Latest news with #CalStateEastBay
CBS News
13-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Cal State East Bay students are earning cannabis certifications
In an effort to relieve the job vacancies in the state's marijuana industry, one California-based cannabis certification program is partnering with Cal State East Bay to boost the workforce. Gina O'Hara, who lives in Pacifica, recently completed Green Flower's cannabis certification course. "When it became legalized here, a lot of friends were going to dispensaries and stuff and trying things. But I was interested in the medicinal aspects of it," Gina O'Hara told CBS News Bay Area. She's been working as a consultant and technical writer for traditional pharmaceutical companies for the past 30 years, when she wanted to change things up a bit. That is when she discovered the school's online, six-month program. "You learn about the cannabis plant itself and how it works in the body. After everyone takes that, you specialize into different fields," she said. Students can learn about the agricultural cannabis business, medical applications, product development and compliance. "For people that are looking for a new career in a new career, a new sector they are passionate about, I think cannabis is a great place to look," Max Simon, the CEO of Green Flower, told CBS News Bay Area. The company is optimistic that their educational program will help boost the cannabis industry statewide. According to one recent report, there were more than 78,000 cannabis market jobs in the state last year. "There is some compression happening in the cannabis industry here in California but it doesn't mean there is a real dearth of opportunity. We have 65,000 people that work in the industry and thousands of employers throughout the ecosystem. And there are always new brands and new providers showing up," Simon said. "We still have a federal contradiction to the state laws, and that creates all sorts of challenges from a banking, compliance or fundraiser standpoint. I actually think we are very close to some federal reform which will fundamentally change the industry in pretty dramatic ways," he added. According to the 2024 California Cannabis Market report, the number of active licenses decreased by 18% last year. Some of those reasons, officials site, are increased costs, regulatory compliance and competition with unlicensed cannabis markets. The report states, however, that licensed cannabis production is up nearly 12%. "We also have a lot of people who take these programs from other sectors. Whether you're a lawyer, or a doctor, or a finance specialist, an investment banker, they take these programs and add cannabis to their practice," Simon said. As for O'Hara, she said as she is working in biotech, she is actively looking for contract jobs in the cannabis industry. "I've updated my LinkedIn, I got this certification. I put it on my resume, I'm looking at jobs here and there, and I'm hoping to get contract jobs going forward," she said. Both Simon and O'Hara said they are optimistic about the full legalization of marijuana nationwide, and hope that it will improve the future of the cannabis industry.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Several Bay Area international students see visas reinstated
BERKELEY, Calif. (KRON) — In a big reversal, the federal government is reinstating visas for more than a thousand international students who had their legal status revoked. This follows a wave of court challenges from all over the U.S. 'Extreme abuse of federal power': Local lawmaker calls out Trump for FBI's arrest of Wisconsin judge Students at University of California, Berkeley, Cal State East Bay, San Jose State University and Stanford University were affected. San Jose State says six of the 13 students who had visas rescinded have had them reinstated. Cal State East Bay says 12 of 23 students have had their visas restored. A Bay Area immigration attorney says this was about the Trump administration targeting students for using their freedom of speech at pro-Palestine protests — which he says is not legal. 'I believe we are starting to see the Trump administration see that they are not above the law as much as they have been attempting to be by these executive orders that are illegal and quite frankly unconstitutional,' says immigration attorney Gabriel Espinosa-Ramos. Watch the full report in the video player above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CBS News
19-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Bay Area company selling "tariff-free" mattresses
It's a busy morning at the Mancini's Sleepworld warehouse located in Livermore. Crews are unloading mattresses they had ordered from their manufacturers, the majority of them based in California. "Over 80% of our floor is based on products that are here in the U.S. that are manufactured here," Brett Snyder, the CEO of Mancini's Sleepworld, told CBS News Bay Area. Mancini's Sleepworld has been a Bay Area-based mattress company for more than 50 years. Snyder said their mission is to always have a U.S.-based supply chain and that the majority of their manufacturers are based in California. While the goal is to be U.S.-based, raw materials like foam and wires for their products are imported from Asia. "It's absolutely forced us to look at every one of our suppliers and say, 'hey, are we able to deliver the best value to our consumer?' And in some areas, we have made some of the shifts into some of our future buying," Snyder said. He said with triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods and a base 10% on goods from other countries, Snyder is having to pivot quickly. "We recognized there was a need to diversify the supply chain and not just be anchored in the Asian countries. So, not only did we look heavier into different countries within Asia, but we also looked at India, Pakistan and some other locations," he said. He also added that they still have some time before price hikes, as his vendors give him a 60-day notice. "At least for the next 60 days, we know we're locked in on price. However, we have notification from a number of different manufacturers of mattresses that as their cost goes up, over the next 60 days, there will be an increase in price," he said. "They do purchase some raw materials from overseas, things like wire and fabric come from overseas. And so that part of the supply chain has been impacted, but we're fortunate that we're able to hold our prices for the next 60 days," he added. In the face of volatility, there is also opportunity. The company has marketed a "tariff-free clearance sale," comprising of discounted mattresses as they had stocked up on more than 5,000 mattresses before the trade war escalated. "It's part of why we're offering the tariff-free promotion that is going on because we brought in so much inventory in advance to be prepared, knowing that there were some of these changes," Snyder said. This response from business leaders is something that one local economist is calling a "newer reality." "Seeing price reductions and seeing businesses advertise those aggressively, that fits perfectly into the economy where it is now," Christian Roessler, economics associate professor at Cal State East Bay, told CBS News Bay Area. "Uncertainty is not something businesses like. Policy uncertainty, so the response you're going to expect is they're going to respond cautiously. They might hold off on investments they're going to make, they might, to some extent, hold off on reordering products if they are not sure the demand is still going to sustain them," he added. Roessler said that with economic uncertainty comes potential repercussions for longstanding businesses. "I think there's a lot of confusion out there right now. People don't know just when and what magnitude these tariffs are going to impact them. There's a question whether suppliers are going to reduce their prices in order to lower the impact on the retailers? Whether that happens is going to differ from industry to industry," he said. "To some extent, it's going to be a reduction of profit margins for the businesses. And we're not going to see the whole impact of the tariffs. But prices will be going up. And repercussions in the economy, it might also affect wages." Furthermore, the economist said that many of the prices consumers are seeing in stores and online are already impacted by recent tariffs. "The impact of the tariffs is already here. When suppliers or businesses know that they're going to have to pay these tariffs, they don't wait. Prices don't wait to go up until the tariffs actually hit," he said. In the meantime, Snyder said he is going to try to keep costs low while remaining profitable, even during these unpredictable times. "These are made in the Bay Area. These are made in Richmond," Snyder said, pointing to some of the mattresses on the sales floor. "How do we keep Mancini's competitive, not just now but into the future? It's making sure that we do have more than one choice. Because we only have one choice of one supplier coming out of one country, then you've really narrowed down and pigeonhole yourself. Look at long-term sourcing, make sure we got sources that come out of multiple countries."
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
3 Bay Area Cal State schools to merge administrative services amid budget crunch
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — San Francisco State University is one of three Bay Area Cal State schools that could merge administrative services with one another amid an ongoing budget crisis. In a letter to the campus community Tuesday, SFSU President Lynn Mahoney said the administration was 'working hard to align our costs with our budget and enrollment.' In addition to many cost-cutting measures the school had undertaken, 'we have also been looking for innovative ways to reduce expenses, particularly administration costs,' Mahoney went on to say. Mahoney went on to put forth a 'new effort toward financial sustainability' that Cal State University Chancellor Mildred Garcia had announced at Tuesday's board of trustees meeting. Mahoney explained that she, along with the presidents of Cal State East Bay and Sonoma State University had provided Garcia with a written commitment to 'create a singular administrative network.' Bay Area elementary schools make 2025 California Distinguished list The network, she explained, would integrate finance and administrative services including budget, audit, capital planning design and construction, human resources, payroll, procurement, IT, and academic technology. It would be called the San Francisco Bay Region Network. Additional services that could also be integrated under the network's umbrella include library services, Title IX/DHR operations, and some back-office financial aid, admissions, and records services. However, the universities would remain independent of one another, Mahoney maintained. 'Please be assured we are not proposing a merger of the three universities,' she said. 'Cal State East Bay, San Francisco State, and Sonoma State University will remain independently accredited universities.' SFSU does not plan to implement layoffs as a result of the integration, Mahoney said. 'Existing employees in administration and finance functions will be needed as part of the networked operation, campus-based service centers, and during the design and transition period,' she said. The proposed network, which Mahoney said is at the beginning stages, would not stave off any of the other budget reduction initiatives underway at the schools. Both SFSU and Sonoma State have recently announced sweeping cuts to their athletic programs, with Sonoma State doing away with theirs entirely. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
