Category Archives: News

Entrepreneurship- Seeking the “One Spark” of creativity

Posted on by
1

Redwood Coast businesses may not seem to have much in common with those in the sprawling megalopolis of Jacksonville FL, but take a closer look.  Both communities are port cities which need more business, both have downtowns which need revitalization, both have wealthy citizens who are willing to give back to the community, both have thriving art and music scenes, and both have avenues for those who are seeking funding for startup businesses. We have Economic Fuel, they have the new OneSpark.

OneSpark,  billed as “The World’s Crowdfunding Festival” took place over the  weekend of April 17-21 in the downtown area of Jax which was supposed to have received an economic boost from the Superbowl a few years ago, and didn’t. They chose to scatter the booths and exhibits throughout a “Creator Zone” and an “Entertainment District” stretching from Duval Street to the Jacksonville Landing on the river.  Even in the Florida heat- and in competition with the nonstop TV coverage of the Boston Marathon manhunt- the attendance over the five days reached 100,000 and there were exhibits or performances by over 900 Creators, 446 of which were officially entered in the Crowdfunding competition. Most of the rest were bands or graphic artists. Guests could vote or contribute ($5 minimum) for their favorite projects by Smartphone, by texting, by web or at a kiosk with the prize money allocated according to number of votes cast.  They could vote as many times as they wished, but only once for each project. Two stages were set up as “Pitch Decks” where creators could make a ten-minute pitch without even being registered at the Festival.

A major source of the prize money was Shad Khan, owner of the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars, who has stated he might be good for another million for specified projects. The Jax Cultural Council has already raised $180,000 towards keeping the ‘Spark District” a permanent force in the city, and will be awarding $60,000 in grants to artists who put their studios in a specified six-square-block area. The Downtown Investment Authority is seeking proposals in late May from group[s interested in putting on daily events in Hemming Plaza, a central but underutilized location.  It appears that OneSpark is more than a one-shot deal.

So who won?  Of the four categories – Music, Technology, Science and Art- Art received twice as many votes as the nearest competitor, Technology.  Among the proposals were everything from bands looking for money to record their first album and buy a van, to a massive plan called the Riverpool, a giant floating concrete dock adjacent to downtown including a marina for kayaks, restaurants, swimming pools and a public beach. On e project would transform a water tower on Jacksonville Beach into a colorful giant jellyfish. One woman is making furniture from recycled milk jugs.

But the winner by a large margin was “Rethreaded”, a company that works with women escaping the sex trade by training them to produce children’s clothing and other items from castoff T-shirts. The almost $7000 they won will fund their next four-month class.  The founder, Kristen Keen, had a similar company in India.  This has been just a quick once-over of a terrific event.  Maybe something we could try in Humboldt?

 

 

Roger Ebert- lessons in courage and branding

Posted on by
Reply

It’s been a sad week. I’ve been watching or reading Roger Ebert for what seems like most of my adult life, first with Siskel and Ebert , then after Gene Siskel’s untimely death from cancer, with Richard Roeper and more recently on Salon. He was one of a kind.  He had character.

About twenty years ago , while I was still living in Hawaii, my friend and I bought tickets to the Honolulu Film Festival.  In what turned out to be a really bad decision, I opted out of one of the evenings and my friend went alone. Being  a gregarious type, he struck up a conversation with the couple next to him, who turned out to be Roger Ebert and his gorgeous stewardess girlfriend. They invited him to a party after the film,  with the kind of friendliness that is so typical of Chicago people.

Years later, it was hard to watch the cancer take its toll but Roger Ebert didn’t let a little thing like losing his voicebox deter him from his purpose in life. He carried on with artificial voices and surrogates.  He never quit working.  He retained the rights to the “thumbs up, thumbs down” routine and few of us will ever hear those words without thinking of this extraordinary man.  Roger Ebert, dead at 70. May he rest in peace.

Hiatus- I have to spend a couple of weeks in Florida for family reasons. If the gators, sinkholes and pythons don’t get me, I will see you in a couple of weeks. Enjoy the rest of April!

“The Best of the North Coast”- really?

Posted on by
4
Where's my room??

Where’s my room??

Everyone loves lists, and I’m sure the North Coast business community pays close attention to the Times-Standard’s annual “Best of the North Coast” supplement that was just  published.

I find the list fascinating but everyone wonders the same thing: do these choices really reflect public opinion or is this more like when you were running for prom king or queen in high school and you had to go around and get your friends to vote for you.  Do the winners really represent “the people’s choice” or do they merely reflect organized campaigns in which employees and friends are “reminded” to cast their ballots? The editor states that “We hand-counted thousands of votes”.  I wonder why, the next time they do this, couldn’t they publish the actual counts? Then we’d know if the Kabob Cafe won the title “Best Place for a Business Lunch” by a margin of 3 votes or 40.  That was one of the weirder choices, to me. I love their food but I can’t see having a business lunch there, not if you need privacy.

Their winner in the “Hotel” category was very strange.  They listed the Holiday Inn at 2223 4th Street in Eureka although that property has been a Clarion for at least twelve years and the pleasant ladies at the front desk informed me there are no plans to revert to Holiday Inn status. Even more bizarre, they included, as a winner, the construction site on Broadway and Wabash where a Holiday Inn IS under construction but I find it hard to believe that it garnered votes as anyone’s favorite place to stay, considering there’s no roof yet.  Still, when you’re “hand counting thousands of votes” I suppose a few anomalies slip in.

I was pleased to see that a few of my favorite establishments were recognized.  The AA does have the best steaks, Hole in the Wall does have the best sandwiches, C&C Market does do a remarkable job of catering and McCrea Nissan where I have received the best service in my experience was honored, although paired with Mid-City Motors where I received the worst.  They shouldn’t  have categories where there are only one or two providers. St. Joseph’s vs  Mad River?  Apples and oranges.

Anyway, thanks to the Times-Standard for the supplement, which I always save for incoming visitors. Next year, let’s see the actual counts.  Might be interesting. 

The Robots Are Coming- to a Redwood Coast Business near you

Posted on by
Reply

I hadn’t intended to write about robots today but seeing both the North Coast Journal’s  story about St. Joseph’s labor issues including the “doc-on-a-stick” AND The Economist’s survey of “robotic telepresence” in the workplace on the same day got my attention.

Briefly, St. Joe’s has apparently introduced the use of the “doc-on-a-stick” (described by the NCJ as a “video screen on a pole that a nurse wheels into  the patient’s room, so a doctor from afar can videoconference in to consult with a patient with the nurse’s help.”)  Normally, such a major change in procedures would call for “impact and implementation” bargaining between the employer and the union. The article, by the always excellent Heidi Walters, examines points of contention between labor and management at St. Joe’s and although this is the first time I’ve heard of robots being at issue in local labor relations, you may be assured it won’t be the last.

The survey published by the Economist in the March 9th issue was eye-opening, to me at least. I didn’t realize how inexpensive “robotic telepresence” is becoming.  RoboDynamics of Santa Monica introduced its TILR model in 2008 at $10,000, followed it with a $3000 model in January and is working on a 2015 model that will cost less than $1000. Robots are being used to extend a manager’s sphere of influence by enabling monitoring and meetings that would not otherwise be practical. They can facilitate real estate deals by allowing inspections remotely. They can enhance security, and cheaply. Xaxxon Technologies in Vancouver is selling a patrol bot that is essentially a laptop on wheels which runs on Skype and is controlled by a smartphone. It costs $290. I want one.

Security , however, is a two-way street. A ‘bot on patrol may be transmitting images which call for a firewall or other controls. Another issue is the effect on humans in the workplace who feel (with good cause) that they are being spied on. Future developments will be driven to some extent by the need to humanize the ‘bots, perhaps by adding limbs. Several companies are now marketing small machines that can zip around a floor or tabletop, carrying your smartphone and avoiding collisions. It’s happening.

I strongly recommend you read the full article. I have no doubt that somewhere in Humboldt County an inventor is pursuing this technology and new uses for it. We do, indeed, live in interesting times. Are you considering the use of ‘bots for your business? Let us know.

 

 

Two Humboldt County business groups you should know about

Posted on by
2

As the post-recession drags on and on, and budget politics gets more and more bizarre,  we can take heart from the fact that at least locally there are folks who actually are trying to do something constructive in the Humboldt community. Here are two such groups.

The Humboldt Bay Harbor Working Group was started during the recent update of the Prosperity program.  An enthusiastic group is meeting at the Samoa Cookhouse on the last Wednesday of each month at noon to share and promote ideas and projects to promote harbor-related employment.  The February meeting was attended by a group of about  forty.  About half of them were familiar from the old Citizens for Port/Rail Development, but there were a lot of new faces too, at least new to me,  We heard an update presentation by Dave Hull, who made the point that even if the current harbor plan is fully implemented, it would still impact only about 15% of the Humboldt Bay shoreline.

A word about the CPD.  Kaye Strickland, who organized and led the CPD meetings for many years, passed away in February shortly after her husband Bill,  and is sorely missed. Kaye and Bill had both been hospitalized and their passing was not unexpected, but that doesn’t make it any less sad. They were both very active in the community- Bill was on the old Zoo Advisory Board with me and Kaye was active in the League of Women Voters. The CPD suffered from a lack of structure but it was an invaluable group for anyone who wanted to stay on top of Harbor issues and if the new Working Group succeeds it will be because of the framework built by Kaye and the other CPD regulars. I was delighted to see Virginia Bass  at the February meeting as well as a host of folks who were never involved in the CPD, at least that I can remember, so it appears that the CPD will have a worthy successor.

PLEASE RSVP if you’re planning to attend this month’s meeting, to Susanna Munzell, s.munzell@yahoo.com so the folks at the Cookhouse can plan accordingly.

The second group you should be aware of is in its beginning phase, but they mean business.  This is the  Humboldt Inventors’ Club recently begun by Joseph Twohig , and meets on the second Thursday from 6:30 -8pm in the community room at the rear of The Meadows townhouses on Hubbard Lane in Eureka, between Myrtle Avenue and Harris, entrance directly across from the Myrtle Avenue Market parking lot. Joe states, “Suggestions for  topics and presentations most welcome” and some of the projects are startlingly original. You will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement if you attend. Contact Joseph Twohig at (707) 267-0775 or joetwohig@gmail.com.

So there you have it: grass-roots activism and innovation. May the Year of the Snake bring inspiration to everyone struggling to make Humboldt  County a place where our kids will be able to live their lives out in prosperity , or at least make a decent living.

Shouldn’t I get a discount if the plane is late??

Posted on by
2

The saga of the quest for reliable air service for the Redwood Coast continues. Our local warriors have gathered enough gelt and promises of same to go a’wooin’ another air carrier to provide service to our ill-located airstrip. (Okay, there’s a terminal, so I guess that makes it a real airport.) But I want to disclose something which was news to me: it IS possible, although not consistently, to get on-time stats for flights to and from ACV.

Try this for fun.  Go to the  United Airlines site and make a pretend reservation from ACV to SFO, specifying a date but leaving the time open. You will be presented with a list of options for flights, and in the right-hand column, just beneath the notice that, no, they’re not going to feed you, click on the tiny blue writing that says “See on-time performance”.  You MAY get a popup that says “There is no recent record of delay and cancellation percentages for this flight.”  This is hogwash.  If you wait a day or two, you get a  different result.  For the 5:48 pm flight, 5541, I just got a table that shows 37% on time, 37% late and 0 cancelled. Since 37+37=74, this leaves a quarter of the flights unaccounted for. Did they vanish into a Redwood Coast version of the Bermuda Triangle? More likely, it’s just the way they’re counting. The fine print explains that UAL doesn’t count a flight as late unless it’s MORE THAN 30 MINUTES LATE.  The best on-time stats are – of course- for the 6am flight to Sacramento ,  where they don’t have our fog problems.

We, of course, have the fog, and turning a training facility for bad weather flying into an airport that people and businesses depend on must have seemed like a good idea at the time. So here we are, 70 years later, trying to make do with an airport that is too fogbound for reliable operations, no railroad and poor bus transportation. Is it any wonder I keep calling for a shuttle to SFO or at least Santa Rosa from which some entrepreneur will make lots of money? It’s already started. Look at Craig’s list under “Rideshare” and check out the number of gypsy operations already going.  

Or, we could move the airport to Willow Creek and ride a shuttle for an hour. At least we wouldn’t have to worry about what to call the airport.

Welcome to Bigfoot International.

The Case Against Flying

Posted on by
2

Everyone has their own horror stories of flying, or trying to fly, into or out of the Eureka-Arcata airport.  I was pleased to hear, during a recent meeting of business leaders in Arcata, that at least one local company has adopted the same policy I have: no flying out of Arcata if a connection has to be made. The odds just aren’t with you. Actually, I’ve taken it a bit further- no flying out of Arcata at all. It just doesn’t make sense.

Do the math. Let’s say you need to get to San Francisco. By the time you use an hour of limo time to get to ACV, then an hour, at least, before takeoff, then an hour and a half for the actual flight time, then another hour to retrieve baggage and/or pick up a rental car, then drive in from the airport to wherever it was you really wanted to go, you have easily exceeded the five hours it takes to drive. The first enterprising person who starts a shuttle service to the Bay Area will make a lot of money.

Now we are on another chase to lure airline service to what will always be a marginal market. I note in this morning’s Searchlight-Record that Redding is also trying to lure Delta into starting a Denver service.  It is unquestioned that our business community needs flight service, but since the rest of us don’t, the numbers sufficient to attract an airline are that much harder to achieve.  My last vacation started out with an unplanned 10 hour layover at O’Hare that was entirely United’s fault.  I’ve been dumped in Redding, stranded in Chicago, stuck at SFO. I say the hell with it. I’ve flown my last flight out of Arcata. If anyone wants to start a shuttle service to the Bay Area,please get in touch with me. I’ll chronicle your progress with great interest. As for me , I’m going on vacation, a five week trip which will be, like the dodo bird, flightless.

When the flying experience out of ACV is so bad and unreliable, it starts making Greyhound look good, it’s definitely time to look at other options.

How Much Is A Train Worth, Part Deux

Posted on by
Reply

“I rode the train today.”   

Speeder train at Samoa

        Now there’s a startling statement from a Humboldt resident.  Okay, it was only one of the speeders that the Timber Heritage Society is planning to run this summer, and only a 20 minute ride from Samoa Cooklouse to the point where the tracks get sketchy, but it was a train, by God. For train nuts like me, a quick fix is better than nothing.

      For all the talk in the news about trains lately, we seem to be moving further and further away from the reality of regular service.  The recent Prosperity exercise involved 19 “Citizen Action Teams”, two of which recommended at least exploring the feasibility of an east-west route from here to Gerber or thereabouts. Some of our most prominent citizens are advocating the study, which would  cost as little as $100K, but no one wants to pony up the money and, as we know, the County is strapped. Personally, I think if the matter could be laid to rest one way or another- What’s the cost? What’s the cargo? Will the Feds grant easements or sell off land?- I think the $100K would be well-spent.

(As a matter of disclosure, I served on the “Harbor Revitalization” team, although my role was mostly to provide publicity for the town meeting we had at the Labor Temple. Good turnout, lots of interest, lots of concerns.)

          The latest development is the pressure on the County supervisors to engage in “railbanking” the tracks around the Bay. I wouldn’t be so skeptical of railbanking if someone could give me just one example of tracks that were railbanked and successfully brought back to life as a railroad. They keep telling me they exist, but no one seems to have any specifics. Once you cover something with asphalt, it’s pretty much out of play.

          Yes, it’s hard out here for a train nut.  I’ll get my fix in October, when we’ll be riding the Empire Builder from Portland to Chicago (THE best Amtrak route).  But in Humboldt County unless the THS manages to get its round-the-bay tourist run going, no one is going to be saying, “I took the train today.”

Is Calhoun’s the best barbecue sauce ever?

Posted on by
2

Early days

 I am making no attempt whatsoever to be objective.  From the moment I discovered Calhoun’s (probably at Murphy’s) I have never purchased another brand. I’ve tried barbeque sauces all over the Carolinas and Florida, and in St. Louis, and even the mustard sauce peculiar to South Carolina, which most Californians can’t stand.

But my go-to sauce, which I always keep on hand, is Calhoun’s Original Southside Bar-B-Cue Sauce. It’s light and slightly spicy, not sticky-sweet like the Memphis style.  As Mike Ross, its creator, explains it, there is no real “Chicago Style” sauce; he had to invent it himself.

Talking to Mike Ross is a treat, especially if you love Chicago as I do. Mike grew up in what is now known as the “Historic Pullman District”. Historic it is, and you can sign up for tours which will guide you through the first model, planned industrial community in the United States, built by George Pullman as a place to produce the famous Pullman sleeping car. It was a company town, sort of like Scotia on steroids, and the scene of a violent strike in 1894.  Mike grew up grilling for family get-togethers (oh, those Chicago summer evenings!) and his sauce recipe had its beginnings there. The name “Calhoun’s” , incidentally, derives from the neighborhood’s Calhoun Street. 

Mike  worked as a correctional officer for 12 years before deciding that Chicago had become too small and a change was in order. He came to Arcata to visit his grandparents who had moved there earlier. Once he hit the tarmac and saw the green hills around, he never looked back.

Mike’s bottling machine

The business is clearly poised for expansion. Mike is travelling to Georgia to pick up a catering-size grill and smoker and looks forward to opening his own place.  Meanwhile, a distribution deal is pending with a partner in, of all places, Montreal, which has a long barbecue tradition of its own, especially with chicken.  He currently has seventeen outlets including Murphy’s Markets and Eureka Natural Foods but if the Canadian connection works out, watch for explosive growth. With all-natural ingredients, Calhoun’s may become the Redwood Coast’s next big export. Visit their website here. 

Have you tried Calhoun’s?  How do you think it stacks up next to Smokin’ Moses or whatever they use at Porter Street? Have you worked with the SBDC or AEDC? Let us hear from you!

How much is a railroad worth to you?

Posted on by
12

near the Vista del MarAs I write these words I am in the County Supervisors’ chambers, trying to stay awake while the board members of the North Coast Railroad authority, or six of them, spend half an hour consulting with their Ukiah attorney on the legal definition of the word  ”train”.  The issue at hand is the Timber Heritage Society’s plans to offer speeder rides on the NCRA’s track and everyone’s desire to avoid liability in case of an accident.

The NCRA is no more disfunctional than any other governmental body- have you ever sat through a Planning Commission meeting? The NCRA folks come to this meeting in Eureka with a major victory under their belt: on July 13, rail service was restored from Schellviile to Windsor. The next phase will restore service- freight service- all the way to Willits. Willits!  How galling that Willits will become a veritable hub of rail transport while in Eureka the train is becoming a distant memory.  The folks in the Bay Area will be able to take a pleasant jaunt to Willits, transfer to the Skunk for a wondrous scenic ride and arrive in Fort Bragg relaxed and ready to spend money. I can see those dollars flying away, dollars that we need right here in Humboldt.

When I was a kid we often took the train to San Rafael. The train went through 52 tunnels and as a scenic ride it’s up there with the Glacier Express in Switzerland. I am an unabashed advocate of passenger rail, one of the tribe Hank Sims has labeled “morons”.  I believe Hank’s motives are pure. Unlike some of the rails-to trails advocates we’ve been hearing from lately, he’s not motivated by personal gain; he’s just horrified at the $500M price tag of restoration through the Eel River Canyon. That figure is on the high end, the sum frequently cited by the “no train-it’s hopeless” crowd.

Let’s accept the $500M figure. If Humboldt County were to pay the entire cost, each man, woman and child would  have to kick in $3759  for the  joy of riding the rails. If the costs were spread across the five counties that would see the immediate benefit (Del Norte, pop. 20,000, Humboldt 130,000, Mendocino 90,000, Marine 261,000 and Sonoma 493,000) the per capita cost goes down to  about $500. Our tax system doesn’t work that way and the benefits would clearly extend to those outside the North Coast, so if we assume all California will benefit from freight and passenger service which costs a fraction of trucking costs and pollutes less (LOTS less) the cost would be $13.33 per capita. Of course there will be ongoing maintenance, dwarfed by the ongoing costs of our heavily subsidized  road system, which no one seems to complain about. The issue isn’t money. We’ve spent more money on dumber projects.

I am a skeptic regarding the east-west route recently proposed for study. Fine, it should be studied, but that project would be starting from scratch, and has little if any tourist potential.  On the other hand, quick transit to the I-5 corridor is very desirable. That’s why our friends up in Coos Bay have reactivated their train route to Eugene.  Anyone who can get cargo to Coos Bay will be two hours from I-5 and its many possibilities and distribution centers. When I visit my friends in Eugene, I fall asleep to the distant sounds of a train. Ah, music….

So how much would a railroad mean to your business? To your life? Let’s hear YOUR thoughts!  After all, you’ll be paying for it.