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From February 2007
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February 2007
Prosper At Work, In Life is a business-lifestyle magazine celebrating the achievement and success of the growing Sacramento Metro Market and its bright future as a great place to live, work and play.EDITORIAL
Jeffrey S. Young Editor In Chief jeffrey.young@prospermag.com
Michelle Margetts Managing Editor michelle@prospermag.com
Elizabeth Babbitt Associate Editor liz@prospermag.com
Barbara Anderson Copy Editor babz@copper.net
Patty Bonnstetter Copy Editor patty@prospermag.com
EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS
Marion Anthonisen • Elizabeth Babbitt • Doug Brauner • Aaron Cheesman
Janis Dice • Ashley Difuntorum • Joe Irvin • Ted Johnson • Mark Larson
Cheryl Leff • Tara Manners • Neil Michel • Megan Montgomery • Michael Penwarden
Sukhjit Purewal • Harrison Sheppard • Georgene Waterman • Larry Wood
DESIGN & LAYOUT
Scott Olling Art Director scott@prospermag.com
Judd Hertzler Intern judd_adi@prospermag.com
PHOTOGRAPHY
Neil Michel Photo Editor neil@prospermag.com
Photographers Tony Novelozo (tony@axiomphoto.com) • Greg Rihl • Charr Crail Justin Bailie • Megan Klugh • Francisco Dominguez • Corey Yeaton • Tiffany Weigel Victor Cobo (victorcobo.com)
COVER IMAGE
Charr Crail Photographer charrcrail.com
Illustration Contributors
Tyson Mangelsdorf “Baby Blue Chip” pixelgarden.com
Matthew Holmes “Strawberry Masthead” mhartist@pacbell.net
Abrandabove “Green House” abrandabove.com
Dave Curd “Truckin’ Al” davecurd.com
ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Caroline Logan Sales Manager caroline.logan@prospermag.com
Richard Helton Senior Account Executive richard@prospermag.com
Tara Manners Account Executive tara.manners@prospermag.com
CUSTOMER SERVICE Megan Montgomery megan@prospermag.com
MANAGEMENT
David Smith General Manager and VP david.smith@prospermag.com
Scott Doniger VP Marketing and Circulation scott.doniger@prospermag.com Michael Ashker Managing Partner michael.ashker@prospermag.com
Mike Teel Partner miketeel@prospermag.com
Warren Smith Founder/Publisher warren@prospermag.com
Editor’s Note
A Classic Love StoryFruits and vegetables have long been the real secret of California’s prosperity. This month, as love takes center stage and Cupid reaches into his quiver to ambush the unsuspecting, we’re providing a different look at St. Valentine’s Day. We offer a business love story built around strawberries. Shakespeare said it best, and I paraphrase: The course of true love never did run straight, especially in business.
Since the Big Four built the transcontinental railroad and figured out how to ice down boxcars in Sacramento so fresh produce could make it back east without spoiling, this region has been the breadbasket of the nation. Forget gold and silicon, agribusiness is the real engine of the state’s growth. While oranges and lemons, lettuce and grapes get most of the credit, strawberries are part of our prosperity, too.
Today, it is FedEx, 800 numbers and the internet that are at the heart of the new economy, and that holds true for fruit as well. Our cover story about Shari Fitzpatrick, creator of Shari’s Berries, the local business that ships chocolate-dipped strawberries all over the world, is no exception. By taking advantage of overnight shipping and phone and online ordering — not to mention a savvy ability to get publicity as the poster child female entrepreneur for the new millennium — her business boomed.
Or so it seems to any outsider. But, like many stories, there is another side to the fairy tale, a back story that makes our cover piece (“Heart & Sold,” see page 30) a classic saga. Fitzpatrick built a great business. Then she thought she would bring in some partners and make it bigger and better. At first it seemed like that was exactly what was happening. But then things began to change. Read this cautionary tale to find out the real scoop. There are hard-won lessons in there for all of us, and inspiration, too.
Jeffrey S. Young
Editor in Chief
Ted Johnson (COVER: Heart and Sold, page 30)
Scott Doniger
Scott Doniger, Prosper’s new vice president of marketing and circulation, says with a grin that he likes being “the dumbest person in the room; glomming off smart people is a sure way to advance one’s career.” When it comes to branding, his 17 years of marketing, analysis and business-building savvy clearly bring him to the front of the class. When he’s not cooking up vision statements and analyzing circulation, Scott dreams of Ferraris while road cycling past his pain threshold.
Josh Brown
On another note, one of our team members is leaving. Josh Brown, account manager and burgeoning musical talent, is leaving the company to pursue his lifelong dream: to be the next country-western singer/songwriter phenom. As he begins his swim through the rough waters of the music business, we will miss his spirit, energy and good humor around the office. But we look forward to the day when we can say, “I knew him when …” Knock ‘em dead in Nashville, Josh.
Scott Doniger, Prosper’s new vice president of marketing and circulation, says with a grin that he likes being “the dumbest person in the room; glomming off smart people is a sure way to advance one’s career.” When it comes to branding, his 17 years of marketing, analysis and business-building savvy clearly bring him to the front of the class. When he’s not cooking up vision statements and analyzing circulation, Scott dreams of Ferraris while road cycling past his pain threshold.
Josh Brown
On another note, one of our team members is leaving. Josh Brown, account manager and burgeoning musical talent, is leaving the company to pursue his lifelong dream: to be the next country-western singer/songwriter phenom. As he begins his swim through the rough waters of the music business, we will miss his spirit, energy and good humor around the office. But we look forward to the day when we can say, “I knew him when …” Knock ‘em dead in Nashville, Josh.
Ted Johnson (COVER: Heart and Sold, page 30)
“It is said, ‘You can take the girl out of the small town, but you can’t take the small town out of the girl.’ And, in the case of Shari Fitzpatrick, it’s true.
“It didn’t matter if it was the first phone call to set up a meeting or a frantic last-minute, gotta-have-it call on deadline, Shari always came across the same — folksy, endearing, helpful, concerned.
“She loves her business and is proud of her contributions, but she still carries some pain from her exit from the online Shari’s Berries. More to the point, she understands herself a little better, and that makes the story even more enjoyable and, for us, much more telling.”
Freelancer Ted Johnson writes about his many passions, including the San Francisco 49ers, golf and the latest and coolest gadgets.
Sukhjit Purewal (The Green Gap, page 46)
“Go green. It’s no longer the exclusive mantra of environmentalists; it’s also a burgeoning business concept. Savvy home builders understand that by building and promoting green homes and thereby promising lower utility costs, they gain an edge with homebuyers.
“Unfortunately, I think for the average consumer, the whole concept of a solar roof still sounds … well … almost space age. But, with more of these large, energy-efficient housing tracts, such as the Lennar Homes project in Roseville, becoming available, solar has a shot at moving past a politically correct concept to becoming part of the everyday, as those who peddle it are promising.”
Sukhjit Purewal is a freelance reporter getting reacquainted with her native and much larger hometown of Yuba City.
Harrison Sheppard (OUT OF THEIR MINDS: High-Speed Rail Lowdown, page 24)
It’s not hard to see why high-speed rail has been bumped from the ballot twice. As congested as the state’s roads are, Californians love their cars.
“But the idea of traveling by rail from Sacramento to Los Angeles in under three hours — without suffering through airport lines and security checks — is certainly attractive. We’ll have to wait almost two years (maybe more?) to find out if Californians think it’s worth the $35 billion price tag.”
Harrison Sheppard is Capitol bureau chief for the Los Angeles Daily News.
“It didn’t matter if it was the first phone call to set up a meeting or a frantic last-minute, gotta-have-it call on deadline, Shari always came across the same — folksy, endearing, helpful, concerned.
“She loves her business and is proud of her contributions, but she still carries some pain from her exit from the online Shari’s Berries. More to the point, she understands herself a little better, and that makes the story even more enjoyable and, for us, much more telling.”
Freelancer Ted Johnson writes about his many passions, including the San Francisco 49ers, golf and the latest and coolest gadgets.
Sukhjit Purewal (The Green Gap, page 46)
“Go green. It’s no longer the exclusive mantra of environmentalists; it’s also a burgeoning business concept. Savvy home builders understand that by building and promoting green homes and thereby promising lower utility costs, they gain an edge with homebuyers.
“Unfortunately, I think for the average consumer, the whole concept of a solar roof still sounds … well … almost space age. But, with more of these large, energy-efficient housing tracts, such as the Lennar Homes project in Roseville, becoming available, solar has a shot at moving past a politically correct concept to becoming part of the everyday, as those who peddle it are promising.”
Sukhjit Purewal is a freelance reporter getting reacquainted with her native and much larger hometown of Yuba City.
Harrison Sheppard (OUT OF THEIR MINDS: High-Speed Rail Lowdown, page 24)
It’s not hard to see why high-speed rail has been bumped from the ballot twice. As congested as the state’s roads are, Californians love their cars.
“But the idea of traveling by rail from Sacramento to Los Angeles in under three hours — without suffering through airport lines and security checks — is certainly attractive. We’ll have to wait almost two years (maybe more?) to find out if Californians think it’s worth the $35 billion price tag.”
Harrison Sheppard is Capitol bureau chief for the Los Angeles Daily News.
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