Strictly Business KSVY - President and CEO of the 103 Year-Old Costeaux French Bakery - Will Seppi

Strictly Business KSVY - President and CEO of the 103 Year-Old Costeaux French Bakery - Will Seppi

We will talk about: 1. The bakery changed owners at least 6 times before 1981. Why, in your opinion?, 2. 1981 - When your parents (Karl - golf pro and Nancy - nurse) purchased the business from the Costeaux family (owned it for 8 years), they had no professional baking experience - why did they buy the business? 3. Then what did they do? 4. Jean Costeaux taught your father to make sourdough bread. What else did your parents bake - to start (dictated by customers’ tastes)? 5. How many food products were offered/sold in those early years of Seppi ownership? 6. Your parents ever think about selling the business, too?, 7. You and your siblings worked at the bakery after school- what did you learn (to bake, to manage, to sell, customer service)? 8. 1991 - ten years of increased bread baking production and further refinement of product offerings at the original site - how much bread was produced?, how was product selection refined?, 9. Focus on price per product or volume of sales?, 10. Santa Rosa’s Petrini’s Market distribution channel lasted 10 years - what contribution to the overall business did it make?, 11. 1991 - business tripled overnight (with purchase of Cerri-Maggenti market, large building next door - added French bistro café, expanded dessert and cake line, catering services) - was the family ready for such diverse line of products and services? What had to be done to make it successful?, which new revenue streams were greatest?, 12. 1995 - delivery services added: how well received and utilized (how many customers)?, how charge for it (flat rate, vary by distance or product)? 13. 2004 - Guinness World Record = good PR, how did it affect the business (more customers, more events, more sales)?, 14. 2005 - you returned to Healdsburg, took over the business in 2006 (with an accounting background) - what condition was the business in (growth, costs, profitability)?, tough for your parents to give up leadership roles?, 15. 2006 - as General Manager you immediately expanded the business by establishing a separate 6,500 square foot baking facility to accommodate the increased demand; how had demand increased?, for which products or services?, 16. 2008 - you were honored with the Spirit of Sonoma Award by the Sonoma County Economic Development Board. What was the award for?, what did it mean to you?, to the community?, 17. Bread has always been a success story (several Best of Show for both Professional French, Specialty breads, other categories) - how much bread do you sell in a year (loaves and dollar value)?, which bread commands a premium price?, which bread sells best?, what new breads have you introduced?, how has the cost of making bread increased over the years?, 18. 2009 - Bakery of the Year Award (Modern Baking) - how did it affect the business, you personally?, 19. 2009 - you introduced professional packaging for bread products (enhanced Costeaux’s positioning as a regional giant in the wholesale bread baking business): how had bread products been packaged before that?, the difference in ‘professional packaging’?, used by which customers?, as a ‘regional giant’ - how big (sales) was the company now (vs. 1981 or 2006)?, 20. 2015 – you relocated baking operations to a Baking Centre (nearly 30,000 square feet of production space, numerous bakery products, delivered throughout the Bay Area) - how has product mix changed over the years?, how has revenue mix changed over the years?, between retail baking, wholesale baking, packaging - which business is now the biggest revenue source?, 21. New distribution channels - satellite instore retail bakeries, bakery cafes, Costeaux On The Go at the Sonoma County Airport, gourmet foods - what constitutes a viable growth opportunity (location) - traffic, percentage of sales?, 22. Impact of numerous awards over the years? 23. How consumers tastes have changed over the years, especially re: more healthy diets? Guest URL:https://www.costeaux.com/

Strictly Business KSVY - Santa Rosa United Soccer Club - Lee Summerscales

We will talk about: 1) Is the World Cup the biggest inspiration for youth soccer development?, 2) Is the World Cup the biggest inspiration for donations to SRU?, 3) How has youth soccer grown over the years (players, clubs)?, 4) How many people participate in SRU programs?, 5) How do you define the ‘fundamentals’ of soccer?, 6) 6) Have SRU player development techniques changed over the years?, how?, 7) Have your coaching and teaching techniqueschanged over the years? 8) Youth vs. college vs. professional - how does a soccer player perceive the differences and prepare for each level of play?, 9) Are more families, for their children, attracted to soccer now because of the reputation for football injuries?, 10) is the relatively low cost of entry into soccer a reason why families want their children to play the sport?, 11) Differences between youth soccer in England, Europe, Central and South America vs. U.S. 12) Why do you think the interest in soccer in the United States has lagged so far behind the rest of the world? 13) Impact of players like Michelle Akers, Mia Hamm, Hope Solo and Landon Donovan on the sport?, 14) Are you surprised by the relatively recent impact that US players have had on European football?, are they better athletes?, are they better prepared in the sport and they were historically?, 15) Does college soccer in the U.S. attract attention among young players - Stanford, Duke, UNC, Indiana?, 16) Impact of professional players like Are professional players like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo on players?, 17) Do SRU players aspire to play in college and, perhaps, professionally?, 18) can you spot a real talent among young players?, What do you look for? 19) Does SRU get funding from the city of Santa Rosa or the county of Sonoma?, 20) best films on soccer for young people to watch? 21) other issues which you may want to discuss Guest URL: https://www.srunited.com/

Strictly Business KSVY - Reporter for the Press Democrat - Phil Barber

We will talk about: 1) Why did LeFever/Mattson target Sonoma for real estate purchases?, 2) When did you first cover this scandal?, 3) Were purchases random or did they fit a pattern?, 4) Were objectives more than real estate fraud (political or religious)?, 5) Had LeFever not discovered questionable transactions by Mattson, would anyone else have uncovered this fraud?, 6) Was the town of Sonoma sitting on his hands through all of this? could it have done something to prevent this from happening? 7) Was the real estate industry in Sonoma complicit in these transactions (L/M bought about 200 properties without negotiating terms) - did realtors have an obligation to blow the whistle?, 8) Do you know how many real estate owners refused to sell to Mattson? Were there some realtors who refused to work with Mattson?, 9) Were you ever able to interview Mattson or LeFever? 10) Whom did you interview who might have given you insight to what Mattson’s objectives were (people whose properties were purchased, people who invested with Mattson, people who were associates at Mattson)?, 11) Why do you think that LeFever turned on Mattson (fear of discovery and prosecution? guilt feelings)?, 12) Was Mattson’s family involved in the real estate fraud and are there a criminal or civil consequences that they will face?, 13) Do you think Mattson hoped for a ‘bailout’ of his Ponzi scheme - somehow?, 14) Was Mattson’s plea deal too lenient?, 15) Should Sonoma county credit Wake-Up Sonoma for having brought attention to questions about LaFever/Mattson real estate activities?, 16) Is/was there any backlash against Wake-up Sonoma for its watchdog efforts (by the city or community)?, 17) Current disposition of remaining properties?, 18) Will the terms of victims’ restitution be acceptable, reasonable?, 19) Are there other real estate build-ups in Sonoma County which are attracting attention?, 20) How can Sonoma prevent this from happening again? 21) Other issues which you might want to discuss Guest URL: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/author/phil-barber/

Strictly Business KSVY - Professor Landscape Architecture & Environmental Design: "Pastoral Capitalism" - Louise A. Mozingo

What we will talk about: 1) First transitions - when the executives at companies like Connecticut General or General Foods decided to pack up their urban offices - what was the defining financial or cultural trigger point? 2) Did abandoned cities try to fight to retain their corporate citizens - how and why did they fail? 3) A landscape architect’s dream: what was the cost of these landscapes, role of architects and landscape architects in the business of creating them - free rein to create an ‘environment’ with minimal cost constraints? 4) From General Foods and Connecticut General - how did the concept of pastoral capitalist landscape morph over time? 5) Did corporate managements envision more stable communities, rising real estate values, auto-friendly environs - or were those a byproduct? 6) Social, racial costs of suburban corporate development? 7) Did productivity increase (sales, margins, profitability)? 8) Did these new environments enhance corporate power? How? 9) How attentive were/are corporations to the environments they paid to have created? 10) Over time - have the ‘components’ of corporate campuses, corporate estates or office parks changed? Different priorities? 11) How were employees’ needs considered in creating suburban corporate landscapes? 12) Over time - have ‘features’ of corporate landscapes, which employees care about most, changed (perceived benefits)? 13) Silicon Valley seems to have remained more viable and visible than Rt. 128 or Research Triangle- why? Ability to attract talented producers? Capital access? Fluid labor pool? A as 14) Do talented technology producers care where they’re located? 15) Today - an operating problem or a tax problem (Tesla and Chevron to TX, Starbucks, AMZN, In-n-Out Burger to TN? 16) Corporate moves to suburbs = boon to communities in which new jobs are created (healthier tax base) - role of public investment in places like Silicon Valley or Research Triangle? 17) Effect of COVID ‘work-from-home’ period on management thinking about employee ‘location and productivity’? 18) Were Downing and Olmsted correct: picturesque or pastoral landscape = ‘instrument of social order’? 19) Impact of ‘greenness’ = goodness, ‘capitalist magic’? 20) Contrarian opportunity - is the urban melting pot now a spatial condition for creative business environments? 21) Your perspective on your book after 15 years? 22) Your perspective on the future of corporate landscapes - what more (or less) is required? Where might these landscapes be developed? Guest URL: https://ced.berkeley.edu/people/louise-mozingo

Strictly Business KSVY - Executive Director, Green Music Center - Jacob Yarrow

1) What does Kennedy Center debacle suggest about leadership in the arts? 2) Renee Fleming (has performed at GMC), among others, cancelled scheduled performances at the Kennedy Center - was she right to do so? 3) Role of the Board in steering the direction of the Green Music Center?, 4) How you have changed the direction or content of thew Green Music Center since you assumed the ED role?, 5) What are measures of success: audience number, ticket sales, number of performances?, 6) Re: University presenters (GMC has been invited to join ‘major university presenters’ - 23 University presenters around the country - almost entirely research universities) - what is the difference between managing a university-based art center versus one that is independent? 7) Composition of performances - breakdown by type? Which attracts biggest audiences?, 8) Motivation for performers to appear: reputation of the venue, reputation of leadership, location, size of audience, size of fee?, 9) GMC presenting touring artists - What are the expectations of the university, community re: booking performers? 10) Prices range from $65 to $1450 - annual revenue for the Center? 11) What does ‘most compelling artists of our time’ mean? 12) Over the years - which type of performance sells best?, 13) How do you spend the majority of your time: programming, fundraising, performance, higher education, marketing or nonprofit management?, 14) Potential of a great music center for the region and for the students - different from the past? How will potential be realized in the future?, 15) How do performing art and touring artists interact with an academic environment?, 16) ‘New sense of energy that I get at Sonoma State that is thrilling’ - what is that new sense of energy? How different from other arts venues?, 17) What, arts-related, have you found matters most to people in the North Bay region?, 18) What is the phenomenal power of live performance?, 19) Are philanthropic donations as robust as you would like here in Sonoma County?, 20) The Garth Newel music center in Virginia and the University of Iowa Hencher auditorium are both over 50 years old. Does the fact that the green music center is only 14 years old make a difference to you in terms of your ability to influence it and its direction?, 21) What mattered most to you about the Green Music Center, which influenced your decision to leave Iowa?, 22) What are annual audience attendance numbers?, 23) Each year more than half of Sonoma State students engage with GMC programming. Should the number be higher?, 24) Was SSU’s being a public, liberal arts and sciences, student-centered, residential campus make a difference to you? Why?, 25) ‘We have become one of the leading university presenters in the country through deep engagement with students, ethical support of artists, and engagement with the international presenting arena.’ What does ethical support of artists mean?, 26) How do you find your performers - use an artist management company?, Do you negotiate price per performance, 27) How often do you repeat performances-invite artists back?, 28) Characterize GNC as multi-disciplinary performing arts center? Which discpline attracts the largest audiences?, 29) Other issues which you might wish to discuss Guest URL: https://gmc.sonoma.edu/