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| Mon, Jan 2nd, 2012 Business Information Seminar: Sales Training for Your Best New Year Ever |
| Mon, Jan 2nd, 2012 Business Information Seminar: Sales Training for Your Best New Year Ever |
| Mon, Jan 2nd, 2012 Business Information Seminar: Sales Training for Your Best New Year Ever |
| Mon, Jan 2nd, 2012 Business Information Seminar: Sales Training for Your Best New Year Ever |
| Mon, Jan 2nd, 2012 Business Information Seminar: Sales Training for Your Best New Year Ever |
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Latest Local News
Written on 11.29 - 4:00 pm by
A computer lab at Clovis East High School looks forward to completion thanks to a gift of $6,700 from Fresno homebuilder McCaffrey Homes.
Written on 01.27 - 10:05 am by
Robert Duncan Nicol, a retired Bay Area-area architect, himself deaf, has pledged $2 million to the Department of Communicative Disorders & Deaf Studies at California State University, Fresno.
It is the largest commitment in history to the university's College of Health and Human Services.
The gift establishes the Robert Duncan Nicol Endowed Chair in the Silent Garden, a project that promotes communication for the deaf and hard of hearing community in Central California, according to a news release.
The Silent Garden program will bring in national communication experts to Fresno State to teach and work in the community. The program will include a new guest lecturer each year and provide free workshops, seminars and counseling services to teachers, parents and professionals.
Fresno State professor emeritus Paul Ogden established the Silent Garden. Ogden and Nicol have known each other since 1972.
"The deaf population can often be invisible, but Silent Garden will help us bring awareness to the community,” Ogden said in a statement.
Nicol was named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1993. Nicol has worked on a number of projects, from private residences and office buildings to churches. He also operates Robert Nicol Vineyards, a Napa-area operation that grows pinot noir and chardonnay for nearby wineries.
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Written on 11.29 - 4:00 pm by
Premier Valley Bank ended 2011 with a strong fourth quarter, where it doubled the amount of net income it produced in the final quarter of 2010, according to its year-end report released on Thursday.
In the final three months of the year, the bank recorded a net income of $2.06 million, or $0.16 per share. The total is a 100 percent increase from the $1.03 million in the final quarter of 2010.
The net income was also a 75 percent increase from the $1.18 million it posted in the third quarter of 2011.
The year as whole brought in $5.91 million, which equates to $0.46 per share.
“With earnings up 74 percent over last year, 2011 was the most profitable year in the history of the bank,” said J. Mike McGowan, president and CEO, in a release. “We remain optimistic that 2012 will bring continued improvement.”
The bank reported end of the year stakeholder equity at $65 million and a capital ratio of 12.5 percent of total assets.
The loans outstanding at the end of the year amounted to $348 million and deposits were $446 million.
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Written on 11.29 - 4:00 pm by
McCaffrey Homes has won top honors in the 2012 Homebuyer’s Choice Awards based on a survey of more than 68,000 homeowners across the U.S. and Canada.
McCaffrey Homes won first lace in Overall First Year Quality, second place in Highest Percent of Sales from Referrals and third place in Overall Home Purchase and Ownership Experience categories. San Clemente Calif.-based customer research firm Eliant conducted the survey.
“These awards tell us what our most important group – homebuyers – say about what we’re doing,” said Lauren McCaffrey Knowlton, vice president of marking for McCaffrey Homes.
McCaffrey Homes has built more than 8,000 homes throughout the Central Valley.
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Written on 11.29 - 4:00 pm by
About 20% of the mandarin crop has been damaged by cold nights, especially in Fresno and Madera, but because of more plantings, the overall crop will be about the same size this year as in 2011, California Citrus Mutual reports.
“It’s been colder in Madera and Fresno counties,” said Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual.
Volume was expected to be about 25% higher this year, so tonnage should remain about the same, Nelsen said.
However, it is a tough loss for growers sustaining mandarin damage. Damage can appear on the skin of the fruit, but more often too much cold results in dry flesh on the inside.
County agricultural commissioners want to keep the damaged fruit off the market, so they are inspecting the area mandarin crop. The reputation of the fruit, which has grown in popularity, could be damaged if poor-quality fruit reaches the market, Nelsen said.
He added that temperatures have stayed out of the 20s on recent mornings and lows in the 30s are ideal for mandarin oranges. But previous damage has been done.
About 40,000 acres of mandarins are currently grown in California. The crop is expected to continue to grow as more trees come into production, Nelsen said.
Written on 01.26 - 3:44 pm by
The Supreme Court’s ruling on Jan. 23 that struck down a California law requiring immediate euthanizaton of livestock that are too sick or weak to walk, will have little impact on Central Valley-produced beef.
Swine producers challenged the California law saying that it violates a federal statute that sets national standards for meat safety and gives federal inspectors authority on what to do with sick livestock. The Supreme Court justices agreed.
They pointed out that the Federal Meat Inspection Act regulates slaughterhouses’ handling and treatment of non-ambulatory pigs.
The California law bans slaughterhouses from buying, butchering or selling downer livestock for human consumption and requires immediate euthanization of the animals.
The federal act, by contrast, allows federal inspectors to determine whether a nonambulatory animal is fit for human consumption.
Stevie Stewart Ipsen, director of communications for California Cattlemen’s Association, Sacramento, said the Supreme Court ruling left some lingering confusion about the slaughter of non-ambulatory livestock.
“In short, the court’s ruling that California law cannot be stricter than federal law does not affect the slaughter of non-ambulatory cattle because federal regulations already prohibit the slaughter and sale of meat from cattle that are unable to walk,” Ipsen said. “But federal law allows meat sales from other non-ambulatory animals like pigs, sheep and goats that pass federal inspection and are deemed safe to eat.”
Kevin Kester, California Cattlemen’s Association president, added in a release, “I want to make it clear that the new ruling does not relieve cattle producers, auction yards or packing houses from the responsibility of treating sick or crippled animals ethically, humanely and in accordance with state and federal statues. It continues to be illegal to sell and slaughter downer cattle.”
Kester said that in 2008, the California Cattlemen’s Association supported efforts to ban the sale and slaughter of downer livestock and today beef producers continue to follow the rules.
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Written on 01.26 - 1:23 pm by
A steady growth in world demand for Central Valley nuts, fruits and raisin grapes has necessitated expansions of local processing plants and storage facilities.
The key is being able to fill orders when demand is greatest. That’s where quick processing and plenty of storage come into play.
Nuts are seeing the largest export growth curve, but raisins and fruits, including oranges, have also benefited from a growth in worldwide demand for healthy foods.
Grower-shippers have been working to boost supplies, both by planting more nut trees and increasing the size of cooperatives.
“I know a lot of the almond and pistachio folks have recently been adding co-ops together at a higher rate in an attempt to pool resources to meet Asiatic nut demands,” said Anja Raudabaugh, executive director of the Madera County Farm Bureau.
One example of a major expansion can be found at Setton Pistachio in Terra Bella. The company is in the process of increasing the size of its processing plant and storage silo.
Once completed sometime this spring, the company will be able to store 36 million pounds of pistachios. “It will significantly improve our hulling capacity,” said Lee Cohen, general manager of Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella.
The company will be able to hull, process, store and dry 100 to 105 million pounds of pistachios annually. That’s up from 85 million pounds with the current facilities.
Cohen said the increase is necessary because of higher world demand, greater production and more trees in the ground.
The added capacity will come non-too soon. The 2011 pistachio crop was large despite expectations of an off year.
The Almond Board of California also reports much stronger sales to Asian countries. Singapore is one of the Asian countries seeking more California fruits and nuts.
Poindexter Nut Co., Selma, plans to build a new 150,000 square-foot processing plant for walnuts within the next three to four months. The processor currently has five buildings that total 48,000 square feet.
“We’ve gained market share,” said Tom Poindexter, general manager of Poindexter Nut Co. “And the industry is growing.”
Poindexter Nut Co. processes walnuts for baking needs. In addition to selling domestically, the processor ships to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Australia and Canada. It provides organically certified walnuts to Canada, which needs more organic walnuts than what is currently available.
The processor’s new plant will include a modern cracking line and silos. It will provide greater efficiency in processing, Poindexter said.
And it will provide better economy of scale, he said.
“We’re in a unique position to increase in capacity,” Poindexter added. He pointed out that the family-owned company found that the only way to increase capacity without construction was to work a third shift on Sunday.
So it decided constructing a new building was the best option.
Blue Diamond Growers plans to be ready for large orders of almonds with a new processing plant to be constructed on 88 acres in Turlock, north of Merced. The building, to be built in three phases, will contain 500,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
Construction is slated to begin this spring.
In Madera, Ready Roast Nut Co., which produces a variety of nuts including almonds and pistachios, is in the process of preparing a larger plant for processing and packing.
The new plant, expected to open later in the first quarter of this year, covers 144,000 square feet and is located on Falcon Drive, just of freeway 99.
Although exports are not Ready Roast’s primary focus, the company is feeling the pressure of worldwide demand. “Exports help demand in the almond industry,” said Audry Maring, business development coordinator for Ready Roast Nut Co., whose production consists of 90 percent almonds.
Table grapes for raisins are also in high demand worldwide. Local production was moderate with about 280,000 tons of raisin grapes processed by early December 2011.
But that falls about 78 percent short of last year’s delivery and about 50,000 tons shy of world demand. Raisin grape prices were strong this year, hitting a record $265 a ton, and that could lead to an increase in plantings and production.
So some growers are enlarging their processing plants or moving to larger and more modern facilities. Sun Valley Raisins Inc., needing more space, moved into a new facility several years ago.
Other Valley fruits, including citrus, have also gained worldwide attention. “South Korea seems to be taking more volume,” said Izak DuToit, export sales manager for booth Ranches in Orange Cove. “Japan seems to be a little less and India and Bangladesh have seen big increases over the last three years.”
DuToit added that China is developing fast, but is label specific and prefers the Sunkist brand.“Australia and New Zealand take steady volume, but phytosanitary regulations make them tough markets,” he added.
Booth Ranches expanded its plant operations in 1999, staying ahead of the growth curve.
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Written on 01.26 - 12:34 pm by
Although San Diego led the way in roof-top solar installations in California last year, Fresno was in the top ten with other Valley cities also making valuable marks.
In a new report by the Environment California Research & Policy Center, Fresno ranked fourth in solar generating capacity and fifth in number of installations.
The city had 22 megawatts in solar capacity from 2,146 installations on residential, commercial and government buildings.
Clovis, which ranked 11th in solar capacity and 9th in installations, had 1,133 installations totaling 8 megawatts.
Visalia ranked 21nd in solar capacity with nearly 6 megawatts and 42nd in number of solar installations at 442.
In cities, Clovis ranked 2nd in number of installations per resident, with 1.18 installations per 100 people while Madera ranked 22nd with 0.57 installations per 100 people. Hanford ranked 6th in per capita solar capacity with 0.095 kilowatts per person followed by Clovis at 8th place at 0.087 kilowatts per person, Madera at 16th with 0.058 kilowatts per person and Visalia at 27th with 0.048 kilowatts per person.
For small towns, Coarsegold in Madera County ranked 5th with 6.3 installations per 100 people as well as 28th in solar capacity per capita at 0.29 kilowatts per person.
"Ten years ago, solar panels atop roofs were a rarity," the report stated. "Today, solar is taking hold in cities across the state, from coastal metropolises to agricultural and industrial hubs in the Central Valley. In the past two years alone, the solar industry has installed more than 5,000 kilowatts of solar power in each of 10 different California cities."
San Diego was the largest city in terms of solar roofs, with more than 4,500 projects generating nearly 37 megawatts.
Los Angeles came in second with 4,018 installations and a little less than 36.2 megawatts installed followed by San Jose with 2,700 installations accounting for 31 megawatts.
According to a November report by Environment California, the state's solar market has been expanding by about 40 percent each year, driven in part by its Million Solar Roofs initiative launched five years ago that has now reached a quarter of its 3,000-megawatt goal.
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Written on 01.26 - 1:51 pm by
The 2012 American Institute of Architects, San Joaquin Chaper, will hold its design awards program from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Jan. 27th at the Fresno Arts Museum, 2233 N. 1st St., Fresno.
Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The awards program recognizes the exemplary architectural design by San Joaquin Valley architects and for the work built within the San Joaquin Valley.
Local firms and clients submit their completed works to the awards program and independent judges from partner AIA chapters outside of the San Joaquin Valley judge them. The awards program honors the architects, clients and consultants who work together to set the bar for design excellence.
The awards program will include seven categories: Public, Commercial, Interiors, Multi-Family Residential, Single Family Residential, Remodel/Renovation and lived-well homes that have been in use for at least 15 years.
Designs under consideration for awards include Glacier Point Middle School, Fresno; Buchanan Energy & Environmental Research Center, Clovis; Edison High School academic building, Fresno; Southwest Middle School, Fresno; Tulare Public Library & Council Chambers, Tulare; and Fresno State Aquatics Center.
Tickets to the event are $35 at the door.
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