Business Archives - Peninsula Press

Business, Culture, NewsNovember 9, 2020

Downtown Mountain View’s Businesses Seeking Creative Ways to Avoid Shuttering

By Jasmine Kerber

Since opening on Castro Street in Mountian View 16 years ago, Opal Event Center has served as a nightclub, a wine bar and a corporate event space for rent, but at the moment, it is closed because of the pandemic and its owners are developing plans to survive. Opal’s 3,800-square-foot space contains two bars and a stage a DJ used to occupy on Friday and Saturday nights. But during the work week, couches and coffee tables arranged over the dance floor made it an appealing spot for companies looking to rent a place for interviews, lunches or holiday parties. The dual-purpose business model proved an efficient use of valuable downtown…

Business, NewsDecember 23, 2019

From interpreters and journalists to pet sitters, California’s gig economy law has independent contractors fretting

By Rachel Oh

California’s gig economy law, which will take effect Jan. 1, was designed to protect workers from being misclassified as independent contractors. But as a side effect, it leaves millions of independent contractors in California worried about their livelihoods.

Business, NewsDecember 19, 2019

Small business association pushes to remove parking meters in San Jose

By Tylar Campbell

SAN JOSE — Business owners on San Jose’s East Santa Clara Street, a corridor next to downtown that is comprised of 30 blocks of shops, salons, restaurants and community centers, say the presence of numerous parking meters in the area is turning away potential customers.

Business, NewsDecember 18, 2019

San Jose businesswomen transforming former laundromat into indoor market for local vendors

By Tylar Campbell

SAN JOSE — A new kind of market will soon open up on the East Santa Clara Street corridor in San Jose. Urban Kiosk, set to open just two blocks east of San Jose’s city hall, is an indoor market that will house local vendors selling crafts, wares and goods.

Business, NewsNovember 27, 2019

Truck owners protest against AB 5, a California “gig economy” law

By Rachel Oh

BAY AREA — Some truck “owner-operators” – who invest in their own vehicles and work as independent contractors to other trucking firms – say a new law taking effect on Jan. 1 will put them out of business. Supporters of the law say it will give protections to misclassified contract truck drivers.

Business, NewsNovember 22, 2019

Apprenticeships expand, struggle to make up years of dried-up pipeline

By Vanessa Ochavillo

SAN JOSE — As training centers respond to a growing demand for skilled workers with more and larger classes, enrollment has not been able to make up for the talent gap created by the 2008 economic recession. At the Loyd E. Williams Pipe Trades Training Center, more than 500 apprentices train every week to become plumbers, steamfitters and refrigeration technicians — the most in 15 years.

Business, News, SPECIAL REPORT: Communities grapple with wildfires, power outagesNovember 3, 2019

Hotels, tourism industries in Sonoma and Napa counties see impacts from Kincade Fire

By Jia Hui Tan

SONOMA COUNTY — Hotels in Sonoma County are experiencing a simultaneous increase in bookings and cancellations as the region’s week-long battle as the Kincade Fire burns.

Business, News, SPECIAL REPORT: Communities grapple with wildfires, power outagesNovember 2, 2019

Price of fire insurance will continue to rise in wildfire-prone areas, former state insurance commissioner predicts

By Qian Chen

CALIFORNIA — For many homeowners in California where headline-making wildfires have burned homes, led to power outages and caused billions of dollars in damages, getting property and casualty insurance becomes a key challenge.

Business, News, SPECIAL REPORT: Communities grapple with wildfires, power outagesNovember 2, 2019

A Hot Mess: PG&E fights fires in the wild and creditors in court

By Joe Dworetzky

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — Autumn brought PG&E unprecedented power outages, wildfires, and massive forced evacuations, problems that would strain any utility. But for PG&E there was an additional challenge: it had to do so while undergoing the largest bankruptcy of a public utility in history.

Business, NewsMarch 25, 2019

A 360 experience: One urban beekeper’s quest to go beyond the honey

By Andrea Chung

As an urban beekeeper, Terry Oxford has always grounded her beekeeping practices in what is best for the bees and our environment. While her primary intention of beekeeping has never been to harvest and sell honey from her hives, she gradually realized that bringing honeybees into the city is not the best way to protect our environment and save the pollinators.

Business, NewsDecember 17, 2018

Mountain View city, businesses get creative to combat labor shortage

By Emily Merritt

MOUNTAIN VIEW — There’s a labor shortage that’s showing on the facades of downtown Mountain View’s businesses. But shop owners and the city officials have come up with strategies to entice workers — by providing better employee benefits, passing an increase in the minimum wage and developing more affordable housing.

Business, Culture, NewsDecember 3, 2018

Fashion on the move: How rising rent prices have altered the paths of local designers

By Evan Miller

BAY AREA — Unable to afford store leases, newcomers to the Bay Area fashion scene have turned to pop-up shopping experiences. These include vendor booths at local events and even the fashion equivalent of food trucks.