NBBJ Insider

When the word ‘unexpectedly’ is unhelpful

Here’s a word that should be eliminated from today’s coverage of the economy: “unexpectedly.”

Jobs take their rightful place

The news about a recent surge in orders for North Bay manufacturers like electrical components maker Schurter, reported in the upcoming issue of the Business Journal, is welcome.

June jobs picture remains bleak

Sausalito-based TrimTabs, which accurately forecast very weak job growth for May, estimates the U.S. economy shed 152,000 jobs in June. The investment research firm said private sector hiring remained weak as the Census Bureau laid off 243,000 temporary workers.

A warning on financial reform and community banks

The following piece appeared in today’s Wall Street Journal and does not bode well for how Washington’s zeal for financial reform will impact community banks that are the lifeblood of the North Bay economy.

Mortgage fraud and the financial crisis

Want to better understand the source of the financial crisis and the role mortgage fraud played in it? See this video interview conducted by Santa Rosa attorney Rachel Dollar of Smith Dollar, attorneys at law.

Future vs. past

The results in Tuesday’s primary elections for California governor and the U.S. Senate couldn’t have provided a more stark contrast.

The respective Republican winners, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina – both highly successful former high-tech executives – represent the future and the possible. Jerry Brown, who was governor three decades ago, and Sen. Barbara Boxer, a fixture in Congress for nearly as long, represent the past, way past.

May is good for Census jobs, but not much more

If one was hoping for good news on jobs, the latest estimates for May by TrimTabs Investment Research based in Sausalito isn’t it. The investment adviser says Census hiring — which is soon to disappear — is responsible for most job growth and the private labor markets may be weakening.

Setting the bar higher for region’s high school grads

Last week at Dominican University, the School of Business and Leadership hosted a forum featuring some of the leading experts on employee stock ownership plans for businesses and how they can help sustain family-owned companies for generations.

Experts address future of commercial real estate

Being a glass-half-full kind of person, I am optimistic. Indeed, events seem to have conspired to create what could be the ideal climate for the North Bay to move ahead in a very positive way.

Honor Forty under 40

Will the people and leadership that are already here slam the door shut, content to keep what they perceive as theirs?