Placer is no longer the small, rural county of old. It now boasts medium-sized cities, major employers and a population expected to grow at a faster rate than the rest of the region.

It is important to remember we are all more than the money we make. People want to know how they contribute to some greater good, so if you haven’t already, start with creating a clear vision of how your company makes an impact.

I have been in my current job for about one year. I have been working in my industry for eight years and have an MBA. When I applied, the minimum experience was two years. I have more industry experience and more education. How am I not supposed to see this as gender discrimination?

CMND SHFT has become more than just an annual conference. It is also a tremendous amount of work that no one gets paid for. That said, we’ve found the benefits far outweigh the effort, and we’re well on our way to planning next year.

My boss told me she is resigning. She has given a month’s notice, says she is leaving for a position that will help her grow professionally.Will my new boss be as transparent and flexible and interested in developing me professionally as my current boss? What will I do if we don’t work together well?

Businesses in Northern California are especially well-positioned to expand globally. The region has a culturally diverse population and an enviable proximity to ports, airports, rail systems and foreign trade zones. Even as exporting makes sense for individual businesses, encouraging companies to expand internationally makes even more sense for the local economy.

The U.S. medical profession is changing for its practitioners. There are fewer and fewer self-employed physicians, as more turn to employment by a medical group or hospital. In general, the U.S. will face a projected shortage of up to 90,400 physicians by 2025. 

In those early days of Disneyland, Walt hired Van France to establish Disney University and hire and train the “cast” (employees) that would bring the theme park to life. France reinvented the training and development of employees with his carefully crafted Four Keys (now more commonly known as Crystal Clear Priorities, aka CCPs).

The effort to keep the Sacramento Kings in town showed what a community can do when everyone rallies around a cause. Now that the Golden 1 Center is opening and fans are coming downtown to enjoy the Kings, it’s bringing many people together again — perhaps too closely.  

I was recently let go from a job due to accessing information on our system that I had been taught was allowed. HIPAA guidelines show no issue with getting this information because it was requested. I did break a policy (that I was unaware of), and the company did not wish to discuss the matter further.

The contractual obligation between a Major League Baseball club and the Triple-A Minor League Baseball affiliate is a standard player development contract with very clear responsibilities. 

Lately, with the news worldwide being somewhat bleak, I thought I’d write about trust -— since it seems to be waning a bit. Trust is something we commonly talk about in business, in leadership, in politics. It’s something we aspire to build and yet still seems challenging to grasp. So here’s my attempt to define trust and how it manifests in our lives.

It’s that time of year again: the start of a new school year. As millions of students head back to school, their parents head to local stores and to their computers or phones to purchase for all the necessary supplies.

Did you know that Sacramento has been home to professional basketball, football, indoor soccer, outdoor soccer, baseball, tennis and rugby teams? We highlight 12 of our sports milestones and 10 standout athletes.

We all deserve time off from the daily grind, even if we don’t get a traditional paid vacation. I’m looking at you, fellow freelancers.

Boundaries are the metaphorical lines we draw to ensure we don’t slip into doing things that counter our value systems. Having clear boundaries prevents other people from taking advantage of you and helps you keep your distance from possible dubious activities. While there are no hard-and-fast rules for setting your boundaries, these tips may be helpful.

You’ve heard the phrase, “It’s not personal, it’s business.” However, when it comes time to transition or sell your business — either to an outside buyer or to a family member — emotions often come into play.

No matter how careful you are on social media, just like normal social interactions, to some extent failure is inevitable.

With 22 million veterans living in the U.S., efforts to provide a hand-up to vets are much needed, as they are at risk for homelessness, PTSD, suicide and other struggles.

One of the biggest challenges facing California “pot czar” Lori Ajax in developing the first statewide regulations for medical marijuana might simply be getting folks to grasp what she and her team are and are not doing.

Blockchain Revolution delivers an informed look at the transformative influence of this technology on the evolving political, economic and social world order.

The Sacramento region prides itself as the Farm-to-Fork capital, and the UC Davis World Food Center is looking to bolster that reputation by developing a thriving economic hub for innovation in food and agricultural technology.

The ubiquity of smartphones in our culture is both a blessing and a curse, as information is right at your fingertips in an instant but getting the correct information can be harder than ever.

I’m a business owner in California and I’m worried about the impact of the new overtime wage rules in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. How can I best prepare my business for the changes caused by the regulations?

While we primarily talk about sustainability in terms of environmental impact, the principles of sustainability apply just as much to our social and economic ecology.

When it comes to our country’s shift to renewable energy, there’s no turning back. Improved technology has made renewables more reliable and less expensive, and government policies have encouraged or required their use. But there’s always change happening in the industry sector, as you’ll read in one of our July features, “Will the Mega-Grid Get Built?” 

If I have learned one thing by working with people in organizations, it’s that there’s much more telling than asking going on. As a business coach, my clients will expect me to ask, at some point in their session, “So what’s the question?”

Imagine picking up your marriage license at the mall, or registering your baby’s birth at a kiosk near the escalators. Seems hard to imagine, right? It’s almost too convenient. But these are realities for one neighborhood in Nice, France, where locally-made Cisco technology is changing the way residents interact.

ExtraPlate puts homecooked meals on the map as an on-demand food marketplace that works like Uber or Lyft for hungry consumers.

I’m a 27-year-old high school English teacher, but my long-term goal is to open a performing arts school. I’m torn between obtaining an MFA so that I may bring a strong creative background to my future students, and earning a business degree so that I may learn how to run the school. I worry the MBA will be too broad but that the MFA will be less valuable.

Engaged employees are pivotal to an organization’s financial success, company culture, brand experience and ability to retain top talent. But according to Gallup’s most recent polls, only 31.5 percent of U.S. employees are actively engaged at work, and disengaged employees currently outnumber actively engaged employees 2 to 1.

Entrepreneurs tend to be forward-looking: They aim to develop cutting-edge technologies and drive industry-changing innovation with an eye toward shaping the future. Having a long-term outlook should be applauded — and that view should extend to personal finance topics, as well.

You’ve got plenty of clients. Or perhaps your product is flying off the shelves. So if business is this good now, why spend precious dollars investing further in your brand?

The Capital Region’s wine industry remains strong with Amador county as one of the most approachable wine scenes in the state. As you’ll read in one of our June features, “A Slow-Growth Splash,” staying authentic has been key in Amador county’s growth, but what will the future of California’s wine industry have in store?

Thoughtful leaders build teams and environments where people get stuff done effectively. Celebrating the successful efforts of employees is a great way to encourage future successes. What else do celebrations reinforce?

Sarah Sciandri is looking for a woman, but finding one is tougher than she thought. The 34-year-old likes her job as a marketing manager for the Sacramento architecture firm Nacht & Lewis, but she wants a female mentor to help move her career forward.

Sacramento’s health care sector is booming. What does that mean for local spending and jobs?

Unbeknownst to most of those attending the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera’s Sergei Rachmaninoff performance in February, a cohort of fans relegated to the back rows were on their phones the entire show. They tweeted jokes about the concert, without shame. Because on this evening they were simply doing as asked.

Here’s an idea I share with my clients: We don’t actually get to decide what kind of leaders or communicators we are. Instead, the people in our lives decide the degree to which they value our impact. Whether you lead or manage people, look now through your employees’ eyes and ask, “Would I want to work for me?”

It’s important for transplants to realize that our greatest strength can also be our greatest liability. What we bring to the table is a disregard for what, allegedly, cannot be done. But it’s important to understand the context in which our ideas are being received. We need to be just as willing to learn as we are to create.

Dependent students at for-profit colleges have about 50 percent less family income than students attending community colleges and four-year public or private nonprofit colleges.

Working hard to achieve something new should not be fodder for punitive action; it’s the maintenance of a poorly functioning status quo that should be looked at with a sideways glance. Perfection lives on the same continuum as failure. In life, as in work, we learn painfully but fully from our failures — that is when we grow.

Thanks to a growing pool of financial apps, we can now review our budgets, tweak our investments and work toward retirement — all while waiting in line for a coffee.

Millennials are the cusp of their prime spending years. But will they spend those dollars on home ownership? 

Imagine a world where you’re hooked to a system of electrodes that scans your skull, hunts for patterns, and then scores your IQ, emotional intelligence, ability to communicate, capacity for judgment and potential to be a good leader. Then imagine that the therapist says, “The bad news is that your score should be higher. The good news is that I can get it there by helping you physically change your brain.”

Toxic people don’t lack insight into their behavior — they lack motivation to change it. Instead, they spend their time gaming bosses, employees and jobs to their own advantage and the detriment of others. Leaders need to deal with them as soon as a problem arises with clear communication and accountability measures. If the bad behavior persists, they need to go.

In 2014-15, hotel occupancy, tourism spending and travel-generated jobs all reached five-year highs. But in such a mercurial industry — underscored in recent years by drought and wildfires — regional leaders and business owners have had to get creative to keep dollars coming in.