Comstock's Magazine

May 2011 Last month we asked whether you use an iPad or other tablet, or if you’re considering a purchase. Has it met your expectations, or do you find its features lacking?
Said one reader: “I have one, [and] I find it very handy for meeting notes and calendaring.” Said another: “I am considering the purchase of an iPad, particularly for travel. Biggest issue is making sure my business applications will run efficiently on an iPad.” Some owners didn’t give the iPad high marks: “I had an iPad for about six months and then gave it to one of my staff to use. There were many features that I really liked. However, in the end I found it lacking. I travel extensively and found that I was having to take my iPhone, my computer and my iPad with me. The iPad came close to replacing the computer for me but not quite. I found that I was buying accessories to try and get the iPad to function more like a computer. I finally gave up trying.”

April 2011 Last month we asked whether you are spending money on IT this year.
Queried one reader on our Facebook page: “I’m getting a smart phone. Does that count?” Said another: “Our company is constantly spending money on IT. It is all done through our corporate office in Los Angeles. One of the reasons I came [to the Capital Region] was because they were very involved in keeping up with technology growth.”

March 2011 Last month we asked whether your company uses social media, and, if so, which platform you find most effective. And what is your objective?
Said one reader on comstocksmag.com: “Being in the retail business, I have found that Facebook and Twitter aren't very useful unless I'm announcing an event, and even then I'm not interested in my friends or family showing up. However, I have found Google Maps, Yelp and Merchant Circle to be very effective.” Said another: "Where else can I drive more eyeballs to my work, keep track of news impacting my industry and chat about the latest episode of Real Housewives of Orange County? Twitter is so #winning." Our thoughts exactly.

February 2011 Last month we asked whether you are hiring paid interns instead of entry-level staff and why or why not.
“No, we are not hiring interns as a substitute for entry-level employees. We are looking for the right person to come in and become a permanent part of what we're building here. I don't have time to continually train people and then have them leave after three or four months. There are plenty of people needing a job to draw upon in this market than use an intern,” said one reader. And another: “No; interns are only temporary until they find something better. They're learning. Entry-level staff, though also learning, can be tested, trained and developed into long-term staff with meaningful contributions.”

January 2011 Last month we asked: If you were to create a branding slogan to lure businesses to the Capital Region, what would it say?
Your responses certainly kept us entertained this month: “Not nearly so foolish as the idiots in the Capitol make us look.” “Providing a paddle to help you out of the [Sacramento] swamp.” “Come to California! We’re running out of taxpayers.” And from the optimist in the bunch: “The heart of California … where everything begins.”

December 2010 Last month we asked about the area of your business in which you will invest this year, if at all.
“We will be doing some branding and advertising to get our name more recognized in the community and are looking to add more employees to our office. We are still young and looking to grow here in Sacramento,” said one reader. Quite a few other respondents said they would also be focusing on marketing since “now is a good time to take advantage of weak competitors.” And our favorite response: “I'll be sponsoring more lunches with your publisher in 2011, thereby providing stimulus on multiple fronts, including the restaurant community.”

November 2010 What is the biggest barrier to economic development in the Capital Region, and is there a solution?
“Regulation of the entitlement process to the point that nothing gets entitled — except the pocketbooks of the regulator and consultants,” said one respondent. “Lack of a strong manufacturing base that provides consistent year-over-year employment” and “lack of comprehensive collective effort between the jurisdictions to develop and exploit regional strengths,” said others. We received plenty of thoughts on barriers, but no one offered suggestions for solutions.

October 2010 Last month we asked whether you support Assembly Bill 32 or would vote against it via Proposition 23 on the November ballot.
“I will vote against implementation of AB 32 at this time,” said one respondent. “The economic impact studies by the Air [Resources] Board were flawed, and now is not the time to pile more regulation and costs on California businesses.” Said another: “AB 32 is propelling California's clean tech industry into a major new growth sector. This is one of the few significant areas of growth we have in our state economy … Prop. 23 is a shortsighted, self-serving move.”

Sept 2010 The Wall Street Journal recently reported that nonfinancial companies in the U.S. are sitting on $1.85 trillion in cash and other liquid assets, up 26 percent from a year prior, according to the Federal Reserve. Has your company been hoarding cash? If so, are you ready to start spending and investing again? Where will your money go?
“We are trying to save money,” says one reader. “We think we will need it to adjust to the massive changes in regulations, documentation and electronic medical records implementation that we and most of our clients are going [through]. [We are] very concerned about what is next and what unforeseen consequences there will be this year.” Says another: “Yes to hoarding,” but “nope, still too nervous to start spending.”

August 2010 Last month we asked whether you are reconsidering your benefits package because of the economy or the federal health care plan.
"We are being forced to reconsider what health care plans we offer and how we can mitigate the huge hit of a 21 percent price increase for our employees and our firm. I firmly believe these increases are due largely to insurance companies protecting themselves against the realities of the national health care 'plan.' A clear assault on small businesses like ours," said one reader. Said another: "I am not adjusting any benefits yet, but will evaluate the situation as it develops.  A lot can happen by then." 

July 2010 The values of gold, palladium and silver have increased dramatically the past few months. In large part, this is due to the recession and intrinsic value placed on such products. Which, if any, commodities have you recently incorporated into your portfolio and why?
Said one respondent at comstocksmag.com: “Gold stocks, gold index funds and gold bars and coins. I am less concerned about a recession’s effect on commodities (which could actually depress demand and pricing) than inflation. My opinion is that inflation will be rampant given the government’s excessive spending and increased entitlements.” Said others: “None.”

June 2010 In last month's reader poll we asked whether you, in light of the BP oil spill, still support drilling for oil domestically, and whether you would support such an undertaking off California’s coast. 
During the presidential election and fuel price spike of 2008, nearly 60 percent of Americans surveyed by Reuters said they would favor government efforts to boost domestic drilling and refinery construction. It seems opinions have shifted. Nearly all Comstock’s respondents to this month’s poll said they no longer support domestic drilling. “The Louisiana spill is proving that we don't know enough about underwater drilling technology to ensure that there will not be another disastrous accident,” said one reader. “The offshore wells are an eyesore, and the economic impact of any kind of spill to the Southern California tourism industry would be huge. There are other alternatives that should be pursued and placed as a higher priority to additional offshore drilling,” said another.