “Section 179” property placed in service in 2022. This amount is reduced dollar for dollar (but not below zero) by the amount by which the cost of the Section 179 property placed in service during 2022 exceeds $2,700,000.

The bonus depreciation rules apply to all businesses unless the business specifically elects out of these rules. An election out might be preferable where a business expects a tax loss for the year and the bonus depreciation would just increase that loss, or where it might be advantageous to push depreciation deductions into future years.

For example, if the owner of an LLC or S Corp to whom these deductions would flow expects to be in a higher tax bracket in future years, such deductions might be of more use in those future years. When applying both the Section 179 deduction and the bonus depreciation deduction to an asset, the Section 179 deduction applies first.

NEW AND MODIFIED TAX CREDITS

The IRA modified tax credits for electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles. The law also enacted new tax credits for used and commercial clean vehicles. Multiple factors determine whether an EV purchased in 2022 qualifies for federal tax credits. Many EVs purchased before Aug. 16, 2022, qualify for a tax credit of up to $7,500 (with smaller amounts available for certain makes and models). Vehicles manufactured by Tesla or General Motors purchased

Continued drought conditions add billions in California agriculture losses, UC Merced report finds

NEWS BY PATTY GUERRA UC MERCED Special to 209 Business Journal

Losses to California’s ag industry have continued to mount as the state’s drought stretched into a third straight year, according to a report released Tuesday by researchers from the School of Engineering and the Public Policy Institute of California.

The report, led by Professor Josue Medellín-Azuara, estimates direct economic impacts on farm activity of $1.2 billion this year, up from $810 million in 2021 — representing a 4.9% and 3.4% impact on crop value added, respectively. “Value added” is the contribution from a sector to the region’s gross domestic product. It includes profits, compensation and taxes.

Beyond direct farm effects, impacts on food processing industries that rely on farm products were roughly $845 million in 2022, up from $590 million in 2021. Altogether these consequences total $2 billion in value-added losses this year alone (5.9% reduction with respect to 2019) and a loss of 19,420 jobs, the researchers calculated.

But it could have been worse, the report shows.

“Findings from our study indicate drought impact mitigation actions such as land idling and increased groundwater pumping were the most common. More extensive fallowing in the Sacramento Valley, along with water trading, decreased the economic losses of a drought of this magnitude,” said Medellin-Azuara.

The 2020-2022 water years constitute the driest three-year period in California’s instrumented historical record.

“California is no stranger to drought, but this current drought has hit really hard in some of the typically water-rich parts of the state that are essential for the broader state water supply,” said

The last three years of drought has left reservoirs across the state

tured above.

Professor John

a coauthor on the report.

“The Sacramento Valley and its communities have been ground zero during this drought,” said Alvar EscrivaBou, a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. The report estimates that statewide idled land in 2022 increased by 750,000 acres with respect to 2019, with more than half of these farms in the Sacramento area, and a majority of them in the rice production counties of Sutter, Colusa and Glenn.

“The Sacramento Valley showed greater vulnerability

this time because of the unprecedented climatological conditions, but also because there’s less groundwater pumping capacity. Given that it’s a normally wetter region, it might be wise to assess investments in recharge and pumping infrastructure to increase drought resilience,” added Escriva-Bou.

“On top of precipitation deficits, this drought has shown the importance of what some are calling an ‘evapotranspiration tax’ — increased crop water demand due to a thirsty atmosphere. Impacts of water supply deficits are exacerbated by increased irrigation needs to main-

tain crop productivity,” said graduate students and report coauthors Spencer Cole and Jose Rodriguez. In some locations, crops such as almonds, berries and tomatoes had decreased yields due to water stress, but also because of heatwaves.

In addition to drought impacts, California’s ag economy also suffered from disruptions in the supply chain, including delays in shipping crops out of California. The report’s authors said those delays may result in increased inventory and could influence some of California’s specialty crop prices.

Each drought provides the

opportunity to learn something to apply to the next drought, researchers said.

“We need to more fully invest in building climate resilience in our rural, agriculture dependent communities as they are on the front lines of climate impacts to their economic base,” said UC Merced Associate Dean for Research Professor Joshua Viers, also a report co-author. “We can only expect prolonged dry periods briefly interrupted by pronounced wet ones — which will further stress access to clean drinking water and steady employment, among many challenges.”

Abatzoglou,

Photo courtesy of UC Merced

at historic lows, including Lake Mendocino in Northern California pic -

TDR celebrates their 50th anniversary

BY ANNA GENASCI Stanislaus County Farm Bureau

To celebrate the 50th anniversary and great success of TDR, Inc. (TDR), hundreds of customers, employees, family and friends recently gathered with Barbara and sons, Tony and Mathew Bruno.

TDR is a full-service provider of dairy design, construction, equipment, maintenance and aftermarket services.

“Over 250 invites went out to customers, vendors and employees to celebrate the anniversary at Dust Bowl. We enjoyed the outdoor beer gardens, food, and live music – it was a family friendly event,” shared Tony, the current president of TDR.

But this is not where their story begins.

Matt Bruno, Tony and Mathew’s dad, founded TDR in 1972 when he merged Turlock Refrigeration Center with Turlock-based Miller Dairy Supply. With a staff of four employees, the business initially specialized in servicing dairy and refrigeration equipment. When the industry trend shifted from small dairies to larger, more automated facilities, TDR moved

into dairy design and construction.

“My dad grew up in an ag family. They farmed peaches, almonds and grapes,” shared Tony. “In the beginning it was just dairy service and installation.”

Tony explained that his dad expanded the business in the early 1990s to include construction. “That led to building milk barns, free stall barns, and we had a great working relationship with JS West, so we built egg layer houses,” he said.

Matt built TDR on the foundation of serving and satisfying hard-working dairy owners that expected nothing less from their vendors.

Matt died in 2011, but not before instilling a passion for the business into his two sons.

Matt and Barbara’s sons, Tony and Mathew, joined the family business after graduation from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, in 1997 and 2000, respectively.

Under their leadership, the younger Brunos have added an aftermarket division, offering an extensive line of aftermarket products to their customers.

Today, they continue to seek out the latest innovations in the industry, partnering with Lely (dairy robotics), to bring the first commercial fully automatic robotic dairy to California.

Tony, president, joined TDR after graduating from California Polytechnic State University,

San Luis Obispo in 1997 with a degree in Ag Business, and a concentration in Marketing. He also manages the operational side of his family’s portfolio of commercial, industrial, retail and residential properties.

Today, TDR employs almost 90 employees.

Tony said that he really enjoys the interaction with customers, the operational side of the business and the innovation that drives the dairy industry — like the partnership with Lely.

“We algin with the most innovative companies. Installing robotics is becoming more popular with the scarcity and cost of labor,” shared Tony.

Milking robotics is not where the technology ends. Tony mentioned that TDR is looking at Lely’s automated feeding component that allows cows to eat when hungry and helps to eliminate feed waste.

Mathew, CFO, joined TDR after graduating from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a degree in Ag Business Finance. The firm’s Chief Financial Officer, he earned a Master of Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance, in 2000.

The brother team sit just a handful of feet away from each other, sharing an office space. It is easy to glean that both Tony and Mathew enjoy the successful business that their parents began 50 years ago.

Small businesses continue to be economic driver

STAFF REPORTS

209 Business Journal

Small businesses continue to be the backbone of the North American business community. According to the career resource Zippia, there are 33.2 million small businesses in the United States. Those organizations employ around 62 million people.

Despite the prevalence of small businesses and the abundance of people willing to become entrepreneurs, 20 percent of these firms fail within the first year, and only 55 percent survive five years or more, says Zippia. The COVID-19 pandemic was particularly harsh on small businesses. However, many of them sur-

vived through digitization that they plan to continue to utilize even when the pandemic is long gone.

Maintaining a small business through economic highs and lows and other issues often comes down to customer involvement. Consumers are the driving forces behind the success of small businesses. Here are some effective ways for consumers to help small businesses grow.

Shop local. The “Shop Local” movement has been around for awhile but remains as relevant as ever. Shopping local means becoming repeat patrons at the independent businesses that comprise Main Street as opposed to the chain stores that dominate strip malls.

Share on social. Social media can be a

great way to spread the word about businesses you like and point out particular examples why you shop there. Utilizing social media platforms to highlight the positive attributes of a business can help that business grow.

Call direct for take-out orders. Those ubiquitous third-party food delivery services may be convenient, but businesses have to share the profit from your purchase with the delivery service, cutting into their bottom lines. Pick up your order or rely on the restaurants’ own delivery teams.

Engage with the business online. Complicated algorithms and other factors determine how a business website or social media page gets seen by the public. You

can help things along by liking pages, visiting the website frequently and sharing any posts.

Speak about a business in person. When out and about, whether you’re dining with friends or chatting with a stranger, try to push and recommend businesses you support. If someone compliments your lawn, shoes or haircut, mention the businesses that did the work or sold you the products.

Suggest opportunities for exposure. If you know about a school or organization looking for vendors, make the suggestion to a small business you use frequently. They may get new customers from participating in the event.

BLUE

ed considerable competitive advantage with our grower returns,” said outgoing President and CEO Mark Jansen.

Blue Diamond sold over 83 million pounds of almonds as part of their snack lines, remained the top producer in almond milk in the plantbased milk category, and launched multiple new consumer products, such as Chilé ‘n Lime, Probiotics, Elote, Korean BBQ and Mash Ups.

Blue Diamond also had an increased focus on overseas expansion. The company shared that they achieved 17% volume growth compared to the previous year for Almond Breeze products in more than 70 countries.

Almond Breeze is produced at the Turlock Blue Diamond site where everything needed for the product is manufactured in the same facility.

Blue Diamond completed an expansion at the Turlock facility in 2020.

The 52,000 square foot addition was built alongside the existing 200,000 square foot facility that has been in Turlock since 2013.

To accommodate for the heightened popularity of Blue Diamond in overseas markets, the company opened new markets in Uganda,

ALMOND

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the case.”

In addition, the Land IQ 2022 Standing Acreage and Removed Acreage Final Estimate said approximately 30,000 acres are either classified as stressed or abandoned. They were included in the standing acreage total because the orchards “may have the ability to recover,” Land IQ said.

Removed orchards contributed to the drop in total acreage and continued a trend from 2021. Total orchard acreage removed was about 60,400 acres as of Aug. 31 this year compared with 56,900 removed acres in 2021.

“Land IQ’s report may indicate a possible trend towards lower California almond acreage in the year ahead,” said Richard Waycott, ABC president and CEO. “This acreage estimate was based on data collect-

Ghana, Kenya, Bolivia and Argentina, while driving 33% volume growth in Asia.

“Blue Diamond has experienced substantial growth in recent years through thoughtful, smart decisions and actions,” said Board Chair Dan Cummings. “With our focus on innovation, deeply established partnerships and steadfast commitment to going above and beyond to deliver on consumer and retail demands, I expect this progress to continue well into the future.”

With new products on the shelves and increased sales domestically and abroad, Blue Diamond was able to increase grower payments by an average of $.20 a pound, delivering what they describe as a record competitive advantage.

“It could not have happened without the dedication of our 3,000 grower-owners or the 1,800 hardworking Blue Diamond team members,” said Jansen.

The 3,000 almond growers and orchard owners are located throughout California while the 1,800 Blue Diamond team members work throughout the company’s processing plants, receiving stations and gift shops in Turlock, Salida and Sacramento. More information about Blue Diamond can be found at their website at www.bluediamond.com

ed through Aug. 31, so it does not reflect any additional removals that may have occurred as the harvest and post-harvest seasons progressed this fall. Those data will be incorporated in the next acreage estimate to be published in April 2023.”

The estimate comes from multiple lines of evidence, including extensive examinations on the ground and advanced remote sensing analytics. Land IQ said the 2022 standing acreage estimate is 98.8 percent accurate.

Land IQ’s Final Acreage Estimate in November, along with USDA-NASS’s April Acreage Report, May’s Subjective Estimate and the Objective Report in July are all commissioned by ABC to provide statistical transparency and a robust picture of California almonds to industry stakeholders around the world.

In 2018, ABC first commissioned Land IQ to develop a comprehensive, living map of California almonds. The map is the result of more than a decade of research.

PHOTO BY CRYPTO CROW/Pexels.com

in 2022 are not eligible for tax credits, as Tesla and GM have exceeded the 200,000-vehicle threshold that limits the number of tax credits that can be claimed for vehicles made by a manufacturer.

For vehicles purchased after Aug. 16, 2022, only vehicles for which final assembly occurred in North America qualify. The U.S. Department of Energy has released a list of model year 2022 and 2023 vehicles with final assembly in North America (https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/ electric-vehicles-for-tax-credit). EV purchasers who ordered a vehicle before Aug. 16, 2022, and take delivery of their vehicle at a later date may be able to claim tax credits for vehicles not assembled in North America if they had a written binding contract to purchase the vehicle. Most of the changes to the clean vehicle tax credit are effective starting in 2023, with the exception of the final assembly in North America requirement.

The energy investment tax credit was also extended by the IRA and could reduce your business’s federal tax liability by a percentage of the cost of a solar system installed during the tax year. Solar systems placed in service in 2022 or later, and that began construction before 2033, are eligible for a 30% ITC or a production tax credit based on a kilowatt-hour formula if they meet certain labor requirements or are under 1 megawatt in size.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DEDUCTIONS AND CREDITS

The Tax Code provision al-

lowing a deduction for research and development expenses expired at the end of 2021. Unless the credit is reinstated before the end of this year (Congress is currently debating doing that), such expenditures must now be amortized over five years. However, under the IRA, businesses that engage in certain kinds of research may qualify for an income tax credit based on its qualified research expenses. The credit is calculated as the amount of qualified research expenditures above a base amount that is meant to represent the amount of research expenditures in the absence of the credit.

Because some small businesses may not have a large enough income tax liability to take advantage of their research credit, the law allows that small business (a business with less than $5 million in gross receipts and that is under five years old) to apply up to $250,000 of the research credit toward its social security payroll tax liability. The IRA expanded the amount available for the credit from $250,000 to $500,000 for tax years beginning after 2022.

MANIPULATING DEDUCTIONS AND INCOME

When it comes to year-end tax planning, two rules never change: You should try to 1) accelerate as many deductions as possible to December 2022, and 2) postpone as much income as possible to January 2023. If you know you will owe someone money early next year, ask them to submit their invoices now so you can mail payment before year-end. Better yet, if it’s a scheduled monthly payment, ask if it’s possible to pay the

entire year in advance — they may even give you a discount for doing that. Wait until Jan. 1 to mail out your invoices, unless a client (having read this column) asks you to send it now, in which case you probably should do that in the interest of good customer service.

DEDUCTIONS FOR EXCESS BUSINESS LOSSES

Taxpayers other than corporations can deduct excess farm losses and excess business losses through 2028. An excess business loss for the tax year is the excess of aggregate deductions attributable to your trades or businesses over the sum of your aggregate gross income or gain, plus a threshold amount. The threshold amount for 2022 is $270,000, or $540,000 for joint returns.

PASS-THRU ENTITY (LLC AND S CORP) CONSIDERATIONS

If you are operating a business through a pass-thru entity such as a partnership or S corporation, your basis in the entity must be high enough to allow for any loss deduction, if you have one for the year. In such a situation, talk to your accountant about ways you can legally increase your basis in such an entity.

Many states have enacted a pass-through entity tax for S corporations and LLCs with more than one owner (https://www. crosslinktax.com/customerresources/tax-resource-center/ tax-updates/states-with-a-passthrough-entity-tax/). Deducting this tax on your federal income tax return, especially if your business is located in a state with high state and local taxes, can be a very significant tax sav-

ings for business owners.

QUALIFIED BUSINESS INCOME DEDUCTION

If you are conducting your business as a sole proprietorship, a partner in a partnership, a member in an LLC taxed as a partnership, or as a shareholder in an S corporation, the qualified business income deduction can significantly help reduce taxable income. The QBI deduction allows eligible taxpayers to deduct up to 20% of their QBI, plus 20% of qualified real estate investment trust dividends and qualified traded partnership income. A W-2 wage limitation amount may apply to limit the amount of the deduction. The W-2 wage limitation amount must be calculated for taxpayers with a taxable income that exceeds a statutorily defined amount (i.e., the threshold amount). For any tax year beginning in 2022, the threshold amount is $340,100 for married filing joint returns and $170,050 for all other returns.

Since the QBI deduction reduces taxable income, and is not used in computing adjusted gross income, it does not affect limitations based on adjusted gross income such as the medical expense deduction or the calculation of social security income that is includible in income. However, the QBI deduction does not apply to a “specified service trade or business,” which is defined as any trade or business involving the performance of services in the fields of health, law, accounting, actuarial science, performing arts, consulting, athletics, financial services, brokerage services, including investing and investment management, trading, or dealing in securities, partner-

ship interests or commodities, and any trade or business where the principal asset of such trade or business is the reputation or skill of one or more of its employees. Engineering and architecture services are specifically excluded from the definition of a specified service trade or business.

MORE FUNDING FOR SMALL BUSINESS AUDITS

Most of the benefits of the new federal Inflation Reduction Act for small business will, however, be outweighed by the Act’s appropriation of $80 billion for IRS tax enforcement activities such as hiring more enforcement agents, providing legal support and investing in “investigative technology.” To be fair, the IRS was long overdue for funding, and roughly 45% of the appropriation is earmarked for improving taxpayer services, updating the IRS’ notoriously antiquated computer systems and other purposes that will be beneficial to taxpayers.

But it’s no secret that the principal motivation behind the increased funding is to reduce the almost $500 billion “tax gap” between the amount people are supposed to pay in taxes and the amount the IRS actually collects. This means more (and more aggressive) audits, and small businesses will be in the crosshairs. Within the next year, the IRS will be hiring thousands of new auditors (mostly recent college and business school graduates with zero auditing experience) and handing them a bunch of small business tax returns on which they can cut their teeth.

Here’s hoping yours won’t be one of them.

Top protect wildife for future generations, you have to think inside the box.

WELCOME TO THE PORT OF TOMORROW. Surrounding the Port, perched high above the ground, are numerous boxes that our local owl species call home. Students and the community follow the owl families on hidden cameras as their eggs hatch and their young learn to y. We a ectionately refer to the owls as our “air force” because they provide essential rodent control. And with 96% occupancy, the owl box program has been an overwhelming success—a success we look to repeat as we explore new ways to preserve the Port’s vital wildlife.

Chair Anthony Barkett, Vice-Chair Michael Patrick Duffy Commissioners R. Jay Allen, David B. Atwater, Gary Christopherson, Stephen Griffen, William Trezza Port Director Kirk DeJesus