Right in California’s agricultural heart, innovative nonprofit Green Tech Education and Employment is growing something other than crops – it’s cultivating Sacramento’s next generation of skilled workers.

The most common reason people visit their doctor might surprise you. It’s not back problems, high blood pressure or diabetes. According to a 2013 survey by the Mayo Clinic, the No. 1 reason is skin disorders.

Last summer, Sacramento learned it would become Volkswagen’s first “Green City,” earning millions in investment from the tarnished brand’s subsidiary, Electrify America. Where will this money go, and what does it mean for the local auto technology industry?

Lloyd Levine, a former state legislator, and the current director of media and public relations for the Sacramento Electric Vehicle Association offers us his insight into electric vehicle adoption.

Chris Waugh’s entire corporate career has been about finding a better way to do things. Two years ago, he brought expertise in innovative thinking and problem-solving to local health powerhouse Sutter Health, joining the company as its first chief innovation officer. We sat down with him to discuss his views on bringing out-of-the-box thinking to a company over a century old.

The Capital Region has a couple of homegrown video game success stories, but most growth is taking place in its community of indie developers. As the region seeks to brand itself more as a tech hub, these gamers want to ensure their industry is part of the push.

The Maker Movement is, simply put, an initiative that engages students through projects they like — sewing for fashion, using a 3-D printer — before subsequently integrating traditional academic learning. But Maker Movement is more than a return to the old. 

Comstock’s monthly look at the business news in the Capital Region. Here’s some stuff that happened in October.

The big idea was garbage.

Frederick Janson was in the garage, taking the trash out of his first house in North Natomas. That was when he noticed how full the blue recycle bin was with plastic containers. He realized these recyclables he was paying somebody to take away could be used as building materials.

Comstock’s monthly look at business news in the Capital Region. Want to know what happened in September? Then read on, my friends.