Business
At the Oakland Cottage Industry Show at the Park Boulevard Presbyterian Church two weeks ago, more than 30 artisans gathered to show their home-made products. Among them was 91-year-old Gene Goodin, who sat quietly in front of his artwork wearing a hat that read “World War II, 1941-1945, Veteran.” To his right was an oil painting of an old train on a railway in the countryside, the brown train crossing a green landscape of hills. He sold it later in…
After almost two years of planning, on April 28, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland announced that its Center for Community Health and Engagement had been born. What they call “The Center” will function within Children’s Hospital to coordinate programs focusing on preventive healthcare for children and their families. “The hospital has a huge community benefit portfolio,” said Dr. Barbara Staggers, chief of adolescent medicine at the hospital and executive director at the new center. “Since the Center is just getting off…
The Town Kitchen—an Oakland food startup that employs low-income youth—has graduated from an accelerator program and moved into a brand-new kitchen near Lake Merritt.
On May 2, the Oakland Cottage Industry Show (OCIS) is hosting the first of their twice-annual shows where artists who work with wood, iron, paint and jewelry will come together at Park Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Oakland. The phrase “cottage industry” usually refers to a small-scale business carried on at home by a family or an individual using their own equipment and materials to produce a marketable product. This year at the OCIS, the show will have number of artisans…
A solar micro grid, now being shipped in pieces, will arrive in Uganda early June. Once assembled on site, it is designed to carry enough energy to power around 20 businesses and homes on Kitobo, a fishing island. “Most of the locals’ electricity is delivered to the wealthy,” said Jalel Sager, a PhD candidate studying in the Energy & Resources Group, an interdisciplinary graduate program at UC Berkeley. “We are going to replace the expensive and noisy diesel generators with…
No matter how busy or stressful the day, a cup of tea is an invitation to slow down, says Reem Rahim, chief brand officer and co-founder of Numi Organic Tea, a privately-owned, triple bottom-line company based in Oakland. As a benefit corporation, or “B Corp.,” Numi pursues not just profit, but a trio of goals: economic, social and environmental benefits. Numi plans to donate 1 percent of its net profits to water access projects in 2015. The goal is to…
Many of us wanted to be an astronaut as a kid, but this dream comes true for only a few. It would be a journey into the unknown filled with unforgettable experiences. But there is a hook: If you want to be one of the first explorers to reach Mars, you have to leave everyone behind—forever. The Dutch foundation Mars One received more than 200,000 applications for exactly this, a one-way trip to Mars. The global application elimination process started in 2013…
Fast food and low-wage workers in Oakland, Richmond and Berkeley joined a workers’ strike dubbed “Fight for $15” on Wednesday, continuing a two-year-long campaign that calls on fast food chains to institute a $15 minimum wage and the right for workers to unionize without reprisal.
Brahm Ahmadi of West Oakland has been trying for years to open the People’s Community Market—his planned 10,000 to 20,000 square-foot grocery store—in the middle of an Oakland food desert. The People’s Community Market, as envisioned, would focus on serving the low-income families of West Oakland, and in 2013, Ahmadi campaigned to raise initial seed money. Through direct public offerings, or investment crowdfunding, he raised $1.2 million from about 400 shareholders. Challenges in finding a location for the store have delayed…