In 1971, UC Davis became the first university in the country to add a fermentation science major to its undergraduate course catalog. However, even though — nearly five decades later — California is nearing 1,000 craft breweries, and despite the legal and regulatory morass that awaits every new brewery owner, Dan Croxall believes that earlier this year, he conducted the first-ever craft beer law class at an American law school.

The ever-bustling Rick Mindermann assumes myriad roles as the store director of Corti Brothers, the old-fashioned specialty grocery store in East Sacramento known for its eclectic array of high-quality products from around the world.

As a millennial and small business owner, you can expect to find me on the internet all day, most days. It’s how I find clients, communicate with my community and stay up to date on the lives of friends around the world.

For a typical day trip to Nevada County, a tourist might visit a few wineries, do some window shopping and then call it a day. But when Robert X Trent launched Outlandish Experiences in August, he wanted to use unique, unforgettable experiences to help visitors fall in love with the area he’s called home for 20 years.

At Mezcalito Oaxacan Cuisine in Rocklin, the mole takes two days and nearly two dozen ingredients to complete. The recipe reads like a catalog of the Mexican state of Oaxaca’s agricultural bounty: plantains, green apples and raisins; warm spices and half a dozen kinds of chiles; a liberal dose of sparsely-sweetened chocolate.

In 1991, Gregory Perkins was a Sacramento corrections officer struck by a calling to make a difference. He realized that most greeting cards lacked representation of the African American community. Perkins worked with his cousin, an artist, to develop three Afrocentric greeting card designs in an effort to create what he calls an “uplifting product that African Americans can take pride in.”

Bill Wagman greets 25 guests at the front door of his Davis house, then sits quietly at a dining room table while his featured musician of the mid-September evening, Florida’s Grant Peeples, entertains in the living room with folk songs and reciting his offbeat poetry.

Suburban father Mike Polis makes an unlikely rancher, but he’s gained traction with his passion project, building a small family farm catering to a niche Capital Region market.

Under Vivek Ranadive’s ownership, the Kings have become a leading tech-savvy sports franchise, primarily by building the Golden 1 Center, which is considered one of the highest-tech sports stadiums in the world.

The Dad’s Kitchen owner signed a lease on a 1,000-square-foot property on 24th and K streets in Midtown Sacramento in August 2017. Julio Peix planned to convert the former dental office into Cider House — the city’s first cider bar — for an early 2018 debut, but construction delays stretched on for over a year.