Startup of the Month: Requested
Pay-what-you-want app a win-win for restaurants and customers
If you want to eat out but can’t decide which restaurant to go to, try asking yourself a different question: How much do I want to pay? That’s the idea behind Requested, a name-your-price app that’s been turning Sacramento’s dining arena into a digital bidding zone.
On the Cover: Function with Flair
These local designers make art that's user-friendly
What more can your storage cabinets do for you? How can your placemats become conversation pieces? What if sitting down to read a magazine felt a little bit like being at the carnival?
Growing the Anti-Growth City
Acuity with Matt Yancey
Matt Yancey has been selected as the new CEO of the Davis Chamber of Commerce after serving more than seven years as the director of business and economic development at the Sacramento Metro Chamber. So how do you grow a city that’s been historically anti-growth?
Pitching California
It's Kish Rajan's job to sell California to business—so what's his spiel?
Kish Rajan is the director of GO-Biz, the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Previously, he was the director of North American sales for SanDisk, was an aid to Phil Angelides during his ’94 run for state treasurer and was a legislative aide to California Sen. Barbara Boxer.
Modernist Marvels
On the Cover: Local buildings take an old-school approach to present-day challenges
Here we feature some of Sacramento’s most innovative, modernist buildings and the architectural solutions employed to achieve enduring and functional spaces.
Kish Rajan Means Business
The GO-Biz director says he will ensure tax credits for businesses lead to more jobs
A report recently released in New Jersey shows that, of the $4 billion in tax credits the Garden State has given to companies since 2010, a whopping 43 percent have been for jobs that already exist. Kish Rajan, director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development,says that is definitely not going to happen in California
Design in Progress
The market for 3-D printing is booming, but consumer applications have room for growth
Users are creating everything from human organs and limbs to handguns and musical instruments. Sales of 3-D printers, including materials and associated services, reached $2.5 billion globally in 2013, according to Canalys, which projects the market will reach $3.8 billion in 2014 and as much as $16.2 billion by 2018. But there remains room to grow.
Chemical Attraction
Acuity with Micromidas’ John Bissell
In 2008, John Bissell co-founded Micromidas Inc., a West Sacramento biotech company that has developed a process to convert carbohydrate feedstocks like cardboard into higher-value chemicals, including renewable plastics. The company incorporated in 2009. Bissell, a UC Davis grad who also serves as CEO, was recently included in Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30,” a tally of the brightest stars in 15 different fields, and has helped raise more than $20 million in financing for his company.
Putting the Fab in Pre-Fab
Modular construction cuts construction and energy costs
The final stages of construction at a trend-setting apartment project in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, known by its address at 38 Harriett St., largely resembled a life-sized game of Tetris.
Starts and Stops
San Joaquin has seen its share of change
It was in 1989 that the San Joaquin Business Council formed to envision and outline an economic development and prosperity plan for its county. Called Vision 2000, the strategic plan and its backers, including the newly created San Joaquin Partnership, sought to add tens of thousands of jobs to the region by removing barriers to business development and promoting the relocation of companies to San Joaquin.