Terry Green was sitting at home a few years ago when his cell phone rang.

Would his company be interested in doing some projects in China?

I’m no Pollyanna when it comes to assessing our state’s problems, but I must admit I am weary of hearing endless complaints about California’s terrible business environment, its slow economic growth and its many disadvantages compared to states like Texas.

Gary Morton has a dream and a car. If his dream comes true, like those of Henry Ford and Karl Benz before him, Morton will turn his prototype into a car company.

But Morton is not looking to build a big assembly plant or an extensive dealer network. His production will be limited to just one model that will offer baby boomers the nostalgia of the muscle cars they drove in their youth alongside their modern commitment to a pollution-free environment.

To this day I lament the closing of the California Café at Arden Fair Mall.

For years I would describe it as “my favorite restaurant that I never go to.” It had a great vibe, comfortable ambience, cool bar, eclectic wine list, intelligent bartender and a seasonal, farm-fresh menu long before that was trendy. I just couldn’t get over the fact that it was located in a shopping center. I take partial blame for its demise nearly a decade ago; I should have frequented it more often.

John Frisch, 61, is regional managing director for Cornish & Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank. He is also the immediate past chair of the Sacramento Metro Chamber board of directors. 

Children now have logical reasons for not finishing their brussels sprouts at the dinner table. If they’re thrown away, it could be good for the economy and the environment.

Even a half-hearted glance at the headlines would suggest that these are hardly the glory days for the nation’s law schools.

It’s lunchtime at Fred T. Korematsu Elementary in Davis. A cafeteria monitor stands over the first, second and third graders, but she is only a scarecrow.

As her father’s dementia deepened, so did Tonya Roemer’s anxiety. Daily visits, a stint with a live-in companion and an experiment with expensive, 24-hour care didn’t curb Ray’s aggressive behavior as the 81-year-old lost the ability to walk and feed himself.

Back in 1985, Margaret Wong saw potential in China’s booming economy and took her Sacramento-based lighting company, McWong International Inc., overseas.

As demand increases for U.S. products in China, government leaders in the Capital Region and across the country are making a push to foster connections between small, local businesses and the world’s fastest growing consumer market.

Let’s say you’re in a glitzy Beijing restaurant. Your waiter uncorks a $300 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. He pours you a glass and you sip it, savor it, let it breathe. But around the table, everyone else gulps theirs down one swallow, like a shot, yelling “Gan bei!”

Welcome to wine culture in China.

Richard Waycott says there are no silver bullets in the remarkable double-digit growth of California almond exports to China but rather a carefully honed strategy built on introducing almonds to a “pre-existing snacking culture.”

Local commercial real estate brokers leased out one of the highest square-foot totals in the nation last year. But Sacramento as a whole still hasn’t rebounded like its regional neighbors.

When Hacker Lab outgrew 800 square feet on Franklin Boulevard last year, the founders needed more than additional space. They needed a change of scenery.