A business walk in downtown Marysville was coordinated by the Yuba-Sutter Business Consortium October 3, 2013. The community walk program, conducted twice a year in different Yuba-Sutter communities, is focused on city or county officials, business resource providers and business leaders meeting with business owners or senior management. Understanding business' unique needs and concerns and offering assistance in connecting businesses with appropriate contacts and resources is key to the program's success.

Ten business walk teams visited 83 businesses in about two hours and asked four questions; "How is your business, has the Caltrans street overlay project affected your business, what do you like about doing business in Marysville, and, how can business be made better for you?" About 59 percent of respondents reported business has decreased since last year, 22 percent reported business has remained the same, and about one out out of five reported that business has increased.

With 20 years of experience in veterinarian services, Shannon Sullivan opens the 3,000 square foot full-scale Country Corners Veterinary Hospital at 9210 Marysville Road in Oregon House in January. The new vet center will offer animal preventative care, surgical services, dental prophylaxis, spay and neuter services, ambulatory care, hospitalization, laboratory, and radiological services.

Doctor Sullivan graduated from University of California (UC) Davis with a Doctor in Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree in 2007, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology with concentrations in microbiology, molecular biology and clinical laboratory science as well as a minor in Chemistry cum laude from Sacramento State University in 2003. Sullivan has worked in the veterinary field since the age of 16 with large animals, exotic animals, and domestic animals, and has been a Yuba County resident for five years.  

"I grew up in a rural environment and enjoy fishing/hunting/riding horses and gardening," said Sullivan. "When I was younger I showed Tennessee Walking Horses for multiple owners at a national level."

Hours of operation for the Country Corners Veterinary Hospital will be Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information call 530.692.9552 or visit here.

Preparing an emergency plan and setting up a disaster kit are two methods recommended by the Yuba County Office of Emergency Services (OES) to protect family members during the winter storm and flood season. Recommended steps and methods for disaster preparation can be found online here. 

In the event of a localized or county-wide emergency, OES has taken its residential and business notification system to a new level with the creation of an Emergency Alert Notification System. Regardless of the online, cell phone or Internet communication used by businesses or residents, the Alert Notification has the capability to call or text warnings in real time. 

To enroll in this CodeRed community warning alert system, fill out this simple online form.

Your contact information will remain confidential, and registrants will only be contacted in the event of an emergency to provide warnings, instructions or evacuation information.

Governor Brown successfully passed California Assembly Bill 93 effectively eliminating 42 state Enterprise Zones effective January 1, 2014, including the Yuba-Sutter Enterprise Zone which has been operating since 1986. Over the last two decades the Zone has provided local businesses with millions of dollars in state tax credits for eligible employees and equipment purchases. Businesses can still participate in the Yuba-Sutter Enterprise Program by completing employee vouchering forms and applications by December 31, 2013. Online forms can be found here. 

Three new programs will be implemented statewide in 2014  include a manufacturing, sales and use tax exemption, the "New Employment Tax Credit Program" and "California Competes Program." The new programs are coordinated by state agency Go-Biz, the Board of Equalization, and the Franchise Tax Board. The employment tax credit program is effective for wages between $12 and $28 an hour and is limited to $56,000 per employee over a five-year period. Eligible employees who increase the number of jobs for a business include veterans, those unemployed for six months or more, parolees and recipients of CalWorks or general state assistance programs. 

Tax credits for the new California Competes Program will be negotiated by Go-Biz and approved by a Tax Credit Committee made up of the State Treasurer, Director of the Department of Finance, Director of Go-Biz, and two appointees from the Senate and Assembly. For more information for California Competes, visit here.

The manufacturing equipment, sales and use tax exemption program eliminates the California portion of the sales tax (4.19%) on up to $200 million of equipment at the time of purchase, and focuses on food processing, manufacturing R & D equipment, and biotech firms. The tax exemption becomes effective July 1, 2014. For more information visit here. 

The Yuba County Planning Department is working on a comprehensive update to the County's zoning and development ordinances. The draft update document will be available for public review and comment in Spring 2014. The 2030 General Plan Update was adopted by the Yuba County Board of Supervisors June 7, 2011. The next step is to bring the County's codes into compliance with the Update and bring them up to date with current development demands and needs.

To find out more about the code section overhaul and upcoming public meetings, and sign up for email notifications, click here. 

Yuba County businesses and residents are now able to choose affordable, high-quality health insurance coverage offered through "Covered California." Covered California is a marketplace for obtaining financial assistance and comparison in choosing health coverage. By law, health insurance coverage can't be dropped or denied even with a pre-existing medical condition, or any illness or condition prior to obtaining insurance.

The Yuba County Health and Human Services Department established a branch Call Center for Covered California at the direction of the Yuba County Board of Supervisors. The Call Center started operating October 1, 2013 to help those who qualify for Medi-Cal under the new criteria established by the Affordable Care Act. The local Call Center will operate during the Open Enrollment period that runs through March 2014 for those initially seeking health insurance, after which the Center will be staffed to help those who qualify to sign up for special circumstances (marriage, divorce, death of a spouse, etc.). All those who speak with our Call Center representatives will also hear about other programs offered through the county, including CalFresh and CalWORKS.

For enrollment information, visit here or call 1-888-975-1142.