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Business & Economy - page 24

Local businesses, major employers, retail development and the regional economy.

How Stanislaus’ $832 Million in COVID Relief Helped the County’s Smallest Businesses

in Health/Business & Economy

Leave it to a global pandemic to test the limits of the saying “Every little bit helps.”

Last spring, as the Central Valley and the entire nation reeled from the COVID-19 pandemic, relief money began to flood into the area from the federal government. The much lauded, and also maligned, Paycheck Protection Program began doling out forgivable loans of up to $10 million dollars to businesses small and not-so-small across the region.

But the data on the smaller businesses — those receiving less than $150,000 from the Treasury Department-supported program — was not released until late last year. The more complete release of PPP information paints a clearer picture of who got what in Modesto and across the valley.

With loans ranging from a few hundred dollars to a few million, the program has given out a total of more than $832 million to Stanislaus County businesses, according to data from the Small Business Administration that has been reviewed by The Bee.

Continue Reading on Modesto Bee

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Dust Bowl Brewing Co. Signs with Coast Beverage in San Diego, CA

in Business & Economy

Turlock, Calif. — Dust Bowl Brewing Co. expands its Southern California distribution with the addition of Coast Beverage to its wholesaler network. Based in San Diego, Coast Beverage will service San Diego and Imperial Counties, and parts of Riverside County. The distributor specializes in craft beers, FMBs, non-alcoholic beverages and snack foods.

Coast Beverage will focus on Dust Bowl’s year-round leaders, including Therapist Imperial IPA, Confused Therapist Hazy Imperial IPA, Peace, Love & Haze Hazy IPA, Hops of Wrath IPA, Tomorrow’s Clear West Coast IPA, Taco Truck Lager and some occasional limited releases. Consumers can expect to see Dust Bowl on shelves in the new territory in April.

“We’re excited to expand our footprint of distribution in Southern California, especially in a region known for its huge craft beer fan base,” comments Marc Jalbert, Director of Sales and Marketing, Dust Bowl Brewing Co. “The addition of Coast Beverage essentially fills out California for us, which has been a goal for Dust Bowl. As the state opens back up, the timing could not be more ideal. We’re eager to work with Coast Beverage who has a proven track record of building independent craft brands in new markets.”

Continue Reading on Brew Bound

Pitman Alum Serves up Fresh Burgers

in Business & Economy

Pitman High School alum Mishael Moran was working as part of Sacramento’s food scene when COVID-19 changed life as we know it. When the pandemic caused his hours to be cut, he decided to move back to Turlock and become his own boss.

Moran opened his own catering company and portable food kitchen, Flip N Fry, last week, utilizing his knowledge of the restaurant industry to create a business which values quality over convenience. At Flip N Fry, Moran and his family-turned-coworkers grind their own beef for burgers and breads their own chicken for sandwiches — something Moran believes sets them apart from other lunch spots in town.

“Nothing is ever frozen. We make sure it’s fresh,” Moran said. “We’re trying to offer something you would find at a barbecue, taking things you would find at a burger joint and trying to upscale them. It’s nothing like other things you see around here.”

One of those unique items is Moran’s loaded fries, which can be topped with buffalo chicken, carne asada or even a fried egg, depending on the customer’s preference.

Continue Reading on Turlock Journal

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Solar Energy Partners Announces Merger with the Standard, Offering Customers Higher Value and Lower Costs

in Environment/Business & Economy
"We're growing - and moving - incredibly fast, with the merger having already combined The Standard's cutting-edge philosophies with SEPs pedigreed 'smart game,'" says Alex Williams, Co-Founder at SEP.

TURLOCK, Calif., — Solar Energy Partners, also known as SEP, a company that offers a ‘white glove’ service in researching, comparing, selecting, and installing residential solar panels today announced their merge with The Standard. This merger is set to accelerate SEPs already rapid growth, enabling the company to expand its footprint into several other states and offer its services to millions more throughout the country.

“We’re growing – and moving – incredibly fast, with the merger having already combined The Standard’s cutting-edge philosophies with SEPs pedigreed ‘smart game,'” says Alex Williams, Co-Founder at SEP. “As such, we now have hundreds of finessed, verifiable solar experts from The Standard working alongside SEP’s equally capable representatives to offer customers an even more bespoke experience across a number of states.”

Founded four years ago in Bakersfield, CA. by Todd Jensen, Brian Hutchings, and Brad Holm, The Standard solar energy company expanded into Texas last year. Since March of 2020, the organization has grown from 15 representatives to 150 with offices in Fresno, Bakersfield, San Diego, Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston. As a result of the merger, SEP now has over 500 contractors in five states, which amounts to a 500% growth rate in the past year.

Continue Reading on Cision PR Newswire

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Plans for Second Dutch Bros Spark Ire from Neighboring Cafe

in Food & Drink/Business & Economy

Dutch Bros Coffee is hoping to open a second Turlock location after submitting plans to the City last month, but not everyone in town is excited. 

Turlock’s first Dutch Bros location opened last September across the street from Stanislaus State and has been busy ever since. Now, the company is looking to add to its Turlock success with a double drive-through location in the Turlock Town Center. When Mundo’s Latin Grill eventually moves to another space within the shopping center, Dutch Bros hopes to take over the restaurant’s building and cater to even more coffee connoisseurs.

For the family-owned coffee shop Alison’s Cafe House, located just down the road at 219 W. Canal Dr., the news was like déjà vu. Last October, the small business spearheaded an online petition after they realized a Starbucks would be built across the street from them and worried about going out of business. Although the petition to stop the Starbucks’ construction received over 2,500 signatures, the effort came well after the City’s deadline to appeal the project. 

Now, Emita Paris of Alison’s Cafe House is wondering if the coffee shop will be able to survive twice the competition. Since the first Dutch Bros location opened, she said her family’s business has lost half of its revenue despite the competition being located across town.

Continue Reading on Turlock Journal

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‘We’re a Dying Breed’: East Sac Hardware Store Closes up Shop

in Business & Economy

EAST SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Soroush Rahimian cleared out his basket and checked out one last time at the East Sac Hardware Store, which is closing up shop for good Sunday.

“It’s been nice to not have to go to the big box stores when you need something quick and convenient,” Rahimian said.

Fast, easy, and one-stop shopping, Rahimian got everything from electrical supplies to replace switches to toys for his kids, but not anymore. Yet, another it’s the next in a long line of small businesses that didn’t survive the pandemic.

“The time has come, we don’t have family that wants to take it over,” said owner Sheree Johnston. “A lot of things, COVID has been a problem.”

Johnston has run the neighborhood store for decades, hanging on even when Home Depot moved in around the corner in 2000, when the recession hit in 2008, and they never missed a day of service when COVID-19 hit.

Continue Reading on CBS 13

Ace Hardware Coming to Vacant Storefront in Livermore

in Business & Economy

Livermore will again have a midsize hardware store in town as a new Ace Hardware location is set to open this spring, replacing the Orchard Supply that closed in 2018 and has remained empty until now.

Renovation of the building located at 1450 First St. is currently underway with a soft-opening set for April 16, according to the store’s general manager Eric Evensen, who also managed the store when it was Orchard Supply.

Kansas-based company Westlake Ace Hardware has been expanding throughout California since 2019, opening 12 stores in the state formerly occupied by Orchard Supply in Chico, Fresno, La Crescenta, Mountain View, Pinole, South Pasadena, Thousand Oaks, Turlock, Van Nuys, West Los Angeles, Woodland and now Livermore.

Evensen, who has been running the Pinole Ace location since Orchard Supply closed, said that returning to Livermore feels like a full circle moment.

“When I closed this building down, I knew there were some things going on behind the scenes — some spinoff companies and so on — and I was kind of like General (Douglas) MacArthur saying, ‘I shall return!’ But it was tough closing this building down with a great crew, great community, great town, very well received, very well liked by the town, so it hurt — especially after 32 years with the company — but it hurt this being my last store,” he said.

Continue Reading on Pleasanton Weekly

Tech Tools Making a Difference in Stanislaus County Schools

in Education/Business & Economy

(TNS) — Even as school districts in Stanislaus County work to increase in-person learning time for primary grade students and possibly return junior high and high school kids to campuses in mid-March, distance learning remains a mainstay of education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Being thrust nearly a year ago into this unprecedented environment has led teachers, administrators and support staff to explore and employ an array of trainings and tools and to walk a line between what’s beneficial and what becomes a burden.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the tech being used in local school districts. Note: A tool discussed by a district may be in use in other districts as well.

Continue Reading on Government Technology

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Ranch of Horror Sends in the Clowns for a Twist on Valentine’s Day Grams

in Business & Economy

TURLOCK, Calif. — Chocolate, hearts, flowers — some things are synonymous with Valentine’s Day. 

Scary clowns are not one of those things. 

Nevertheless, Turlock-based Ranch of Horror is taking the holiday of hearts in another direction by offering Valentine’s Day grams delivered by a creepy clown.

“We started doing Valentine grams last year…we kind of started it as a joke,” Heather May, coordinator with Ranch of Horror, said.

The Central Valley haunted attraction wanted to provide an opportunity for their cast members to work during its off season, and figured that something fun and off-beat like the Valentine’s grams would be a good jumping off point. 

“We were just like, ‘let’s see how many people we can’ get thinking it would be just a little extra something for the characters, and it just exploded and took off,” May said.

Continue Reading on ABC 10

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Love Is in the Air

Just because Valentine’s Day had passed didn’t deter hundreds of lovers from celebrating their marriages this past Saturday, as the

Coronavirus: California City Protects Bus Drivers with Air Cleaning Tech

in Health/Business & Economy

The city of Turlock has announced it will become the first in California to install air cleaning devices across its entire operational bus fleet, as it looks to protect its drivers from the risk of airborne transmission of coronavirus.

Turlock Transit, the city’s transit agency, plans to install 20 AirLabs AirBubbl air cleaning devices in the driver cabins of its buses by the end of the month, including eight devices which are already installed. The AirBubbl removes more than 95% of airborne viruses and contaminated particulate matter and floods the driver area with over 30,000 liters of clean air every hour, creating a clean air breathing zone for the driver to keep drivers safe.

California is one of the US regions hit hardest by coronavirus, with more than 30,000 registered deaths and more than 2.7M registered cases since the beginning of the pandemic. The high level of coronavirus in the region is putting hospitals in the state under immense pressure, with 88.2% of intensive care beds occupied in the seven-day period from the start of January.

Continue Reading on TTI

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