Viva Calle SJ 2016 is going down this Sunday

My favorite event in 2015 is returning this year with several improvements. During Viva Calle SJ, miles of city streets will be completely shut down to let people walk, bike, skateboard, or dance down the streets of San Jose. The route has changed a bit this year. Instead of extending to East San Jose, it will go to Japantown and Midtown instead and there will be even fewer intersections where the streets are not fully closed.

In 2016 there are four different "Activity Hubs," all of which are in new locations. These include the Arena Green in Downtown San Jose, W. San Carlos (Midtown), Willow Glen, and Japantown. Each hub has food, drinks, live music, vendors, and all-around good times. Last year I also noticed several stores and organizations were also setting up booths outside of the hubs. Try to visit as many as you can.

The event takes place Sunday, September 18th from 10am-3pm. It is completely free and has no designated beginning or end (it's not a race). You can use the handy map below to locate the routes and festivities. For more info, head over here. Hope to see you there!

Coding Dojo doubled size of San Jose location

Coding Dojo launched its first San Jose location less than two years ago, running eight coding bootcamps a year with 15-20 students each (each bootcamp takes three months to complete). Today, more than 30 students a month are putting themselves through Coding Dojo's rigorous program.

In order to support all the extra demand, they doubled their footprint to 15,500 SQFT in a nearby building. The campus is now located at 1920 Zanker Road, Suite 20 and the program costs $13,495. For more info head to the Coding Dojo website.

Source: SVBJ

Sushirrito coming to Valley Fair

The original "sushi burrito" restaurant is opening their 7th location in San Jose, specifically the Valley Fair food court. They currently have four locations in San Francisco, one in Palo Alto, and one in Manhattan. The highly-rated fusion eatery should be open very soon, but I don't have an exact date. For more info, follow the Sushirrito Facebook page over here.

Thanks to Arnold Kwok for sending this in!

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.