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When looking back on the year 2013, it is hard to believethe challenges that our country had — startingwith a budget shut down. Fortunately, before theyear ended, we did see the two sides of the legislaturecome together with a two-year operations budget.There were also changes locally. Stanislaus County had a change inleadership starting with the CEO of the county moving to Stockton,and the CEO of the Alliance Workforce moving to another state. CaliforniaState University, Stanislaus announced that Dr. Joseph Sheley,the Interim President, would be the permanent president of the university.The City of Turlock made progress with having economic developmentas one of its priorities; and Turlock Chamber of Commercewas recognized for the fifth year with the CalChamber’s PresidentsAward.

When looking back on the year 2013, it is hard to believethe challenges that our country had — startingwith a budget shut down. Fortunately, before theyear ended, we did see the two sides of the legislaturecome together with a two-year operations budget.There were also changes locally. Stanislaus County had a change inleadership starting with the CEO of the county moving to Stockton,and the CEO of the Alliance Workforce moving to another state. CaliforniaState University, Stanislaus announced that Dr. Joseph Sheley,the Interim President, would be the permanent president of the university.The City of Turlock made progress with having economic developmentas one of its priorities; and Turlock Chamber of Commercewas recognized for the fifth year with the CalChamber’s PresidentsAward.

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A publication of the Turlock Chamber of Commerce<br />

winter 2014 issue 17<br />

New Year,<br />

New Chair<br />

MedicAlert CEO brings<br />

business expertise to Chamber


The SMITh chevroleT cadIllac TeaM<br />

29632_1


115 S. Golden State Blvd.<br />

Turlock, CA 95380<br />

209-632-2221<br />

Fax 209- 632-5289<br />

Hours: Mon. - Fri. • 10am - 4pm<br />

President / CEO<br />

Sharon Silva<br />

sharonsilva@turlockchamber.com<br />

director communications/<br />

development<br />

Tasha Van Santen<br />

Ext. 104<br />

tasha@turlockchamber.com<br />

Administrative Assistant<br />

Sharon Berry<br />

Ext. 100<br />

sharonberry@turlockchamber.com<br />

Contents<br />

W.A.C.E. Award Winning Publication of<br />

the Turlock Chamber of Commerce<br />

7 New Board Chair Andrew Wigglesworth<br />

8 Sdlg Comes To Town<br />

9 2013 Elections Recap<br />

10 Local Real Estate Market Update<br />

11 City Council Voting Record<br />

12 Dr. Mike Romeo Reflects On Year As Chair/<br />

New Members<br />

13 Economic Trends Breakfast<br />

14 Community Faces Water Crisis<br />

15 Holiday Retail Sales Joyful<br />

16 Tgm Cleans Up Downtown<br />

17 Alliance Welcomes New Ceo<br />

18 Mixers/ Ribbon Cuttings<br />

19 Emc Cardiac Operating Suites<br />

21 Quantitive Easing<br />

22 Common Core Standards<br />

membership / cvb assistant<br />

Kassi Fortado<br />

Ext. 101<br />

kassi@turlockchamber.com<br />

Turlock Convention<br />

and Visitors Bureau<br />

director<br />

Desa Cammack<br />

115 S. Golden State Blvd.<br />

209-632-2221 Ext. 104<br />

desa@visitturlock.org<br />

Published by The Turlock Journal<br />

138 S. Center St.,<br />

Turlock, CA 95380<br />

209-634-9141<br />

business news 4 winter 2014


president & CEO of the board<br />

chamber<br />

SHaron Silva<br />

president & CEO<br />

When looking back on the year 2013, it is hard to believe<br />

the challenges that our country had — starting<br />

with a budget shut down. Fortunately, before the<br />

year ended, we did see the two sides of the legislature<br />

come together with a two-year operations budget.<br />

There were also changes locally. Stanislaus County had a change in<br />

leadership starting with the CEO of the county moving to Stockton,<br />

and the CEO of the Alliance Workforce moving to another state. California<br />

State University, Stanislaus announced that Dr. Joseph Sheley,<br />

the Interim President, would be the permanent president of the university.<br />

The City of Turlock made progress with having economic development<br />

as one of its priorities; and Turlock Chamber of Commerce<br />

was recognized for the fifth year with the CalChamber’s Presidents<br />

Award.<br />

This year, I read a book called “The Coming Jobs War” by Jim Clifton,<br />

chairman of Gallup. The information this book brings to light is the<br />

importance of business and government leaders focusing on job creation,<br />

which is the fate of our nation. According to Gallup, we do not<br />

have enough full time jobs. Gallup says almost all new jobs are created<br />

by new businesses, small and medium-sized organizations, but at this<br />

time it is moving too slow. We need to step-up job creation starting at<br />

the local level.<br />

Instead of local leaders looking to Washington for stimulus packages<br />

and money to solve the problems, we need to develop programs for<br />

entrepreneurs and enterprise energy. According to Gallup, it is not the<br />

elected leaders, but the city leaders, CEOs, university, hospital, and foundation<br />

presidents, who will create the energy to develop and bring job<br />

creation in their cities. It is the mentors of these organizations who help<br />

encourage, guide, train and advise the small business entrepreneur.<br />

The Chamber has set four major goals for 2014: Economic Development,<br />

Political Action, (having a voice in political matters that effect<br />

<strong>Business</strong>, from elected officials to measures and ballots), continued<br />

Education and Membership Development.<br />

The Turlock Chamber has been fortunate to have outstanding leadership<br />

with the Board and Chairs over the past years, and this year was<br />

no exception. Chairman Dr. Mike Romeo was always there for support<br />

or whatever was needed by the Chamber staff. It is an honor to work<br />

with a Board of Directors who have vision and commitment for economic<br />

development and to the businesses of Turlock.<br />

I look forward to working with the 2014 Board of Directors and<br />

Board Chair Andrew Wigglesworth, CEO of MedicAlert. It is a privilege<br />

to work with a team who wants to insure that the Chamber of Commerce<br />

becomes better at providing services to assist Turlock businesses<br />

and to work with our partners, the City of Turlock, the university<br />

and the Alliance Workforce.<br />

I thank our partners, sponsors, members, and staff for their continued<br />

support and hard work in making the Turlock Chamber of Commerce<br />

the number one business resource for our community. The<br />

board has made a commitment to continue our growth and development<br />

in 2014.<br />

business news 5 winter 2014


2014 chamber board of directors<br />

Andrew wigglesworth<br />

Chair<br />

MedicAlert Foundation<br />

Jeff Segars<br />

chair elect<br />

Foster Farms<br />

Mike romeo<br />

past chair<br />

Romeo Medical Clinic<br />

Steve GEmperle<br />

Treasurer<br />

Gamperle Enteprises<br />

Mike Allen<br />

Allen Mortuary<br />

Ashour badal<br />

CSU Stanislaus<br />

diana bettencourt<br />

Oak Valley<br />

Community Bank<br />

Fred brenda<br />

Valley Tool &<br />

Manufacturing<br />

James Brenda<br />

JKB Energy<br />

Dean Doerksen<br />

Central Ag Products<br />

Kyle kirkes<br />

Kirkes Electric<br />

Mike Lynch<br />

Mike Lynch Consulting<br />

linda nowak<br />

CSU Stanislaus<br />

Steven padilla<br />

Sunopta<br />

Lazar Piro<br />

Piro Trading International<br />

susan quigley<br />

Rabobank<br />

mike rose<br />

B&B Fluid Power<br />

2014 turlock chamber of commerce staff<br />

Marty Jakosa<br />

Ex-Officio Member<br />

Foster Farms<br />

paul porter<br />

Winton-Ireland,<br />

Strom & Green<br />

Sharon Silva<br />

President/CEO<br />

IOM, Institute<br />

for Organization<br />

Management, University<br />

of Arizona, Bachelor<br />

Arts Organizational<br />

Communication<br />

tasha van santen<br />

director<br />

communications/<br />

development<br />

Bachelor Science -<br />

<strong>Business</strong><br />

CSU Stanislaus<br />

Sharon berry<br />

administrative assistant<br />

Bachelor Science -<br />

Education Science<br />

Pacific University<br />

kassi fortado<br />

membership/<br />

cvb assistant<br />

Merced College<br />

Desa cammack<br />

director turlock<br />

convention and<br />

visitors bureau<br />

Wester Association of<br />

Chamber Executives<br />

Graduate<br />

2014 chamber champions upcoming events<br />

Allen Mortuary<br />

Emanuel Medical Center<br />

Garton Tractor, Inc.<br />

Gemperle Enterprises<br />

JKB Energy / Living<br />

Kirkes Electric<br />

MedicAlert Foundation<br />

Tower Health and Wellness<br />

Turlock Journal<br />

Turlock Scavenger Company / Turlock Recycling<br />

Winton-Ireland, Strom & Green<br />

Oak Valley Community Bank<br />

Mixer - Carnegie Arts Center<br />

January 15<br />

Best of Turlock<br />

January 24<br />

Mixer - Pet Avenue<br />

February 19<br />

Annual Membership Breakfast<br />

February 26<br />

Ag Scholarship Luncheon<br />

March 10<br />

Mixer - Brenda Athletic Clubs<br />

March 19<br />

Golf Tournament<br />

March 28<br />

business news 6 winter 2014


New Chamber Board Chair<br />

Andrew<br />

Wigglesworth<br />

BY CARA HALLAM<br />

MedicAlert CEO brings 20 years of<br />

international business experience<br />

With over 20 years of experience<br />

in the healthcare field in the<br />

nonprofit, for-profit and public<br />

sectors, Andrew Wigglesworth, president<br />

and CEO of the MedicAlert Foundation,<br />

has been appointed as Chairman of<br />

the Turlock Chamber of Commerce.<br />

Having lived in Turlock for the past<br />

three and a half years, Wigglesworth<br />

brings a dedication to economic development<br />

and prosperity to the community.<br />

For the past three years, he has served<br />

on the board of the Turlock Chamber of<br />

Commerce and hopes to continue bringing<br />

a wealth of experience as he begins<br />

his term as Chair in 2014.<br />

“The Chamber has made a lot of progress<br />

in a whole bunch of different fronts,”<br />

said Wigglesworth. “2014 is shaping up to<br />

be a pivotal year for both Turlock and the<br />

Chamber as we will have city-wide elections<br />

with major issues related to water, a<br />

road tax — a whole series of public policy<br />

issues that the Chamber will be involved<br />

in while directly impacting the economic<br />

health and vitality of our region.”<br />

Under the guidance of Chamber President<br />

and CEO Sharon Silva, Wigglesworth<br />

says that he remains confident that the<br />

Chamber will continue to make strides in<br />

helping the Turlock community prosper.<br />

“We’re fortunate that Sharon Silva is<br />

our CEO, and for 15 years now she has<br />

done an outstanding job with the Chamber,”<br />

said Wigglesworth. “I’m very confident<br />

that the Chamber will continue to<br />

play an important role as we look forward<br />

to these important issues.”<br />

While continually seeking the best<br />

opportunities for the Turlock area,<br />

Wigglesworth believes that the community<br />

has proven to be one of the Valley’s<br />

primary locations.<br />

“I hope that Turlock will continue to be<br />

what I see as the place to live in the Central<br />

Valley,” said Wigglesworth. “Turlock<br />

is the place to live and work in the Central<br />

Valley, and our leaders in this community<br />

have made this a wonderful place to be.<br />

We’ve got all kinds of assets and things<br />

going for it. By far, Turlock has had the<br />

right mix of the resources of a nice sized<br />

city, yet continues to hold that wonderful<br />

small town feel. Land use and zoning issues<br />

have been handled much better than<br />

in many other places, and all in all I think<br />

we are a great community.”<br />

Currently serving as CEO and President,<br />

Wigglesworth says that he is proud<br />

to be associated with the MedicAlert<br />

Foundation — a non-profit, member<br />

based organization dedicated to the well<br />

being of others.<br />

“Unlike many other organizations,<br />

MedicAlert is one where we are privileged<br />

to go to work every day with the<br />

mission to help save people’s lives,” said<br />

Wigglesworth. “That is something that I<br />

get jazzed up about every day, and I am<br />

proud to be associated with MedicAlert.”<br />

When asked about the Turlock downtown<br />

revitalization, Wigglesworth said<br />

that while he agrees there has been significant<br />

improvements made to the area,<br />

he believes there is still more challenges<br />

facing the downtown.<br />

“I think the City, the Chamber and the<br />

Turlock Downtown Property Owners<br />

Association need to continue to work to<br />

build upon the revitalization,” said Wigglesworth.<br />

“It’s a very nice downtown,<br />

yet we need to do more to bring unique,<br />

interesting shops and economic activity<br />

while continuing to work to make it a<br />

very appealing destination area.”<br />

Additionally, Wigglesworth hopes to<br />

put an emphasis on California State University,<br />

Stanislaus while working alongside<br />

CSU Stanislaus President Joseph<br />

Sheley to make a stronger connection<br />

between the local university and the City.<br />

“I hope that we will do more to basically<br />

bring the college and city together,” said<br />

Wigglesworth. “We could bring them together<br />

in a synergistic way to make Turlock<br />

more of an effective college town. There are<br />

a lot of things that can be done on that front<br />

to help create some mutually beneficial<br />

partnerships that will end up benefitting<br />

our whole community.”<br />

About Wigglesworth:<br />

Prior to joining MedicAlert, Wigglesworth<br />

served as a partner at TRG Healthcare,<br />

LLC. where he worked with hospitals,<br />

health systems, and other healthcare<br />

organizations on issues related to strategic<br />

planning, governance, policy development,<br />

financial solutions, crisis<br />

communications, government relations,<br />

operational improvement and new business<br />

development.<br />

Furthermore, Wigglesworth served for<br />

12 years as the CEO of the Delaware Valley<br />

Healthcare Council, representing more<br />

than 150 hospitals and health systems in<br />

the tri-state greater Philadelphia area. He<br />

also helped create and led the Health Care<br />

Improvement Foundation as one of the top<br />

five large scale collaboratives in the nation.<br />

business news 7 winter 2014


SDLG<br />

comes to town<br />

Chinese construction<br />

machinery company<br />

opens in Turlock<br />

BY CARA HALLAM<br />

Representatives from<br />

Shangdong Lingong<br />

Construction Machinery<br />

Co., in China and Volvo<br />

Construction Equipment<br />

and Services traveled<br />

to Turlock for the grand<br />

opening in October of<br />

SDLG, their first branch<br />

in North America.<br />

CARA HALLAM /<br />

The Journal<br />

One of China’s top construction equipment producers has<br />

opened their first North American branch in Turlock.<br />

The company, Shangdong Lingong Construction Machinery<br />

Co., Ltd. — more commonly known as SDLG — has<br />

long been the largest exporter of construction equipment within<br />

China since its founding in 1972. In a continued effort to<br />

expand their product globally, the company has partnered with<br />

Volvo Construction Equipment and Services to open seven dual<br />

outlets in North America.<br />

As a leading Chinese brand of construction machinery, SDLG<br />

specializes in wheel loaders, excavators, compactors and backhoe<br />

loaders. The company has entered the North American<br />

market by launching two models of wheel loaders, the LG938L<br />

— a loader with a rated load of 3 tons, and the LG959 — a loader<br />

with a rated load of 5 tons.<br />

In late October, representatives from the company visited<br />

Turlock from China, joining together with Volvo Group representatives<br />

and Turlock city officials for the official ribbon cutting<br />

ceremony of the new outlet.<br />

“This is the first dual store in North America — a real milestone<br />

for us,” said Alan Quinn, director of SDLG North America.<br />

“This is a reliable, sound machine that will be a great product<br />

for the agricultural industry here. It is great for local farmers<br />

who want an affordable price.”<br />

According to SDLG, the entry into North America is the latest<br />

phase of the company’s ambitious international expansion<br />

program. The company has also recently been introduced into<br />

other areas of the global market, including Latin America, Russia,<br />

the Middle East and much of Asia.<br />

With the first SDLG North American store opening in Turlock,<br />

Mayor John Lazar expressed gratitude.<br />

“This is a great moment for the City of Turlock,” said Lazar.<br />

“We are tickled that this is the first store for North America, and<br />

it is a great honor to have you here.”<br />

Turlock Chamber of Commerce President Sharon Silva said<br />

that the Chamber is looking forward to developing a long-term<br />

relationship with the company.<br />

“This is an exciting time,” said Silva. “Having them here in Turlock<br />

is such a wonderful thing for our community, and we’re looking<br />

forward to a long, long relationship. It is through business that<br />

we are successful, and we will work hard to make you successful.<br />

Welcome not only to Turlock, but to the United States.”<br />

Representatives from both the Volvo Group and SDLG said<br />

that it had been a positive experience working with Turlock.<br />

“It couldn’t have been a better fit,” said Mike Matthews, president<br />

of Volvo Construction Equipment and Services. “Our experience<br />

with Turlock has been nothing but fantastic…This is<br />

the beginning of something special.”<br />

The dual outlet located at 1275 Venture Lane features SDLG<br />

products and a Volvo Construction Equipment and Services<br />

branch, providing retail sales, long-term rentals, large rentals<br />

and various parts and services.<br />

business news 8 winter 2014


Elections Recap<br />

lthough it was not a presidential<br />

election year, many Stanislaus<br />

County residents took to the<br />

polls this November to vote on<br />

matters affecting the<br />

local community directly.<br />

With two seats open for the Stanislaus<br />

County Board of Education in Areas 2<br />

and 5, the race came close as four hopeful<br />

candidates took on the campaign trail.<br />

Following Election Day, Turlock resident<br />

Alice Pollard was voted in to serve<br />

Joe Alamo<br />

New faces on school<br />

board; incumbents<br />

prevail in TID race<br />

BY CARA HALLAM<br />

as a governing board member for Area<br />

2, while Bob Vizzolini of Newman was<br />

elected to serve for Area 5.<br />

Pollard, who has served on the Turlock<br />

Planning Commission since 2011,<br />

recently retired from the Turlock Unified<br />

School District after serving 28 years in<br />

numerous positions, including as a government<br />

and economics teacher, secondary<br />

assistant principal, and principal of<br />

the Turlock Adult School.<br />

As a businessman and retired educator,<br />

Vizzolini has spent time<br />

with students as a business<br />

teacher and administrator<br />

at Orestimba High School<br />

in Newman and Patterson<br />

High School prior to taking<br />

a position with the Stanislaus<br />

County Office of Education<br />

overseeing charter<br />

schools.<br />

Turlock Unified School<br />

District also had two seats available during the<br />

November election, with two new faces joining<br />

the Board of Trustees. For Area 2, Deborah<br />

J. Martin took the seat of Tami Muniz, who was<br />

seeking re-election as her term expired. In Area<br />

Bob Vizzolini<br />

6, candidates Jennifer Carter<br />

and Joe Lewis campaigned for<br />

the seat left vacant by former<br />

trustee Josh Bernard, who did<br />

not seek re-election. After the<br />

votes had been counted, Carter<br />

came out victorious.<br />

As a retired public utility director, Martin had applied<br />

to fill the seat left vacant mid-term by Grady<br />

Welch, who resigned from his position in early July.<br />

While the Board of Trustees opted to appoint Turlock<br />

Education Foundation President Barney<br />

Gordon to fill Welch’s position, it did<br />

not keep Martin from running in the November<br />

election. Having lived in Turlock<br />

for the past three years, Martin is married<br />

to Stanislaus County Fair CEO Christ<br />

Borovansky and has said that her top priority<br />

is implementing Common Core Standards<br />

in the District.<br />

Carter, who serves as a human resources<br />

director for the Merced Irrigation<br />

District, grew up in Turlock completing<br />

her education at TUSD<br />

elementary schools and Turlock<br />

High School. Carter also received<br />

her bachelor’s degree in Turlock,<br />

having attended California State<br />

University, Stanislaus. During<br />

her campaign, Carter stressed<br />

the importance of implementing<br />

Common Core Standards and<br />

improving graduation rates and<br />

test scores within the District.<br />

Aside from education, the<br />

Nov. 5 election also brought a<br />

heated race for the Turlock Irrigation<br />

District as the seats of incumbents<br />

Ron Macedo and Joe<br />

Alamo were up for re-election.<br />

While both Macedo and Alamo<br />

were challenged by opponents<br />

Darrel Monroe and Daniel Agundez, respectively,<br />

the incumbents were re-elected to keep their seats<br />

for another four years. In late November, Macedo<br />

was appointed as President of the District while<br />

Alamo was appointed Vice President.<br />

Deborah Martin<br />

Jennifer Carter<br />

Alice Pollard<br />

Ron Macedo<br />

business news 9 winter 2014


Turlock Real Estate Market<br />

Beginning to Stabilize<br />

BY JIM THEIS<br />

PMZ Real Estate<br />

As the book closes on 2013,<br />

it appears that the market is<br />

becoming more balanced.<br />

From January to May the<br />

average price per square<br />

foot rose 30.3% and in the past six months<br />

values have actually declined 2.8% from<br />

the May peak of $142 per square foot. As<br />

price increases accelerated, buyers began<br />

to delay purchases, which is reflected in<br />

the available number of listings increasing<br />

from the April low of 50 available<br />

homes (0.9 months supply) to the current<br />

103 (2.3 months supply). The most<br />

significant change has been the reduction<br />

in the numbers of distressed properties.<br />

In 2012, 63.0% of all properties sold were<br />

either short sales or bank owned as compared<br />

to 31.7% this year and it appears<br />

that this downward trend will continue<br />

into 2014.<br />

The California Association of Realtors<br />

recently released its 2014 California<br />

Housing Market Forecast. CAR is forecasting<br />

2014 sales to be up 3.2% with<br />

median home price increasing 6.0% to<br />

$432,800, following a projected 28% increase<br />

in 2014. The numbers of distressed<br />

sales are expected to continue to decline<br />

to 20% from 33% in 2014. The average<br />

30-year fixed mortgage interest rates will<br />

rise to 5.3% next year, but will still remain<br />

at historically low levels.<br />

“The wildcards for 2014 include federal,<br />

fiscal, monetary and housing policies<br />

— such as the mortgage interest deduction<br />

and mortgage finance reform — as<br />

well as housing supply and the actions of<br />

the Federal Reserve, which will ensure a<br />

higher rate environment,” according to<br />

the CAR forecast.<br />

Finally, a bit of good news for California<br />

families who have lost their home in<br />

a short sale in 2014 — they are not subject<br />

to state income tax liability on the<br />

debt forgiveness of “phantom income”<br />

they never received in a short sale. The<br />

IRS recognized that the debt written off<br />

in a short sale does not constitute recourse<br />

debt under California law, and<br />

thus does not create so-called “cancellation<br />

of debt” income to the underwater<br />

home seller for federal income tax. Now<br />

with the California Franchise Tax Board<br />

clarification, California homeowners<br />

that completed short sales in 2014 are<br />

assured that they are not subject to both<br />

federal and state income tax liability for<br />

debt written off by lenders. If you are in<br />

this situation, be sure to check with your<br />

legal or tax professional for specifics on<br />

your individual circumstances.<br />

Best wishes for a prosperous New Year!<br />

Turlock Average Home Prices Per Square Foot<br />

150<br />

100<br />

108<br />

105<br />

102<br />

109<br />

112<br />

119<br />

125<br />

121<br />

142<br />

136 141 141<br />

146<br />

140 138<br />

50<br />

0<br />

9/12 10/12 11/12 12/12 1/13 2/13 3/13 4/13 5/13 6/13 7/13 8/13 9/13 10/13 11/13<br />

business news 10 winter 2014


Council votes for groundwater moratorium support,<br />

water rates study<br />

BY cara hallam<br />

In the final quarter of 2013, water was brought before the Turlock<br />

City Council on two occasions — in the form of a letter<br />

to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors in support of a<br />

moratorium on new agricultural production wells, and in regards<br />

to increasing water rates for city users.<br />

The council also appointed members to the new Mayor’s Economic<br />

Development Task Force.<br />

Meeting<br />

council agenda item<br />

amy bublak<br />

bill dehart<br />

john lazar<br />

steven nascimento<br />

forrest white<br />

1. 8/27/2013 One-year building lease agreement between City of Turlock<br />

and Turlock Gospel Mission<br />

2. 9/10/2013 Council appoints members to the Mayor’s Economic<br />

Development Task Force<br />

3. 10/22/2013 City Manager to write a letter to Stanislaus County<br />

Board of Supervisors requesting a moratorium on new<br />

agricultural production wells (<br />

4. 11/12/13 Capital Facilities Fees Program amended )<br />

5. 11/12/13 mOratorium prohibiting permits for mobile food facilities<br />

in downtown<br />

6. 11/12/13 pavement Management Program Update )<br />

7. 12/10/13 agreement with outside labor negotiator<br />

8. 12/10/13 renaming Centennial Park to “Centennial-Swanson Park”<br />

9. 12/10/13 fOrmalizing a City/County Liaison Committee<br />

10. 12/10/13 Consideration of increasing water rate<br />

Y y y y y<br />

Y y y y y<br />

Y y y y y<br />

Y y y y y<br />

Y y y y y<br />

Y y y y y<br />

N y y y y<br />

Y y y y y<br />

N y y y y<br />

Y y y y y<br />

City Council Voting Record Item Explanation<br />

1. One- year building lease agreement<br />

between City of Turlock and Turlock<br />

Gospel Mission — Turlock Gospel Mission<br />

representative Chris Kiriakou spoke<br />

in favor of the agreement while providing<br />

the Council with information regarding<br />

the organization’s steps toward<br />

the construction of their new homeless<br />

shelter facility set for 2014. Council discussed<br />

neighborhood concerns, loitering<br />

concerns, and requested updates from<br />

TGM every six months. The agreement<br />

was originally set for two years, however,<br />

Councilmember Bublak motioned for a<br />

one-year lease agreement for the Cityowned<br />

area and building located at 1030<br />

East Avenue (the Turlock Youth Center).<br />

The motion carried unanimously.<br />

2. Council appoints members to the<br />

Mayor’s Economic Development Task<br />

Force — City Council appointed 25 local<br />

community members to serve on the<br />

Mayor’s Economic Task Force, including:<br />

Sharon Silva as Chair, Mike Brem as Vice-<br />

Chair, Rich Borba, Michael Camara, Jeff<br />

Chapman, Matthew Davoodian, Jaskaran<br />

Dhesi, Eric Gonsalves, Julio Hallack,<br />

Benjamin Hector, Jennifer Helzer, Diana<br />

Lynn Kaysen, Yates McCallum, Richard<br />

Mowery, Jessie Orosco, Gil Perez, Jim<br />

Reape, Ram Saini, Jim Shade, Jan Tucker,<br />

Anokeen Varani, Chris Borovanski, Kris<br />

Klair, Lawrence Smith, and Ed Yonan.<br />

3. City Manager to write a letter to<br />

Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors<br />

requesting a moratorium on new agricultural<br />

production wells – City of Turlock<br />

requests the Stanislaus County Board of<br />

Supervisors to halt any new agricultural<br />

production wells while a stakeholder<br />

group is formed to consider developing<br />

groundwater pumping regulations as<br />

groundwater continues to be a diminishing<br />

resource. Over time, a significant<br />

“cone of depression” has developed<br />

east of Turlock where water levels have<br />

dropped approximately 100 feet in the<br />

past 40 years. Nitrate contamination is<br />

also increasing in northeast Turlock, with<br />

the quality of groundwater worsening. In<br />

continued on PAGE 23 <br />

business news 11 winter 2014


Mike Romeo<br />

reflects on<br />

his year as<br />

Chamber<br />

Chairman<br />

BY CARA HALLAM<br />

aving served as the Chairman of the Turlock Chamber of<br />

Commerce for the past year, Dr. Mike Romeo of Romeo<br />

Medical Clinic, hopes to see the Chamber continue a<br />

strong emphasis on health-related issues affecting the<br />

community.<br />

Although Dr. Romeo has been involved with the<br />

Chamber of Commerce for the past 13 years, he began<br />

his time serving on the board nearly five years ago. In 2013, Dr.<br />

Romeo was appointed as Chairman of the Chamber, bringing<br />

his expertise as a physician to help bring attention to health.<br />

“This past year we accomplished a lot,” said Dr. Romeo. “We<br />

brought healthcare to the forefront of our discussions, creating a<br />

wellness program called Healthy Turlock that would bring wellness<br />

programs on site to local businesses.”<br />

The program, which is expected to unroll in 2014, helps teach<br />

employees to live a healthy lifestyle while making the best medical<br />

and healthcare options.<br />

With MedicalAlert CEO and President Andrew Wigglesworth<br />

taking over as Chairman for 2014, Dr. Romeo says the transition<br />

is expected to go smoothly.<br />

“We’ve been working alongside MedicAlert with the Healthy<br />

Turlock program, so it is a perfect transition to have Andrew<br />

Wigglesworth serving as Chairman,” said Dr. Romeo.<br />

After moving to Turlock with his wife Diane and their children,<br />

Dr. Romeo established Romeo Medical Clinic where he<br />

has fulfilled his desire to run a medical practice that is dedicated<br />

to quality patient care, while working alongside his family. His<br />

brother, Dr. Joe Romeo, is the local head and neck surgeon while<br />

his sister, Dr. Lisa Romeo, works part-time at the practice.<br />

“I really believe that Turlock is a hidden gem in the Central Valley,”<br />

said Dr. Romeo. “There are great people here with a great<br />

foundation. We have wonderful leadership, with a council and<br />

mayor who have done a great job leading our City. We have Sharon<br />

Silva, who has done an amazing job with the Chamber of<br />

Commerce. Turlock just has layers of awesome.”<br />

With the success of landing the new Blue Diamond facility in<br />

2012, Dr. Romeo says that he hopes to see more economic development<br />

in Turlock’s near future.<br />

“I hope to see more business development,” said Dr. Romeo.<br />

“Blue Diamond was great, and so I’d like to see more jobs come<br />

to Turlock and boost the local economy.”<br />

While Dr. Romeo will not serve as Chair in 2014, he hopes to<br />

continue serving the board while offering his expertise to help<br />

benefit the Turlock community.<br />

“I’m proud to serve on the Chamber board,” said Dr. Romeo. “It<br />

is a great service board for a wonderful community.”<br />

New Members<br />

Ag Link, Inc<br />

Bay Area Coating Consultant Services, Inc.<br />

CTC American Express<br />

Digs<br />

Direct Security & Sounds, Inc.<br />

Gallery Finesse<br />

Liberty Private Security, Inc.<br />

Pageo Lavender Farm<br />

Richardson Allstate Insurance Company<br />

Seniors Helping Seniors<br />

Taste of Life Deli and Cafe<br />

Turlock Smiles Dentistry and Orthodontics<br />

UPS Store<br />

Volvo Construction Equipment & Services<br />

Wardens Office Products CTR<br />

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business news 12 winter 2014


Chamber<br />

holds<br />

Photo contributed<br />

Greenlaw “Fritz”<br />

Grupe, Jr., of The<br />

Grupe Company, was<br />

the keynote speaker<br />

at the Chamber’s<br />

economic trends<br />

breakfast.<br />

economic<br />

trends<br />

breakfast<br />

Recovery on its way;<br />

skilled workforce<br />

needed<br />

BY CARA HALLAM<br />

In the first ever Economic Trends Breakfast, the Turlock<br />

Chamber of Commerce joined together with business leaders<br />

and local officials to address the state of the regional<br />

economy and issues affecting local businesses.<br />

“Turlock is having a renaissance,” said Turlock Mayor John<br />

Lazar at the October event. “We’ve been able to recover a little<br />

differently than neighboring cities to the north and the south. I<br />

know I always say this, but Turlock really continues to be a gem<br />

in the Central Valley.”<br />

County Supervisor Vito Chiesa, who serves District 2 on the<br />

Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors,<br />

said that despite the previous downfall<br />

of the national economy, he believes<br />

things are beginning to turn around for<br />

the better.<br />

While a main topic throughout the<br />

event remained how to bring new businesses<br />

to the area, Chiesa stressed the<br />

importance of ensuring the region has a<br />

quality, trained workforce to attract new<br />

industries.<br />

“We have to make sure that we have a trained workforce,”<br />

said Chiesa. “We need to make sure that our folks are ready for<br />

the jobs that are available for them — that is important for government.<br />

We have a literacy program, as simple as that sounds,<br />

in our library system where we’re teaching people the basics of<br />

reading and writing. That is important because not all people<br />

are going to be college graduates, but they still need to be productive<br />

in the workforce.”<br />

The keynote speaker for the inaugural event, Greenlaw<br />

“Fritz” Grupe, Jr., brought a wealth of knowledge to the table<br />

as his company, The Grupe Company, has created 50 communities<br />

in six states over the past 45 years.<br />

During this time, the company has spearheaded development<br />

with over 50,000 for sale and rental housing units, 10,000 lots for<br />

other builders in master-planned communities, and over two million<br />

square feet of office, commercial and storage space. The company<br />

is currently buying foreclosed, single-family homes and retrofitting<br />

homes to help make them more energy efficient.<br />

Addressing topics such as housing, the United States GDP,<br />

unemployment rates, water policy, the growing middle class,<br />

and education, Grupe shared with the audience how he perceives<br />

the local economy and the Central Valley as continuing<br />

to improve.<br />

“There’s a growing middle class in the world,” said Grupe.<br />

“Right now, there are 1.8 billion people in the world considered<br />

middle class. Now, of course the ‘middle class’ varies from region<br />

to region. But when people leave the poverty level and into<br />

the middle class, they start eating better foods than they did<br />

before. And that bodes really well for the Central Valley. Not<br />

many other places in the world can produce what we can produce<br />

here. If that trend continues, and there are 5 billion middle<br />

class people in the world by 2030, can<br />

you imagine what that is going to mean<br />

for the Central Valley? It’s going to be<br />

‘Turlock is having<br />

a renaissance.’<br />

phenomenal. I think we’re in for some<br />

great times ahead.”<br />

Much like Chiesa, Grupe also stressed<br />

the importance of having a skilled workforce<br />

for job growth. Noting that 1 in 4<br />

public school students in the nation will<br />

drop out before finishing high school,<br />

Grupe adamantly pushed the value of<br />

education and its effects on business and the local economy.<br />

Grupe continues to work alongside his wife, educators and<br />

local community members to help improve literacy rates and<br />

school readiness for young students, and has helped reduce<br />

the dropout rate in his community in San Joaquin County by<br />

70 percent.<br />

“Just because you’re not an elected official, doesn’t mean you<br />

can’t help out,” said Grupe. “We can all help out. We have to deal<br />

with the failure to educate our workforce.”<br />

In addition to being a previous president of the Urban<br />

Land Institute, Grupe is the chairman and founder of the<br />

San Joaquin County <strong>Business</strong> Council, the Golden Gate and<br />

Northern California Chapters of the Young Presidents’ Organization,<br />

the Stockton Chamber of Commerce, the Stockton<br />

Board of Realtors and the Builders Hall of Fame.<br />

— Turlock Mayor John Lazar.<br />

business news 13 winter 2014


Drip,<br />

A14_CHAMBER<br />

Drip,<br />

Drip<br />

BY MICHAEL LYNCH<br />

Residents of Turlock have made exceptional progress<br />

in conserving water. Since the introduction<br />

of watering days and the use of water meters,<br />

Turlock residents have lowered their use of<br />

this resource. Unfortunately, however, the<br />

conservation, and the increased water costs undertaken<br />

by Turlock residents, does little to address<br />

the water crises facing our community.<br />

Turlock’s water comes from the Turlock<br />

groundwater sub basin consisting of most of<br />

the land between the Tuolumne River on<br />

the north, the San Joaquin on the west, the<br />

Merced river on the south and the Sierra<br />

Nevada’s to the east. This is the aquifer that<br />

supplies Turlock, the cities of Ceres, Hughson,<br />

and urban communities like Keyes,<br />

south Modesto, Denair and smaller domestic<br />

uses along with agricultural users with<br />

in TID, the Eastside water district and other<br />

agricultural users who are not in any irrigation<br />

district.<br />

And that’s the problem. Turlock city residents,<br />

and the residents of ALL the urban areas within the Turlock<br />

groundwater basin, account for just 10% of all the water<br />

that is pumped out of the basin. But the pumping is increasing<br />

at an alarming rate, and the water in the aquifer is declining<br />

precipitously.<br />

Turlock residents also receive none of the surface water made<br />

available by TID and Don Pedro, even though a substantial portion<br />

of the cost of that irrigation service is born by Turlock and<br />

Turlock’s<br />

conservation<br />

efforts are not<br />

nearly enough to<br />

stop the dangerous<br />

decrease in the<br />

aquifer water level.<br />

other urban area power users. Residents of the city of Modesto<br />

also provide revenue to offset the cost of irrigation services<br />

through MID, but MID makes surface water available for<br />

Modesto city use at the same low irrigator rates.<br />

Stanislaus County has established a groundwater advisory<br />

committee to develop a sustainability plan for<br />

the Turlock groundwater basin. Only the county<br />

has the authority to stop approval of even more<br />

pump permits, but some county leaders insist<br />

that even imposing a moratorium, which<br />

would stop the bleeding until we get a better<br />

handle on the issue, would not be prudent<br />

or fair.<br />

Unfortunately, the number of permits<br />

requested is growing daily. The demand<br />

on the groundwater is fueled not just by<br />

drought, but by the massive conversion of<br />

range land to heavy water uses like orchards.<br />

People are rushing to get permits for groundwater<br />

pumping in the hopes that any regulatory<br />

action taken by the county will be too late to apply<br />

to their particular case. Unfortunately, this delay<br />

in taking action only adds to the difficulty, and cost, of any<br />

eventual solution.<br />

Turlock’s conservation efforts are not nearly enough to stop<br />

the dangerous decrease in the aquifer water level. Other jurisdictions<br />

must act. Most importantly, the Turlock Irrigation District<br />

and the cities within the district must conclude the 25-year<br />

negotiation process and make Tuolumne River surface water<br />

available for our use as MID does for Modesto.<br />

business news 14 winter 2014


‘Twas a<br />

good season<br />

for holiday<br />

shopping<br />

BY CARA HALLAM<br />

CARA HALLAM / The Journal<br />

The Silk Garden owner Terry Newcomb compared the 2013<br />

holiday shopping season with pre-recession year sales.<br />

Non-medical in-home<br />

Non-medical in-home for Seniors services by Se<br />

We provide dependable, Non-medical in-home friendly services seniors to h<br />

We provide dependable, for friendly Seniors seniors by Seniors. to help with services<br />

like light like housekeeping, light We provide dependable, transportation, friendly transportation, seniors shopping to help with personal services shoppi care,<br />

like light housekeeping, transportation, and shopping more. personal care,<br />

companionship and more.<br />

Non-medical in-home services<br />

Like getting<br />

for Seniors<br />

a little<br />

by<br />

help<br />

Seniors.<br />

from your fri<br />

Like getting a little help from your friends ® .<br />

As the holidays near each season, business owners<br />

five or six. Both Black Friday and Small <strong>Business</strong> Saturday<br />

were huge days for us. We had a line wrapped<br />

both of mom-and-pop shops and million dollar<br />

companies begin preparing for the rush of shoppers<br />

around the corner of the sidewalk outside on Black<br />

looking to cross off their Christmas lists.<br />

Friday with people just waiting to get in to shop. We<br />

According to national statistics and many local business<br />

owners, this most recent holiday season was one to be<br />

really great this season.”<br />

thought we’d be hurting this year, but things have been<br />

proud of.<br />

Even though the average U.S. shopper spent 3.9 percent<br />

less on Black Friday than in 2012, the number of<br />

“It was really a fabulous season, I’m just over-the-top happy,”<br />

said The Silk Garden owner Terry Newcomb. “We had<br />

shoppers at stores and online rose 1.4 percent to 141<br />

happy customers and product flying out the door. The last<br />

million for a total spending of $57.4 billion, according<br />

three years have been excellent, with this year being the best.<br />

to a survey of more than 4,400 people by Prosper Insights<br />

and Analytics.<br />

I would say that our sales were on-par with, if not better,<br />

than prior 2008 levels, when things turned bad for retail.”<br />

According to the National Retail Federation, holiday<br />

sales saw a 3.9 percent increase in 2013. On Thanksgiving<br />

Day, approximately 45 million Americans took to<br />

their favorite stores for holiday shopping, up 10 million<br />

from the year prior.<br />

Although the average American shopper spent $407 over<br />

Thanksgiving weekend in 2013, nearly half — 49.9 percent<br />

— of holiday shoppers indicated in mid-December that<br />

Non-medical in-home services<br />

they would complete the remainder of their shopping online<br />

— the highest percentage over the past 11 years, accord-<br />

for Seniors by for Seniors.<br />

by Seniors.<br />

ing to Prosper Insights and Analytics.<br />

“It We comes as provide no surprise that dependable, Americans are eager to shop friendly seniors to help with services<br />

online in the coming weeks as busy schedules and a shift in<br />

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shipping offers and in-store events.”<br />

While millions of Americans turned to shopping online<br />

for their holiday gift needs, local brick-and-mortar<br />

stores still reported an increase ©2010 in customers Each office this past is independently owned and operated.<br />

holiday season.<br />

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©2010 ©2010 Each Each office is is independently owned and and operated. operated.<br />

All trademarks All trademarks are are registered trademarks of of Corporate Mutual Mutual Resources Resources Inc.<br />

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business news 15 winter 2014


Turlock Gospel Mission<br />

Cleans Up,<br />

Downtown That Is!BY CHRIS KIRIAKOU<br />

If you are in downtown Turlock and you see a three or four person crew<br />

in yellow or orange vests, it could be a Turlock Gospel Mission volunteer<br />

crew working on cleaning up the trash from the downtown area.<br />

Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning volunteer supervisor Roger<br />

Dooley organizes and transports a crew made up of TGM guests to the<br />

downtown area to help clean up trash and other debris.<br />

Dooley started volunteering at the Turlock Gospel Mission’s East Avenue<br />

day center about three months ago. A suggestion came in to start a community<br />

outreach project involving giving back to Turlock by helping clean<br />

up the downtown area. Dooley took on the task and organized a three to<br />

five person crew to cover Main Street from Palm to Lander, including the<br />

alleys. Several guests quickly volunteered to be on the crew. That started<br />

the community outreach, and from that point on Dooley has been supervising<br />

the three times a week cleanup.<br />

Guests are participating in the program for many reasons. One that<br />

stands out is their need to demonstrate that they care for the community.<br />

Many comment that they receive a sense of accomplishment and feel good<br />

about performing the service. A small lunch card at Jack in the Box is provided<br />

to each of the volunteers for their effort.<br />

Dooley said he appreciates the opportunity for fellowship with the guests<br />

and to help make Turlock a better place.<br />

“Interacting with TGM’s guests has been a real blessing to me and it has<br />

been a good experience,” he said.<br />

TGM’s vision is to provide opportunities to combine spiritual, personal<br />

and community resources to enable them to become productive members<br />

of society. The Turlock Gospel Mission receives no grants from local, state<br />

or federal agencies and is solely supported by the volunteers and donations<br />

from our community. Donations to TGM can be made online at www.turlockgospelmission.org<br />

or by mail or in person at the Turlock Gospel Mission,<br />

located at 1030 East Ave., P.O. Box 1231. For more information call<br />

TGM at 656-1033.<br />

Turlock Gospel<br />

Mission volunteer<br />

crews have been<br />

working to clean<br />

up Turlock’s<br />

downtown area.<br />

Photo contributed<br />

business news 16 winter 2014


Alliance<br />

names new CEO<br />

BY CARA HALLAM<br />

The Stanislaus Economic<br />

Development and Workforce<br />

Alliance has named<br />

David L. White as the new CEO<br />

for the regional business development<br />

organization.<br />

Following a nationwide search,<br />

the Alliance Board of Directors<br />

voted to officially welcome White to<br />

Stanislaus County.<br />

“One of the reasons we really liked<br />

Dave for this position was due to the<br />

incredible level of collaboration and<br />

communication we noticed at the<br />

Colorado Springs Regional <strong>Business</strong><br />

Alliance,” said Jeff Grover, chairman<br />

of the Board of Directors. “Seeing<br />

how the <strong>Business</strong> Alliance has created<br />

a cluster of industry strategy<br />

and engaged volunteers from those<br />

industries into the day to day business<br />

of economic development was<br />

one of the main reasons we wanted<br />

to hire Dave.”<br />

With over 25 years of experience<br />

in economic development, White is<br />

excited to start his new position as<br />

CEO with the Stanislaus Alliance.<br />

“Perception does not equal reality.<br />

I have visited several communities<br />

in the County so far, and I have<br />

been very impressed with what this<br />

area has to offer,” said White. “There<br />

is a sense of an All-American, down<br />

to earth feel here.”<br />

Since 2006, White has served as<br />

the Chief <strong>Business</strong> Development<br />

Officer for the Colorado Springs Regional<br />

<strong>Business</strong> Alliance. Although<br />

White has been recently serving in<br />

Colorado, his background comes<br />

from California, as he worked for<br />

the City of Riverside/Smart Riverside,<br />

offering his expertise in marketing<br />

and business attraction.<br />

Holding a Bachelor’s Degree in International<br />

Relations from Brigham<br />

Young University and a Masters<br />

Degree in Urban and Regional<br />

Planning from the University of<br />

Pittsburg, White has a vast amount<br />

of knowledge in areas affecting the<br />

Stanislaus region. He is also a husband<br />

and father of five children.<br />

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business news 17 winter 2014


M I X E R S<br />

Geiger’s<br />

Fine<br />

Jewelry<br />

November 19<br />

G<br />

Turlock<br />

Memorial<br />

Park<br />

October 15<br />

T<br />

Turlock Golf<br />

and Country Club<br />

December 5<br />

T<br />

ribbon c u t t i n g s<br />

Liberty Private Security<br />

November 6<br />

Seniors Helping Seniors<br />

November 21<br />

Volvo Construction Equipment<br />

and Services, October 24<br />

Volvo Rents<br />

November 6<br />

business news 18 winter 2014


New state-of-the-art<br />

cardiac operating suites<br />

come to Emanuel Medical Center<br />

Submitted by Emanuel Medical Center<br />

With two new state-of-the-art cardiac<br />

operating suites soon to open,<br />

Emanuel Medical Center has fulfilled<br />

a journey began in 2010 to<br />

bring comprehensive cardiac care to Turlock.<br />

The latest additions to the cardiac facilities<br />

at Emanuel are a dedicated cardiac operating<br />

suite with the latest lighting, sterilization and<br />

patient-monitoring equipment, and a hybrid<br />

suite that combines a cauterization and interventional<br />

lab and operating room. The latter<br />

is one of only a handful of similar hybrid operating<br />

suites in the region. The hybrid suite<br />

provides new treatment options for patients<br />

and doubles the hospital’s ability to treat emergency<br />

cardiac cases.<br />

The price tag for building and equipping the<br />

new operating suites topped $7.1 million.<br />

“Cancer care and cardiovascular services<br />

were for decades the two biggest unmet medical<br />

needs in Turlock, and I’m very proud to<br />

say that Emanuel Medical Center now has<br />

top-quality programs in both,” said Emanuel<br />

President and CEO John Sigsbury. “These new<br />

cardiac operating suites give patients in our<br />

community access to the very best technology<br />

available, and life-saving treatments right here<br />

in Turlock.”<br />

In early January, the suites were dedicated<br />

as the Justin Ferrari Cardiovascular Operating<br />

Suites in memory of Turlock native Justin<br />

Ferrari. Ferrari, a tireless advocate for the environment,<br />

was raised in Turlock. He played<br />

water polo at Turlock High School before beginning<br />

his career as a software engineer in<br />

Seattle. His parents, John and Jeani Ferrari of<br />

Turlock, were major donors to the campaign<br />

that helped make the new operating suites<br />

possible.<br />

Emanuel launched cardiac care in the spring of 2010 with the opening of<br />

its Cardiac Cath and Interventional Lab, a high-tech imaging and treatment<br />

facility where doctors perform complex catheterization procedures through<br />

a patient’s arteries to diagnose and treat heart conditions and other maladies.<br />

The technological heart of the cath lab is a large C-shaped fluoroscope that<br />

uses advanced imaging technology to allow doctors to see X-ray movies inside<br />

their patients and a multi-axis tilting table to help them guide the catheters<br />

that open blocked arteries, install stents in narrow arteries and perform<br />

a variety of other interventional procedures.<br />

The opening of the Cardiac Cath and Interventional Lab enabled Emanuel<br />

to become a heart-attack receiving center and accredited chest pain center,<br />

treating emergency patients with heart attack symptoms within minutes of<br />

their arrival in the emergency room. Also, in 2011, Emanuel renovated one<br />

of its existing operating rooms, adding the special medical gasses and equipment<br />

necessary to convert it to a cardiac operating room. The first openheart<br />

surgery in Turlock happened that spring, and surgeons have performed<br />

dozens of heart bypass operations and valve repairs since then.<br />

But there was still a need for more.<br />

“We’ve been planning the hybrid operating suite from the beginning because<br />

we knew that once you have one cath lab, you need a second,” Sigsbury<br />

said. “This community is big enough that we know we can’t count on heart attacks<br />

happening one at a time. You need a second option that doesn’t require<br />

diverting ambulances to other cities.”<br />

Diversion is necessary whenever the cath lab is occupied for time-consuming<br />

or complex procedures. According to Randy Jenks, Emanuel’s director of<br />

cardiovascular services, Emanuel goes on diversion an average of 19 times<br />

a month, but with the new hybrid operating suite the need to divert will be<br />

drastically decreased.<br />

“We also need the hybrid operating suite to be able to schedule a full slate<br />

of outpatient procedures and still have the Cardiac Cath and Interventional<br />

Lab available for inpatients,” Jenks said. “The biggest benefit to the new suite<br />

is treating high-risk patients.” continued on next page<br />

business news 19 winter 2014


Best of Both<br />

Because the hybrid suite is a fully equipped cardiac operating<br />

room, albeit one with the fluoroscope and tilting table of a<br />

cath and interventional lab, it’s fully sterile and has anesthesia<br />

available. For patients with aortic aneurysms – weak spots in<br />

the main artery leaving the heart — treatment in an operating<br />

room is critical.<br />

“Those cases require surgical access to begin with, rather<br />

than just going through the artery in the groin,” Jenks said.<br />

“And if the aneurysm ruptures, it requires immediate surgical<br />

intervention.”<br />

The hybrid operating suite will also be a blessing for patients<br />

having spinal compression fractures treated with vertebroplasty<br />

– a procedure that injects bone cement into a patient’s<br />

damaged spinal disks. Because it’s a rather painful procedure,<br />

patients can now have it done under anesthesia in the hybrid<br />

operating suite.<br />

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“The floors are poured-in-place,” he said. “There are no<br />

seams, so it’s more sterile and longer lasting.”<br />

Display monitors and other equipment is suspended from<br />

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business news 20 winter 2014


What Do You ay<br />

We Print ome Money,<br />

It Might Help!<br />

(or How Does Quantitative Easing Work?)<br />

BY CHRIS KIRIAKOU<br />

Recently the press and business leaders have been discussing<br />

the Federal Reserve’s use of “Quantitative Easing<br />

(QE)” to stimulate the economy. Ignoring whether<br />

or not QE actually stimulates the economy, just how is it supposed<br />

to work? Investopedia defines QE as: An unconventional<br />

monetary policy in which a central bank purchases government<br />

securities or other securities from the market in order to lower<br />

interest rates and increase the money supply. Quantitative easing<br />

increases the money supply by flooding financial institutions with<br />

capital in an effort to promote increased lending and liquidity.<br />

What is the Federal Reserve?<br />

First off this is a very simplified summary of how the Federal<br />

Reserve is structured and operates. The Federal Reserve was<br />

created in 1913 for the purpose of studying and implementing<br />

monetary policy. It is headed by a seven person, President<br />

appointed Board of Governors. There are 12 regional Federal<br />

Reserve Banks that perform the bulk of the operating requirements<br />

and are located in major Cities. They are referred to as<br />

the “banker’s bank” and ours is located in San Francisco. All<br />

national banks like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan<br />

Chase and Citi Group and some state chartered local banks<br />

(like Oak Valley Community Bank) are members of the Federal<br />

Reserve and are regulated by them.<br />

How does QE work?<br />

When the Board of Governors decides that they need to<br />

stimulate the economy they can do it by various means. The<br />

three that are used today have to do with interest rates, bank<br />

reserves — money that is held by the banks in the event of<br />

a major financial event — and through the purchase of US<br />

Government Treasury Bills and Mortgage Backed Securities.<br />

Mortgage Backed Securities are investments, somewhat similar<br />

to stocks, bonds or mutual funds. Their value is secured,<br />

or backed, by the value of an underlying bundle of mortgages.<br />

(http://useconomy.about.com) The Federal Reserve can make<br />

money available to member banks at low interest rates as part<br />

of their regular banking activities through the Federal Funds<br />

Rate. QE comes in the form of reducing the reserve cash level<br />

required of member banks by issuing them credit and thereby<br />

causing the bank to make freed up cash available for loans.<br />

Secondly, they can purchase US Treasuries, which the banks<br />

hold, and they can purchase MBSs also held by the banks,<br />

again freeing up more cash at the bank making more money<br />

available to loan.<br />

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Ok, so where does the money for loans to banks, credit, purchasing<br />

Treasuries and MBSs come from? The Federal Reserve,<br />

in a sense creates it through its regulation and by electronically<br />

adding credit to its bank account. Although the Fed does not<br />

print bank notes, this is how the Federal Reserve is commonly<br />

said to be printing money.<br />

So is it working?<br />

It depends on what you’re looking at. If you’re focused on the<br />

stock market with the market averages at or near all time highs<br />

you would say that it is. If you’re unemployed with the October<br />

National unemployment rate at 7.2% and California unemployment<br />

rate at 8.7% (Bureau of Labor Statistics) you might feel<br />

otherwise. If you’re looking at the amount of assets held by the<br />

Federal Reserve at $3.7 trillion with $1.4 Trillion in MBSs (Dec<br />

12, 2013 Federal Reserve Statistical Release) you might recall the<br />

2008 financial crisis stemming from toxic MBSs. If you’re looking<br />

at the amount of US debt at $17.2 trillion (Dec 15, 2013 US<br />

Debt Clock) and growing you might wonder who is holding all<br />

this debt and who is going to pay for it.<br />

One thing for sure it isn’t the good old days and only time will<br />

tell if “printing money” makes a difference in our economy.<br />

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business news 21 winter 2014


New Common Core education standards<br />

will help future business leaders<br />

BY CARA HALLAM<br />

With the Turlock Unified School District joining many<br />

schools across the nation in adopting the Common<br />

Core Standards, many parents, teachers and school<br />

administrators have high hopes that the new curriculum will<br />

lead to more effective business leaders in the future.<br />

Providing a consistent, clear understanding of what students<br />

are expected to learn, the Common Core Standards<br />

were designed to be relevant to the real world — reflecting the<br />

knowledge and skills that students need for success in college<br />

and future careers.<br />

“The intent of the new Common Core State Standards is<br />

to prepare all students to be college and career ready upon<br />

graduating from high school,” said Dana Trevethan, assistant<br />

superintendent of educational services at TUSD. “TUSD’s<br />

transition to Common Core has been looked upon favorably<br />

because in essence, it will allow teachers to collaboratively<br />

develop rich, authentic lessons aligned to standards that are<br />

scaffold throughout the grade levels — recognizing that lessons<br />

are no longer ‘sprints’, aligned to pacing calendars, but<br />

rather ‘marathons’ designed to build stamina in students’<br />

learning, discovery and application.”<br />

According to Trevethan, the skills and knowledge that students<br />

should acquire within their K-12 education include<br />

college and work expectations; clear, understandable, and<br />

consistent standards for each grade level; rigorous content<br />

and application of knowledge through high-order skills; and<br />

building upon strengths and lessons of current state standards,<br />

which are informed by other top performing countries so that<br />

all students are prepared to succeed in the global economy as<br />

all the standards are evidence and research based.<br />

As the school district begins its implementation of the<br />

Common Core Standards, the District is looking to create<br />

partnerships with local businesses to help build career skills<br />

for Turlock students.<br />

“TUSD will continue to build new partnerships with local<br />

business, as well as foster those that currently exist, in<br />

an effort to provide extended venues and opportunities for<br />

students to apply skills they are developing within their core<br />

and elective coursework,” said Trevethan. “The majority of current<br />

Career and Technical Education courses that fall under the<br />

Regional Occupational Program maintain advisory boards that<br />

create opportunities for TUSD students to engage in real-world<br />

application within a variety of businesses and industries in and<br />

surrounding Turlock.”<br />

According to the National Governors Association Center for<br />

Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers,<br />

teachers, parents and community leaders from across the nation<br />

were utilized in helping create the Common Core State Standards<br />

and the goals for each grade level to help allow teachers to be better<br />

equipped in knowing exactly what they need to help students<br />

learn and establish individualized benchmarks for them.<br />

“The new standards are significantly more rigorous and spiral<br />

academic skills and expectations from the time students begin<br />

their education in kindergarten until they graduate from high<br />

school,” said TUSD Superintendent Dr. Sonny Da Marto. “Student<br />

mastery of the Common Core Standards will include the<br />

demonstration of knowledge, skill development and practical application<br />

and problem-solving, both independently and collaboratively<br />

with their peers.”<br />

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business news 22 winter 2014


Unlike previous state standards — which were unique<br />

to each state in the nation — the Common Core State<br />

Standards enable collaboration between states on a range<br />

of tools and policies — helping ensure that students receive<br />

a quality education while meeting their individualized<br />

benchmarks whether they move to a different school<br />

or state. Each state throughout the nation have the option<br />

to voluntarily adopt the Common Core State Standards,<br />

which focus on the development and implementation of<br />

common comprehensive assessment systems to measure<br />

student performance annually while replacing existing<br />

state testing systems.<br />

“Like California, TUSD immediately recognized that<br />

Common Core would increase expectations and rigor for<br />

all students in Turlock as did the other<br />

45 states that jumped on board,”<br />

said Trevethan. “These new standards<br />

are more clear and concise and<br />

ensure all stakeholders have a ‘common’<br />

understanding of the expectations<br />

of students in reading, writing,<br />

speaking and listening, language and<br />

mathematics. As stated in TUSD’s<br />

Strategic Plan, ‘Greater expectations<br />

yield greater results,’ and we predict<br />

increased achievement and performance<br />

of our stands and we prepare<br />

them to compete nationally.”<br />

“The new standards are significantly more rigorous and spiral academic<br />

skills and expectations from the time students begin their education in<br />

kindergarten until they graduate from high school.”<br />

City Council Voting Record Item Explanation<br />

Continued fROM PAGE 11<br />

late October, the County Board of Supervisors opted to set new<br />

groundwater pumping regulations, prohibiting the mining and<br />

exportation of groundwater with few exceptions.<br />

4. Capital Facilities Fees Program amended — The City’s<br />

Capital Facilities Fees Program, which had not been updated<br />

since 1996, was amended to help provide funding for capital<br />

improvements that are required to implement the new General<br />

Plan adopted in 2012. The updated development impact fees,<br />

collected citywide to help mitigate impacts of the City’s growth,<br />

is one of the primary sources for transportation funding. Other<br />

uses include general government facilities, general plan implementation<br />

studies and facilities and equipment for both police<br />

and fire services.<br />

5. Moratorium prohibiting permits for mobile food facilities<br />

in downtown — Following a request from the Turlock Downtown<br />

Property Owners Association, who do not wish to have<br />

food trucks in the downtown core on Main Street, the City issued<br />

a moratorium halting the issuance of mobile food facility<br />

permits for the downtown district until the City can properly<br />

amend the current city regulations on such permits in the area.<br />

The City is expected to make the final amendments, banning<br />

food trucks in the downtown core, by Spring 2014.<br />

6. Pavement Management Program Update — After a citywide<br />

pavement study was conducted by the Stanislaus County Council<br />

of Governments — the county’s regional transportation planning<br />

agency — the City Council found that Turlock’s roads are “atrisk”<br />

and deemed “second-worst in the county.” With the study<br />

giving Turlock’s roadways a rating of 67 out of 100, members of<br />

StanCOG and the Council shared that a half-cent sales tax could<br />

help the City’s road conditions drastically in the future.<br />

7. Agreement with Outside Labor Negotiator — With one<br />

vote of opposition from Councilmember Amy Bublak, the City<br />

opted to enter an agreement with outside labor negotiator Dave<br />

Young to reach contract agreements with employee groups, including<br />

the Turlock Fire Fighters Association, the Turlock Management<br />

Association Public Safety, the Turlock City Employees<br />

Association the Turlock Confidential Employees, the Turlock<br />

Management Employees and the Turlock Associated Police Officers.<br />

Due to current economic conditions, all employees have<br />

participated in budget reductions by giving concessions on<br />

salaries and benefits in the past fiscal years. Using an outside<br />

negotiator for Fiscal Year 2014/15, according to the City, will<br />

allow negotiations to continue to proceed more expeditiously<br />

and with minimal disruption between City Management and<br />

employee groups.<br />

8. Renaming Centennial Park to “Centennial-Swanson Park”<br />

— After receiving a generous donation of $35,000 from the<br />

Swanson family, owners of Pet Extreme and several other Turlock<br />

businesses, the City agreed to accept the donation to build<br />

a dog park at Centennial Park while renaming the City-owned<br />

facility to “Centennial-Swanson Park” to commemorate the<br />

family’s contributions to the City.<br />

9. Formalizing a City/County Liaison Committee — Comprised<br />

of two members of the City Council — Mayor John Lazar<br />

and Councilmember Forrest White — the newly formed<br />

City/County Liaison Committee will meet regularly with two<br />

members of the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, City<br />

Manager Roy Wasden and Stanislaus County CEO Stan Risen<br />

to focus on infrastructure needs, streets and roadways, water<br />

and sewer issues, economic development and other issues affecting<br />

both Turlock and the County.<br />

10. Consideration of Increasing Water Rates — Although an<br />

official decision has not been made by the Council yet, Council<br />

votes to hold a hearing date on March 25, 2014 to consider increasing<br />

City water rates that is said to include six rate increases<br />

over the span of five fiscal years.<br />

business news 23 winter 2014

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