Category: blog
Doh! California jobs numbers show middle-income doughnut forming
While everyone is up on the news Dunkin' Donuts is coming back to California in a big way and that the cronut is a trend, it also seems there's an unfortunate doughnut appearing in the state's job market and middle-income Californians are in the hole. Read more...
I shot this! (and edited it): “Bankrolling BBQ”
Video story we did with restaurant owners talking about experience cooking up a new business, a barbecue joint in downtown L.A. Read more...
Patent Pending: Silicon Valley’s patent office could be snatched from jaws of sequester
If you're still wondering how the sequester might be putting some drag on the California economy, you could look in the Silicon Valley. Mandatory budget cuts are slowing the roll of a patent office which was scheduled to open in the state's innovation capital this year. But luckily there's legislation out there to stop the…
Making manufacturing cool key to revival in California
Google's Glass product wil be manufactured in California. (Photo Credit: Robert Neff/Flickr) It doesn't take a fictional ad guru like Don Draper to let you know working in manufacturing has a branding problem with younger generations. The good news for the California economy is there's a new image already being crafted. "Manufacturing is cool. It's…
Branch about Branch
I'm testing out using Branch. This is a test. < Branch about Branch
California reacts to Texas governor’s radio attack on business climate
Governors Rick Perry and Jerry Brown traded their takes on California's business climate. (Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore & Freedom to Marry / Flickr) California officials went on the offensive after Texas fired another salvo at California's business climate with Gov. Rick Perry launching a new radio ad campaignyesterday. The ads target California businesses and start running this week in San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Inland Empire and San Diego. Perry says in the ad copy that he's heard building a business in California "is next to impossible." The ad invites companies to visit a business relocation website run by the state's economic development corporation. "I can understand why Rick Perry is interested in California," said Kish Rajan, Director of Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development here in California. "We were the national jobs leader for most of the last year with 257,000 new private sector jobs." Gov. Perry's ad continues with: "There are plenty of reasons Texas has been named the best state for doing business for eight years running." The governor sums up those reasons, saying Texas' "low taxes, sensible regulations and fair legal system are just the thing to get your business moving to Texas." Well, technically those are three things. But who's counting things in threes?
Video: Doing something about California’s business climate
I interviewed the director of the California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) and asked about California's infamous business climate and what the state needs to do to educate the next-generation workforce.
Crowdfunding reaches into local community & economy with solar projects
Crowdfunding to pay for the Next Big Thing is a hot topic in small business. Just look at Kickstarter. But, instead of helping to get off the ground someone's idea for a "top secret burger sauce" or an online TV series about "Awesome Asian Bad Guys"--both noble causes--more and more opportunities are popping up to fund…
Photojournalism FTW!
Photos from CSUN protest[widgetkit id=470] All rights reserved, John Guenther
Video: California’s economic development director on fiscal cliff
This is it. The clock is ticking for a deal on the so-called fiscal cliff, with its bitter combination of automatic tax hikes and budget cuts that seemingly no one wants. There's no doubt the California economy will be affected and already has been affected by the unpredictability of the situation, something business doesn't exactly…