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IN PROGRESS ONLINE
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Office of Economic Development, Placer County, California
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Vol. 8, No. 8
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August 2007
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Ÿ Tahoe City Plans Labor Day Sidewalk
Sale & Social
Ÿ Construction Well Under Way at
Galleria Mall
Ÿ Jamba Juice
and Smoothie King Open in Auburn
Ÿ Lake Tahoe Autumn Food & Wine
Festival Returns in September
Ÿ NeonSign.com Moves to Sunset
Industrial Area
Ÿ Fall Home Tour Supports Auburn
Symphony
Ÿ Placer County Hosts
Jeep-Chrysler-Dodge Film Shoots
Ÿ Granite Community Bank Declares First
Dividend
Ÿ Rancho Roble
Vineyards Named Host for 2007 Placer Farm & Barn Tour
Ÿ Newcastle’s Newest Shop Features Fine
Arts
Ÿ Lincoln High School Machining
Program Seeks Advice, Equipment
Ÿ What’s in
Your E-Mail Newsletter?
Tahoe City Plans Labor Day Sidewalk Sale & Social
The Tahoe City Downtown
Association (TCDA) is spearheading efforts to make Tahoe City
the happening spot on Labor Day weekend, September 1 - 3. “Merchant steals and
deals” -- everything from winter gear to games and toys -- will abound at
stores and shops throughout town. After a hard day of shopping, visitors can
stay in town and enjoy lakeside dining and entertainment. Live music will be on
hand Friday through Sunday at Jakes on the Lake,
River Grill, Sawtooth, Ridge, and Sol y Lago. The TCDA will sponsor a free, live show with acoustic
rock band After 8 at Heritage Plaza, Saturday, 1 - 4 p.m. and a free Concert on Commons Beach, Sunday at 4 p.m., will feature
The Commander Cody Band. “The sidewalk sale is an opportunity to get everyone
walking around downtown, shopping and socializing,” said Kelly Atchley, TCDA’s executive
director. “We want everyone to know what a vibrant commercial and social center
Tahoe City is.” For more, visit Tahoe City
at http://www.visittahoecity.com/
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Construction Well Under Way at Galleria Mall
These days, signs of construction
are as common as shopping bags at the Galleria at Roseville. But within the massive, $240
million expansion project, which kicked off in January, some parts are already
completed, such as a new, two-level, 1,500-space parking garage that opened
this month. Expected to be completed by late 2008 or early 2009, the expansion
project will add 100 new tenants to nearly a half-million square feet of retail
space -- about a 50 percent increase. Currently, groundwork is being done on
the site of a 40,000-square-foot expansion of Macy’s, and the recent demolition
of the Max’s Opera Café and Starbuck’s building has cleared the way for
enclosure of part of the Promenade, which will be incorporated into the mall
proper. Assistant City Manager Julia Burrows
said the expansion represents the strength of Roseville’s retail sector. For details, visit
the Roseville Press Tribune at http://www.thepresstribune.com/articles/2007/06/20/news/top_stories/04galleria_construction.txt
or the City of Roseville
at http://roseville.ca.us/ed/business_matters_newsletter.asp
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Jamba Juice and
Smoothie King Open in Auburn
Two franchises offering
healthful fruit and juice drinks have recently opened in Auburn. Jamba
Juice, in the Bel Air Shopping Center on Hwy. 49,
opened in July; Smoothie King, in Raley’s Plaza on
Lincoln Way, in August. Both stores offer many kinds of nutritious smoothies
billed as energy-sustaining alternatives to fast food and sugary and fatty
snacks. Both serve “functional” smoothies, designed, for instance, to boost
energy, help with weight control or endurance, or work as antioxidants.
Smoothie King also stocks vitamins, minerals, and other supplements. Jamba Juice participates in “Go-Go Events,” such as school
athletic or service club events, and donates 20 percent of proceeds back to the
sponsor. Both stores offer catering service to area businesses. For more, visit
Jamba Juice at http://www.jambajuice.com/
or call the Auburn store at (530) 889-1692;
Smoothie King at http://www.smoothieking.com/
or call the Auburn
store at (530) 823-8239.
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Lake
Tahoe Autumn Food & Wine Festival Returns in September
The new Village at Northstar will be the setting for the Lake Tahoe Autumn
Food and Wine Festival September 14 - 16. Designed for all ages, the annual
festival includes cooking classes with celebrity chefs, cooking contests, wine tastings, winery dinners, farmers’ market, gourmet marketplace,
and art show. A new series of events and activities this year is designed for
families. Live music and dancing will be featured all weekend. Attendees can
also meet with Sunset magazine staffers and take a tour of the Sunset
Idea House at Gray’s Crossing in Truckee. The
weekend culminates with Sunday’s Grand Tasting and Culinary Competition,
pairing the delicacies of about 30 area restaurants with world-class wineries.
For details and tickets call 1-888-229-2193 or visit http://www.gotahoenorth.com/
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NeonSign.com Moves to Sunset Industrial Area
Started as a small, personal
collection of neon beer signs in a garage in Livermore, NeonSign.com has grown in just a few
years into a thriving business that in July moved into a Sunset Industrial Area
office/warehouse with an option to buy. NeonSign.com now offers all manner of
neon business signs, including custom signs. Incorporated in 2003, the company
exceeded $100,000 a month gross revenue in 2005. In 2006, the owners, Ron
Gilman and Eric Thorson, a father-in-law and son-in-law team, moved the
business from Livermore to Lincoln, and last year started using China as a
source for custom neon signs. Their biggest challenge in starting, Gilman said,
was working to position and maintain the business on the first page of internet
searches, a goal they have achieved. “We are now positioned to expand greatly
due to our new ability to import containers of neon signs, at greatly reduced
prices, and store them in our new warehouse,” he said. “In addition, we are now
the preferred neon supplier for Sign*A*Rama, which as
more than 850 stores in 46 countries.” The partners plan
for a growth rate of 115 percent over the next 12 months and another 100
percent by 2011. For more, visit NeonSign.com at http://www.neonsign.com/
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Fall Home Tour Supports Auburn Symphony
Hidden Gold in the Foothills,
a tour of custom homes designed by architect Michael Kent Murphy, is set for
Saturday, September 29, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. The self-paced tour features four
extraordinary country estates and one private art studio-gallery. Murphy has
designed more than 300 homes in the region, all noted for their beauty and
balance of form and function. New this year is a Meet the Architect Reception,
a pre-tour wine, beer, and cheese tasting on September 27, 5 - 8 p.m., at
Murphy’s Auburn studio. The annual home tour,
presented by the Auburn Symphony League, helps support the symphony’s community
programs such as Senior Outreach and Symphony Goes to the Schools. Hidden Gold
tour tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. The reception is included for
the first 100 ticket buyers. Business advertising is available in the tour’s
glossy, four-color brochure. Deadline for ads is August 31. For advertising
details, call (530) 823-0462. For home tour tickets, call the Auburn Symphony
office at (530) 823-6683 or (530) 637-4508. Visit Auburn Symphony at http://www.auburnsymphony.com/
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Placer County Hosts
Jeep-Chrysler-Dodge Film Shoots
“Filming at 90 locations in
16 days, from southern California to Sonoma’s coast and wine country to the Sierra
Nevada, is one of the most ambitious schedules we’ve seen from a
production company,” said Beverly Lewis, Placer-Lake Tahoe Film Office
director. “Jeep-Chrysler-Dodge occasionally shoots its national commercials all
at one time with certain product lines. This was one of them.” Placer County
hosted the company for six of those locations – all needed high Sierra/mountain
and desert looks, done in two days. “The 65-member crew worked like a
well-oiled machine at Tahoe, the last stop on their shoot,” Lewis said. Two
North Lake Tahoe Resort Association lodging properties helped accommodate the
production company -- Tahoe-Truckee Best Western and the Hampton Inn. The
commercials will air this fall. For more about the Placer-Lake Tahoe Film
Office, visit http://www.placer.ca.gov/films
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Granite Community Bank Declares First Dividend
In March, the board of
Granite Community Bank NA authorized a five percent stock dividend, the
company’s first, payable April 15 to shareholders of record as of March 16.
Shareholders received one new share for every 20 shares they owned. The total
number of shares rose to about 1.34 million. Opened in Granite
Bay June 4, 2002, with nine employees,
Granite Community has since opened branches in Auburn
and Roseville,
and now employs a staff of 45 people. The bank’s assets have grown from $7
million to $155 million. For more, visit the Sacramento Business Journal at
http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2007/03/05/daily11.html
or Granite Community Bank at http://www.granitecb.com/
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Rancho Roble Vineyards Named
Host for 2007 Placer Farm & Barn Tour
Rancho Roble
Vineyards has been selected as one of a dozen host locations for the 4th
Annual Placer Farm and Barn Tour, set for Sunday, October 14, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
The family-friendly tour takes in farms, ranches, orchards, nurseries, and
vineyards across western Placer
County. Rancho Roble, in Lincoln,
will have a logging truck on site that day, and forester Rich Johnson on hand
to talk about Sustainable Forests. The vineyard will also feature live music,
artists at work, storytellers, and grape-growing and wine-making
demonstrations. High Hand Beef Catering will be there cooking food to sell, and
Rancho Roble’s wine will be available for purchase.
Owner Mark Adams reports that the 2006 Rancho Roble Barbera is now out of barrels and into bottles, where it
will rest for six weeks and then be tasted to see if it is ready for release.
For more, visit Rancho Roble Vineyards at http://www.ranchoroble.com/
or Placer Farm & Barn Tour at
http://www.placerfarmandbarntour.com/
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Newcastle’s Newest Shop Features Fine Arts
In July, two longtime friends
opened an art shop in Newcastle.
First-time shop owners Susan Evans of Newcastle
and Bobbi Harms of Citrus Heights say that Bella Fine Arts and Gifts is an
extension of their passion for the arts. Evans is a photographer who
specializes in black and white work. Harms makes beaded jewelry and purses as
well as knitted scarves and hats. The partners have put together work from
about 19 local artists -- photography, oils, pastels, pottery, blown glass, and
ceramics -- and added gift items such as tote bags and bath and spa products.
They plan to showcase a different artist each month; August will feature
Lincoln Hills artist Maggie McGurk who applies paints
and other media to photographs to create the look of original paintings.
Visitors to the shop can expect constantly changing inventory, Evans said.
Bella Fine Arts and Gifts is at 455
Main St. S uite 7, Newcastle. For more, visit
the Auburn Journal at http://www.auburnjournal.com/articles/2007/08/05/news/business/01newcastle05.txt
or call Bella Fine Arts and Gifts at (916) 628-0742.
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Lincoln High School Machining
Program Seeks Advice, Equipment
The new Computer Numerical
Controlled (CNC) machining program being planned at Lincoln
High School in partnership with Sierra College
is seeking Advisory Board members to provide input on workforce skill trends,
and program and curriculum development. In addition, businesses may want to
donate equipment to the new program. The Sierra College
Center for Applied
Competitive Technologies (CACT) won a $250,000 grant to establish the program
to prepare high school graduates for local jobs and further technical
education. To learn more, call Connie Raynor, (916)
798-5231 or visit Sierra
College at http://www.sierracollegetraining.com/cact.php
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What’s in Your E-Mail Newsletter?
In Progress Online (IPOL),
our monthly economic development e-mail newsletter, covers the latest news on Placer County
business and industry, agriculture, tourism, and the arts. It reports on new
projects in our cities and towns and keeps readers up to date on the state of
the region’s economy. IPOL posts news of state and local training, incentives,
and loan programs that benefit business. It provides links to more information
on each item. News about your business is always welcome. Please send items,
questions, comments, or suggestions to the Office of Economic Development at econdev@placer.ca.gov
or visit the OED Web site at http://www.placer.ca.gov/CEO/EconDev.aspx
For past In Progress Online newsletters, go to Placer County Biz News at http://www.placer.ca.gov/CEO/Econdev/business%20news.aspx