Bellpenny Brewing Company Releases Inaugural Beer

Congrats are in order for Bellpenny Brewing Company. They just released their inaugural beer, an ESB known for its balanced malt and hop flavors.

Their ESB can be found at downtown's ISO: Beers and Original Gravity Public House.

Before they open their own San Jose brewery, they'll be brewing their beers at local breweries, including at the brewery of their good friends at Santa Clara Valley Brewing.

The founders of Bellpenny Brewing are Char Boger and Jim Turturici, two well-known folks among the local beer community.

I've written more about Bellpenny Brewing at my local (mostly) San Jose beer site.

Cheers!

Vizio is now indirectly a San Jose company

America's largest TV company is now officially part of Silicon Valley. LeEco, which has their North America headquarters in San Jose, purchased Vizio for a cool $2 billion. It is unlikely that Vizio itself will move from Irvine to San Jose in the near term, but the purchase at least opens the door.

I have always had a lot of respect for Vizio. They started out as a budget brand focused solely on value and are now able to compete with the top manufacturers in the world. Vizio has always been among the first to drive cutting edge tech into products most people can afford (TV Apps, Ultra HD 4K, HDR, and now Smartcast). This is a company that belongs in San Jose, in North First, with all the other titans of the tech world.

Source: SVBJ

Deli Delicious now open in Evergreen

The best sandwich chain in the Fresno area now has its first Bay Area outpost. Deli Delicious opened less than a month ago on a quiet strip mall in Evergreen, just a few blocks away from the house I grew up in. Over the years, the generic eateries in the area have been giving way to more unique and higher-quality offerings that San Joseans thankfully have come to appreciate and expect. I can't imagine many people in the area choosing to go to Subway after trying out Deli Delicious.

I sampled (devoured) three different sandwiches and they were all excellent. The #44 Chipotle Chicken was my favorite, followed by the #42 Philly Cheese Steak, and #37 Hot Pastrami & Provolone. The meat is marinated and cooked in house, never frozen or microwaved like other chains. The breads are freshly baked. Oh, and instead of just having boring potato chips they have beer-battered fries, sweet potato fries, and curly fries for the sides. There are some healthy options like salads as well, but where is the fun in that?

Word is getting out, I highly recommend checking them out. It is definitely one of the better Sandwich places in Evergreen and if it's successful we'll likely see more of them (hopefully one in North San Jose or Downtown).

Deli Delicious is located at 2762 Aborn Road and is open Monday through Sunday from 10am to 9pm.

NextSpace partnering with SJSV Chamber to launch a second co-working space in Downtown San Jose

Coworking spaces are in high demand in Silicon Valley, and NextSpace is ready to capitalize on that with a new location. NextSpace was the first true coworking space in Downtown San Jose with a center at 2nd Street and San Fernando in 2011. Now they are partnering with the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce to utilize 7,000 SQFT of space at 101 W Santa Clara Street.

The partnership is quite unexpected yet makes perfect sense. The Chamber's goal is fostering economic prosperity and assisting local businesses and entrepreneurs, and those are exactly the type of people that utilize NextSpace offices.

The location will have offices for two-to-eight people, dedicated workstations, a kitchen, multiple conference rooms, and event center, and open cafe seating. For more info email siliconvalley@nextspace.us or read the full press release below.

NextSpace Partners with the SJSV Chamber, Launches Second Co-working Space in the Heart of Silicon Valley

Santa Cruz, Calif. – NextSpace, the pioneer in coworking and shared-space has partnered with the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce to support entrepreneurs, small businesses and startups in downtown San Jose.

Nextspace CEO Kurt Grutzmacher and SJSV Chamber President & CEO Matthew Mahood announced the availability of offices and open-configured workspaces in its newest space — NextSpace Silicon Valley at The SJSV Chamber — a 7,000 square-foot, full floor coworking space. Though the new space at the Chamber building — at the corner of Market and E Santa Clara Street — will formally begin taking applications October 1, founding members have already begun filling the space.

“We are excited to partner with NextSpace,” Mahood said. “As an organization that is focused on fostering economic prosperity as our primary mission, this partnership allows the Chamber to offer small businesses and local entrepreneurs a new platform for growth and greater success. As collaborative workspaces become more commonplace, the Chamber’s partnership with NextSpace is a natural opportunity for us to support and promote the innovation economy in our community, especially in downtown San Jose. ”

Originally opening their doors in 2008 in Santa Cruz, it took NextSpace less than six months to reach capacity. The Nextspace San Jose space, opened in 2011 at 2nd Street, reached capacity in the fall of 2011, warranting the need for a second location just up the street.

“We have one of the best communities I have found on the planet,” Grutzmacher said. “Our spaces are full of amazing people of diverse walks of life; entrepreneurs, website developers, programmers, engineers, graphic designers, life and business coaches, artists, legal services, architects, non-profits, and bookkeepers—all striving to be the best at their trade and enjoying life. Each location truly represents a cross-section of the local business community. We are excited about partnering with progressive leaders like Matt and the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber team.”

The NextSpace Silicon Valley at The SJSV Chamber joins the company’s eight other locations in California and Chicago and is the first to share space with a local chamber of commerce. The new space will offer offices that fit two-to-eight people, dedicated workstations and open café seating along with a kitchen, multiple conference rooms and a large event center.

“From our perspective, tech start-ups and small businesses are looking more now than ever for spaces that they can collaborate in,” said NextSpace COO Andrew Van Valer. “There are long waiting lists for incubators and accelerators in the region and we are a place for tech start-ups and small businesses to work, create, develop, evolve, collaborate, launch and grow in the region now. When non-profits, for profits, social enterprises, startups, youth, mentors, and their passion mix at Nextspace, magic happens.”

For a free day-pass, information regarding founding memberships, to explore the space and book or reserve workstations, meeting room and or event space, email siliconvalley@nextspace.us

There will be an official Open House coming in October, date to be determined.

About NextSpace

Established in 2008 in Santa Cruz as a co-working space, Nextspace is a hub of economic activity, bringing together entrepreneurs, freelancers, and people seeking to balance life and work on their own terms. The mingling of our founding members and new faces created a strong network, leading to many successful ventures and was eventually termed the NextSpace Effect.

About the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce

The San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit business association representing nearly 1,400 employers and 275,000 employees throughout the greater Silicon Valley. Its mission is to create a strong local economy, provide premier business connections and visibility, represent the interests of business to government, promote the community and initiate political and community action.

Take 50% off Japantown Sake Walk Tickets through Labor Day

There's a flash discount of 50% off tickets good through the end of today for the upcoming Sake Walk in Japantown on Thursday, Sep. 15 from 6pm to 9pm.

The folks from The Beerwalk are helping to continue Sake San Jose and proceeds will benefit Yu-Ai Kai and the Japantown Business Association.

Tickets can be purchased until the end of the day today for 50% off the currently priced $35 tickets at www.sakewalk.com.

For some more information, please check out my recent post on my local beer site at www.gratefulhubby.com.

Cheers!

Opportunity Fund

Below is a guest post by Phillip Bergman. Opportunity Fund is a non-profit headquarterd in Downtown San Jose. Over the past 20 years they have loaned $173 million to 13,000 businesses and individuals. Last year alone they provided $60 million in loans. It is tough (and expensive) to run a business in San Jose, and this is a local resource that may be able to help.

San Jose is home to non-profit Opportunity Fund (www.opportunityfund.org), which believes that small amounts of money and financial advice can help people make permanent and lasting change in their own lives, driving economic mobility and building stronger communities. It says yes to small business owners, low-income students, and families because entrepreneurship, education, and sound financial habits are proven pathways to greater economic opportunity.

Even in the most favorable circumstances, creating small business success is a significant challenge. With traditional lenders tightening lending qualifications, small business owners are often left with a narrow set of problematic options – lending schemes with triple-digit interest rates that can cripple a business. Opportunity Fund helps small business owners avoid predatory lending, such as high rate ‘fast cash’ advances. About 90 percent of its loans are to minority owned businesses and Opportunity Fund provides no cost evaluation of loan needs and complimentary cash flow analysis to determine financing that businesses can afford to help promote long term success. The strategy combines microloans for small business owners and microsavings accounts to help students pay for college and families save for a rainy day. As California’s leading microfinance provider, Opportunity Fund has loaned more than $170 million and helped about 13,000 people since 1994.

Opportunity Fund's role is to help working families realize their dreams and move beyond worrying about how to live day to day. Visit www.opportunityfund.org for more information about the organization and San Jose office.

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the first metro in the country to break the million dollar mark for single-family homes

Ouch, the San Jose metro is officially the first metro in the United States where the average cost of a detached home is seven figures. The average cost of a come in our area (which includes all of Santa Clara County) is $1,085,000. This compares to $885,600 in the San Francisco Metro, $742,200 in Anaheim, and $742,000 in Honolulu.

The average cost of housing in the San Jose metro rose a whopping 10.7% last year. The San Francisco metro rose by 9.5%. Despite signs the housing market and economy are slowing down, home values are continuing to go up.

Hopefully we learned our lessen in 2008 and this won't get too out of hand. For those that don't understand what happened eight years ago, I highly recommend watching The Big Short (now on Netflix). Spoiler alert: one of the first people to identify the corruption and scandals happening in the mortgage market is from San Jose.

Source: SocketSite

San Pedro Square Market 5 Year Anniversary

I can't believe it has already been five years since the San Pedro Square Market opened up. It all started with just two vendors and a dream. Now the SPSM is one of the top destinations in Downtown San Jose--and a key contributor to the area's revitalization.

To celebrate, The San Pedro Square Market is holding an event on Thursday, September 8th with games, food & drink specials, live music, and tours of the historic Peralta Adobe. The entire city is invited to this free event, and it's open to all ages. Games will start at 5pm with music running from 7pm-11pm on two outdoor stages. Check out the schedule below for more details.

Event Schedule

• 5:00pm - The Barracuda mascot (Frenzy) opens our night with the inflatable puck challenge. Additional games include: a giant two person high striker game, two regulation corn hole sets, giant open air Photo booth, and a XXL corn hole set available for everyone’s enjoyment. Most tenants will be offering items for $5 or less and to commemorate our largest and longest running event at the Market, the bars will feature an Oktoberfest beer for only $5 while supplies last.
• 6:00pm - Mayor Liccardo's opening speech will be on the Sidewalk Cafe commemorating 5yrs at the Market
• 6:30pm - The Urban Outlaws Band will start the opening music performance on the Sidewalk Cafe and will perform until 9:30pm
• 7:30pm - Treatbot kicks off their Karaoke Night in the Market Hall building of SPSM
• 8:00pm - Our headlining music performance OTR Band (winner of The KFOX Last Band Standing competition) opens on the main stage in the plaza and will play until 11pm