California’s Payments Into Teachers’ Pensions to Triple
California’s contributions to the California State Teachers’ Retirement System are projected to almost triple in less than a decade and may increase even more due to low investment returns and the cost of benefits enhanced in boom times.
Startup of the Month: Sievent
Event app finds niche in helping connect local communities
Sievent is a social experience app that helps event organizers and attendees stay connected with information before, during and after an event. The app is an end-to-end platform that handles all facets of an event such as promotion, ticketing, payment, event analytics and social media management.
Leadership Can Happen Unexpectedly
Look for random acts of courage — and encourage them
While there are a mountainous number of books and articles about leadership — on the traits and qualities of good leaders, what it takes to be a leader and whether everyone is capable of being a leader — it’s important to remember that leadership boils down to a couple key things: followers and a crystal clear message. To keep the followers, you need to get the message right.
For M5 Arts, Big Buzz Isn’t Translating into Big Bucks
Art Hotel drew thousands of people, but Art Street is struggling to raise thousands in donations — why aren’t businesses helping out?
What’s the main difference between the Art Hotel installation, held at the Marshall Hotel a year ago, and Art Street, opening Feb. 3 in a former lumber mill near Broadway and 1st Avenue?
Let’s Believe in Sacramento’s Art Community
An open letter from one Sacramento resident on the importance of arts education and engagement
In response to Mayor Darrell Steinberg’s new investment in the arts and creative economy, this is my open letter to Sacramento as a whole. To the creators. The developers. The decision-makers. The people.
Dilemma of the Month: Holding Exempt Employee Accountable
Last year, we hired someone to run our small business, and we paid him very well. However, he was always coming in late, taking Fridays off, calling in sick, having car trouble and dentist appointments, etc. He was an exempt employee, so we kept paying him as if he was there all the time. He quit and we don’t want to have the same problems with the new hire.
Rewards Your Clients Will Actually Appreciate
Don’t turn a reward for customer loyalty into an afterthought — do it strategically
Rewarding customer loyalty is a great way to build a community and encourage repeat business, but too often client rewards are an afterthought that ruin the goodwill you’re trying to build.
A Port in the Storm
Value-based health insurance may offer stability for employers in a marketplace about to be upended by more new federal policies
Seven years after passage of the Affordable Care Act created a new world order in health insurance, it all may be upended. With a new administration in Washington, all or parts of Obamacare could be repealed and replaced. All the while, premium increases have continued apace:
Driving the Economy By Taking Our Hands Off the Wheel
If you are like me, you hate being stuck in traffic. But most of us don’t have a hired driver and public transportation isn’t always convenient.
Carmakers are working on what they think is a better idea — let the car do the driving. Autonomous vehicles sound very Jetson-like. But as futuristic as it sounds, many vehicles already on our streets rely on computers.
Indoor Cycling Firm in Folsom Keeps It Fresh
Spin classes, like those offered at TrueNorth Cycle, have become all the rage
TrueNorth reflects the growing trend of studios and gyms offering stationary cycling — or spin, as the workout is also called — with dozens of these classes available throughout the Sacramento region.