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www.thebusinessjournal.comUPDATED DAILYANVNIEARSRYthebusinessjournal.comSEPTEMBER 22, 2017THE FOCUS 8SMALL BUSINESSTHE CARR BUSINESSAs fame grows, Derek and Davidshow more love for the ValleyGabriel Dillard – MANAGING EDITORDreams on tap for twoValley couplesTHE EXECUTIVEPROFILE 9Sylvia CoyleExecutive DirectorInfant of PragueTHE LIST 10Blue Shield tops the listof Covered CaliforniaHealth Care PlansFor one hot minute last month,the nation wasn’t talking aboutDerek Carr the Raiders franchisequarterback.They were talking about his musiccareer.It all started with a black-andwhite billboard along Clovis Avenue.It featured half of Derek Carr’s face,along with the words “Get Ready8.15.2017.” It prompted a number ofreports from local media, and muchspeculation.All was revealed Aug. 15, with awebsite, derekcarrmusic.com. Ithad all the looks of an NFL starlaunching a music career — notunheard of by any stretch.It became national news, andDerek Carr had to take to Twitterto explain it was all a joke.In fact, it was the kickoff of thelatest advertising campaign by theCarr brothers for EECU, the Valley’slargest credit union. The brothershave been spokespeople for EECUfor three years. Each campaigngenerally features them being sillyand pitching EECU’s products. Butthe national nature of the mostrecent launch meant somethingdifferent, said Jim Lowe, a marketingrepresentative for the Fresno-basedcredit union.It meant up to 73 million mediaimpressions in two days, he said.“It made my head explode,” Lowesaid. “I hate the word “viral.”“But it had been viral.”It’s a good seasonfor nut farmersPHOTO BY DAVID CASTELLON Gary Hester, owner of HesterOrchards, Inc., stands in awalnut grove southwestof Farmersville that hiscompany was hiredto harvest. In thebackground, nutsalready shakenfrom trees aremechanicallyswe pt u p a n dcollected to betransported to aprocessor.David CastellonSTAFF WRITERThis Week Online 6People on the Move 12-13Leads 16-17Public Notices 18-25Opinion 26CONTRIBUTED BY CARLA COSSY Derek and David Carr, perhaps the mostfamous pair of brothers to come out of the Central Valley, have big plansfor their local business interests.Carr 3As the Valley prepares to transitionfrom summer to fall, activity is high inwalnut, almond and pistachio groves asgrowers shake trees to bring down theirharvests.Walking last week through a walnutgrove southwest of Farmersville, GaryHester noted the number of fallen nuts,some still in their green outer husk, sweptNut 5International GreenIndustry Hall of Fameprepares for big d A. Promnitz – STAFF WRITERCOURTESY OF THE INTERNATIONAL GREEN INDUSTRYHALL OF FAME International Green Industry Hall ofFame founder Sam Geil (center) stands with inducteeMichael Ben-Eli of Sustainability Labs and LifetimeAchievement Award recipient Jim Kor of Kor ecologic.The hall of fame’s next induction ceremony will beheld at the Clovis Veteran’s Memorial District onOct. 6.FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2017Several businesses and individuals areset to be honored for their contributionsto the environment at a ceremony inClovis Oct. 5.The ceremony — which will be held atthe Clovis Veterans Memorial District— will be to induct nine nominees intothe International Green Industry HallUPS buys 58 acresin Visalia IndustrialParkJohn Lindt – CONTRIBUTING WRITERFresno has had recent success i nattracting large industrial companies.And now, maybe it is Visalia’s turn.Last month, United Parcel Service(UPS) purchased 58 acres in the VisaliaIndustrial Park. The big block of land wasbought from developer Central CaliforniaLogistics Center, which has some 480acres of land available in the area.Pat Daniels of MSJ Partners, a principalwith the Irvine-based Central CaliforniaLogistics Center, said this would be thefirst sale since the pre-zoned center wasenvisioned in 2006. The land was fullyentitled in 2008, “just as Lehman Brosdeclared bankruptcy.” That kicked off amulti-year economic downturn.”We had a deal with Target brewing backthen, but after the collapse of the economythat year, Target never built another majorlogistics center,” Daniels said.UPS, however, is a different matter.Both the UPS distribution hubs in Fresnoand Visalia are very busy, but also areimpacted by nearby development that hasboxed them in — thwarting any kind offuture major expansion.“If UPS sees the need for a major newexpansion in their future in the CentralValley, hopefully other companies withstrong relationships with UPS will wantto be located nearby,” Daniels said.IGIHOF 4ISSUE # 325316 UPS 7 1.25 PER COPYUSPS 145-100
2www.thebusinessjournal.com FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2017
3FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2017 www.thebusinessjournal.comCarr from 1Congratulations toDowling Aaron PresidentLeigh Burnside!CONTRIBUTED Derek Carr is clearly having fun in this video shoot for the latest EECU commercialfeaturing the Carr brothers as spokesmen.Love for localsDerek and David Carr’s relationshipwith the Central Valley is well known.Despite the national success, they stilltreasure their local roots. Derek Carr’sfame has reached levels seldom knownfor residents who reach the nationalspotlight. In June, it was reported thatCarr had struck a 125 million contractextension with the Raiders, makinghim (for a short period) the highest paidNFL player.So it may seem to some a miracle thatlocal organizations including EECU,Valley Children’s Healthcare andDignity Health count the Carr brothersas spokespeople. Despite his busy gameschedule, Derek participates in a weeklytelevision segment on ABC 30. Davidalso has a weekly football column withThe Fresno Bee during the season,while still working as an analyst forthe NFL Network. For many of theseorganizations, the sponsorships startedbefore Derek Carr became a Raider.Now that he has become a franchiseNFL quarterback, the reach — thepossibility — seems even longer, on aneven grander stage than ever before.The Carr brothers also maintain theirown personal Valley business interests,with plans for expansion in the nearfuture. Looking out for those interestsare H Koal and Carla Cossy. Throughtheir San Jose-based agency RBSHEnterprises, the pair handle all of thebusiness and public relations mattersfor David and Derek Carr.RBSH Enterprises would seem to bethe agency of choice for athletes witha Valley pedigree. They also representformer Bulldog quarterback Trent Dilferand PGA star Nick Watney.The agency is very much Valleyoriented, and both Cossy and Koalfrequently find themselves here — to thepoint where it’s like a second home. Theenthusiasm for the Valley is contagiousin the Carr camp.“The Carr brothers will always have ahome and a special place in their heartfor the Central Valley,” Koal said.“They never forget where they camefrom, and they always give back,” headded.The Carr businessTo hear Koal speak of the Carrbrothers, it doesn’t seem like the typicalway an agent would speak of an athlete(at least according to what we see inHollywood movies). As Koal puts it, heand his partner at RBSH Enterprisesreally work for four people — David andhis wife Melody, and Derek and his wifeHeather. It’s a family business, and bigdecisions are made as a family.“Carla and I — we work for the fourof them,” Koal said.Carr Elite is one of the decisions thefamily has made that has had a directimpact on the future of Central Valleyathletes. Founded three years ago, CarrElite is a facility in the Bakersfield areathat originally started as a way for DerekCarr to remain and train in the Valleyprior to the 2014 NFL Draft. That seguedinto a place for other elite athletes andnovices alike to train.That has transformed into footballminicamps and another outlet for theCarr brothers’ philanthropic efforts.David Carr estimates that Carr Eliteand its partner businesses in Bakersfieldhave provided more than 100,000 forpromising student athletes to participatein various Carr Elite programs.David Carr said that wouldn’t bepossible without partners includingMotor City Buick GMC in Bakersfield.“It gets a lot of kids in the door whowould otherwise probably not get anytraining,” David Carr said.There are also plans in the works toopen a Carr Elite branch in the Fresnoarea. Madera is another possibility— one made possible by the Carrbrothers’ relationship with ValleyChildren’s Healthcare.For the childrenDavid Carr said the relationship withValley Children’s has led to an offerof land for a Carr Elite branch nearValley Children’s Hospital. His visionincludes activities for elite training aswell as a space for the patients at ValleyChildren’s to have some fun.David Carr had a relationship withValley Children’s even during his timewith the Fresno State Bulldogs duringthe 2000-2001 seasons. Derek Carr’sinvolvement with Valley Children’s waseven more personal, and has becomepart of Valley lore.In 2013, when Derek and HeatherCarr’s son Dallas was born with arare intestinal malady, he underwentthree surgeries and spent 23 days at theMadera hospital.“That was the beginning of therelationship for us,” said Todd Suntrapak,president and CEO of Valley Children’sHealthcare.Now the Carr brothers are a commonsight in commercials for ValleyChildren’s, as well as the in halls of thehospital, taking the time to meet withkids and make them feel special.“They are very much part of thefamily here. They are very cherished,”Suntrapak said about the Carr family.“I’ve rarely known two men withpurer hearts that these two,” he added.Human kindnessThe Carr brothers’ newest partnershipCarr 5Dowling Aaron Incorporated is proud to announce thepromotion of attorney Leigh Burnside to firm president.She is the firm’s first female president, and we are pleasedto recognize her many years of service to our clients,shareholders, and fellow attorneys.www.dowlingaaron.comFresno Downtown Fresno Sacramento Visalia BakersfieldBusinessFinancingSolutionsFinancing for small andmid-sized businessesOptions are good. We’ve got them. Let us helpyou grow with the right financing option for yourbusiness needs.Get started today and we’ll waive the origination fee onconventional business term loans and lines of credit.*Contact us today:Samone ShaferFresno Branch45 E. River Park Place West, Suite 108Fresno(559) 447-7926Samone.Shafer@Rabobank.comKathleen KellyMooney Boulevard Branch3443 South Mooney BoulevardVisalia(559) 786-6185Kathleen.Kelly@Rabobank.comVisit us:RabobankAmerica.com/BusinessFinancing*Only applications for conventional term loans and lines of credit received September 1, 2017through December 31, 2017 qualify for this offer. Offer is good for new loans only and does notapply to refinance of existing loans or renewing lines of credit. Offer is contingent on borrowerbringing business operating account to Rabobank, N.A. SBA loan applications do not qualify. Allloans subject to credit approval. Certain restrictions apply.
4www.thebusinessjournal.com FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2017IGIHOF from 1of Fame. Headed by Sam Geil, abusiness management consultant,t he ha l l of fa me is a volu nteerorganization dedicated to promotingenv i ron ment a l con ser vat ion i nbusiness.“O u r m i ssion i s to recog n i zeexcellence in the green industryand create an educational platformfor the general public,” Geil said,“so people can come and learn aboutthese great organizations and whatthey do, and especially students.”The event will also include severalguest speakers. Among them willbe climatologist Michael E. Mann,professor of atmospheric science atPenn State.There are 35 semi-finalists whowere whittled down as part of thehall of fame’s selection process. Eachcandidate, having been nominatedonline by the public, was then vettedand narrowed down to the ninehonorees that will be inducted.Those companies and individualswho are added will receive a plaqueand certificate. They are furthergiven a lifetime membership in theInternational Green Industry Hallof Fame.One company to be previouslyhonored is Sunrun. Based in SanFrancisco, it is the largest dedicatedresidential solar company in theUnited States. Sunrun was inductedduring the 2014 season for innovatingthe power purchase agreement inthe solar industry, which sees theinstallation of solar energy systemsat little to no cost to the customer.“Being inducted into theInternational Green Industry Hallof Fame was a huge accomplishmentfor t he compa ny,” sa id MichaelGallagher, metro market leader andregional sales director for Sunrun inFresno. “It helped solidify our placein history as a pioneer in the solarenergy industry.”Gallagher stated that the inductionhas further helped in the businessas well, citing it as a checkpointachievement for them. This includesbenefits to their operations in theValley.“This is a worldwide organizationthat is dedicated to the companiesand individuals that are dedicatedto env i ron menta l stewa rdsh ip,”Gallahger said of the hall of fame.“T his has enabled us loca lly int h e C e n t r a l Va l l e y t o s h o wadditional credibility in addition toaccomplishments and partnershipsthat the company has already made.”A long with the ceremony, theInternational Green Industry Hallof Fame will be holding the StudentEnvironmental Leadership Summiton Oct. 5.As for the organization itself, it isentirely online, but Geil said that thehall of fame has plans for growth.“Our next phase of the vision isto have our own location, our ownbuilding, our own address,” Geil said.“We’re hoping we can do that here inthe Central Valley.”Fo r m o r e i n fo r m a t i o n , v i s i tgogreenhall.org.Donald A. Promnitz Reporter can be reached at:490-3461 or e-mail donald@thebusinessjournal.comQuail Park at Shannon Ranch willoffer exceptional living and healthservices for active seniors in VisaliaLiving Care Lifestyles recently celebrated the groundbreakingof Quail Park at Shannon Ranch, a new senior communityin northwest Visalia offering Independent Living, AssistedLiving and Memory Care.To honor the participation of its local partners, Living Care Lifestyles will donate 5,000 each to the Tulare County Deputy Sheriff’s Association and The Visalia FoxTheatre Foundation.The new facility will open in 2019. Plans for Quail Park at Shannon Ranch call for 120rooms – with capacity for 140 residents – located at Demaree and Flagstaff Avenue. Thecommunity is expected to employ a staff of approximately 120.Quail Park at Shannon Ranch’s amenities will include bistro, pub, dining room and privatedining options; a pool-fitness-wellness suite and fitness programs; sports den and activitycenter; 24-seat theater, library and meditation suites, a virtual golf area, outdoor patios onthree levels, and trail access to the Shannon Parkway.About Living Care LifestylesLiving Care Lifestyles, founded in 1999 and based in Seattle, is the leader and simply the bestin senior lifestyles communities. More information is available at www.livingcarelifestyles.com.Pictured from left to right Denis Bryant, LivingCare Lifestyles, CEO, President;Dena Cochran, Kaweah Delta HCD Vice President ofDevelopment; Eric Shannon,Co- Owner QP Shannon Ranch; Bernard te Velde, Co-Owner QP Shannon Ranch; Gary Herbst, KaweahDelta HCD CEO; Lynn Mirviss, Kaweah Delta HCD Board Member. 2017 Living Care Lifestyles. All rights reserved.R A N K E DBANKTOP 5IN THE U.S.1Bank Director, 2017COMMERCIALLENDING SOLUTIONSREVOLVING LINES OF CREDIT COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE LENDING TERM LENDINGCONSTRUCTION LENDING SBA ASSET-BASED LENDING EQUIPMENT FINANCINGWe help businesses grow. From manufacturers and wholesalers to retailers and service companies, Citizens Business Bank’s comprehensive andcreative Commercial Lending solutions enhance your ability to grow your business and achieve your unique goals. Our Relationship Managers willwork with you to understand your business and financing needs to tailor banking solutions for your current needs and long-term objectives.Contact one of our local experienced bankers today!cbbank.com/centralvalley1Among Banks with 5 Billion to 50 Billion in Total Assets.CVB Financial Corp. is the holding company for Citizens Business Bank.Member FDICEqual Housing Lender
5FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2017 www.thebusinessjournal.comCarr from 3is with Dignity Health. Based in SanFrancisco, Dignity Health has 9,000physicians and 400 care centers in 22states, including three hospitals in theBakersfield area where the Carr brothershail from.Longtime Bakersfield televisionanchor Robin Mangarin-Scott, whonow handles strategic marketing andcommunications for Dignity Health inBakersfield, said she knew of the Carrbrothers as they advanced out of theirprep careers, guided by their parentsRodger and Sheryl Carr.“They are just a good family,”Mangarin-Scott said.Dignity Health’s motto is “hellohuman kindness,” and one of the firstefforts of the partnership is a videothe captures another well-known storyabout Derek Carr — the time in Marchwhen he stopped to help a stranger whoran out of gas and was stranded in theEast Bay community of Dublin.The video features Carr and thestranded motorist, a Bay Area musicproducer named Ron Reeser, discussingNut from 1neatly into rows so a mechanicalsweeper could pick them up. He saidit seemed a bit light in this grove.Generally, Valley walnut treeshave been producing better thisseason, said Hester, owner of HesterOrchards, Inc., south of Farmersville.“It isn’t high and isn’t low — whatwe would call average over the lastcouple of years.”“T he i ndustr y wa s u nder t heimpression it would be a larger crop,initially,” but earlier this month,the U.S. Department of Agricultureforecasted this year’s Californiawalnut harvest to be about 650,000tons, some 50,000 tons less thanwhat industry experts generallyexpected, said Mike Poindexter, CEOof Poindexter Nut Company in Selma,which grows and buys walnuts fromabout 300 Valley farms, processesthem and ships them across the globe.Sti l l, even i f t he gover n mentforecast is right, this year’s walnutharvest would be the second largestin the state’s history, though the684,000 tons produced last yearwasn’t enough to meet the demand,he said.Poi ndex ter noted t hat wa l nutharvesting has only recently started,so it’s too early to determine whichharvest prediction is the right one.“A s f a r m e r s , we a r e p r e t t yoptimistic. We think it’s going to bea good year,” said Hester, adding thatthis optimism also extends to whatfarmers believe they’ll be paid fortheir walnuts.“We think the prices are goingto move up slightly from last year,which is important. Walnut pricescame down significantly three yearsago, and they came up slightly lastyear.”That price dropped from 1.85 perpound average for all walnut varietiesin 2013 to 1.67 the following year. Itcrashed down to 83.5 cents per poundin 2015, Poindexter said.“It was a significant hit. Some ofthe buyers went out of business,”while other growers had to decide ifthey wanted to stay in the farmingbusiness or if they should uproottheir walnut trees and plant othercrops, Hester recounted.the incident and what it meant to bothof them.“It has nothing to do with health careor football,” Mangarin-Scott said. “Ithas to do with human kindness, andit’s more powerful than any 30-secondcommercial or ad in a newspaper.”She added that in two days the videohad more impressions, shares andreach online than any other post sharedsocially.“If our launch of this online videois any indication, the sky’s the limit,”Mangarin-Scott added.A budding music career?Online video may be the next frontierfor the Carr brothers. The latest EECUcommercials may portray the Carrbrothers at their silliest yet. The viralcampaign teased the world on whetherwe would actually hear some of Derek’smusic. He did not disappoint, singing apoppy song about EECU’s “great rates”while dancing around in a fringed jeanjacket.The title of the song? “A Bank I CanTrust.” A sample of the lyrics: “EECU’sgot my back. EECU’s saving stacks.”Behind all of the joking around isan actual ma
PERIODICAL: TIME SENSITIVE PRIORITY HANDLING FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2017 ISSUE # 325316 1.25 PER COPY USPS 145-100 UPDATED DAILY www.thebusinessjournal.com SEPTEMBER 22, 2017 THE FOCUS 8 THE EXEC
