Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "financial"

Vina details financial recovery plans

2011-01-26T03:18:49Z

Addressing an estimated $35 million-$40 million budget gap for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, Interim City Manager Gus Vina hosted a special workshop on economic recovery for the City Council.

He presented a variety of plans to bring in more revenue, including enhancing the city’s parks with tourist attractions, providing incentives to businesses and creating a mix of opportunities in the city’s job market.

Vina urged City Council members to move quickly on the economic recovery plan so the city can begin to see results.

“I don’t expect the benefits in 2012 and 2013 to be huge, but it will be a good beginning,” he said.

He told council members that unemployment in 2011 is expected to remain between 11.5 and 13.5 percent. Vina said he wants to apply incentives toward small and medium-sized businesses, which make up 96 percent of the employers in the Sacramento region.

“We need to focus on small, medium businesses (and) what we can do for them,” Vina said. These businesses have 500 or fewer employees, he added.

Vina also said the city needs to broaden its employment market, a point that Mayor Kevin Johnson often makes at his press conferences. The city can’t rely overly on its government workers to keep the local economy working, Vina said.

He said he wants to focus on the sectors of green and clean technology, heath and medicine, higher education and agriculture.

“You need to diversify to avoid risk,” Vina said.

Another idea discussed at the workshop is to upgrade regional parks so they draw more visitors. To beckon tourists, the city could explore adding attractions such as museums, aquariums and centers for competitive sports, said Jim Combs, the city’s Parks and Recreation director.

Councilwoman Bonnie Pannell said the city could create skate tournaments as an attraction.

Combs also presented the idea of hiring youth part-time and paying them minimum wage to help maintain city parks.

Combs acknowledged that the department will likely face layoffs as part of budget cuts. “We probably will lose some of our workforce,” he said.

Public hearings on the city budget will begin on Feb. 1.

Vina has taken the lead on the economic recovery plan. The City Council voted Tuesday night in a private meeting not to promote Vina to the permanent city manager position. In a 5-4 vote, council members decided to hold a national search for a new city manager. The council members who voted to conduct the search and not promote Vina were Sandy Sheedy, Rob Fong, Bonnie Pannell, Darrell Fong and Kevin McCarty.

It’s unclear at this point how the City Council’s decision not to promote Vina will affect the economic recovery plan.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Sacramento Office Market Favoring Tenants

2009-10-14T21:35:30Z

Sacramento's office space market will continue to favor tenants as vacancy rates increase and businesses consolidate existing office space. That combination is allowing prospective tenants to negotiate deals that may not have been possible before the economic downturn.

According to Reid Boggiano of Sacramento Tenant Advisors, companies looking for class B or C office space will be able to get deals and allowances that weren't possible during the economic boom.

"It hasn’t been this much of a tenant’s market in Sacramento for a good many years," said Boggiano. "Right now we are negotiating rent reductions and generous tenant improvement allowances that we wouldn't have imagined only a few years ago."

Even businesses that aren't looking to expand might be able to save money by renegotiating an existing lease. Companies that leased space when rates were at their peak, can cut their costs by up to $0.15- $0.25 per square foot depending on their requirements and landlord's willingness to deal. It is generally cheaper for building owners to keep existing tenants so many landlords will be receptive to negotiating new deals.

Below is a list of major submarkets in Sacramento with asking rates for office space. These prices do not necessarily represent the lowest rate in each market, rather they show the general asking rates for their respective markets and may be higher or lower depending on your company's requirements.

Arden
Starting Rates: $1.20/Sqft/Month NNN
Class A Starting Rates: $1.85/Sqft/Month Full Service

Auburn
Starting Rates: $1.00/Sqft/Month Modified Gross
Class A Starting Rates: $1.83/Sqft/ Month Full Service

Cal Expo - Point West
Starting Rates: $1.20/Sqft/Month NNN
Class A Starting Rates: $1.90/Sqft/ Month Full Service

Carmichael
Starting Rates: $1.20/Sqft/Month Modified Gross
Class A Starting Rates: $1.80/Sqft/ Month Full Service

Davis Office Space
Starting Rates: $1.30/Sqft/Month Modified Gross
Class A Starting Rates: $1.90/Sqft/ Month Full Service

Del Paso Office Space
Starting Rates: $1.25/Sqft/Month Modified Gross
Class A Starting Rates: $1.80/Sqft/ Month Full Service

Downtown
Starting Rates: $1.25/Sqft/Month Modified Gross
Class A Starting Rates: $1.87/Sqft/ Month Full Service

East Sacramento
Starting Rates: $1.20/Sqft/Month Modified Gross
Class A Starting Rates: $1.90/Sqft/ Month Full Service

El Dorado Hills
Starting Rates: $1.10/Sqft/Month NNN
Class A Starting Rates: $1.87/Sqft/ Month Full Service

Elk Grove
Starting Rates: $1.20/Sqft/Month NNN
Class A Starting Rates: $1.90/Sqft/ Month Full Service

Fair Oaks
Starting Rates: $1.15/Sqft/Month NNN
Class A Starting Rates: $1.80/Sqft/ Month Full Service

Fairfield
Starting Rates: $1.35/Sqft/Month Full Service
Class A Starting Rates: $1.90/Sqft/ Month Full Service
Folsom
Starting Rates: $1.30/Sqft/Month Modified Gross
Class A Starting Rates: $1.90/Sqft/ Month Full Service

Fulton
Starting Rates: $1.20/Sqft/Month Modified Gross

Howe
Starting Rates: $1.30/Sqft/Month Modified Gross
Class A Starting low as $1.80/Sqft/ Month Full Service

Laguna
Starting Rates: $1.20/Sqft/Month NNN
Class A Starting Rates: $1.85/Sqft/ Month Full Service

McClellan
Starting Rates: $1.00/Sqft/Month NNN

Midtown
Starting Rates: $1.25/Sqft/Month Modified Gross
Class A Starting Rates: $1.80/Sqft/ Month Full Service

North Natomas
Starting Rates: $1.30/Sqft/Month Modified Gross
Class A Starting Rates: $1.80/Sqft/ Month Full Service

Placerville
Starting Rates: $1.15/Sqft/Month NNN

Rancho Cordova
Starting Rates: $1.15/Sqft/Month NNN
Class A Starting Rates: $1.75 Sqft/ Month Full Service

Rocklin
Starting Rates: $1.30/Sqft/Month Modified Gross
Class A Starting Rates: $1.90/Sqft/ Month Full Service

Roseville
Starting Rates: $1.25/Sqft/Month Modified Gross
Class A Starting Rates: $1.85/Sqft/ Month Full Service

South Natomas
Starting Rates: $1.40/Sqft/Month Modified Gross
Class A Starting Rates: $1.75/Sqft/ Month Full Service

South Sacramento
Starting Rates: $1.10/Sqft/Month NNN

Vacaville
Starting Rates: $1.25/Sqft/Month NNN
Class A Starting Rates: $1.85/Sqft/ Month Full Service

West Sacramento
Starting Rates: $1.10/Sqft/Month NNN
Class A Starting Rates: $1.80/Sqft/ Month Full Service

Woodland
Starting Rates: $1.00/Sqft/Month NNN
Class A Starting Rates: $1.80/Sqft/ Month Full Service

Yuba City
Starting Rates: $1.20/Sqft/Month NNN
Class A Starting Rates: $1.75/Sqft/Month Full Service

Dancers stepped away from financial disaster

2009-07-13T18:12:39Z

"The 2009-10 season is a dream come true," said dancer Alexandra Cunningham.

A financial crisis in the 2008-09 season has given the 24 dancers a new perspective on their dancing career. Relocating from the 2,398-seat Community Center Theater to the studio with only two rows of seats was perhaps the biggest eye-opener.

For the in-studio shows, only the bare minimum -- chairs, curtains and lights -- separated the dancers from the audience. Both the community and the dancers loved it.

"Performing to sold-out audiences in our studios was exhilarating!" Cunningham said. "I felt that I could share so much more with audience members because I could see their every reaction."

Cunningham praised the entire organization -- staff, dancers, the board of directors -- who all worked to keep the ballet afloat. The community responded with great enthusiasm, she added.

More than 50 businesses became "Ballet Businesses" by donating goods for a silent auction, a space to perform in or donating part of their income. The dancing troupe also created a website, saveoursacballet.org, to give the community a better idea of who the dancers are and inform them about performances.

During Second Saturday Art Walks, they became living sculptures at various art galleries.

When all was said and done, they performed a record number of more than 40 shows, including more than 50 pieces at five different venues.

"It was exciting for us, and therefore translated into our bodies as a new, raw and fearlessness energy," Cunningham added. "I think as dancers we learned a lot from the experience, and overall I feel that we all became stronger because of it."

Administrators of saveoursacballet.org shut down the site, but will reopen it as sacballetdancers.com. The new site will feature information on the dancers' lives, backgrounds and interests.

Recession Proof Your Business

2009-03-11T22:55:13Z

Are you a small business owner or a direct sales representative unable to meet your revenue goals? Are you scared that you won’t have enough money to pay your bills tomorrow? Are you one of the unfortunate thousands who just lost their jobs and fear for their financial future? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, then get ready to free your fear and take control of your financial future by attending the free workshop “Managing Your Money” being held March 16th, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in Sacramento or on March 19th, 9:00am – 11:00am in Elk Grove.

Hosted by Barbara Thompson, certified financial stress reduction coach, the workshop focuses on stress reduction based on the principle that you can’t get to where you want to go until you are willing to tell the truth about where you are. “We get brutally honest in my financial stress reduction workshop – there is laughter and tears as people open up and get real about their finances,” said Thompson. “The workshop is designed for people to get in control of their personal and business finances by following a proven plan of action in eight short weeks.”

In this interactive workshop you will learn to:

• Earn More
• Spend Less
• Get Creative

Barbara teaches powerful tools that help shift your attitudes and actions so that money becomes a source of joy and pleasure. By following her simple steps, participants gain peace of mind regarding their finances which in turn empowers them to earn more money.

“At the end of the workshop, each participant will have balance and control of their money or I refund the workshop cost back,” said Thompson. “I really enjoy working with people with financial stress because I help change their lives; it is a very rewarding journey we take together.”

Online registration has opened on the Self Worth Net Worth website. Please sign up by “clicking here.” If you have any questions on the workshop, please send an e-mail to Barbara@SelfWorthNetWorth.com.

About Barbara Thompson
Barbara Thompson is a certified Financial Stress Reduction Coach serving the Sacramento Area. She personally struggled with her own finances until she herself took Chellie Anderson’s Financial Stress Reduction Workshop and later became a certified trainer as she believed in the process and its proven results. Self Worth Net Worth offers financial workshops and one-on-one coaching. For more information, visit http://www.selfworthnetworth.com/