Silicon Valley unemployment plummets to a 10-year low

I keep talking about an impending slowdown, yet stats like these continue to slap that notion in the face. In May our unemployment level hit a 10-year low with a rate of only 3.4%. In May 2015 that figure was already exceptional at 4.2% and even April 2016 was higher at 3.7%. To put that 3.4% figure in perspective, the whole state of California is performing well right now and the average California unemployment rate is 5.2%.

A total of 5,800 jobs were added to the San Jose Metro between April and May 2016. That brings us up to 1,083,100 jobs. Now some potentially bad news--most of the gains were in professional/business services, leisure and hospitality, and financial services. We lost 400 tech jobs, which tend to have the highest salaries. The positive spin is that our economy is diversifying, which would help weather any future dips in the tech sector.

Source: SVBJ

Olla Cocina is now open in San Pedro Square

Olla Cocina, a Contemporary Mexican Restaurant and Bar,  Now Open in Downtown San Jose
Inspired by regional dishes from across Mexico and California’s fresh ingredients, the new restaurant is located in San Pedro Square

San Jose, CA – An exciting addition to the downtown dining scene, Olla Cocina puts a contemporary spin on traditional dishes from Mexico in a fun and casual environment. the restaurant is located in San Pedro Square in the heart of San Jose’s urban center and opened Thursday, June 16. Olla is a celebration of all that is Mexican: a strong community, vibrant culture and generous, fresh food along with a little noise and quirkiness.

The restaurant’s Executive Chef is Adan Ornelas, most recently from adjacent restaurant, The Farmers Union, and Dry Creek Grill, both in San Jose. Ornelas worked in tandem with Olla Operating Partner Armando Navarro of El Dorado Kitchen in Sonoma, who oversees the menu.

Olla Cocina introduces innovative takes on regional Mexican food, elevating favorites with fresh, unexpected ingredients and flavor combinations. The menu includes fresh ceviches and a taco bar, as well as traditional dishes such as Carne Asada ($22) and Torta de Cochinita Pibil ($14).

Spotlighting the many regions of Mexico, the menu features small, shareable bites as well as larger entrees for a blended dining experience where the sharing of both is encouraged. Dinner starters include Roasted Chiliesserved with sea salt and lemon and Frijoles Fritos, featuring Rancho Gordo beans, Oaxaca cheese, jalapeños and totopos (both $7). Small plates include Ceviche Verde with halibut, lime juice marinade, tomatillo and avocado ($14), Vegetable Tamales with peppers, onion, zucchini, black beans, pasilla peppers, salsa verde and queso Oaxaca ($10) and soups such as Posole de Cerdo with pork shoulder, hominy, cabbage oregano, radish, onion, cilantro, chile de árbol ($13). Salads are tossed with surprising ingredients such as chorizo, masa croutons and crispy quinoa.

Larger plates include Tostada de Pollo with chipotle-braised chicken, black bean puree, cotija cheese, avocado, romaine, pico de gallo, spicy crema, cilantro ($15). The menu also features a variety of vegetarian options such asCamote con Mole, a salt-crusted sweet potato, mole sauce, almonds, rajitas of onion and peppers and house-made tortillas ($12).

The full bar will offer 12 local craft beers and 12 wines on tap, bottled Mexican beer, eight featured cocktails including a Margarita, Paloma and Sangria, horchata, Jarritos sodas and aguas frescas.

The dining experience takes place in an environment that’s both casual and special. Designed by restaurateur Doug Washington, interior décor touches include an authentic church pulpit repurposed into the host stand, witty Mexican artwork, beautiful tiles and decorative cinder blocks, intended to represent modern Mexico. A central design element featured in the main dining room and continuing to the outside patio is a ceiling trellis, made of repurposed reclaimed Douglas Fir from the garage across the street from the restaurant. Olla invites guests into a warm space with deft touches such as shoes hanging from the electrical wires that run along the ceiling, garage doors that open onto the front patio and Dia de los Muertos wallpaper. The dining area features walnut dining tables and two big, modern, custom picnic tables for communal diners. Sleek stool legs dipped in bright orange paint add to the festive environment. The eating space has low, dividing walls constructed from patterned concrete cinder blocks and capped with stained wood tops.

The 5,900-square foot Olla Cocina will seat a total of 228 in the main dining room and private dining room and 30 on the outdoor patio.

It’s in a prime location of downtown San Jose, near hotels, the convention center, offices and SAP Center, home rink for the NHL Sharks.

About Olla Cocina
Olla Cocina is a contemporary Mexican restaurant serving food and drinks in a casual, festive environment. The cuisine and bar program draw inspiration from many regions across Mexico and use seasonal California ingredients for a fresh take on traditional favorites. Located at 17 N. San Pedro St. in downtown San Jose’s popular San Pedro Square, Olla is a slice of modern Mexico with a fun and shareable menu of traditional favorites, signature cocktails and local beers and wine on tap. For more information, visit www.OllaCocina.com.

First annual "Bark in the Park" at Notre Dame Park

A new community-building event for Downtown residents, workers, visitors, and their pets kicks off this Sunday from 4-8pm at Notre Dame Park (intersection of Almaden Boulevard and Carlyle Street). This park exists today thanks to a group of Downtown residents that started a grassroots effort to clean out the unused lot and add some greenery.

The "Bark in the Park" event will have music, food trucks, wine, beer, an animal petting zoo, and art projects. Proceeds will go towards upgrading the park and helping with the maintenance for Andy's Pet Shop. With so many new residents comings into the Downtown area, we need to encourage more projects like this to improve the quality of the Downtown neighborhoods and create a stronger sense of community in the area!

San Jose musicians Lucid Optics & Museum release new album

Project info: It was three years ago that Hip Hop duo Modern Language (Lucid Optics on rhymes & Museum on production) leaked two demos to the public. In a matter of days both songs gained thousands of listens then were mysteriously deleted off the Internet without any formal explanation.

Here we are now, still without much background and the duo is back with their first official project, a four-song EP titled Ok Txt Me that was available for free starting Friday May 27th. The work is heavily inspired by communication in a digital age with a spaced-out backpacker sound. Upon release they announced that these were the first handful of tracks they wrote 3 years ago, and that they have an LP coming out sometime this summer. An official release date hasn’t been set but we can likely expect the project by late July.

The duo does finally have some social media set up, so you can keep track of their projects and hear about Lucid’s forlorn love for fish tacos on Twitter & Facebook.

You can access the new album Ok Txt Me for free at https://lucidoptics.bandcamp.com/album/ok-txt-me

Saturday Stats: San Jose is the #3 best metro for entrepreneurship growth

In the latest annual Kauffman study for startup funding growth, San Jose rose from fifth to third place on the list behind Washington D.C. and Austin. Note that this ranking is for growth and not total funding. In terms of total funding, the Bay Area nabbed $34 billion in investment during 2015, which is 27% of all the money invested in startups for the entire world. San Francisco dropped rank in the study from sixth place to eighth place.

The report also ranked the San Jose metro as being #1 for "emerging growth IPO density," whatever that means. San Francisco clocked in at #2 for that list.

Source: SVBJ

Hicklebees Children's Bookstore hosts a summer reading road trip celebration

San Jose, CA (Press Release) - In an effort to get kids reading this summer, the Scholastic Summer Reading Road Trip RV will visit Hicklebees Children's Books on June 26th from 12:00-2:00pm. Kids and families will have the opportunity to participate in their very own “pop-up” reading festival, meet some of their favorite authors, and engage in fun reading activities. The RVs will visit 20 U.S. cities nationwide throughout the summer, traveling more than 10,000 miles to spread the message about the importance of summer reading to kids.

At the Hicklebee's Children's Books reading road trip stop kids and families will enjoy a fun day of free reading activities including:

• An author visit and book signing from
• Susan Katz , author of ABC School's for Me!
• Mike Jung, author of Unidentified Suburban Object
• David Carter, author of Spot the Dot
• An activity tent filled with reading activities
• Giveaway tables and a prize wheel
• Animated photo stations with Clifford the Big Red Dog® and Slappy from Goosebumps®
• "Instaframes” picture stations for kids to show-off their “reading muscles”
• Costume characters including: Clifford the Big Red Dog®

WHERE: Hicklebees Children's Books, 1378 Lincoln Ave, San Jose, CA 95125

WHEN:  June 25th

TIME: 11:00 - 1:00pm

To track the RVs and find local events, visit the tour schedule here: http://scholastic.com/summerroadtrip. Follow the Scholastic Summer Reading Road Trip live on social media via @Scholastic and #SummerReading.

Sun Basket is San Jose's answer to on-demand food delivery

Blue Apron, EatClub, and Caviar have all been gaining in popularity for on-demand food service, but we have a local San Jose company that has thrown its hat in the ring. Sun Basket is a subscription-based meal service that specializes in healthy, organic, paleo, and gluten-free options. They deliver the raw ingredients in the right proportions along with instructions on how to prepare the meals. It is a fantastic option for people that want to cook wholesome meals but do not want to waste time shopping for ingredients or hunting new recipes.

My wife and I currently use Blue Apron which has a similar business model, but are planning to try out Sun Basket very soon. So far we have had great experiences with Blue Apron meals. I really think these services are a great compromise between getting take out and traditional cooking. 90% of the meals I've had are restaurant-grade and half the price.

Sun Basket already has 20,000 subscribers. The company has 225 full-time employees and is planning to grow to 300 in the near future. They are based in a 65,000 SQFT warehouse on Olinder Court in East San Jose (formerly Race Street Foods).

Check out the Sun Basket website over here, and make sure to read SJ Economy's post using the source link below.

Source: SJ Economy Blog

San Jose's first BART station is coming along nicely

If you have driven around Berryessa recently, it is nearly impossible to miss the new BART station. The project seem to be moving pretty quickly and will hopefully hit its 2018 completion date. Below are the most recent construction photos I have found.

Source: Hillrise from the San Jose Development Forum