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 [...]

FRESNO, Calif. – The challenge facing olive growers in California is how to get table olives off the trees.  Unlike olive oil, table olives have to be harvested by hand rather than by mechanical means.  Newer orchards can have success with mechanical harvesting, but orchards existing for a longer period of time were not planted [...]

FRESNO – Peter Buffett, Emmy Award-winning composer, philanthropist, and New York Times best-selling author will be visiting local schools tomorrow to visit with students and faculty to promote arts education.  He will be performing a benefit concert in the Old Administration Building Auditorium at Fresno City College this Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Buffett is the [...]

FRESNO – Longtime community supporter John E. Horstmann received a surprise Wednesday afternoon at The Downtown Club in Fresno when he was announced as the recipient of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce’s 2013 Leon S. Peters Award.   Horstmann learned of his honor in front of a group of many of his family and friends, [...]

Byron Watkins is the creative director and a partner at Windsong Productions.  In the company’s first year of inception, Watkins has led Windsong Productions to numerous awards locally, regionally and nationally.  He oversees all creative, directing, writing, conception, producing, editing and whatever needs to be completed to make a production happen.  Watkins is in the [...]

ALBANY, New York, January 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research (http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com) “the tablet PC shipment in the U.S. was 34.2 million units in 2012 and is expected to grow to 71.6 million units by 2018, at a CAGR of 13.1% from 2012 to 2018. In 2010, [...]

Upon enrolling at California State University, Fresno, Jeanna Antonino knew she wanted to major in business, but was unsure of what option she should choose.  After deciding on accounting and then human resources, she found a good fit in marketing, because of the creativity involved. While still at Fresno State in 1999, Antonino she took [...]

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Research in Motion, the company that makes the popular BlackBerry smartphones, will now be known as simply BlackBerry. The announcement has been made shortly before the release of a new line of smartphone, the BlackBerry Z10, a touchscreen version, and the BlackBerry Q10, a model with a traditional keyboard. BlackBerry’s new [...]

CLOVIS – De Young Properties’ new community, CountrySide, will open for pre-sale in February of 2013. Responding to homebuyer demand for a stylish and affordable home with extra-large homesites, Countryview is located in the heart of Clovis, near Ashlan and Armstrong. This community includes spacious lots up to 20,700 square feet and no Homeowners Association [...]

NEW YORK, Jan. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Sentiment regarding the prospects for the U.S. economy in the year ahead increased among U.S. industrial manufacturers, while uncertainty around outlook for the world economy prevailed, according to the Q4 2012 Manufacturing Barometer released today by PwC US.  According to PwC’s survey, 48 percent of respondents expressed optimism about [...]

Adam Avila is the CEO of The Alvarado Group.  It is a coalition of companies that includes civil engineering and construction company Vanguard Construction Services, general contracting company Highlands Diversified, and Highlands Energy Services, which focuses on energy conservation. Vanguard’s major projects include the Fresno veterans home and the dam endeavor at Shaver Lake.  Highlands [...]

SACRAMENTO – Joseph Gallo Farms, maker of Joseph Farms Cheese, has been awarded the 2012 Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award for its sustainable farming and cheese making. Joseph Gallo Farms, located in Atwater, received the award in the Sustainable Practices or Facilities category in a ceremony in Sacramento. The award, known as the GEELA, [...]