Behind a nondescript door in downtown Davis exists a little-known but vitally important piece of infrastructure, the Hydrologic Engineering Center. A recent threat to this center’s existence appears to have passed.

In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Comstock’s followed four downtown Sacramento businesses and their broader sectors for a six-part series. On the fifth anniversary of the shutdowns, we checked in to see how they are faring.

Charcuterie boards gained national attention from the business crowd in 2022, when Aaron Menitoff and Rachel Solomon Fascitelli, co-founders and co-CEOs of the online cheese and charcuterie gifting business Boarderie, appeared on “Shark Tank,” eventually walking away with a deal from Lori Greiner and generating $70 million in revenue.

The faces of entrepreneurship and wealth holding are changing as women make gains in both facets of economic life. These shifts are affecting how they’re managing money — and who they turn to for help.

Ahead of his annual bash, we caught up with the host of one of the Capital Region’s biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations — and the keeper of a vault holding 500 different whiskeys from across the world. 

“Between working in high-pressure work environments and raising kids, by the time I was 40 I was just physically, emotionally and mentally feeling like I was exhausted and falling apart,” Pire says. “At that point, I went through a life-changing timeframe.” That’s when she envisioned The Rising Zone, a Rocklin-based event and co-working wellness center.

PODCAST EPISODE: How do you lead diverse teams with differing opinions? Where do you find the confidence to make big career moves? Are women leaders expected to be nicer than men? Comstock’s Women in Leadership honorees Cassandra Jennings and Yvonne Pire join us for a special episode recorded in the wine cellar at Mulvaney’s B+L in Midtown Sacramento.

Patterson returned to public policy in 2019 as the legal affairs secretary for Gov. Newsom, where she spent a good portion of her early work as counsel on the energy team, tackling the PG&E bankruptcy after the destructive North Bay and Camp fires. As cabinet secretary, Patterson advises the governor on policy and oversees all state agencies and departments within the administration.

Her sense of adventure and interest in new experiences led her from her upbringing in Ohio to now nearly four decades living in the Capital Region. It’s also what led her to shift from a 36-year career working in nonprofits to building the new Nevada County Economic Development Office from the ground up as its first program manager. Throughout her career, Parker says, she has felt an openness to learning new things.

After more than 20 years at KeyPoint Credit Union in Santa Clara, Nabhani joined SAFE Credit Union in 2016 as executive vice president and chief credit officer, overseeing their lending programs. In January 2023, she became the first female president and CEO in its 85-year history. “I’m really excited this year about where we are as an organization,” she says.