Long into early spring, hiking the rocky trail to Loch Leven Lakes required little more than a good pair of boots.

Ronald Fong, 52, has served as president and CEO of the California Growers Association since 2008. The CGA is a nonprofit, statewide trade association representing more than 500 retail members operating 6,000 food stores and 200 supply companies in California and Nevada. 

There was a raucous debate on the political stage last year over whether California companies were giving up on the Golden State and moving to Texas.

Few San Joaquin success stories can rival that of Lodi grape growers, winemakers and tasting room hosts whose efforts have propelled an unheralded wine region to prominence.

It didn’t take German immigrant Martin Hermann long to see California as the land of sunshine. And within that bounteous golden glow, he imagined opportunity.

In response to global warming, foreign oil reliance and overstressing the nation’s current energy system, policy makers and citizens are backing efforts to produce more safe, clean, renewable energy. But with numerous limitations, implementing green energy has been difficult.

Remember comedian Rodney Dangerfield’s famous catchphrase, “I don’t get no respect?”

When Eric Hart ended his eight-year military term, he felt like he was missing a sense of purpose. He tried a few corporate jobs, but he didn’t feel at home. He preferred working outside with his hands, and he wanted his job to serve something higher than a paycheck.

A few months after the 2002 launch of Arcadia Biosciences Inc. in Phoenix, CEO Eric Rey insisted the company move to California. Not to Silicon Valley, but to Davis.

Yolo County is doubly blessed. Within its boundaries lie some of the nation’s richest farmland; the open expanses also make it a prime place to develop solar energy.