For decades, Silicon Valley has been the center of tech jobs and innovation. But several companies have been uprooting their Bay Area digs over the past few weeks — Tesla and Hewlett-Packard to name a few — and relocating to cheaper pastures such as Austin, Texas and Seattle. Turns out workers themselves might be on...
San Jose business leaders see a thriving downtown — just not right now
With many businesses shuttered and trash mounting, it is hard to imagine how downtown San Jose will evolve into the metropolis city leaders are hoping for. But experts at a recent San José Spotlight panel were confident that with a little patience, a lot of housing and eager investment from local developers, a vibrant downtown core...
South Bay’s Black-owned businesses turn to networking to survive pandemic
Small businesses have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, but Black businesses have been hit even harder. According to a report by the New York Fed in April, nearly half of all small Black-owned businesses had closed or were likely to close due to the pandemic. Walter Wilson, co-founder and CEO of the Silicon Valley...
Silicon Valley will recover faster from COVID-19, report says; local economists unsure
A Bloomberg report found that according to economic infrastructure and demographic metrics, Silicon Valley ranks first among the top 100 U.S. metropolitan areas most likely to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic the quickest. “Known for their information technology, electronics manufacturing, venture-capital funding and research universities, the economies in the Bay Area boast industries that have...
Google project won’t improve San Jose’s jobs-housing imbalance much, officials say
Google’s massive downtown San Jose campus won’t make as big a dent in the city’s jobs-to-housing imbalance as city officials had hoped. That was one of the revelations from a Planning Commission meeting studying the proposed project on Dec. 9. “Even with the addition of these 20,000 jobs at full build-out, it makes a very small change...
Santa Clara County to offer small-business loans through state fund
Rather than create its own pot of money to help local businesses suffering through the pandemic, Santa Clara County will invest in a statewide fund that offers loans to small businesses. The Board of Supervisors on Dec. 8 voted unanimously to invest $6 million into the California Rebuilding Fund with the intent of offering loans...
Embattled San Jose business group names new leader, blames consultant for racist political ad
A little more than a month after The Silicon Valley Organization posted a racist image on its website — leading to the ouster of its CEO Matt Mahood — San Jose’s largest business organization has a new leader. At least for now. The SVO officials on Dec. 9 announced Robert Linscheid will serve as interim...
Santa Clara County rushes to place cap on food-delivery fees
Santa Clara County could see a 15% cap on food-delivery fees as soon as next week. While supervisors were planning to look into the matter and put a cap in place in January, they instead voted unanimously Dec. 8 to draft a stop gap measure they could approve Dec. 15. “Many of our restaurant members...
Santa Clara County eyes small-business loan program
Santa Clara County is considering establishing a $50 million to $100 million small business loan program, despite county executives insisting it’s a bad idea. The Board of Supervisors started entertaining the idea in October, with Supervisor Joe Simitian saying loan amounts should be distributed in increments of $50,000 to $100,000 per business to increase impact....
Cap on food delivery fees being considered in Santa Clara County
With a new shelter-in-place order in place until Jan. 4, Santa Clara County officials are hoping to help struggling restaurant owners by capping fees and commissions charged by food-delivery companies. Supervisors Joe Simitian and Cindy Chavez on Dec. 8 plan to ask county staff to look into drafting a proposal modeled after other Bay Area...