Jayson Carpenter

Back Photographer

With nearly 20 years experience working in photography, Jayson’s vision crafts authentic moments with real people. Jayson has won numerous awards, including the Crocker Kensley, and Smithsonian Magazines 6th annual photo contest, which went on to be displayed at the Smithsonian Castle.  Jayson’s images have graced the pages of numerous national and local publications including, Oprah Magazine, Dwell, Hour Detroit, Sacramento Magazine, Runners World and Sunset books. Jayson’s true passion is helping others, with extensive experience working with major NGO and Non profits abroad, including The Make a Wish foundation and Oxfam India, The one foundation Thailand, and Peace Boat in Japan.

By this person

Donna Bland, CEO, Golden 1 Credit Union.

Women’s Work

Four local leaders discuss their journeys to the top of male-dominated industries

Effective leaders don’t come from one mold. The women featured below have excelled in nontraditional industries due to their talent, vision, perseverance and the (sometimes unlikely) mentors who guided their trajectory. They shared their stories with us — where they started, their rise to leadership and their thoughts on mentoring the next generation of powerful women.

May 17, 2016 Laurie Lauletta-Boshart

Old Roots, New Branches

Bariani Olive Oil — the elixir of the gods

Sebastian Bariani is in heaven, standing in his family’s olive grove in the Dunnigan Hills. The winter day is mild, a blue sky caps the rolling green terrain. He reaches down and gently bends the branch of a Manzanillo olive tree to demonstrate how the trees will soon be pruned, explaining that the blossoms for the next crop can come only from new growth.

Mar 16, 2015 Kevin McKenna

A Fresh Approach to Florin Road

Acuity with Verna Sulpizio

After managing the development of property and business improvement districts across California, in January Verna Sulpizio became the new executive director of the Florin Road Partnership, a PBID that spans Florin Road from Chandler Drive to Tamoshanter Way. 

Feb 23, 2015 Christine Calvin

Tech Support

Acuity with Kirk Uhler

Longtime Placer County supervisor Kirk Uhler was recently selected as the new CEO of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance. Uhler is also the owner of Roseville-based Rensa Group, a marketing, communications and government relations firm, and the co-founder of VidGage, a social media platform.

Jan 23, 2015 Christine Calvin

Food for Thought

Acuity with Chris Jarosz

Chris Jarosz is the founder of Broderick Restaurant & Bar and co-owner of the Wicked ‘Wich food truck. This year, he also took on the overhaul of midtown’s Capital Dime restaurant and its sister eatery, Trick Pony, which have been folded into the Broderick Roadhouse family of restaurants. It’s not all glamorous, but it is pretty tasty.

Dec 15, 2014 Christine Calvin

Shaken or Stirred?

Cocktails with local flair

Bartenders around the region have provided us with their best bets for holiday cocktails featuring gin, rye and bourbon — spirits that are now being produced locally by craft distillers.

Dec 5, 2014 Shannon Haslinger
A new comprehensive program at UC Davis Medical Center will soon provide surgical services for unborn children.

Opportunity of a Lifetime

Fetal surgeons at UC Davis are repairing birth defects in babies — before their patients are even born

Too many pregnant mothers know the feeling of horror: The ultrasound reveals something wrong. Perhaps it’s nothing. But maybe it’s life-threatening, a disease or a disability. Maybe it’s the unthinkable. For hundreds of thousands of years, the unthinkable — babies doomed to die or develop impairments before drawing their first breath — meant only tragedy and heartache. Now there is hope.

Dec 2, 2014 Jeff Wilser

Growing the Anti-Growth City

Acuity with Matt Yancey

Matt Yancey has been selected as the new CEO of the Davis Chamber of Commerce after serving more than seven years as the director of business and economic development at the Sacramento Metro Chamber. So how do you grow a city that’s been historically anti-growth?

Nov 17, 2014 Christine Calvin

On the Cover: The World’s Fastest Man

Rome wasn't built in a day, because C.C. Myers didn't have that contract

Construction guru C.C. Myers has, for more than two decades, been California’s go-to guy when roads are ravaged by acts of God (like the ’94 Northridge earthquake) or the toll of time (Folsom’s Lake Natoma Crossing, Interstate 5 in Sacramento, Route 99 in Turlock, the Walnut Creek Interchange, and the list goes on). The New York Times once called him the “Miracle Worker Highway Man.”

Oct 21, 2014 Jeff Wilser
Berryessa Brewing Co. is as much a community center as it is a taproom. Patrons can regularly find fresh produce for sale near the food truck and pickup Wiffle ball games.

Winters Brew

Berryessa Brewing Co. reaps the benefits of committed regulars but may soon face growing pains

On hot summer weekends, a 20-barrel brewery west of Winters overflows with patrons. They flood the taproom and crowd around shaded picnic tables, sipping beer while soaking in live music. A few kids play baseball in the gravel lot. Others pull wooden blocks from an oversized Jenga set by the food truck. Some are locals, but many come from Davis, Sacramento and beyond to get a taste of whatever Berryessa Brewing Co. has on tap for the week.

Oct 20, 2014 Russell Nichols

A Message for California’s GOP

Acuity with Kaitlyn MacGregor

At 25-years-old, Kaitlyn MacGregor is the new director of communications for the California Republican Party, and she has her work cut out for her. New data from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California shows that young voters aren’t registering Republican and neither are moderates, African Americans or Latinos. With elections just weeks away, MacGregor will need to make strides quickly. 

Oct 10, 2014 Christine Calvin
Todo un Poco co-owner Marie Mertz is an art lover and collector. All of the restaurant’s paintings are original works she commissioned.

A Little Bit of Everything

Delightful global fusion in a faceless Elk Grove bistro

Todo un poco means “a little bit of everything,” and that’s exactly how co-owner Marie Mertz describes her strategy. She runs the bistro’s operations, cooks, builds menus, chooses the daily specials, buys fresh produce, trains staff, handles community relations and hand-selects her wines. She’s proud of being in business for so many years, but “who’s counting when you’re having fun?” she says.

Sep 9, 2014 Laura Coyne Steel

Design Thinking

Acuity with Kris Barkley

Kris Barkley, the Design Director at Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects and president of the American Institute for Architects Central Valley, sat down with Comstock’s Editor in Chief Christine Calvin to talk about digital fabrication, biomimicry, the industry landscape for up-and-coming architects and, of course, next months’s Experience Architecture Week. 

Sep 5, 2014 Christine Calvin

Chemical Attraction

Acuity with Micromidas’ John Bissell

In 2008, John Bissell co-founded Micromidas Inc., a West Sacramento biotech company that has developed a process to convert carbohydrate feedstocks like cardboard into higher-value chemicals, including renewable plastics. The company incorporated in 2009. Bissell, a UC Davis grad who also serves as CEO, was recently included in Forbes Magazine’s “30 Under 30,” a tally of the brightest stars in 15 different fields, and has helped raise more than $20 million in financing for his company.

Aug 13, 2014 Douglas Curley

Wijit Wheels Ahead

One year later the once-budding business is booming

Just as the July 2013 magazine was going to bed, Comstock’s learned that the subject of our cover story, Wijit Inc., had been sold to Kinova USA. Wijit Inc. was the brainchild of Brian Watwood, the one-time elite athlete who was paralyzed in a fateful bike accident.

Jun 30, 2014 Douglas Curley

The Next 25 Years of Comstock’s

A new product for a new generation

More than any other, this issue might give many people the impression that Comstock’s is staffed by dozens of graphic artists, illustrators and web developers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Though, given the magnitude of the magazine’s redesign and the timeline under which we’re transforming comstocksmag.com, I can understand the misconception.

Jun 30, 2014 Christine Calvin
Cindy Garcia of the UC Davis Meat Lab

Killer Instincts

Butchery is finding a passionate female following

On a warm afternoon, soft spring winds are blowing across the campus at UC Davis. In a building on the university’s west corner, Cindy Garcia is hosing pools of blood down a drain. She places a pig skull on an inspection table, washes her hands and steps into the sunlight just as the parking lot is beginning to fill with shoppers toting grocery bags.

May 31, 2014 Michelle Locke
As part of Comstock's 25th anniversary, and in lieu of a monthly publisher's letter, publisher Winnie Comstock-Carlson is inviting business leaders to present their views on what's shaping and defining the Capital Region.

New Angle Needed

Sacramento should try a new approach to economic development

Like many transplants to Sacramento, before moving to the area I had little awareness of the plethora of quality-of-life amenities the region has to offer. As I complete my first decade as a resident, it has dawned on me that this has been the longest stop thus far in my professional career.

May 31, 2014 Sanjay Varshney

The Wine on Miracle Mile

Sacramento sommelier Paul Marsh joins Stockton’s business renaissance

For the past 10 years, Paul Marsh has pledged himself to the pursuit of wine. In Chico, he learned the intricacies of its fruit by planting and harvesting a vineyard. With Kendall Jackson, he learned to sell. At The Firehouse Restaurant in Old Sacramento, he was educated on the finer points of building a wine collection in a hospitality setting, and he became a certified sommelier.

Apr 30, 2014 Douglas Curley
As part of Comstock's 25th anniversary, and in lieu of a monthly publisher's letter, publisher Winnie Comstock-Carlson is inviting business leaders to present their views on what's shaping and defining the Capital Region.

Calling All Brandoulas

Branding Sacramento is essential to our economic development

Does a community’s brand matter? 

Consider this. A local medical practice recently tried to recruit a dermatologist. After an extensive search, they offered the job to a young, out-of-state doctor — who couldn’t convince his wife to move to Sacramento. “I’m not moving there,” she told him. “It’s boring.” The search started over.

Apr 30, 2014 Christi Black-Davis
As part of Comstock’s 25th anniversary, and in lieu of the monthly publisher’s letter, publisher Winnie Comstock-Carlson is inviting business leaders to present their views on what’s shaping and defining the Capital Region.

Active Recruitment

Sacramento needs to attract Fortune 500 companies

As Sacramento gears up to expend precious capital on a new sports and entertainment complex that will bring jobs, outside investment and prestige to the region, I can’t help but ask about other key ingredients needed to guarantee Sacramento a successful future.

Mar 1, 2014 Richard Raisler

Hurts So Good

Yoga is good for you, but be careful boys

I’ve always snickered at yoga.It just seemed ridiculous. But men are flocking to yoga the way we once, in the ’80s, took to this thing called “jogging.” We’re learning that yoga bestows a slew of health benefits — physical, mental, even sexual. But new research also points to increased health risks for men, and this muddies the decision.

Feb 1, 2014 Jeff Wilser

Naturalist Nouvelle

Unearthing a new restaurant concept

Six months ago, Kevin O’Connor hit a wall. He had a good job in a good kitchen, but his body was exhausted and his passion was gone. So, at 24, he decided to step down as the chef of the now-shuttered Blackbird Kitchen & Bar and dig for a new plan.

Jan 3, 2014 Douglas Curley