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IN PROGRESS ONLINE |
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Office of Economic Development, |
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Vol. 8, No. 9 |
September 2007 |
Ÿ New Ufood Grill Opens in Roseville
Ÿ APPAC Presents Auburn Bluegrass Fest II
Ÿ Loomis Software Company Receives Government Contract
Ÿ Auburn Job Fair Set for October 11
Ÿ Tahoe City’s Fiamma’s Cucina Rustica a “Must Hit Spot”
Ÿ It’s Harvest Time at Dono dal Cielo Vineyard
Ÿ Corporate Transportation Solutions Named Finalist for “Operator of the Year”
Ÿ UPS Celebrates 100th Anniversary at Rocklin Distribution Center
Ÿ Three Placer Groups Join to Present “Art, Verse & Vines” Event
Ÿ Third Business to Open in Rocklin Recreational Center
Ÿ Upper Truckee Marsh Restoration Part of Lake Tahoe-wide Effort
Ÿ What’s in Your E-Mail Newsletter?
New Ufood Grill Opens in Roseville
Ufood Grill, a new fast-casual restaurant concept, opened its first West Coast location in Roseville this month. Shane Vogel and John Peed are the franchisees for the restaurant, located in the Nugget Shopping Center, at Fairway Dr. and Pleasant Grove Blvd. The 2,989-square-foot space houses 65 seats and features an in-house Fresh Energy Bakery producing a variety of fresh energy bars daily. Ufood Grill is the brainchild of Boston Market founder George Naddaff. Nadaff began by tapping former Ritz-Carlton executive Chef Efrem Cutler to develop a menu of back-to-basics, healthful foods using natural and organic ingredients, fresh produce, whole grains, and light cheeses and dressings. Every cooked dish is baked, grilled, or steamed, never fried. As part of the company’s green effort, meals are served on china plates with flatware. For more, visit Ufood Grill at http://www.ufoodgrill.com/ or Rocklin Today at http://www.rocklintoday.com/news/templates/community_news.asp?articleid=5461&zoneid=4
APPAC Presents Auburn Bluegrass Fest II
Auburn Placer Performing Arts Center (APPAC), the group dedicated to restoring Auburn’s Old State Theater into a performing arts center, is presenting Auburn Bluegrass Fest II at the Gold Country Fairgrounds, October 6, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. The fest features top bluegrass groups such as Sidesaddle & Co., Mountain Laurel, and Tree Full of Owls. Thunderfoot Cloggers will also perform, and fiddlin’ and pickin’ contests will be held. Tickets are $25 adults, $15 teens, 12 and under free. APPAC was founded in 1999, and in 2006 purchased the 1930s-era Old State Theater building. Since then, the group has established an office in the building and started work on façade improvements. For tickets to the Auburn Bluegrass Fest II or more information about APPAC, visit http://www.livefromauburn.com/ or call (530) 885-9009.
Loomis Software Company Receives Government Contract
Rotordynamics-Seal Research (RSR), in Loomis, has been awarded a five-year, $15 million contract from the Navy to develop and demonstrate advanced simulation software for propulsion and power systems used on aircraft, ships, and vehicles. RSR’s proposal was chosen from among 13 others for the contract, awarded for small business innovative research. RSR’s innovation is having created a multidisciplinary modeling and simulation package for predicting vibration levels in turbine engines, vibrations that can lead to cracks or even turbine breakdowns. Using the latest technology, RSR provides rotordynamic and vibration evaluations for any type of rotating machinery. For more visit RSR at http://www.rsr.com/ or Defense Industry Daily at http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/15m-to-research-turbine-lifespan-predictive-models-03749
Auburn Job Fair Set for October 11
On Thursday, October 11, more than 100 employers will be in attendance at the Auburn Job Fair, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., at the Gold Country Fairgrounds in Auburn. The job fair is hosted by Placer County and the Business Advantage Network, a coalition of government and nonprofit agencies that work to bring businesses and potential employees together. All of the network’s services are free to job seekers and employers. The Business Advantage Network sponsors two job fairs each year. Co-sponsors of the October 11 job fair include Gold Country Media, Placer County Office of Economic Development, Auburn Chamber of Commerce, and the Workforce Investment Board. Corporate sponsors for this year’s event are Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District and Thunder Valley Casino. For details, call Cindy Burris at (530) 889-4090 or visit http://www.placer.ca.gov/jobfair
Tahoe City’s Fiamma’s Cucina Rustica a “Must Hit Spot”
“Italian inspired cuisine that takes advantage of seasonal Northern California ingredients make Fiamma’s Cucina Rustica a must hit spot on the Sierra dining circuit,” writes Tahoe World critic Alex Close in a recent review. Fiamma’s menu is printed daily, Close says, and rotates whenever fresh regional ingredients are procured at various local farmers’ markets or as certain items come into season. Brand new executive chef Andrew Shimer rotates creative seasonal dishes around a core of Italian-inspired favorites such as linguini and clams with sliced garlic, cippolini onion, and white wine sauce. Fiamma’s pizza dough is thin-crusted, and toppings include port-soaked fig, carmelized onion, and gorgonzola. The restaurant has a full bar, and its wine list includes equal selections from Northern California and Italy, including Brunellos and Barolos. For more, visit the Tahoe World at
http://www.tahoe-world.com/content/view/10319/75
It’s Harvest Time at Dono dal Cielo Vineyard
William and Karen McGillivray started Dono dal Cielo (meaning “gift from heaven”) on 10 rural Newcastle acres in 2001, planting 6000 vines, and have since added another 20 acres to their vineyard. Their first-year Zinfandel, 750 cases, was released in November 2006. Also last year, the McGillivrays hired experienced winemaker Derek Irwin “to ensure high-caliber wines for the future.” In describing this year’s harvest, Karen said, “We took two tons out of the vineyard for a Rose′ wine that will be ready for our customers in January 2008. We harvested 16 tons for our 2007 vintage Zinfandel. We have one ton left on the vine for a Late Harvest Zinfandel that we will keep for several years in our barrels to serve as a dessert wine. We bottled our 2006 harvest, 1,318 cases, in August.” This year, Dono dal Cielo’s 2005 Zinfandel has won several medals: Gold at the 25th West Coast Wine Competition and the 2007 Grand Harvest Awards, and a Silver at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. The couple describes their award-winning Zin as “brilliantly bright, perfectly clean and jammy while fruit-forward with hints of anise.” Dono dal Cielo is one of 21 local wineries teaming with 21 local businesses for the Auburn Wine Festival, October 13, 2 - 5 p.m., in Downtown Auburn. For more visit Dono dal Cielo at http://www.donodalcielo.com/about.html or Ophir Wines at http://www.ophirwines.com/festival.htm
Corporate Transportation Solutions Named Finalist as “Operator of the Year”
Corporate Transportations Solutions, Inc., with offices in Granite Bay, was named earlier this year as one of three finalists for the Limousine & Chauffeured Transportation (LCT) magazine’s Operator of the Year award. LCT, the chauffeured transportation industry’s leading publication, created the award to recognize leadership and innovation and to encourage greater standards in professionalism and entrepreneurial vision. Corporate Transportation Solutions, the region’s largest professional chauffeured transportation company, provides luxury transportation services to a diverse group of clients. CTS also maintains an affiliate network providing services in more than 500 cities worldwide through www.CTSLIMO.com. For more, visit Corporate Transportation Solutions at http://www.ctslimo.com/
UPS Celebrates 100th Anniversary at Rocklin Distribution Center
Representative John Doolittle was on hand last month when United Parcel Service (UPS) celebrated its 100th Anniversary at its distribution center in Rocklin. Doolittle presented a congratulatory letter to James McElroy, an accident-free UPS driver for 29 years. The congressman also helped present special recognition awards to other drivers with outstanding service records. UPS was started 100 years ago when its founder, Jim Casey and his friend, started running errands, carrying notes, and making home deliveries from drug stores. Today the $42.6 billion company employs about 427,000 people in more than 200 countries, moving shipments in about 92,000 of its trademark trucks. “Brown” has become the world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services. For more visit UPS at http://www.100ups.com/history/1907-1913.html or CBS News at
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/26/eveningnews/main2984007.shtml
Three Placer Groups Join to Present “Art, Verse & Vines” Event
PlacerArts’ Autumn Art Studios Tour, the Cowpoke Fall Gathering, and the Placer County Fall Winery Tour have teamed up this year to invite visitors and residents to a weekend-long, three-part “Art, Verse & Vines” celebration of the region’s rich traditions of art, heritage, and agriculture. The 14th Annual Autumn Art Studios Tour, November 9, 10 & 11, is a self-guided tour of 49 studio locations showing the work of 72 talented local artists. Traditional cowboy poets and musicians will gather in Loomis November 9 & 10 for the Cowpoke Fall Gathering, and the Placer County Fall Winery Tour, November 10 & 11, celebrates the foothills’ viticulture renaissance. Weekend packages and hotel specials are available for the events. For details, visit PlacerArts at http://placerarts.org/ South Placer Heritage Foundation at http://www.soplacerheritage.org/, or Placer County Fall Winery Tour at http://www.placerhillswinetour.com/
Third Business to Open in Rocklin Recreational Center
A few years ago Susan Jacobson opened American Powerhouse, a trampoline and power tumbling facility, in an industrial warehouse in Rocklin’s Sunset Industrial area. With the help of CBRE real estate services and Placer County, Jacobson was instrumental in adding two more recreational businesses, each owning its own space, at the site. Hardwood Palace, a 68,000-square-foot space opened last January, has eight hardwood basketball courts and offers basketball training and tournaments, dodge ball, volleyball, and many kinds of athletic classes. Under construction and opening next spring in the facility is Sky Zone, a sports, fitness, and entertainment center offering three-dimensional sports games and activities. “The County was committed to helping with the facility,” Jacobson said. “Thanks to all the County departments involved and CBRE, the community now has an amazing indoor, multi-venue recreation facility that created over 100 new jobs.” The center is located at 1091 Tinker Rd., Rocklin. For more, visit American Powerhouse at http://www.americanpowerhousetnt.com/
Sky Zone at http://www.skymaniafuncenters.com/aboutus.html or CBRE at http://www.cbre.com/EN/
Upper Truckee Marsh Restoration Part of Lake-wide Effort
The largest wetlands system in the Lake Tahoe Basin, Upper Truckee Marsh in South Lake Tahoe, is where one of the biggest pushes is being made to restore the water of Lake Tahoe to its earlier clarity. More than 80,000 cubic yards of landfill have been removed and 11 acres of marshland restored, but the Upper Truckee and its primary tributary, Trout Creek, are still the single largest source of sediment flowing into the lake. About 75 percent of Tahoe marshlands and 50 percent of the meadow habitat was altered during the building boom of the past. More than 50 public and private organizations, led by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Tahoe Conservancy, have joined forces over the past decade to address the problem, creating the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program. Redevelopment is one choice that might begin to pay dividends. In Tahoe City, for example, a newly-built park at Commons Beach and new city sidewalks have drainage systems that reduce runoff into the lake. For the complete San Francisco Chronicle article, visit
For more information, visit Lake Tahoe Environment Improvement Program at http://www.tiims.org/Content/Projects/EIP/default.asp
Tahoe Regional Planning Agency at http://www.trpa.org/
Tahoe Conservancy at http://www.tahoecons.ca.gov/ or
League to Save Lake Tahoe at http://keeptahoeblue.org/
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