Every year PEA awards one of their members the prestigious Craig Calkins Executive of the Year award.  This award was named after one of PEA’s founding members, Craig Calkins.  Leading up to the announcement of the 2011 winner, PEA members shared some background and stories about Craig.

Dr. Chuck Fulonovich, Palo Alto Chiropractic read this piece by Georgie Gleim, Gleim the Jeweler that he thought captured Craig well.

Craig Calkins, one of our founding members, set us all a humbling example of what a PEA member should be. Craig arrived early at every meeting with the goal of learning more about one of his fellow members. He never sat with the same group each week. He always assumed that there was something fascinating about each individual, and about their business, that he would benefit from learning. He made sure to make every new member feel welcome, greeting them by name each week. He carried the PEA roster with him during every working day, knowing he might have the opportunity, in talking with a client, to help both the client and his fellow PEA member by making a referral. He regarded meetings and open houses as business appointments, and realized the importance of giving back to the organization by serving on the board and on committees. Craig represented the heart and soul of the organization. He would be proud to see the energy and dedication in the room every Thursday morning, so many years after he and his friends first got together to help each other do more business.

In his honor, PEA’s Executive of the Year award is named for him, recognizing members who embody Craig’s dedication, energy and professionalism.

Craig was Chuck’s sponsor and Chuck still remembers Craig very fondly.

Don Miller, Honorary Member also spoke to the group about the Craig Calkins Executive of the Year award and Craig Calkins the person.  Don was the 2^nd recipient of the award back in 1989.  Don noted that 14 of the past recipients are still coming to PEA (out of a total of 23).  Don encouraged members to try to be more like Craig by staying for the entire meeting – everyone has commitments and he encourages members to tweak their schedules so that they can stay until 8:30.

Finally, Georgie Gleim, Gleim the Jeweler spoke to the group.  Georgie is another long-time PEA member who knew Craig personally.  The qualities of a Craig Calkins Executive of the Year winner do indeed describe what Craig was like.  He was a consummate lead-giver and believed that lead-giving is the life blood of the organization.  His attendance was superlative and he always stayed for the entire meeting.  The criteria for the Craig Calkins award are:

• Leads – quality, quantity, follow-through
• Networking – meeting and participating with other firms, helping them to develop business
• Service – serving on the Board of Directors or on committees and on other community projects
• Attendance – making an effort to attend every meeting
• Deportment – projecting a self-image beyond reproach
• Professional Attributes – integrity, support, enthusiasm, consistency, inspiration, dedication, and commitment.

This year Erik Jacobsen, Threestory Studio presented the 2011 Executive of the Year award.  The winner is a dedicated member of PEA.  Some of the ways the nominating committee described the winner was a helpful person, good leads-giver, no-nonsense and professional.  This person does the little things that make PEA better.  This person helps with panel discussions, set-up and clean-up, and even modeled at the auction as an elf!  This person is the Chair of a committee (and Chair of the omelets station!) and goes above and beyond at PEA.  The winner is open, giving, cheerful, and enthusiastic.

The 2011 Craig Calkins Executive of the Year award was presented to…

Karen Bowne, Sheraton Palo Alto!

Congratulations Karen!!

• Dan Ingerman, Wemorph is excited to be completing a 3D display for the University Art in Palo Alto with a design by Harrington Design.
• Erik Jacobsen, Threestory Studio got dremel bits he needed from Larry Hassett, Hardware Stores.  He also says that he got a project from a law firm that is just the kind he is looking for.
• Mike Feller, Innovative Sales & Leasing commented that the Sheraton always does a great job for the various events he has attended there, which included an event the previous Sunday.
• Dr. Chuck Fulanovich, Palo Alto Chiropractic thanked Fawni Hill, Larick Alan Hill, Mike Fox, A&A Plumbing for their help during the renovations at his office building for the new tenant.
• Julie Fukuhara, Stern Mortgage said that the transmission on her car went out and she had the car towed to Larry’s Autoworks.  They got to work right away and found her a new transmission at a considerable savings compared to the dealer.  She loves having someone she trusts to do the work.
• Laurie Moore, Larry’s AutoWorks announced that Monday, February 13^th is their 40^th shop anniversary.
• John King, Keller-Williams Realty says that the housing market is picking up.  A recent listing just got 16 offers.
• Rick Rosensweig, Morgan Stanley is a proud father.  His daughter, Colt, has a book being published on March 1 about Newt Loken, known as the father of Michigan men’s gymnastics.  He was an outstanding coach and storyteller.  It is available in print or as an eBook from Huron River Press or selected independent booksellers.
• Richard Phillips, Advantage Career Solutions says that he sees signs of economic improvement.  One of his clients just signed a job offer as a recruiter for a headhunting firm.
• Werner Rogmans, Stanford Floral Design announced that his business is up 40%, thanks in part to PEA.
• Dr. Leta Zwiebel, Psychologist had a can of Rustoleom explode in her garage, spattering her husband’s car.  They thought the car would need to be repainted and took it to Scott Yeaman, Yeaman Autobody. Scott’s crew was able to get the car cleaned up for only $150, no repainting needed.
• Bobbie Fakkema, Events, Etc… thanked Darnel Rogan, Saber Roofing, saying that she had them install a wire grating over her gutter to help keep out leaves and debris.
• Robin Azevedo, McRoskey Mattress Company thanked Duane Asbra, Pro-Staff Painting for the paint job in her store.  She also showed a photo of a McRoskey bed beautifully decorated by Fawni Hill, Larick Alan Hill.  They have an upcoming program on how to make a well-made bed.

Welcome back to our newest feature, PEA’s Facebook Page of the Month!  We will be featuring one PEA business and their Facebook page each month, so make sure to check back next month to see what our members are up to on the Internet.

PEA Member Name: Georgie Gleim of Gleim the Jeweler

Business Classification: Retail Jeweler

Member Since: February 1979

All images are from Gleim the Jeweler‘s Facebook page.  Click images to enlarge.

Gleim the Jeweler has bought, sold and consigned estate and vintage jewelry throughout their history. They also have onsite repairs and appraisals.

Gleim the Jeweler is one of the premier family-owned, independent jewelers in the United States. Founded by her grandfather, Frederick Gleim, in Palo Alto in 1931, Georgie Gleim has continued the family tradition, serving as Gleim‘s President and following in her father’s footsteps by becoming President of the American Gem Society, and receiving the industry’s most coveted honor, the Robert M. Shipley Award.

A Peninsula institution, Gleim‘s has always been active in the community, supporting many nonprofit organizations and annually presenting the Gleim Community Service Award to a local volunteer. Gleim‘s emphasizes consumer education through an ongoing series of free lectures. In 1994, Gleim‘s won the prestigious Tall Tree Award as the Outstanding Company in Palo Alto.

Gleim’s Facebook page is updated regularly with new arrivals at the store and notices and pictures from special events.

Check out Gleim‘s Facebook page HERE

and

Don’t forget to ‘Like’ PEA on Facebook HERE

Thanks to Richard Phillips, Advantage Career Solutions for writing our guest blog posts this week!  Catch up with Part 1 HERE.

Finding the REAL Job Market (part 2)

We left of on Monday talking about the problem of finding hidden jobs.  Richard told us that, fortunately, it is possible to find and access that 80% of jobs that are hidden.  Here’s how:

1.  Define your preferred work role and setting

First, you need a clear definition of the work role and setting that meets your criteria for satisfaction and that utilizes your skills and experience.  You may already be very clear about what you are looking for, or you may need to do some assessment and research to clarify your role and setting target.

2. Focus on setting rather than role

Next, instead of concentrating your efforts on looking for a job role, focus on looking for an employment setting.  For example, in identifying your ideal work role you decide that you want to use your in-depth knowledge of left-handed gizmo tooling in the role of Director of Gizmos.  In defining your ideal work setting, you know that you want to remain in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Further, you would prefer working for a mid-sized company with rapid growth prospects because you like being in that kind of dynamic environment.

3. Create an employer “Short List”

Given these criteria, your job search just became much more focused.  Your next move is to find all the mid-sized, rapidly growing left-handed gizmo manufacturers in the Bay Area. Finding these employers is an infinitely easier task than finding a job because while 80% of jobs are potentially hidden, close to 100% of viable employers are clearly visible to anyone with rudimentary internet search skills.

4. Check for visible jobs

Once you have created your “short list” of potential employers, you then need to determine if any of them have posted a suitable job in the visible job market.  Probably the easiest way to do this is to check the company website “Careers” section.   You may get lucky and find a listing you can apply to.  If so, move as quickly as you can.  Many jobs don’t get listed on company sites until late in the process because the hiring manager may have already looked for and be interviewing qualified candidates found using other methods.

5. Access the hidden job market

Don’t be discouraged if you don’t find a listing on the company site or a job board. Many hiring managers will first use other methods to find qualified candidates.  These methods include:

• Asking current employees and colleagues for recommendations.
• Posting the job on the internal “employees only” website.
• Posting the job on membership sites run by professional associations.
• Hiring a search firm to find candidates.

Gaining access to these sources of job leads can be a challenge, of course.   However,  some basic strategies will help, including:

• Asking network contacts for introductions, advice and help.
• Finding a current employee who will check the internal job listings for you.
• Listing companies of interest on your LinkedIn profile.
• Having a strong LinkedIn profile that will interest search firms.
• Making “cold contacts” directly with your targeted companies.

By following this process, you will enhance your job search effectiveness enormously because you will be covering both the visible and hidden job “markets.”  Hopefully, you will come close to covering 100% of the possible openings.  And maybe, you will be the first to know about an opening that’s just right for you and so have the hiring manager’s attention all to yourself!

Thanks to Richard Phillips, Advantage Career Solutions for writing a guest blog post this week!  Check back for Part 2 of his article on Wednesday.

Finding the REAL Job Market (part 1)

Someone once asked me what I considered to be the number one myth that job hunters believe to be true, but isn’t.  My reply was “They believe there is a job market.”

A market is a place where sellers and buyers can meet to exchange one thing of value for another.  As Richard Nelson Bolles, author of What Color Is Your Parachute? pointed out over twenty years ago, the “job market” is largely an idea and not something that actually exists.  Certainly, if other markets were organized (or disorganized) the way the job market is, none of us would be able to find food, clothing, or any of the other basics of life.  If you consider work to be one of the basics of life, then it is no surprise that work can often be so hard to find.

There are approximately 15 million employers in the United States and in total, these organizations provide millions of jobs.  Obviously, there is no place where all of the jobs available from these 15 million organizations are listed.  And even if there was a job “market” available, employers might not use it unless compelled by government regulations.  Even then, they would probably find a way around the regulations.

Why? Because when employers announce that they want to hire a worker, through a listing on a job board, for example, they risk being flooded with resumes, many of which,  if not all, are from unqualified applicants.  Sorting through this mass of resumes takes time away from other tasks which are probably in need of urgent attention because the enterprise is understaffed, hence the need to hire.  It is a vicious circle and employers do what they can to avoid it, particularly during recessionary times when there are many people looking for work.

Estimates vary, but a safe guess is that only 20% of all available jobs are advertised visibly in some form such as online postings or classified print advertising. The career literature often labels this 20% the “visible” job market.  This leaves 80% of jobs that are not advertised or are advertised in limited ways that require special access.  Examples of limited access include the company’s internal job postings, subscription job sites and professional association job boards.  This 80% is often labeled the “hidden” job market.  But the very fact that it is hidden makes it not function very effectively as a market.

Fortunately, it is possible to find and access that 80% of jobs that are hidden.

Check back on Wednesday to read Part 2 of “Finding the REAL Job Market” by Richard Phillips, Advantage Career Solutions!

PEA member Payroll City was recently featured in an article on AccountingToday.com!

Payroll City Launches QuickBooks Interface

COLORADO SPRINGS (FEBRUARY 14, 2012)

BY SETH FINEBERG, ACCOUNTING TODAY

Payroll processing company Payroll City has developed an interface module to help users transfer all of their payroll data with QuickBooks.

The Payroll City QuickBooks interface can map all of the payroll data to the correct class, job or item within QuickBooks. The interface is designed to eliminate redundancy and retain the integrity of payroll data as it is transferred to QuickBooks.

Upon running Payroll City’s QuickBooks interface tool, Payroll City outputs an Intuit Interchange Format file for import into QuickBooks. Users can see every check posted to a register, view an employee-level history of paycheck distributions, reprint checks, and query past payroll information. They can also view and print garnishment checks, automatically input every employee into the QuickBooks employee list, assign wages to different departments, and import by payroll batch or custom date range.

The Payroll City QuickBooks interface module resides in the Payroll City cloud environment and supports all versions of QuickBooks from 2000 to present.

“We have created a superior payroll platform that that makes it easy to integrate with accounting,” said Payroll City president Kathleen Fox. “Our goal is to continue to design easy, robust, affordable solutions that bridge the gap between payroll and other critical business systems.”

Great job Nichole Fox and Payroll City!  Click HERE to see the original article.

Fawni Hill, Larick Alan Hill and her husband Larick have owned their architectural practice for 30 years.  They have designed over 500 homes in the Bay Area and more than 2 million square feet of office space.  Larick Alan Hill can do everything from initial design to project management.

Last month, Fawni shared some new trends in architecture and design with PEA.  She said the three top trends right now are height (buildings are getting taller), sustainability (use of eco-friendly materials, especially important in the US) and biologically-inspired spaces (trying to bring the outside in).

Some trends in the workplace include the use of glass. Offices are becoming more open, with best views given to employees rather than executives.  Another interesting trend is the reduction in the use of cubicles.  Instead the workplace is becoming more communal.

Residential trends include more multi-family homes and more communal living. Even in single-family homes, people are looking for more multi-use spaces with huge kitchens.  Fawni says the kitchen has become the hub of the house, where the family gathers to eat and socialize with friends.  Dining rooms are being used for other things, like as a computer area. Although people want to be energy conscience, they still want luxury on a small scale, meaning comfort rather than expense. Fawni says that as the baby boomers are aging, they want to stay in their home and are retrofitting them to make their homes wheelchair accessible.

Fawni ended by identifying current color trends.  She says neutral colors are in, like colors of anything you find in the American landscape (blue oceans, gray rocks, green grass, etc.). Benjamin Moore’s color of the year is a gray-blue called Wythe blue (HC-143, see below!)  Fawni highly recommends Benjamin Moore paints, and says you can get them from Larry Hassett at Palo Alto Hardware.

Source

Read more about the color of the year here.

Larry and Laurie Moore celebrated their 40^th year in business by doing a tag-team presentation last week.  Larry took the podium first to outline the classification for the morning.  First, they showed a short video produced for them by Diamond Certified that gave a general overview of the business.  Laurie then took the podium to talk about their environmental consciousness and customer service.  Larry’s Autoworks was in the forefront of local businesses who changed work practices for better care of the environment.  They began this work in the early 80’s and Larry became very involved in the effort.  He served on the committee that set standards for other automobile repair services.  Larry’s Autoworks has won a slew of awards, including from the city of Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California EPA and national EPA as well as many others.  Their innovations included ways to clean the floor, strategies for recycling or repurposing parts, and being among the first to use safer solvents, coolants for air conditioning, and re-refined oil.  They are still one of the only shops to offer a selection of re-refined motor oils.  These have become very good in quality, so much so that Mercedes ships cars from the factory containing re-refined oil.

As for customer service, they have been innovators here as well.  Larry’s Autoworks is a woman-owned business and takes several measures to make the business friendly to their female customers.  The waiting area is child-friendly and inviting with comfortable chairs, wireless Internet connectivity, and a few fun art pieces.  Their service advisors are trained to educate rather than sell.  They recognize that the customer is the person in charge of service decisions – they will advise on when they think it is best to fix and when it is best to replace.  In recognition of their outstanding customer service and high-quality diagnosis and repairs, they have won Best Of awards from local community newspapers nine times.

Larry took the podium next to talk about their preventive maintenance program.  Larry says that when they started their business, they just fixed cars like everyone else.  Now, they stress preventive maintenance to keeps cars from breaking in the first place and to ultimately reduce maintenance costs, because a preventive fix is often much cheaper than fixing something after it has broken.  Most repairs can be delayed or completely prevented through preventive maintenance.  The key points of the program are: 1) regular visits, 2) standard inspections made and documented, and 3) comparison of metrics to known good numbers.  Larry’s Autoworks recommends that you bring your car in every six months.  Cars brought in for inspection and preventive care can be expected to run safely for the next six months.  Measuring the wear on existing parts and comparing these numbers to known standards means that the mechanics can predict the life left on the part.  As another example, Larry says that they always measure the copper and water content of brake fluid before doing a flush, as this is a procedure that can damage the antilock system if done improperly.

Laurie and Larry ended the presentation with a virtual tour of their shop via a PowerPoint slideshow spanning the years from their beginning as Larry’s Bug Shop to the present.

John Sylvester, SST Insurance Brokers used his spotlight talk to tell PEA about the value of having employment practices insurance coverage.  John gave two cautionary scenarios to illustrate the potential need for this type of insurance.

He began by having PEA members imagine this situation: You get to your office and are presented with a summons that says you are being sued by a former employee you let go recently.  Now, the employee is suing you for wrongful termination.  You call your insurance broker, assuming it would be covered through your comprehensive general liability or workers compensation since it is an employee-related lawsuit.  He says, however, that this kind of lawsuit is excluded under those policies, so you will need to hire your own attorney.  If any judgment is made against you, you will need to reach into the company assets or your personal assets to pay it.

John presented a second situation; this time an actual case experienced by a client who did have employment practices insurance coverage.  This client had an employee who worked for them for three years and then decided to resign and move to across the bay with her boyfriend.  Two months later, John’s client received a letter from the California State Employment Bureau saying that a complaint had been filed.  The complaint stated that the employee left due to a hostile work environment.  They called John and SST Insurance Brokers, who turned the case over to the employment practices liability carrier.  They provided an attorney and defended the case.  The business did pay a deductible of $2,500, but that was much less than the lawyer fees.  John’s client did not have to worry about the business being closed down and the suit was successfully defended.

Employment practices insurance covers situations like wrongful termination, failure to promote, hostile work environment, and sexual harassment (including employees suing the company or clients claiming employees have harassed them).

Maureen Clark, Clark Associates commented that what John says is true and that the insurance is very reasonable in price.  In answer to a question, John said the cost of insurance is based on the number of employees.  These types of lawsuits have been on the rise the last ten years and John says are likely to continue to increase.  He highly recommends this coverage to PEA businesses and says he can handle it for you if needed.

PEA businesses are starting 2012 off well!  Congratulations on everyone’s successes this month.

• Bette Asbra, Pro-Staff Painting thanked Tom Brown, All Reasons Moving and Terry Pebbles, Optimum Floors.  Terry put in a beautiful hardwood floor for a client and All Reasons not only moved the furniture out for the installation, when they moved it back in they put on anti-scratch pads.
• Dan Ingerman, Wemorph said that they just worked on designing a set for a TV show.  The TV show is based in Palo Alto and Dan will be talking about sustainability.
• Larry Hassett, Hardware Stores took a car that needed body work to Scott Yeaman, Yeaman Autobody. He wrote a positive review for Scott’s web site, which entered him into a drawing.  Larry won a Flip Video camera, which he likes a lot.
• Jon Maystrik, Arborwell Professional Tree Management had a great year last year.  Arborwell had great growth last year especially in Southern California.  Jon had a great year personally and thanked PEA for contributing to that.
• Georgie Gleim, Gleim the Jeweler was in New York last week and wanted to report that the Christmas holiday season was good for them.  She thanked everyone at PEA who helped make that possible.
• Richard Phillips, Advantage Career Solutions, says that this has been a good year so far for his clients.  One just signed off on a job as an IT Director with a pay raise.  Another was hired with a sign-on bonus at PayPal.
• Albert Ong, Ambassador Services signed a big contract with Stanford.  He immediately had to go in with one day’s notice to clean carpets before a Saturday event.
• Avi Safar, Footwear, Etc., said that December was a record month for them, especially in the Palo Alto and Los Altos stores.
• Judy Johnson, Unexpected Treasures thanked Robin Azevedo, McRoskey Mattress Company for sending the most interesting new client in several years.  She also thanked Darnel Rogan, Saber Roofing for a lead on a job in Atherton.
• Shawn McMillan, Connoisseur Coffee thanked everyone for the orders over the last week.  It has been 13 months since the fire and he is now hoping to re-open in a few more months.
• Julie Fukuhara, Stern Mortgage says that in doing her business tracking at the end of the year, she saw that 25% of her business came through Yelp.  Anyone who doesn’t have a Yelp profile or who has no reviews on Yelp should be working to correct that.
• Darnel Rogan, Saber Roofing thanked Bob Rosenberg, GR8WORK Builders, Inc. for a lead on job in Portola Valley.
• Bobbie Fakkema, Events, Etc… thanked Jeff Badzik, Perfection Auto Detail for the beautiful detailing on her car.  She also thanked Laurie and Larry Moore, Larry’s Autoworks for going over her car (one of the things she bought at the Holiday Auction).
• Carol Garsten, Nature Gallery said there is a good reason why you haven’t seen her at the meetings lately – she is moving the Nature Gallery to a new location in Los Altos.  The new address is 296 State Street, Los Altos.  She plans a Grand Opening on February 10.  She also reported that January was her best January in 25 years of business.  She thanked Georgie Gleim, Gleim the Jeweler for sponsoring her in PEA and suggesting the Los Altos location.  She thanked Dave Dove, Cassidy Turley BT Commercial, for helping her negotiate the lease in her new location. Finally, she thanked Susan Hamilton, VTF Services for the help with the plants.
• Larry Moore, Larry’s Autoworks thanked Jon Maystrik, Arborwell Professional Tree Management for the beautiful job they did on their trees.   The neighbors came over and complimented the job.  Laurie Moore, Larry’s AutoWorks thanked Susan Hamilton, VTF Services, for coming over and taking piles of redwood chips from their tree trimming project.
• Kaye Sharbrough, Senior Seasons thanked Dan Ingerman, Wemorph for the new Seniors Seasons sign-on-a-stand.  This solves an upcoming problem of needing to be in two places at once, thus needing a second banner.
• Dr. Leta Zwiebel, Psychologist announced that last Wednesday was her last in San Mateo.  She is now only going to her San Mateo office on Mondays.  While she feared that her patients would be unhappy about this change, she got positive responses from them.
• Gary Rudolph, Rudolph’s Interiors thanked Angelo Izzo, California Business Opportunities for his help investigating a business opportunity.