k e e p i n g
BUSINESS JOURNAL
b u s i n e s s e s
c o n n e c t e d ™
FEB 2021
VOLUME 6 ■ ISSUE 2
IN PROFILE
THE LEGACY OF SPRECKLES
The Fix, a new yoga studio and juice bar, offers one stop shop for wellness in Oakdale.
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TECHNOLOGY
Social media strategist Tiffany Phillips shares methods for businesses to increase awareness and profits through different platforms. PAGE 9
209 BUSINESS JOURNAL FILE PHOTO
The four 15-story sugar silos as they were imploded on March 15, 1997.
From Manteca’s economic driver to business park DENNIS WYATT
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209 BUSINESS JOURNAL
t was without a doubt one sweet ride. The 78-year marriage between Spreckels Sugar and Manteca that ended a quarter of a century ago was a fabled partnership that for a decade provided economic muscle for the community by turning sugar beets into sugar. Spreckels Sugar refinery started on Jan. 30, 1918 when the first smoke appeared in the Manteca sky roughly where Target is today as the original factory boiler was fired up. Five months later Manteca was incorporated as a city. Spreckels came to Manteca, by the way, much like Bass Pro Shops, Costco, and Great Wolf did. Manteca’s leaders had to lure them here, using a sweetheart land deal to seal the deal. Spreckels already had a dumping station, storage tanks and a tank house in Manteca. They were out in place in 1916 following the previous year’s successful experiment. The fact the Manteca area’s fertile sandy loam soil had irrigation water thanks to the South San Joaquin Irrigation District capable of delivering water to crops every 8 to 10 days caught Spreckels Sugar’s attention. Scouts from the company’s Salinas plant reported the Manteca area was ideal.
The company — before the start of World War I — had shipped 28,000 pounds of seeds from Germany to Manteca in 1915. The first sugar beets grown in Manteca were tested at the Salinas plant. That first crop averaged 25 tons per acre of beets with a high sugar percentage. That yielded farmers $5.50 a ton. The shipping of sugar beets to Salinas was a costly undertaking. That prompted Spreckels to decide to site a plant in San Joaquin County. Lathrop near the Mossdale Crossing and Stockton were the two sites to sugar company wanted. Both had river shipping possibilities and rail freight access. Manteca wasn’t in the running until the community muscled its way into the process. The Board of Trade — a hybrid organization that combined aspects of a town council without incorporation and a modern-day chamber of commerce — circulated petitions. More importantly they cobbled together a land deal that — when coupled with the railroad running through Manteca — was too good for Spreckels to resist. The pungent smell that process created was the scent of prosperity. To underscore that point on the plant’s 50th anniversary, Spreckels employees received their pay for one work period in 1948 in crisp $2 bills. Merchants were SEE LEGACY, PAGE 8
Immigrant with 75 cents started Spreckels DENNIS WYATT 209 Business Journal
One of the sweetest immigrant success stories ever helped provide decent livings for generations of Manteca families and provided area farmers steady incomes for 78 years. Claus Spreckels — born in a small village in what is now modern-day Germany on July 9, 1828 — was a farmhand thrown out of work by crop failure and political upheaval when he immigrated to the United States in 1848. When he arrived in Charleston, South Carolina at age 20 he could speak no English and had only 75 cents to his name. By the time of his death on Dec. 26, 1908 in San Francisco Spreckels was worth $1.6 billion in today’s dollars. He had become known as the Sugar King of Hawaii and had a number of successful enterprises including Spreckels Sugar. His empire included sugar, banks, railroads, sea shipping lines, gas and electricity, breweries, newspapers, and real estate.
Spreckels’ firm — under the leadership of his son Adolph Spreckels — expanded into Manteca by contracting with farmers to grow 244 acres of sugar beets in the Nile Garden area south of present-day Manteca after the formation of the South San Joaquin Irrigation District triggered a surge in agricultural production and pumped new life into Manteca and Ripon. That first crop tested high in sugar. That led to Spreckels signing contracts with farmers to grow 1,300 acres of sugar beets out of the 14,000 acres being supplied with water by SSJID. By 1916, 7,000 acres in Manteca were planted in sugar beets. Spreckels officially formed its Manteca District as well as two nearby — the Modesto and Stockton Districts. Beet dumps and loading stations were built along Southern Pacific as well as Tidewater railroad tracks in Manteca, Lathrop, French Camp, Summer Home and Calla. The exceptional sugar SEE SPRECKLES, PAGE 8
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209 BUSINESS JOURNAL
FEBRUARY 2021
209 BUSINESS JOURNAL
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IN PROFILE
Yoga studio, juice bar joins Oakdale community BY TERESA HAMMOND 209 Business Journal
Katelyn Hasley is turning up her fearlessness and she’s not looking back. During a time when many small businesses are doing their best just to keep their doors open, Hasley is opening her doors for the first time. The long-time community member and yoga enthusiast is the brainchild behind The Fix, which recently had its ‘soft opening’. The business will offer varying yoga classes, as well as aerial yoga (in spring 2021), a Juice Bar and retail shop. “The Fix is really like the one stop destination for all things wellness,” Hasley said. “That’s really my vision, is that it’s a wellness center. I’m really bringing a whole lot of different types of classes to Oakdale that have never really been offered here before.” Hasley shared the space has been her vision for quite some time, spending the past year looking for the “perfect” spot in Oakdale. The Fix is located on the east side of town at 136 N. Maag Ave., Suite C. The suite offers two spaces
back to back, creating great opportunity for the yoga/ fitness space in one and Juice Bar in the other. “Expanding into the Juice Bar,” she noted as what she’s most excited about, “yoga is so great for so many different things, but nutrition is really where it’s at. That’s what really creates your health. You can do yoga, but if you’re not putting healthy ingredients into your body, you’re not really getting the full experience. You’re not getting the full benefit of yoga. They’re complementary to each other.” All things served at the Juice Bar will be from Hasley’s personal menu. In addition to a menu of green’s and smoothie’s the Juice Bar will feature gourmet coffees, as well as herbal teas. Prior to pioneering the idea and turning her dream into reality, Hasley lead and owned Peace Tree Yoga at 507 Spa and Salon. She’s also taught at a number of gyms and shared she first brought yoga to Oakdale in 2001, teaching at the Gladys Lemmons Senior Center. She taught there for nine years. “I’ve been dreaming of
expanding and having a full size yoga studio for as long as I’ve been teaching (2001),” she said. “It was just time. I taught for five years at 507, it just wasn’t the perfect fit there.” So it was time to take that next step. “I’ve just been dreaming of having a full size studio,” she continued, “with a full schedule of classes and all these different classes that I’ve taken on-line and visited in my travels.” According to the studio owner a variety of classes will be offered as well as varying membership types. Community members will be able to take advantage of monthly membership, drop in opportunity or a class pass option. In addition, on-line class memberships will be made available to those looking to practice from home. “What’s different is I’m adding an on-line membership, which I really feel is the future of yoga,” the studio owner shared. “Especially right now. That’s the main inspiration to open now. It’s something that people need so badly right now and they don’t have access to or haven’t
had access to in so long and they’re able to now do it from home or from wherever they are.” Plus, Hasley wants to be all-inclusive. “I’m also bringing a new style of classes. I’m calling it Blue Collar Yoga,” she explained, adding an interest in reaching the male demographic and erasing the stereotype which is often applied to yoga. “That is really catered to working men; which is the one demographic yoga hasn’t gravitated to yet, but needs it so badly.” As the long time yogi and health enthusiast looks toward her official Grand Opening this spring, she acknowledges the timing and the hurdles one may encounter during a time of the COVID pandemic. “It felt almost like an impossible task,” she said of pursuing her dream, which became interrupted by COVID-19. “I guess I got to a point where I was tired of being afraid and just decided it was time. This is my dream and nothing is going to stop it from happening. I just kind of had a little pep talk with myself and decided I wasn’t go-
TERESA HAMMOND/209 BUSINESS JOURNAL
New business owner Katelyn Hasley outside of her recently opened yoga studio and juice bar on the east side of Oakdale. ing to let anything stop that from happening.” As the fear is overcome and the dream becomes reality, Hasley acknowledges her excitement for sharing this vision with the community. “Super exciting. I don’t know how else to explain it,” she said. “There’s still so much to do, but I am
super anxious to get teaching. In the 20 years that I’ve been teaching this is the longest period of time I’ve gone without teaching. Really excited to get back with people and feeling the energy in the room.” For additional information and grand opening updates on The Fix, visit www.thefix.biz.com.
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209 BUSINESS JOURNAL
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FEBRUARY 2021
IN PROFILE
Denair resident creates scrunchie success one stitch at a time ANGELINA MARTIN 209 Business Journal
Style fads come and go, but Denair resident Courtney Van Fleet is turning her creativity into profit through one timeless accessory. The 25-year-old entrepreneur and Denair High School graduate first learned to sew in 2017 after her grandmother encouraged her to take a class, she said. Since then, her sewing skills have grown from hand stitching drawstring bags to now producing anywhere from 300 to 400 scrunchies per month through her business, Sew Stitch’n Cute. Van Fleet’s customer
NEW
base started out small, but when a friend posted a photo of a Sew Stitch’n Cute scrunchie in 2019, she gained hundreds of new followers on her Instagram page and was flooded with requests for the stretchy, fluffy hair accessories. The business today boasts nearly 3,000 followers and Van Fleet has turned her talents into a full-time endeavor, spending four to six hours per day sewing scrunchies, keychains, steering wheel covers and even masks. “Once I realized I could make money doing this, I started researching how to make other things and how to make them my own,” Van
TO
Fleet said, noting that each of her scrunchies feature a small, unique tag featuring her business name. “Everyone has looked into making crafts during the pandemic, so I really tried to step it up recently so people would know mine from somebody else’s.” Sew Stitch’n Cute offers a variety of different scrunchies, from big and fluffy to small and subdued. While her velvet scrunchies are the most popular, Van Fleet also makes the accessories from different fabrics with countless fun prints to choose from. She often participates in popup shops not only in Denair but surrounding com-
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munities as well, and also drops anywhere from 150 to 200 scrunchies available for purchase on her website twice per month. “Everyone loves the velvet fabric I use,” Van Fleet said. “I don’t use cotton because it’s not good for your hair, and I try to find fabrics that I can touch and just feel that it’s good quality.” While some think of scrunchies as a trend of the past, Van Fleet is grateful for their sudden resurgence — and the support from her customers. “One of my grandmas, who has now passed, always had scrunchies or headbands and I would SEE SCRUNCHIE, PAGE 5
O P E N ING
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY COURTNEY VAN FLEET
Courtney Van Fleet of Denair has turned her love for sewing into a business through Sew Stitch’n Cute, where she sells handcrafted scrunchies and more.
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IN PROFILE
River Oaks keeps swinging during pandemic Ray of Hope opening thrift store
BY DALE BUTLER 209 Business Journal
A surge in COVID-19 cases in California forced River Oaks Golf Course & Event Center to make a slight change to how the business operates. “The only change is we’re back to one person per golf cart unless they live in the same household,” said Pam Thornberry, co-owner. “That’s a county order.” River Oaks has a number of COVID-19 protective measures in place to keep customers safe. Businesses in California had to shut down for six weeks during the height of the pandemic. “We’re doing what we’ve done before, which is disinfecting everything,” Thornberry said. “We haven’t had any problems as far as having any outbreaks. We’ve been really blessed. You have to put a lot of trust in each other.” Golf has experienced a spike in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic because it’s an activity people can do outside while practicing social distancing. “Fortunately, it hasn’t affected golf like it has other businesses,” Thornberry said. “We’re happy to have the customers we do. We’ve gotten quite a few new players. They’ve been loyal to us.” River Oaks’ practice facility features a driving range with lights, and a large putting green along with a practice area for chipping and pitching. The driving range is over
BY VINCE REMBULAT 209 Business Journal
DALE BUTLER/209 BUSINESS JOURNAL
Employee Kathy Hall stands near a plexiglass partition inside the pro shop at River Oaks Golf Course & Event Center. River Oaks has a number of COVID-19 protective measures in place to keep customers safe.
150 yards wide and 300 yards long. River Oaks extended its driving-range hours to boost participation during the wintertime. Buckets of range balls are sold until 6:30 p.m. “It’s become really popular,” Thornberry said. We started it two months ago. The range lights stay on until 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. It’s a neat thing for people that want to come out after work and hit a bucket of balls. I was out there Friday evening and every stall was filled. It was really awesome to see.” River Oaks has been a staple in the Ceres community for over 40 years. Located at 3441 Golf
Links Road off Hatch Road, the par-58, 18-hole golf course changed ownership when it was purchased by the Thornberry and Hall families in August 2015. River Oaks has survived flooding, recession and a change of ownership during its existence. The par-27 front-nine course sits atop the river bluff. One landscaping change that was made involved transforming an old tree stump into a gnome house. It’s located just off the second tee. The par-31 back-nine course is located along the banks of Tuolumne River. “We got little projects we’re trying to finish,” Thornberry said.
is now
Customers can take advantage of reduced rates. Two players can play for the price of one on Tuesdays. Seniors (65-and-older) and active and retired military members pay half price on Thursdays. Seniors (90-and-older) can play for free seven days a week. River Oaks is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, and from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. “We’re thankful we have something outdoors people can do,” Thornberry said. For more information, call 537-4653 or visit riveroaksceres.com.
February promises to be a busy month for the Ray of Hope Children’s Crisis Services. The local non-profit that deals regularly with referrals for youngsters in difficult situations will kick off Diapers & More for the Babies in Crisis Program. Couple that with the grand opening of Hope’s Closet. The thrift shop located near Hafers Home Furnishings at 1030 W. Yosemite Ave. near El Portal Avenue opened to the public on Feb. 1. “The store will be a place where although it’s a thrift store for kids, it will feel like a Pottery Barn,” said Ray of Hope Executive Director Laura Vieira-Saunders. “It’ll be as beautiful as we can make it so they can experience shopping with pride. “They’ll also see how much work we are willing to put in towards bringing this to them.” Ray of Hope, as always, will be looking for donations. Thus far, Simply Irre-
SCRUNCHIE
FROM PAGE 4
think, ‘wow, who would wear this,’” Van Fleet laughed. “It’s an accessory these days. Even though I have short hair now, I’ll still wear one on my wrist. They really do make an outfit.” Customers can keep up with Sew Stitch’n Cute on Instagram or Facebook to see when Van Fleet is
sistible Children’s Boutique provided the store with a big lift. “Naomi Clark (of Simply Irresistible) donated so much to us that it was almost a miracle – it was just as we envisioned the store. We are forever grateful to her,” said Vieira-Saunders. Clothing donations will begin on the first week of next month. Another advantage of the Hope’s Closet is giving youngsters the experience of picking out their clothes “so they feel comfortable in their own skin, so to speak,” VieiraSaunders said. She added: “It’s hard to go through what they do – everything is out of their control but the least we can do is assure they can wear what they’re comfortable in and not what someone else chooses for them.” Ray of Hope initially hoped to open Hope’s Closet few months ago. But the COVID-19 pandemic made funding a challenge. More information is available on social media (Facebook, Instagram) or by calling (209) 597-0574. dropping new scrunchies or participating in her next pop-up shop. “I always encourage people to tag me in their photos on social media. When they’re excited to get their package and post pictures of themselves wearing them, I love to see that,” Van Fleet said. Contact Van Fleet at @ sew_stitchn_cute on Instagram; https://sewstitchncute.square.site.
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209 BUSINESS JOURNAL
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FEBRUARY 2021
NEWS
Tony Mistlin, beloved Ripon benefactor, passes away BY DENNIS WYATT 209 Business Journal
Tony Mistlin, a businessman who reminded us all that it is about doing our part to make the world a better place, has passed away. Mistlin died on Jan. 18 at age 95. Mistlin over the past two decades made it his mission to share his success with his beloved community of Ripon. His success at doing so can be heard in the squeals of kids frolicking in the Mistlin Sports Park water play feature, the sounds of kids and adults playing soccer and softball at Mistlin Sports Park, and can be seen on the smiles on the faces of countless couples who have posed by the water feature at Ripon’s Main Street entrance from northbound Highway 99. All of that and more was made possible because Mistlin, along with his beloved wife Joan, opened both heart and pocketbook. Mistlin, who owned the Modesto Honda dealership that carries his name, didn’t do it for name recognition. If you doubt that
all you had to do was catch the look at his face when he dropped by the park for events such as the Almond Blossom Festival, the now defunct Ripon balloon festival or to simply take in a softball. The smile on his face and the twinkle in his eyes told you the pleasure he got from helping build a community. Mistlin, who as a 15-yearold immigrant came to the United States to escape the bombing of England during World War II, was the man who made the Ripon sports park that carries his name possible. Mistlin Sports Park stands as a testimony to the unselfish gestures, commitments, and gifts that build communities like Ripon. It was among more than $10 million in gifts the man who once sold cars with an up and coming San Francisco Giants prospect by the name of Willie McCovey at a Van Ness Avenue dealership in The City made to Ripon over the years that included: *The land for the original land donation for the 122acre Mistlin Sports Park on River Road and subse-
quent land to expand it. *The indoor soccer facility at Mistlin Sports Park. *The interactive water feature at the sports park. *Artistic statues for the beautification of Mistlin Sports Park. *Construction of the amphitheater at the sports park. *The water feature at East Main Street at the entrance to Ripon off Highway 99. *The Oak Street gazebo and park. His generosity was not just directed at the Ripon community. Modesto as well as people throughout San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties benefited from his philanthropy. It shows up in support of the arts with the Mistlin Gallery in Modesto as well as the statue of Chief Estanislau — the indigenous California leader for whom the Stanislaus River and Stanislaus County are named and the inspiration for the Ripon High mascot. Mistlin during the Labor Day 2006 dedication of the sports park he made possible, shared he wasn’t even close to being done with his overall plans for
209 BUSINESS JOURNAL FILE PHOTO
Tony Mistlin is shown in this 2017 photo holding a rendering of the Mistlin Soccer Arena along with his children Gala, Melody and Gary.
the park. ”Every day I come up with something else that I’d like to see out there,” Mistlin said emphatically. “It’s something that I love and it’s definitely a work in progress. I don’t know if I’ll ever reach the point where I really think that it’s finished.” With all the hard cold
vibes Wall Street gives off we forget that Main Street has hundreds of thousands of business people like Tony Mistlin who give back to their communities not just by providing jobs and fulfilling a need for customers, but by helping support numerous endeavors. They give back what they
can. Sometimes its sponsorship of a youth supports team; sometimes it involves staging a free community Thanksgiving dinner. And sometimes it involves helping turn a community park into the heart of a community. Tony Mistlin exemplified business people that are caring and generous.
Scammers target small businesses seeking disaster assistance BY JASON CAMPBELL 209 Business Journal
Local business owners in the 209 area have been receiving information over the course of the last month about qualifying for up to $250,000 worth of “disaster assistance” funding from the “Small Business Administration.” The only problem? The email that has been making the rounds – and has resulted in some businesses turning over sensitive information – isn’t legitimate and is part of a new tactic being deployed
by scammers to take advantage of small business owners during the difficult economic times. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the phishing attempts are strikingly similar to other phone calls and messages that are intended to appear like they’re originating from government offices, but quickly become identifiable as scams when the person posing as a government agent asks immediately for things like Social Security numbers or birthdates. And unfortunately, the
scams can be successful. “Phishing attempts aren’t the only scam that business owners are reporting,” said FTC Attorney Leslie Fair in a release announcing the new scam. “We’ve heard from people who have applied for loans through websites pretending to be a part of the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, which was extended through the end of this year. “And other people report they’ve been contacted to repay loans they never took out. The likely culprits? Criminals who illegally
applied for loans in their name.” The attempted scams have become so commonplace that San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar has put up a special section on the office’s website listing active scams and the techniques that the scammers use to get over on victims – an attempt to educate the public and prevent people from being swindled out of their hard-earned money. According to experts, those that may be actively seeking SBA loans are en-
couraged to start at the government agency’s website and not through an unsolicited email regardless of how official it may appear. People are also encouraged to check the credentials of possible lenders due to the fact that during the loan process personal information is necessary, and routine checks of one’s credit report are also recommended to make sure that loans have not been issued without the borrower’s knowledge or consent. With the recent $600 stimulus checks being distribut-
ed and ongoing discussions about bringing that amount up to $2,000 – and possibly more through a variety of different programs – scammers have been working overtime to try and get their hands on the money intended to help people weather the pandemic. For additional information, or to check the updated consumer alerts that are posted on the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office website, visit www. sjgov.org/da/ or search for the agency’s name on Facebook.
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209 209BUSINESS BUSINESS JOURNAL JOURNAL
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OPINION
Vol. 6 No. 2 ■ February 2021 PUBLISHER Hank Vander Veen
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
EDITOR Sabra Stafford
NEWSROOM Dennis D. Cruz Kristina Hacker Teresa Hammond Angelina Martin Virginia Still Dennis Wyatt
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Harold L. George
—Aesop
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Sharon Hoffman
SALES & MARKETING Chris Castro Beth Flanagan Karen Olsen Corey Rogers Melody Wann Charles Webber
DIGITAL
Frankie Tovar Rich Matheson
Some billing tips for consultants To advertise in 209 Business Journal, call Manteca • 209.249.3500 Oakdale • 209.847.3021 Turlock • 209.634.9141 209 Business Journal is published monthly 122 S. Third Ave • Oakdale, CA 95361 Information: sstafford@209magazine.com 209businessjournal.com The Oakdale Leader USPS No 178-680 Is published weekly by 209 Multimedia, 122 S. Third Ave. Oakdale, Ca 95361 ©Copyright 2021. 209 Business Journal All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part of any text, photograph or illustration without written permission from the publisher of 209 Business Journal is strictly prohibited. The opinions expressed in 209 Business Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of 209 Business Journal management or owner. 209 Business Journal assumes no responsibility and makes no recommendation for claims made by advertisers and shall not be liable for any damages incurred.
209MAG A Z I N E.CO M
Many if not most clients are operating on extremely tight profit margins these days; people are obsessed with controlling costs of all kinds, including legal fees. Consultants and other professional service providers must be clear at all times about how their fees are calculated, how much a project will cost, and when payment will be due. To put it bluntly: You are certain to have angry clients if you: — Send bills the client is not expecting; — Exceed your fee estimate without informing the client in advance; or — Send bills to a client without a detailed explanation of the work performed. Here are some billing rules of thumb which have worked for me the past 40 years of working with clients of all types: Include Fee Estimates in Every Retainer Agreement. When billing a client by the hour, include an estimate of the number of hours the project is likely to take. This can take the form of a range with a minimum and maximum dollar amount. When charging a flat fee for a particular matter, state clearly that the flat fee is based on the total number of hours not exceeding a certain number, and that additional work requested by the client may cause you to reopen the flat fee for further discussion. Always include a statement that if circumstanc-
CLIFF ENNICO CREATORS SYNDICATE
es require you to exceed the fee estimate, you will contact the client before incurring excess charges. Bill Early and Often. Hard as it may be to believe, many professionals commit the sin of not billing their clients frequently enough. Most clients prefer to pay reasonable monthly bills instead of a large bill rendered at the end of an engagement. Set aside one day each month (for example, the 15th of each month or the anniversary of your birthday) and draft your bills in the morning, before you are distracted by other matters. If you delay sending out bills, your client will delay paying you, and that can lead to accounts receivable problems. Always Send Detailed Bills. Seldom will you be able to submit a bill saying merely “For services rendered ... $XXX” without pushback. Clients expect and should receive a detailed bill showing the number of hours you worked on their project each day. You should always prepare bills yourself; never delegate them to a bookkeeper or administrative assistant, as the billing narrative will need to tell a story that
only you can tell. By drafting the narrative yourself, you will also be better able to determine if and when time should be written off. Stick to Your Estimates. Clients hate billing surprises. If you see that your original estimate of time or expenses was too conservative, call the client to discuss the situation and submit a revised estimate before incurring additional charges. Most clients will be reasonable and will respect the fact you are helping them manage their budgets. Stay on Top of Late Payments. On the last day of each month (assuming you bill monthly), review your invoices from the previous month and compare them to your check register to determine if any clients are running late with their payments. If a client has not paid you within 30 days, call or email the client and ask (professionally) whether payment will be forthcoming in a few days. Large accounts receivable problems almost always start out as small problems that get out of hand — so by addressing late payments promptly, there is a greater chance you will prevent the hole from getting deeper. If a client needs a payment schedule, by all means, be reasonable, but also reduce the time you spend on the client’s matter until they catch up with payment. Never Quote a Flat Fee If You
Can’t Control Your Time. Clients always appreciate a flat fee quote, but there are times when flat fees should not be charged. Generally, you should charge a flat fee only when you are absolutely certain of the number of hours a project will take. If a project requires discussions or negotiations with other people, or if there are factors outside of your control that will impact the amount of time spent on a matter, it is always preferable to bill on an hourly basis, with an estimate “minimum” and “maximum” number of hours the project may take. When Billing, Emphasize the Difficult. Let’s face it: Clients do not pay you to perform tasks that are fun and fulfilling. They pay you to do tasks they do not want to do themselves, either because they are too tedious and boring or because small mistakes can lead to disastrous results. It is becoming ever more difficult to bill a client for research time (the client will not be willing to pay for what they perceive as your education) or telephone calls (even if you time each call with a stopwatch, the client will insist the call took less time). When drafting bills, allocate the most time to the most difficult, unpleasant tasks you performed for the client. Doing so makes it much less likely the client will question the bill or your ability to manage your time.
209 BUSINESS JOURNAL
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LEGACY
FROM PAGE 1
flooded with the $2 bills that they placed that week in big glass jars to display to the community just how big of an impact Spreckels Sugar had in the community’s financial well-being. At its peak, Spreckels employed almost 150 people full-time and scores more during sugar beet campaigns. That was a big impact back in the 1930s when the city had 1,600 residents. By the time the 1970s arrived, Spreckels Sugar’s status as the largest private sector employee was eclipsed by Indy Electronics with a workforce of nearly 600. But Spreckels still dominated Manteca’s psyche — and skyline. A pair of 15-story silos built in 1958 — the tallest manmade structures at the time in San Joaquin County — caught the eye of travelers on Highway 99 that had been transformed in a freeway three years earlier. The second two silos were added in 1965. Not only were they on top of Manteca’s historic front door at Yosemite Avenue and Highway 99, but when the 120 Bypass opened in the 1970s the Spreckels Sugar silos were the landmark that not only the community identified with but also tens of thousands of daily travelers. When the announce-
SPRECKLES
FROM PAGE 1
content and agreement by 125 growers in the Manteca District to plant 6,700 acres in sugar beets and similar commitments in the Stockton and Modesto area led to the decision to build a sugar refinery plant. Manteca in 1916 beat out strong bids in 1916 from Modesto and Stockton to land the sugar firm’s commitment to build a factory. The initial operation was built where the Manteca Target store is today and lasted until it was shuttered in 1996 due to a shift to fructose for commercial use such as sodas, increased labor costs, and ever changing air quality standards in the San Joaquin Valley. The marks left on Manteca and Northern California by the Spreckels Sugar Empire are still visible today. In Manteca, the 362acre plant site has been converted into a high profile retail center and business park along with the 166-home Curran Grove neighborhood. Just 76 miles away in
ment was made on Jan. 9, 1996 that the company was going to pull the plug on the plant costing 110 full time employees and 120 seasonal workers their jobs, the news should not have surprised anyone. The sugar beet industry in California was taking a beating. Spreckels had invested millions of dollars on different occasions to meet air quality standards that continued to become more stringent with each passing year. Cheaper labor in the South to process sugar beets was wiping out the yield advantage of California soil. And on top of that, foreign countries were subsidizing sugar growers in a bid to cut into the United States market. Still, the loss of Spreckels hurt. At the time of its demise 25 years ago this month, it was the city’s fifth largest employer. Fourteen months later on March 15, 1997, the CHP shutdown Highway 99 and the 120 Bypass as a precaution for the imploding of the four 15-story sugar silos. A crowd estimated at 10,000 watched at the massive silos fell eastward kicking up a massive cloud of dust. Amid the crowd’s cheers stood the late Bill Perry who was mayor at the time — just outside the main gate where Del Taco is today. Perry, who was being interviewed by the media, overheard someone nearby saying Manteca would not only never be the same, San Francisco the wealth that sugar beets grown in Manteca soil helped generate paid for a number of famous landmarks. Adolph Spreckels: * Donated the Palace of the Legion of Honor art museum to the City of San Francisco that was completed in 1924. * Built a Beaux-Arts style mansion in 1913 in San Francisco’s most exclusive neighborhood — Pacific Heights. The mansion is now the home of prolific romance novelist Danielle Steel. * Donated a large chunk of land from today’s 25th Avenue to the Great Highway to expand Golden Gate Park when he served as president of the San Francisco Parks Commission. Spreckels Lake — built specifically for use by model yacht enthusiasts — was named after Spreckels by the commission over his objections. He had wanted the manmade lake located near the Dutch Windmill overlooking the Great Highway to be named Model Yacht Lake and objected strenuously to the decision. Spreckels was one of the key players in
but that it would never have the jobs that Spreckels offed. Perry’s response: “You just wait and see.” What arose from the rubble is now Spreckels Park — complete with an aptly named street, Phoenix Drive. But unlike the imaginary bird of the ancient Arabian wilderness that arose from its demise, Spreckels Park is no economic myth. It now supports upwards of 2,500 jobs — 12-fold of what Spreckels did. It is home to Ford Motor small parts distribution, Dryers Ice Cream, Lineage Logistics cold storage, and American Modular to name a few. The plant’s closure created 362 acres of blight at the most high profile spot in Manteca where the 120 Bypass combines with Highway 99. No one had ever successfully demolished a sugar factory in California — and still haven’t as soaring empty concrete sugar silos stand as proof in places like Tracy, Woodland and Spreckels just outside of Salinas. There was the accumulation of 78 years of lime, the byproduct of the sugar refining process. It was made more problematic given for decades Spreckels rented part of the site to the Moffat Beef Lot. It was a beneficial arrangement for Spreckels as the cattle were fattened with sugar beet pulp. But the fact the feed lot — that at times temporarily held the overall development of Golden Gate Park. But perhaps the most impressive remaining monument to Spreckels Sugar’s impact on Northern California — especially to those with deep roots in Manteca — can be found 126 miles to the southwest of Manteca. It is where you will find Spreckels, California. It is four miles south of Salinas in the Salinas Valley portion of Monterey County. When the sugar plant was built in Spreckels in 1899 it was the largest in the world. It used 13 millions of water each day to process roughly 3,000 tons of sugar beers. There are 229 homes in Spreckels of which many have architecture that reflects century-old nuances. There are 675 people, a Spreckels Memorial Park, Spreckels Post Office, and Spreckels Elementary School. The massive sugar stories — in excess of 20 stories —still stand. They dwarf the four 15-story silos imploded in 1998 at the Manteca factory to make way for the Spreckels Park development.
FEBRUARY 2021
upwards of 10,000 head of cattle — was in existence for decades there was the added issue of the ground being saturated with lots of manure. Toss in the fact there were four 15-story silos, a factory, and warehouses to demolish and dispose of, developers took one look and kept going. Banks saw it as way too big of a risk. The firm that has acquired the Spreckels Sugar holdings at one point sought city approval to keep the silos intact and convert the remaining property with housing and a 9-hole golf course. Lenders were underwhelmed with the plan. The firm’s bid to shop the property to other developers was fruitless as every developer had major concerns about possible hidden costs related to environmental clean-up as well as the expense of demolishing the refinery, warehouse, and silos. A Los Angeles firm manufacturing factory lifts wanted to buy a company that the successor to Spreckels owned that produced motors that they used for their lifts. The deal had one string attached — they had to buy the Manteca Spreckels property as well. It was that point that Ron Cheek — a former City of Manteca public works director who had been working for years in the private sector as a land development consultant — approached developer Mike Atherton. Cheek was hired by the firm that had acquired Spreckels site along with the motor manufacturing concern to devise the initial development plan for the site that was DOA. Atherton, who has a reputation of being a visionary thinker that some would argue could be borderline dreaming at times, went to Amherst, New York to make his pitch. He came back with a deal that allowed him and his partners to try and develop the site that allowed them to pay for the land as they secured development deals.
They had to clear one significant hurdle: They had already taken on great financial risk and burned through substantial money preparing the site for development leaving little in the way of resources they needed to put in place key infrastructure essential to market and develop the interior of the business park. The sections along Yosemite Avenue — the Food-4Less store anchoring the first phase of Spreckles Marketplace, Chevron, Jack-in-the-Box and Home Depot — could be developed as they relied on existing infrastructure. Banks would not lend to them even with what success AKF had already enjoyed. That is when the approached the City of Manteca for a $7 million redevelopment agency loan. The reception was less than enthusiastic. The city manager at the time, Bob Adams, viewed the project as being fraught with excessive risk. The council led by Mayor Bill Perry was more supportive but by the time AKF was in a positon to seek execution of the RDA loan agreement; Carlon Perry has been elected mayor and Denise Giordano to the City Council. Both opposed RDA in general as corporate welfare and were dead set against Manteca RDA getting involved with the Spreckels project. Even though staff had expressed reservations, after a 3-2 vote where Perry and Giordano came up on the losing end the $7 million vote was executed. The RDA loan to complete Spreckels Avenue and extend water, sewer and storm drains was paid back in full with interest three years ahead of schedule. It was the only major RDA loan ever executed by the city that got every dime back plus interest instead of forgiving part or all money loaned based on performance targets such as job creation and increased sales tax. The Spreckels Park project was a textbook case of what RDAs were supposed to do. It took a shuttered
sugar refinery that no private sector lenders would sign on to, eliminate blight, increased the jobs that were lost 12-fold, and stimulated the local economy. The shot-in-the-arm that the assessed value of the Spreckels Park development gave the RDA with essentially 100 percent of all new value being placed on the RDA tax rolls can’t be over emphasized. One $25 million distribution center alone generated $250,000 in RDA taxes. The project significantly enhanced the bonding capacity of the Manteca RDA bankrolling the major part of the agency’s investment in the Big League Dreams sports complex, the infrastructure needed to extend Daniels Street initially and now to McKinley Avenue to allow the securing of the Stadium Retail Center-Costco along with the Great Wolf Resort, two major affordable housing complexes, and the Union Road interchange project. The key to the successful conversion of the site into a multi-purpose development that included the 177-home Curran Grove neighborhood required finding the right “recipe” to handle the gigantic piles of lime and the manure laden soil so that the ground could be made suitable for development. Once they came up with the right formula six giant mixers were operated for months to make the soil suitable. When everything was torn down or imploded, more than 98 percent of the material was recycled. Among the bigger items saw the steel going to an Oakland recycler, the bricks being snapped up for residential and commercial use, and the concrete silos being ground up and used as base for the widening of Highway 99 between Ripon and Manteca from four to six lanes. The project also gave Manteca the ability to develop the Spreckels Park BMX track in one of the project’s two storm retention basins.
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TECHNOLOGY
Supercharge your business with these social media secrets PHILIP LAN BAY VALLEY TECH
I recently spoke with Tiffany Phillips, a highly talented social media strategist who helps companies throughout Northern California leverage the latest digital techniques to increase awareness and drive profit growth. Q: TIFFANY, FIRST, HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START IN DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING? A: As a typical millennial, I have been on social media since its start in the early 2000s (hello MySpace!). I have been on Facebook since 2005 and Instagram since 2012, but started using business tools when I was assigned marketing duties while working for a law firm. I started diving deeper into training and developing more advanced skills in 2013 when I started a side business as a fitness coach and from there, I recognized the need for social media management in my community. I guess you can say the rest is history! Since then, I have obtained certifications, invested in several formal trainings with the top digital marketing and social marketing experts and have expanded my services beyond the area of social media marketing to other aspects of digital marketing as well. Q: WHY IS DEVELOPING AND EXECUTING A PROPER SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY SO IMPORTANT FOR BUSINESSES TODAY? A: One of the biggest problems I see when working with clients is the lack of direction in their social media strategy and practices. It’s extremely important to first identify what the business wants to achieve.
Defining a narrow target prevents wasting time and budget with an unfocused ‘shotgun’ approach. Then social media marketing can be leveraged as part of an overall marketing strategy. From there, it’s important to understand who the target market is and focus on utilizing the platforms most frequented by that target audience. Beyond that, it’s important to know what resonates with that audience. What type of visuals does that audience respond to? What tone of messaging they tend to identify with? How can you understand their pain point and connect with them on an emotional level? And last, it’s imperative that businesses identify the KPIs (key performance indicators) to measure what’s working and make real-time adjustments in your social media marketing campaigns. Professional marketers know that focusing on these key areas and leveraging metricdriven strategies will maximize return on investment and minimize chasing after every ‘new shiny’ thing, jumping on every platform and posting whatever feels good in the moment. Q: CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PAID VS. ORGANIC SOCIAL MEDIA TRAFFIC AND WHY IT MIGHT BE IMPORTANT FOR MARKETERS TO FOCUS ON THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA OR WEBSITE LANDING PAGES AS WELL? A: To put it simply, organic marketing means customers are finding you naturally, as opposed to finding you through an ad that you paid for. This can be done through various channels such as social media, Google search, reputation management sites and more. Social media is a big factor in driving organic traffic to many websites. It’s important to have your website optimized in
both organic and paid digital marketing strategies to achieve their goals.
Tiffany Phillips
addition to having all of your social and reputation management accounts optimized and linked to your website. This can help increase organic traffic. Regarding organic vs. paid on social media, specifically -- we know that Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and virtually all other social platforms enable creation of business profiles for free. You can post (for free) as many times as you want on behalf of your business. However, they all have aggressive algorithms that make it difficult to reach large audiences, unless you pay them. For this reason, many businesses turn to paid campaigns on these various platforms. One of the most underutilized tools used in paid campaigns is retargeting strategies. Many of these social media platforms, such as Facebook, have internal activity tracking that give marketers the ability to retarget activity that takes place on that platform (such as retargeting anyone who engaged with your Facebook page or Instagram account). In addition, businesses can use tracking mechanisms such as Facebook Pixel to retarget web traffic and serve ads to an audience that is already familiar with your company. This is a huge factor in moving your target market from the awareness phase to the consideration phase, and ultimately converting into a customer. Most successful digital campaigns use
Q: AS A DIGITAL MARKETER MYSELF, I OFTEN REMIND CORPORATE LEADERS THAT UNLIKE TV OR PRINT CAMPAIGNS, DIGITAL INITIATIVES DON’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT AT LAUNCH. SOCIAL AND DIGITAL MARKETING PLATFORMS ENABLE RAPID ITERATIONS AND CONTINUOUS OPTIMIZATION. CAN YOU SHARE SOME OF YOUR ‘SECRETS’ TO CREATING HIGH-PERFORMANCE SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS? A: This is so true! TV, print and other traditional marketing campaigns offer very little flexibility to adjust the campaign once it’s started. The great thing about digital campaigns is the ability to edit mid campaign. My biggest piece of advice is learn, learn, learn! I’m a big fan of A/B testing and learning what works with your audience and what doesn’t. I highly encourage testing out factors such as placements (platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, etc.), visuals, captions, offers, audience targeting and more. The more you learn about your audience, the better you can optimize your campaign to fit their needs and succeed in reaching your goals. I also advise closely monitoring the tracking analytics and making metrics-driven adjustments until you have the consistent and desired results you set forth for that campaign. Q: WHAT MISTAKES, WHICH CAN COST PRECIOUS TIME AND MARKETING DOLLARS, DO YOU TYPICALLY SEE MARKETERS MAKE ON THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS? A: As stated before, one of the most common mistakes is not understanding the target market clearly.
Another is the failure to develop proper KPIs. But one mistake that I’ve seen, especially since COVID-19, is the lack of digital empathy in businesses. Prepandemic marketing is a thing of the past. We must be sensitive to what is going on in the world and adjust our messaging accordingly. Some marketers also forget to provide diverse content that doesn’t just try to sell, but helps their audience and adds value to their lives. How can you educate, inspire, entertain, build community or provide a safe positive place for your desired customer/client? How can you humanize your brand and let them know that there’s a real face behind the screen? Integrating that type of content into a social media strategy is so important in gaining trust with your audience, which ultimately leads to conversions if executed strategically and correctly. Most businesses miss this completely and wonder why they can’t convert. Q: CAN YOU SHARE SOME KEY DIGITAL TRENDS AFFECTING BUSINESSES RIGHT NOW AND YOUR BEST TIPS FOR PLATFORMS SUCH AS FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, LINKEDIN AND TIKTOK. A: It’s been interesting to see how drastically social media has changed since the start of the pandemic. There are so many more monetization tools on many of these platforms that small businesses can use, especially for businesses that sell physical products. We’ve seen the rise of non-permanent content, such as stories, over the last couple of years. Even LinkedIn and Twitter have now adapted to that by offering “LinkedIn Stories” and “Twitter Fleets.” This type of content gives brands an opportunity to show a more authen-
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Q: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME, TIFFANY. ANY LAST WORDS OF ADVICE FOR OUR READERS? A: My last piece of advice is to stay adaptable. Social media is constantly changing and new features are being introduced on the various platforms every single week. It’s important to keep yourself updated on what’s working globally and how you can adjust your campaign accordingly. I know it may seem daunting, but there are plenty of great resources such as Social Media Today that can help us stay current on important trends. Reach out to me, if you have any questions. Helping small businesses and nonprofits thrive is my passion and I truly love making a difference for our community. Thank you so much for your time and the SEE TECH, PAGE 11
Modesto
Are you or a loved one losing vision? Have you given up things you love to do because of vision loss?
tic and humanized version of themselves, which is becoming more and more important. We’ve also seen a rise in video streaming. YouTube is now watched four times more than Netflix! If possible, adapt and incorporate video into your content strategy. We’ve also seen the rise of meme culture. Between the pandemic, pressing social issues and the hostile political scene of 2020, many turned to humor to lighten the tone of social media. One last thing that I will touch on is the importance of purpose- driven campaigns. As Gen Z continues to gain purchasing power in the world, they are turning to brands and businesses that they connect with on a moral and valuedriven level. What is your company’s mission? How is your business inspiring and connecting with your audience? Incorporating this into your strategy is going to become increasingly important.
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209 BUSINESS JOURNAL
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FEBRUARY 2021
BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS AT WORK
Keyword Cannibalization BETH DEVINE
I
209 Business Journal
n 2021, websites that Google finds easier to crawl are ones that rank better. If you have been trying to get your business website to rank higher in the search engine results pages (SERPs), you should ensure that keyword cannibalization is not an issue that you are facing. For those who are new to this topic, keyword canni-
balization happens when you unintentionally target the same keyword across multiple posts and pages. A practice like this confuses Google, especially when two or more content pieces are similar in their structure. In order not to confuse your website visitors, you should work on your keyword placement. Here are some actionable tips to help you with that:
How to detect problems
First of all, you need to identify all of the cannibalized pages. Doing this is as easy as one search along the lines of “your domain + keywords” and you will see your rankings. For instance, if you are a call center, typing your brand name and keyword in the following format – [BRAND NAME + “call center”] – can give you a good idea of which pages are ranking for that specific keyword. You will get a list of results, but are they the ones you want? More importantly, Google can get confused in the future and not know which page to prioritize in the rankings. As a result, you might even lose all rankings for the keyword at once.
Delete some content, if needed
Merge your content Merging your content can help you rank the page you want for the specific keyword. To do that, you should take all of the relevant content and put it on a single page.
Deleting web pages may not be something you want to do at first, but it can help you with your rankings. For instance, if a blog post for a specific product or service that you offer ranks a lot higher than the actual product/ service page, you may want to delete the content or change the keyword.
You should know that this solution is useful, but doesn’t work for every situation. However, in most cases, merging your content from multiple pages into a single page will simplify and increase your website’s SEO. We recommend adding the conten
Remove keywords As we mentioned in the tip above, one of the better ways to maintain specific content is through removing its keyword and replacing it with another one. Altering the keyword on the page or post is a good idea if you don’t want to lose its rankings. However, it is also a slower and more tedious process.
Change your internal linking Internal linking is always good for SEO but can also be a problem that leads to keyword cannibalization. If your web content links to other pages on your website, the links may be the elements that you can also improve. We recommend adding or changing your internal linking so that the less critical content links to the one you want to highlight and prioritize. Doing this will send a signal to Google and, hopefully, get the change you wish to see in the SERPs, with your linked content being the one that should prioritize.
Alter your inbound link requests Last in our list of tips is the one focused on link requests. This one requires a more difficult approach, but it can be very important. If you have the time, you should research all related keywords with your brand name and get some software to track your backlinks. The idea is simple – some of your pages might rank better because they have more (or better quality) backlinks. Contacting the webmasters of those sources and telling them to alter the link requests to the pages you want to prioritize is what you should do. Doing this can also help you increase your on-page SEO and strengthen your rankings.
In the end, it is safe to say that Google and other search engines use algorithms that are far more sophisticated and advanced than before. While it is always good to be more prominent in the search results, it can also direct your visitors to the pages you don’t essentially want them to see, or not the right ones. — Devine Solutions Group is a local resource for effective marketing strategies for businesses of all sizes. Beth Devine is one of the most sought-after marketing experts in the Central Valley. She is the founder and principal of Devine Solutions Group, an award-winning digital marketing agency headquartered in Tracy, CA. Connect with Beth by either calling 833-933-8463 or email her at beth@devinesolutionsgroup.com.
209 BUSINESS JOURNAL
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ACCOLADES
PROMOTIONS, APPOINTMENTS, HONORS, ETC. Orthopedic residents at Doctors Medical Center prepare for fellowships
The Valley Orthopedic Surgery Residency at Doctors Medical Center is proud to announce the next steps for its upcoming graduating class of 2021. Doctors Medical Center currently has 16 orthopedic surgery residents this academic year; three of them will be graduating from the five-year program in June 2021 and then heading into fellowship programs in various specialties. Jacob Dunn, D.O., matched into the sports medicine fellowship at Andrews Institute for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in Gulf Breeze, Florida. Kate Huff, D.O., matched into the pediatrics fellowship at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Steven Zourabian, D.O., matched into the trauma fellowship at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri.
Children’s Home of Stockton elects new board member
Children’s Home of Stockton has elected its newest board member, Gary Spaugh, a healthcare consultant. Spaugh holds a Masters of Hospital Administration and Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BA in Public Administration from California State University at San Gary Spaugh Francis co. He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives. Spaugh is a healthcare administrator retired from his role as a senior executive at the Dignity Health corporate office (now Common Spirit Health). His experience spans over 40 years in hospital and healthcare administration, strategy, business development, health plans, joint ventures, and affiliations. Prior to Dignity Health, he was the Senior Vice President
of St. Joseph’s Regional Health System responsible for leadership and development of multiple hospitals into a multi-county regional integrated delivery system. Spaugh was born in San Francisco, and now resides both in Stockton and San Mateo, along with his wife Linda. He currently serves on the Boards of St. Joseph’s Medical Center Community Council, Hospice of San Joaquin, O’Connor Woods, and San Joaquin County Chapter of the Civil Grand Jurors’ Association. “Having served on our Civil Grand Jury, investigating group homes in the county
TECH
FROM PAGE 9 opportunity to connect today! About Phillip Lan As president of Bay Valley Tech, Phillip Lan oversees the organization’s fast-growing free code academy and tech hub, which supports entrepreneurs with inexpensive office space, digital marketing services and software talent. Bay Valley Tech’s current campaign to train
and knowing the need for the mission of the Children’s Home of Stockton, I am moved to help give our vulnerable youth a more positive life experience than that which they have known,” said Spaugh. “Our investment in their future is the most vital investment we can make in that for our community.” The mission of the Children’s Home of Stockton is to provide at-risk youth an opportunity for a productive life through treatment and education in a safe, nurturing environment.
1,000 new computer programmers has resulted in many of its Modesto code academy alumni and students from the Turlock/Modesto area successfully launching new tech careers. Lan is also a key driver in developing innovative tech ecosystems across the SF East Bay and Central Valley—leading Bay Valley Tech’s initiatives to cofound and sponsor community organizations, including Tech Connect, Valley Hackathon, Women Techmakers, Valley Ag-
Tech as well as numerous software developer meetups and K-12 coding programs. Prior to Bay Valley Tech, Lan led the digital marketing team at E&J Gallo and held marketing, business development and leadership roles in Silicon Valley companies IBM and Ask Jeeves. He holds a bachelor’s degree in managerial economics from U.C. Davis; and an MBA in computer information systems from California State University-East Bay.
Familiar Faces and a lending hand We are pleased to welcome Kim Parco and Rob Gildea to our Commercial Lending team. Kim will be based at our Tracy Branch and Rob at our Stockton Branch. Kim and Rob each have over 30 years of commercial banking experience in the Central Valley. They are a true reflection of our commitment to hiring experienced professionals with deep roots in the communities we serve.
Kim Parco • 834.3347 VP, Commercial Lending
Come home to Oak Valley and come home to familiar faces and a lending hand.
Call Us About Your Next Commercial Financing Need!
Deep Roots ~ Strong Branches
Rob Gildea • 320.7864 VP, Commercial Lending
www.ovcb.com Oakdale • Sonora • Modesto • Turlock • Ripon • Escalon Patterson • Stockton • Manteca • Tracy • Sacramento
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209 BUSINESS JOURNAL
FEBRUARY 2021