
Dilemma of the Month: Easing An Employee Into Retirement
We are a 30-agent real estate brokerage company with one administrative assistant, our lone employee. However, her professional abilities have not kept pace with the times. She has no technical skills and can’t keep up with her other tasks. She is 75 years old and we are at a loss regarding how to handle easing her into retirement.

Tax Filing Time: What (Not) to Do and Why
This year’s tax-filing deadline of April 17 will arrive whether or not your business is ready. What’s at stake? Comstock’s spoke with experts in the Capital Region to learn how your business can avoid tax audit triggers and abide by the rules.

Unconscious Bias in Talent Reviews
Identifying stereotypes can help boost staff performance
In his 2005 book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking,” Malcolm Gladwell polled Fortune 500 companies and found that 30 percent of CEOs were 6 feet 2 inches or taller. In comparison, only 3.9 percent of the U.S. population are of that height.
Why? Unconscious bias.

Queens of Craft Brew
Comstock’s speaks with three women brewery owners in the Capital Region
Comstock’s spoke with a few women brewery owners in the Capital Region about their diverse backgrounds, their paths to leadership and their thoughts on getting more women into craft beer.

Dilemma of the Month: Out-of-Office Socialization
Is after-hours employee fraternization between a co-founder and an intern inappropriate, or am I just being extra cautious?

Startup of the Month: Cineshares
Web platform links underrepresented filmmakers to capital
In the early 2000s, Mariah Lichtenstern was an undergrad studying the rhetoric of narrative and image at UC Berkeley and starting a boutique production company in the Bay Area. That was when Napster was disrupting the music industry in a way that would leave it forever changed.

Ms. Message
Sacramento has stellar gender parity stats in its advertising industry — here’s what it means for the region.
Women dominate the creative community in Sacramento, with a slew of advertising agencies large and small with females at the helm. The women running them say this means not only more authentic messaging, but a stronger support system for the next generation.

Strength in Numbers
It’s not just possible for companies to both diversify and perform well — evidence shows the two may be inseparable
Studies suggest that diversity and profit aren’t two sides of a
coin,
but more like the symbiotic relationship between bees and
flowers.
So what does diversity actually look like, why does it seem to
have
financial implications and how can businesses work toward
more
inclusive hiring practices?

Enterprising Parents Address Family Needs
The transition to parenthood can be daunting, particularly for new parents and those juggling work and family life. But several Capital Region-based parents have launched creative businesses and groups that support the whole family — from emotional and physical well-being, to work/life balance.

Mad Math
Borrowing another home's price per square foot is a risky equation
If the math proved easy when pricing your home, perhaps you’ve made this critical mistake.