Category Archives: Finance

Downtown Sacramento Partnership Launches ReImagine Activation Micro-Grants

Community, Culture, Economy, Employment, Finance, Infrastructure, Restaurants,

The Downtown Sacramento Partnership recently announced a new ReImagine Activation Grant Program, offering micro-grants to downtown businesses and supporting organizations looking to utilize spaces safely and with social responsibility.

The program also hopes to support local artists – of all genres and platforms—in their efforts to increase the cultural offerings in downtown Sacramento.

Downtown small businesses already benefitting from the grants include: Brannan Manor Restaurant & Spirits, Kodaiko Ramen & Bar, Koja Kitchen Sac Town, Solomon’s Delicatessen, Tango by the River, and Visions of Eden, Inc.

Sacramento Small Businesses Get Relief Loans

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Nearly the entirety of Sacramento’s $89 million of federal coronavirus aid has been allocated. The city’s council recently voted on how to spend the last iteration of funds, including a few subcategories for small business assistance, tourism, culture and the arts, employment growth, and services for the homeless. 

From the beginning of the pandemic, Sacramento Mayor Darell Steinberg indicated his intention of using the aid to help the city’s disadvantaged and underserved populations.  He also shared his interest in helping nonprofits that had been in line for Measure U sales tax funding. 

“It’s a significant achievement what we have done thus far to intentionally decide we’re going to spend this money on and in our community and then to execute it in the way we have,” Steinberg said. 

The category with the largest allocation of $22 million is small business assistance, with most of the money being distributed in the second round of funding for 1,347 Sacramento businesses. Assistant City Manager Michael Jasso reported that this round of funding saw a diversified pool of applicants than the original round of loans, which mostly went to businesses in the center of Sacramento.

New Dollar General in West Sacramento

New Dollar General in West Sacramento

Business news, Community, Economy, Environment, Finance, Infrastructure, , ,

A 200,000 square feet Dollar General cold storage facility will open in West Sacramento.

The Greater Sacramento Economic Council announced the location of the facility on Channel Drive. The council also indicated that the new venue will generate 50 full-time jobs, $27 million in regional economic activity over three years, and revitalize the pandemic-hit economy over the next three years.  Specifically in West Sacramento, some $4 million are expected to come in as a result of the new facility each year.

“Dollar General’s supply chain network plays a critical role in ensuring the products customers need and want are delivered to our nearly 17,000 stores in a timely and consistent manner. The addition of these facilities continues to drive efficiency and service through our exceptional supply chain network.”

Mike Kindy, Dollar General’s executive vice president of global supply chain
New Dollar General in West Sacramento
The new West Sacramento Dollar General cold storage facility will stimulate the economy and preserve food supplies.

Sacramento Hotels Get Creative to Survive Corona

Business news, Community, Culture, Economy, Employment, Finance, Housing, Restaurants, ,

Countless businesses have been shattered by the coronavirus pandemic and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s  “stay at home” order  The hotel industry might be hurting most of all.

Travel has come to a complete standstill. Weddings have been postponed or held at private venues. Conferences have been canceled. All this leaves Sacramento’s hotel owners struggling. According to Visit Sacramento, the city’s convention and visitors bureau, this time of year, owners expect properties to be at 85% capacity; now they are seeing occupancy rates as low as 6%.

Sacramento hotels are finding creative ways to fill their empty rooms.

Some hotel owners have found creative solutions to fill their rooms and generate revenue. The Hilton Arden West is offering rooms as temporary office space for workers who are finding it difficult to work from home. The Hampton Inn closed, and the owner moved the guests to a nearby sister property, a Holiday Inn Express. He is rationing limited work hours among the housekeeping staff. The owner of a California Inn in Rancho Cordova is in negotiations with Sacramento County officials to lease the rooms as housing for the homeless.

Thousands of hotel workers have lost their jobs. Before the crisis, the hospitality industry employed more than 10,000 workers in greater Sacramento. John Kehriotis, owner of the Embassy Suites in Old Sacramento, and part-owner of the Sacramento Kings, said he had to let go of three-quarters of the riverfront hotel’s employees. 

New Innovation Coming to Sacramento

Business news, Economy, Education, Employment, Finance, , ,

The City of Sacramento announced a partnership with Berkeley SkyDeck, the startup accelerator program from the University of California (“UC”) Berkeley. Through this cooperation, SkyDeck will introduce seven startup companies to Sacramento to pursue investment and advancement opportunities.

SkyDeck accelerator to work with City of Sacramento

SkyDeck will work with the Sacramento Urban Technology Lab (SUTL) to navigate the city’s business landscape, aiming to establish new, local, high-paying jobs.

When SUTL launched in 2018, it focused on developing, piloting, and growing technology in the city environment. According to the agreement, Berkeley SkyDeck will refer program alumni to the city at no cost. All of the founders of SkyDeck are alumni of one of the UC campuses. Startups accepted to the program go through a rigorous screening process.

Moving to California?

Finance, Housing

According to a new study, fewer people are moving to California than are moving out.

The United Van Lines’ 42nd Annual National Movers Study shows that 54.5 percent of people moved out of California, while only 45.6 percent of movers relocated to the state.

Most people who moved to California did so for a job, the study showed. On a national level, the state ranked 39th for inbound migration.

Deterrents to moving to California include the high cost of living.

2018: Economy in Review

Business news, Economy, Finance

2019 began with good economic news in California: 24,500 jobs were added as the year ended in December 2018.

The state added 24,500 net new positions for a total of approximately 17.28 million jobs, according to the California Employment Development Department.

California’s gains were widespread, with the expansion of nine out of eleven industries. Leisure and hospitality added the most jobs, reflecting the Golden State’s historic allure as a tourist destination, particularly during the cold winter months.

Tourism has been growing and has steadily increased over the past eight years. Los Angeles County alone hosted an estimated fifty million visitors in 2018. This impressive statistic reflects a 3.1% improvement over 2017’s total.

Making Christmas Work for You

Finance, ,

Christmas can be a time of incredible expense for everyone. There are presents to be bought, festive meals to be made and family members to appease.  All of this costs money and for those who have not budgeted ahead of time, extra revenue needs to be made.

If you missed out this year, start  looking ahead for next, as in Sacramento there are events to guide on how to get through the festive period financially.  One example are the Personal Finance Workshops happening early next year for 5 Thursdays.  Topics discussed include: cash flow increase; asset accumulation; planning your retirement and saving for children’s education.  When ones regular finances are in order, putting aside extra needed cash for holiday seasons like Christmas becomes much more manageable.

One is never too young to start saving money.  That can be seen from one of our very dear local children, 5-year old Faye Segraves who heard about the death of Cal Fire engineer Cory Iverson who was struck down while battling Ventura County’s Thomas Fire.  Her response was that she wanted to give money to kids who had lost their fathers so that they could have extra toys for Christmas.  With her mother Kylee, they set up their own fundraiser in conjunction with the Wildland Fighter Foundation.

If a little girl can understand the value of getting money for crises, then all the more so should we as adults be able to plan (financially) for much of everyday life’s little extras.

The Finances of Being Funny: Three Stooges Revival

Business news, Finance, , , ,

three-stooges-516165_960_720Get ready for some crazy fun, because the Three Stooges are soon going to be back in action. That’s right. Independent producers will soon be launching a Three Stooges action comedy that will include Sean Hayes (Larry), Chris Diamantopoulos (Moe) and Will Sasso (Curly). The three have already proven themselves when they starred in Fox’s 2012 movie “The Three Stooges” which was produced, directed and written by the Farrelly Brothers.

Certainly, the three stooges have been wildly popular with fans and those creating the newest movie expect to have a wide-reaching and enthusiastic audience as well. The new version will be produced with C3, Grand Peaks and the Exchange. C3, the owners of the Three Stooges brand, will run the film’s licensing, merchandising and promotional materials. Executive producers will include Jeff Bowler, Earl Benjamin, Robert Benjamin and O’Shea. Cameron Fay will be writing the script.

As Benjamin explained about the current undertaking, “With Sean, Chris and Will back as our Stooges and Cameron writing, this next film will be a truly unique blend of fast paced action with the hilarious mayhem of the Three Stooges.”

This is certainly a business venture worth watching – and a film that people will flock to see.