The word “family” can encompass a lot of different things. Sometimes it refers to the people you’re related to. Sometimes it means the people you care about. Overarchingly, those whom you count as your “family” tend to be the people you spend a lot of time with. 

Commerce Printing, located on 12th and C streets in Sacramento, has been printing Comstock’s magazine for roughly 16 years. As a business publication, we take pride in being the city’s only major magazine to be printed locally. But there’s another reason we’re proud of our long-standing relationship with the company: its commitment to environmentally sustainable practices.

Annie and Jeff Main started farming after college, inspired by the back-to-land movement of the 1970s. They farmed on rented land for 17 years and then bought their own 20 acres in Capay Valley, in Yolo County.

In September 2014, the River Cats signed a two-year affiliation agreement with the San Francisco Giants, effectively ending the team’s 15-year partnership with the Oakland Athletics. Less than two years later, the two clubs have inked a new four-year deal, extending the agreement through 2020, marking one of the few times the Giants have signed a four-year agreement with a Triple-A affiliate.

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. 

These days, college athletics is as much about big business as competition on the field. We recently sat down with Sacramento State Athletic Director Bill Macriss to talk about the challenges small programs face as they try to compete with the behemoths of big-time college sports.

When Oleg Kaganovich was growing up in Michigan in the 1980s and early ’90s, his city of Grand Rapids was suffering the doughnut effect then typical of downtowns everywhere: Shoppers and residents were fleeing for the suburbs. By 1990, fewer than one in 10 residents shopped regularly downtown, a drop from about one in three in the early 1960s, according to a local newspaper.

So while the word — and the practice — might make you roll your eyes, playing hardball can be useful and even necessary when the stakes are high. But please, use sparingly both verbally and in action.

I was fired for not meeting 100 percent or higher of my performance goals. I feel these goals are unattainable. People are fired if they are at 99 percent. Is an employer allowed to set those types of goals?

We talk a lot about teamwork. Collaboration is the newit-kid in the business world. But a degree of healthy competition within a team is a good thing. The key is to balance competition with collaboration. Here are some things to keep in mind when adding a little friendly competition to your office:

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.

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?”

No job is only a job. You are paid to be competent and to get your work done, sure. But there are countless social interactions that shade the way you’re evaluated: chit-chat on the elevator, poise in a meeting, even the stories you tell (or don’t tell) over happy hour. Connections are the key to raises, promotions and job offers.

Standing up improves productivity by increasing blood flow and brain activity. Purging your desk clears your mind. Faking a smile can actually make you feel better. Want more tips? We have them …

The concept of reaping what you sow applies in all walks of life. No one would ever expect the Golden State Warriors to win the NBA championships if they didn’t practice in the off-season.

I am an intrepid student of leadership. I read books on the subject, I seek out speakers who are experts in the field and I admire leaders when I see them in action — and try and take from their repertoire to add to my own. I have been lucky enough to have been surrounded and influenced by true leaders from a very young age and throughout my professional career.

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.