Archive By Section - Business Columns
Signal Sales Beat - July 3, 2012
Every week the Signal sales staff updates readers on local business news and tips it picks up while out in the field.
Signal Sales Beat - June 26, 2012
Every week the Signal sales staff updates readers on local business news and tips it picks up while out in the field.
Signal Sales Beat - June 19, 2012
Every week the Signal sales staff updates readers on local business news and tips it picks up while out in the field.
Signal Sales Beat - June 12, 2012
Every week the Signal sales staff updates readers on local business news and tips it picks up while out in the field.
Signal Sales Beat - June 5, 2012
Every week the Signal sales staff updates readers on local business news and tips it picks up while out in the field.
Signal Sales Beat - May 28, 2012
Every week the Signal sales staff updates readers on local business news and tips it picks up while out in the field.
Signal Sales Beat - May 21, 2012
Every week the Signal sales staff updates readers on local business news and tips it picks up while out in the field.
Brad Watson: How to avoid conflicts of interest
Dr. HOA, I sit on the board for my association and have previously hired vendors that have worked for our association to do work at my home. I pay for the work and do not get special treatment. I hire them because I see their work first hand at our association and I trust them. Recently a new homeowner joined the board and is accusing me of doing something wrong by hiring association vendors. Is ...
Ken Keller: Is your team ‘rebuilding,’ or is it a contender?
The NFL training camps open soon, and I am looking forward to a visit to the Dallas Cowboys' practice field in Oxnard in August.
Carl Kanowsky: Like it or not, the justices were just doing their job
The pastor of a local church got a call last night from one of his parishioners who is a tow truck driver.
Improving your bottom line with water conservation
Controlling or reducing expenses can always help the bottom line. However, many companies often overlook one area to improve efficiencies - their water use.
Pete Bellas: Looking for opportunity? Join the crowd(funding)
By now, almost all of us have heard the story of Karen Klein, the 68-year-old bus monitor who was taunted and insulted by a group of middle school students on the bus she was assigned to.
Jerry Citarella: Life is like a parade
Last week, as I was preparing our float for the annual Santa Clarita Valley Fourth of July parade, I recalled one of my favorite quotes. It's something I've reflected on many times, over many years. I actually have no idea who originally said it-or if, in fact, I made it up. Either way, I love what it says. I'll use it as the basis for this column.
Ken Keller: Questions for your company’s midyear review
June 30 signaled the end of the first half of 2012 and the passing of the Fourth of July holiday means we are now officially in the second half of the calendar year.
Carl Kanowsky: The Fourth, and beloved freedoms
How was your 4th of July? Barbecue and fireworks? Relaxing and watching some games on TV?
Articles by Section - Business Columns
Bob Khalsa: Rising Home Sales Boost Economy
With the return of traditional homebuyers in ever-greater numbers, the powerful impact of an improved housing market on the local, state, and national economies is, quite frankly, palpable.
Ken Keller: Here are ten mistakes that business owners make
A former leader of a large Fortune 500 company was quoted in an interview that "People who do things make mistakes. The biggest mistake is doing nothing."
Ken Keller: Front line makes bottom line
Once a month, like clockwork, a gentleman comes to my house in the early morning and sprays for insects and bugs. We've spoken a few times and he always hands me his card, telling me to let him know if he needs to come back between visits. I think I have called him once in the last decade.
Bob Khalsa: Rising prices lift sinking homeowners
Local home resale prices last month hit the highest level in five years, with each leap up in prices rescuing legions of underwater owners, in effect, throwing them a life preserver and pulling them to dry land.
Ken Keller: Lessons learned in college apply to business
Thirty-six years ago this month I graduated from college. I didn't study a major that paid immediate dividends, meaning a job, and I wasn't ready for graduate school.
Ken Keller: Permission to argue is granted
Peggy Noonan wrote a column in the Wall Street Journal on April 20 about her attendance at Margaret Thatcher's London funeral service. She commented that Mrs. Thatcher was often frustrated with her staff. Thatcher once said to her aides, "I don't need to be told what, I need to be told how."
Bob Khalsa: Statewide median home price at five-year high
Heated market conditions fueled by a tight inventory and strong sales in higher-cost coastal regions drove California's median home price in March to its highest level since May 2008. Local prices, right here in the Santa Clarita Valley are headed higher, too.
Ken Keller: How one company turned it around
This week I'd like to introduce a company in a far different place compared to just a year ago. The organization has gone from despair to celebrating success. At the end of the first quarter of 2013, the owner said his company had "…Increased sales, reduced costs and improved our overall financial position in terms of positive cash flow and profitability, as well as reduced debt."
Steven Tannehill: What do businesses want, anyway?
This is part two of a two-part column.
Bob Khalsa: Feds ease loan modification rules
Some homeowners who are still struggling to avoid foreclosure may soon benefit from streamlined rules that offer an easy way to lower monthly payments and modify their mortgage without requiring financial or hardship documentation.
Ken Keller: Here are the vitamins a leader must distribute
Looking back on those individuals who were my bosses, a clear distinction comes to mind.
Holly Schroeder: New homes benefit more than just buyers and builder
The only people who benefit when a house is built are the family members who get to live there, and the builder who constructed and sold the home, right?
Steven Tannehill: What do businesses want anyway? Part I
This column is part one of a two-part column.
Ken Keller: Lessons to be learned from lack of feedback
In 1970 I started my first official job. I worked nine hours a week at a small grocery store. For the next two years I grossed $11.25 a week.
Bob Khalsa: Prices, sales rise as SCV’s housing market continues its recovery
The residential housing resale market in the Santa Clarita Valley continued to recover during February, with sales and prices up to their highest levels in years.
