Weekly Issues
United Way: Community solutions on several fronts
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- Published on 11/23/2012 - 9:30 am
- Written by Michael Kincheloe
A local nonprofit organization is getting ready for its annual toy distribution program as the holiday season fast approaches.
The United Way of Fresno County will wind up its Toys for Tots collection program after the Thanksgiving holiday. The organization will then shift gears as it teams up with the U.S. Marine Corps and local television station ABC30 with plans to distribute thousands of toys acquired from various sources to needy children in Fresno County.
Van Nuys business lender expands to Central Valley
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- Published on 11/23/2012 - 9:19 am
- Written by Ben Keller
If there’s one thing holding back small businesses during these rough recessionary years, it’s lack of access to capital.
The San Joaquin Valley is certainly no exception, with credit scores sunk, collateral next to nothing and banks still wary to lend to risky ventures.
Thankfully, there are financial resources available to help businesses grow through groups like the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Central California Small Business Development Center.
The waiting game
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- Published on 11/23/2012 - 9:17 am
- Written by Clay Moffitt
After profitable third quarter, banks wary of the New Year
A profitable third quarter is in the books for most Central Valley community banks, and while the fourth quarter is expected to be equally positive, uncertainty permeates through the local industry.
At the end of the year, more than 300 new regulations will go into effect for the banking industry. There’s hope Congress may provide some relief, but not many are holding their breath.
“I think most of us are in a wait-and-see posture, and want to see what this really means,” said J. Mike McGowan, president and CEO of Premier Valley Bank.
Preston Prince
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- Published on 11/23/2012 - 9:13 am
- Written by The Business Journal Staff
Preston Prince
CEO/Executive Director
Fresno Housing Authority
What we do: The Fresno Housing Authority provides housing and housing assistance for over 16,000 families in Fresno County.
Education: B.A. in liberal arts from Eugene Lang College and Master of Arts in urban affairs and policy analysis from the New School for Public Engagement, both part of the New School University in New York City.
Age: Turning 49 in 2013, staring down “The Big Five Oh”.
Family: Wife, Jeannine, of 27 years. She is a teacher at Caruthers High School. “Go Blue Raiders.” No kids, but a very spoiled French Bulldog named Nicely Nicely Johnson.
Clovis hospital completes bed tower
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- Published on 11/23/2012 - 9:01 am
- Written by The Business Journal Staff
HEALTH CARE
Four years since beginning its $300-million expansion project, Clovis Community Medical Center will unveil its most prominent feature on Nov. 28 with it opens the new 5-story bed tower.
With the 113,000 square-foot tower, the hospital at Herndon and Temperance avenues, will increase by 144 private rooms for improved comfort and privacy for patients and families.
Also opening this month are seven inpatient operating rooms, an inpatient endoscopy suite, pre- and post-operative areas, additional waiting areas and new consultation rooms and conference room space.
Let the trading begin
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- Published on 11/16/2012 - 10:33 am
- Written by Ben Keller
Local facilities nervous about cap-and-trade auctions starting this week
California’s long awaited rule to curb industrial greenhouse gas emissions made its official debut Wednesday, leaving many of the state’s manufacturers and power plants nervous about the impacts.
Six years after it was initially proposed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the cap-and-trade rule went forward with its first Internet-based auction, enabling around 350 industrial businesses to buy up credits, or allowances that absolve them for greenhouse gas emissions.
Targeting some 600 industrial facilities across the state, the program applies to cement plants, steel mills, food processors and electric utilities that emit more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases each year.
Clovis grilled cheese shop wins entrepreneur contest
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- Published on 11/16/2012 - 10:27 am
- Written by Clay Moffitt
Juan Ortega found himself in a similar situation on Tuesday as he was in three years ago, trying to sell his concept of a grilled cheese sandwich shop with countless options.
However, the panel of judges for the Valley Entrepreneur Showcase may have taken less convincing than his wife did three years prior.
Ana Ortega, who is now the head chef and co-owner of Grilled Chz Developments, Inc., was not very high on the idea when her husband approached her because she’d previously worked many years in the restaurant business and did not want to get back in.
Visalia layoffs hit smart-meter temps
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- Published on 11/16/2012 - 10:16 am
- Written by Clay Moffitt
Corix Utilities, with headquarters in Wisconsin and Vancouver, Canada, has filed notice with the state of California that it will lay off 45 workers in Visalia next month.
But the move comes as no surprise to the workers, who were employed as temporary installers of smart-meter technology for Southern California Edison, said Jack Touhey, vice president of government and public affairs for Corix.
Touhey said Corix has been installing smart meters across California for about three years, with the South Valley effort kicking off in late September. About 3 million Edison electricity customers will receive the meters in the state.
Treatment starts this month on Friant-Kern Canal weed
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- Published on 11/16/2012 - 10:11 am
- Written by John Lindt
Water districts up and down the Central Valley will participate in a massive dewatering of the 152-mile Friant-Kern Canal beginning this month to allow for chemical treatment on a 23-mile segment to fight Western watermilfoil, an aquatic weed that can grow 10-feet long that is clogging canals, water meters and micro-irrigation sprinklers alike.
“It’s a huge problem,” said Scott Edwards of the Lindsay Strathmore Irrigation District, who added that the invasive weed “grows like kelp, forming huge mats of vegetation that are impeding water flow from Orange Cove all the way to Bakersfield.”
To make matters worse, when the canal water — filled with weed fragments — is pumped to irrigation spigots and micro-irrigation emitters, the small weed particles clog tiny filters that protect the devices. “I’ve got 1000 meters out there in the district that needs to be cleaned by hand,” Edwards said.
Area carpet cleaners face stiffening competition
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- Published on 11/16/2012 - 10:10 am
- Written by Charles McCarthy
Central Valley steam carpet-cleaners are keeping expensive, specially fitted vans and equipment busy serving repeat customers while also competing for new jobs in trying times.
At Fig Garden Carpet Service in Fresno, 52-year-old Gregg Melenbacker is owner and sole operator. He estimates that the truck-mounted, hot water extraction system with wands and hoses he’s used for eight years would cost $60,000 to replace. But for someone who works inside their homes, happy customers have a dollar value, too.
