FRESNO - Courtney Sorensen of Clovis is the new operations manager for the Fresno County Farm Bureau, effective Jan. 7. Sorensen comes to FCFB with experience as an administrative assistant and human resources coordinator. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and journalism from California State University, Fresno, where she also obtained a certificate [...]

FRESNO – The first meeting of the California State University search committee for a new president for Fresno State will include an open forum from 10 a.m. to noon on Monday, Feb. 11, at the Satellite Student Union on the Fresno State campus. This is the only meeting of the committee that is open to [...]

Arthur Moye is a certified public accountant, certified global management accountant and founder of MBS Accountancy Corporation. MBS provides accounting, tax and consulting services to small and nonprofit businesses. MBS Accountancy is now in its third year and continues to successfully grow.  He employs eight people and is actively involved in the Fresno Metro Black [...]

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Increasing confidence in home sales and an improved sense of job security provide further evidence of the strengthening of the housing market, according to Fannie Mae’s January 2013 National Housing Survey results. Underlying the growing sense of optimism, the percentage of survey respondents who think it is a good [...]

Claudia Ruiz is originally from Hermosillo, Sonora in Mexico, and move to Earlimart, California in 1987.  She later moved to Fresno in 2004 to take classes at California State University, Fresno. As a child she wanted to be a nurse, and was a pre-nursing student at College of the Sequoias in Visalia.  She next enrolled [...]

CLOVIS – The Clovis Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting/Salute to Business Dinner at the Classic Catering Company on Monday, Feb. 11 is sold out. The yearly event celebrates the Chamber and its more than 600 members.  New board Chair Ken May will be welcomed, and outgoing Chair Rick Snow will be thanked.  Fran Blackney, business [...]

FRESNO – The Big Fresno Fair was recently honored at the Western Fairs Association’s 90th Convention & Trade Show, in which roughly 125 fairs from throughout the Western United States attend to gather new ideas, attend seminars and participate in the annual Achievement Awards. The Achievement Awards recognize the very best efforts that a fair [...]

YONKERS, N.Y., Feb. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Consumer Reports Index, an overall measure of Americans’ personal financial health, showed consumer confidence is off to sluggish start in 2013, according to the February report. The Consumer Reports Index sentiment measure declined for February dropped to 48.9 from 51.2 the prior month. The most pessimistic consumers remain Americans in households [...]

FRESNO – Chukchansi Park, home of the Fresno Grizzlies, hosted the San Francisco Giants World Series 2010 and 2012 trophies yesterday evening as part of a three-month public tour that is making stops in Junior Giants communities in the northern California region. The Major League Baseball’s Commissioner’s trophy is crafted by Tiffany & Co.  Junior [...]

Alysia Sofios is an award-winning journalist who is known in the Fresno area for her exclusive stories about the Marcus Wesson murders.  She was the first reporter to hear about the story from police and the only reporter to obtain interviews with most of Wesson’s family. Sofios majored in journalism at Michigan State University, and [...]

FRESNO – Downtown Fresno supporters came together for the State of Downtown Breakfast inside The Fresno Ballroom in the Pacific Southwest Building Tuesday morning to look back at a year’s worth of progress in the downtown Fresno area, as well as to build momentum for its future. Kate Borders, president and CEO of the Downtown [...]

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — When it comes to tax season, every year is a little different. Laws change, some benefits kick in while others end, and natural disasters can have an impact on your tax return. The deadline for filing your taxes is April 15, 2013. While this is the normal deadline, there [...]

Casey Creamer has worked for the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations since 2005, and the Western Agricultural Processors Association since 2009.  He is the vice president, handling the associations’ business, financial, insurance and membership programs.  He is also responsible for putting together each associations’ annual meetings, coordinating the CCGGA Safety School, and also working [...]

FRESNO – The SBA Fresno District Office is seeking small business owners for its third round of the Emerging 200 Leaders Initiative. “SBA has reauthorized this nationally acclaimed Jobs Growth curriculum in Fresno to take another group of Fresno small businesses to the next level of growth and success,” said Fresno SBA Director Carlos Mendoza.  [...]

TULARE – In partnership with the International Agri-Center’s Ag Warriors program, World Ag Expo exhibitors are enlisting the help of several veterans during the annual show, Feb. 12-14 in Tulare, California. The Ag Warriors program, which made its debut at last year’s World Ag Expo, assists veterans who are searching for careers in the agriculture [...]

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Prudential Real Estate, an HSF Affiliates LLC company, today released its end-of-year Outlook Survey, which shows that Millennials and Generation X place a higher importance on and hold more favorable views toward homeownership than older generations. According to the national survey, confidence increased marginally among respondents with 73% at [...]

Mario Zamora grew up in the small town of Lindsay, and obtained a bachelor’s in economics from California State University at Northridge in 2004.  He next wanted to join the U.S. Army as a lawyer, and took the Law School Admission Test in December of 2004 and earned a Juris Doctor degree from Pacific/McGeorge School [...]

FRESNO – Emmy Award-winning composer, philanthropist and New York Times best-selling author Peter Buffett took time Friday to visit students and faculty in arts programs at local schools and prepare for his “A Concert & Conversation” performance at Fresno City College Saturday evening. The benefit performance is expected to raise between $150,000 – $200,000 for [...]

Sonja Speck grew up in North Carolina, and began working at a Chick-fil-A restaurant when she was 16.  She started as a cashier, and worked for Chick-fil-A through the rest of high school and college.  Speck attended Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and earned a BSBA in accounting and a master’s in tax. [...]

NEW YORK, Feb. 01, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Fixed mortgage rates recorded the biggest one week increase since last March, with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate rising to 3.77 percent this week, according to Bankrate.com’s weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.29 discount and origination points. The average 15-year fixed mortgage [...]