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Community Interest
Port of Redwood
City Reports Third
Highest Tonnage in
Modern History
Maritime business for the fiscal
year that ended June 30 at the
Port of Redwood City was the
third highest in modern history
at 1,487,064 metric tons, up four
percent from last year. The increase
follows two years of declining
tonnage due to the slump in demand
for building materials.
Port Operations Manager
Don Snaman reported to port
commissioners that the overall
tonnage increase was despite a
significant decrease in imported
cement tonnage from the prior
fiscal year by 205,885 metric tons.
The drop-off was offset by large
increases in imported sand and
aggregates, a combined 424,000
metric ton increase over last year.
This ranks sand and aggregates,
imported from British Columbia,
as the port’s largest volume
commodity at 39 percent of total
tonnage. It is followed by ferrous
scrap metal exports at 22 percent.
Gypsum imports from Mexico
were 211,118 metric tons for FY
06–07, a 23.8 percent decrease.
Pabco Gypsum Company uses the
gypsum to manufacture wallboard
in Newark for the building industry,
and as for cement, the decrease
reflects the decline in the demand
for building materials. Cemex
imported 59,800 metric tons of
cement from Asia during the
fiscal year, a 77 percent decrease
over the previous year and down
dramatically from two years ago,
which was a record 602,000 tons.
Yet other building materials were
up significantly. Imported sand was
up 177 percent to 318,532 metric
tons, bauxite was up 18 percent to
81,888 metric tons and aggregates
were up 423 percent to 272,112
metric tons.
SimsMetal exported 332,595
metric tons of scrap metal to the Far
East during the fiscal year, an 8.2
percent decrease over the prior year.
The scrap metal includes thousands
of abandoned cars that in days gone
by were stored in junkyards or
discarded in local landfills. Fiscal
year 2008 saw 115 ships and barges
call upon the port.
www.SpectrumMagazine.net
Peter B. Diaz, CPA,
Receives 2008 Best
of Redwood City
Award
Peter B. Diaz, CPA, has been
selected for the 2008 Best of
Redwood City award in the Tax
Return Preparation & Filing
category by the U.S. Local Business
Association (USLBA).
The USLBA “Best of Local
Business” award program
recognizes outstanding local
businesses throughout the country.
Each year, the USLBA identifies
companies that they believe have
achieved exceptional marketing
success in their local community
and business category. These are
local companies that enhance the
positive image of small business
through service to their customers
and community.
Various sources of information
were gathered and analyzed to
choose the winners in each category.
The 2008 USLBA award program
focused on quality, not quantity.
Winners are determined based
on the information gathered both
internally by the USLBA and data
provided by third parties.
The purpose of USLBA is to
promote local business through
public relations, marketing and
advertising. The USLBA was
established to recognize the best of
local businesses in their community.
The organization works exclusively
with local business owners, trade
groups, professional associations,
chambers of commerce and other
business advertising and marketing
groups. Their mission is to be an
advocate for small and medium
size businesses and business
entrepreneurs across America.
Dodge Named
Port’s Chairman for
Ninth Time in 28
Years
Dick Dodge, one of the longest
serving port commissioners
in American history, has been
elected chairman of the Board
of Commissioners for the Port of
Redwood City for the ninth time.
Dodge is in his 28th year as a
commissioner and his current fiveyear
term expires in August 2010,
when he will be in his 30th year.
He is past president of the
Pacific Coast Association of Port
Authorities and has served on the
board of directors and as a regional
representative. He also is a member
of the San Francisco Bay Area
Water Transit Authority Technical
Advisory Council.
In his professional life, Dodge is
president of Redwood City–based
T.H.E. Office City, which he has
grown over the past 30 years from
a one-employee operation to one of
the three largest independent office
product dealers in Northern California.
Dodge earned a degree in
business administration (marketing)
from University of Southern
California. He and his wife of 43
years, Ginny, have three married
daughters and seven grandchildren.
Prior to joining the office
products industry, he was the
western regional manager of
Airborne Express. He oversaw
the company’s marketing and
operations efforts for an area
extending from Alaska to San
Diego and from Denver to Hawaii.
Meet BABI
Peninsula 2008
“Empowered
Parents, Healthy
Families”
Sept. 27, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Downtown Redwood City Public
Library, 1044 Middlefield Road
Library phone number 650-780-7018
Free to public
About BABI: Bay Area Birth
Information (BABI) promotes
awareness of evidence-based care
and options in order to reduce
unnecessary birth interventions,
improve breastfeeding success
rates and preserve healthy mother/
baby/family attachments. BABI is
a 501(c)3, tax-exempt organization
with chapters on the San Francisco
Peninsula and in the South Bay region.
Please join us for an open house
connecting parents with birth and
parenting professionals, services and
information, covering pre-conception,
pregnancy, birth and parenting.
Connect with products and
services that provide you with factbased
options during pregnancy,
birth and postpartum. Meet with
acupuncturists, chiropractors,
childbirth educators, doulas,
midwives, massage therapists
and others. Learn about healthy
pregnancy, birth and parenting
practices, caring for your newborn,
infant massage, wearing a sling,
soothing your baby, healthy
nutrition, going green for baby, how
to take care of you and much more!
Bring the whole family and
join us for door prizes, personal
consultations, kids’ activities,
refreshments, demonstrations and more.
For more information, contact
Sandy Caldwell at 650-261-9008 or
caldwell.sandy@gmail.com. Online
application available at www.
bayareabirthinfo.org.
Sequoia Counseling
Services
Informational Fair
Saturday, Sept. 27, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
165 Arch St., Redwood City
Life is stressful and sometimes
we don’t know where to go to get
the help we need when we need it
most. Sequoia Counseling Services
is sponsoring a free, no-obligation
community service fair designed
to introduce the many forms of
therapy and their usefulness for
various issues. Twenty-minute
demonstrations and presentations
will be held throughout the day in
seven therapy rooms.
For more information, call 650-
363-0383. Visit sequoiacounseling.
com for a detailed schedule.
Peninsula Hills Women’s Club
Multi-family Garage Sale
1686 Carleton Court, Redwood City
September 6th
9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.