(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121015/CG93458)

The America’s Cup, dating back to 1851, is the oldest and most prestigious trophy in the sport of competitive yacht racing.

Pacific Union’s support of Artemis Racing helps celebrate the historic arrival of the America’s Cup to San Francisco.  “We found an amazing amount of synergy between the mindset of the Artemis Racing organization and the philosophy of Pacific Union,” said Mark A. McLaughlin, CEO of Pacific Union. “We both have cultures of intense excellence, teamwork, and making ‘extraordinary’ our benchmark for achievement.”

“Artemis Racing truly represents elite performance and achievement, which are traits we see in our own teams every day,” said Felicia Chan, vice president of brand marketing for Pacific Union. “And being able to support Artemis Racing’s efforts in our own backyard allows us to share the excitement of America’s Cup racing with Pacific Union’s clients, partners, and real estate professionals.”

Artemis Racing has already demonstrated its competitive fire. In the second America’s Cup World Series event of the 2012-2013 calendar Artemis Racing finished a very credible third out of eleven, beating some of the best racing teams in the world.

The next stop for Artemis Racing and the America’s Cup World Series will take place in Venice, Italy, in April and then on to Naples, in May 2013. Artemis Racing will then compete in San Francisco in the Louis Vuitton Cup in July 2013 and if successful they will advance to challenge ORACLE Team USA in the America’s Cup Match in September 2013.

Paul Cayard, CEO of Artemis Racing, strongly supported the idea of a partnership with Pacific Union. Cayard is a seven-time world champion, two-time Olympian, former America’s Cup skipper, and member of the Sailing World Hall of Fame.

“I have been lucky enough to experience firsthand the commitment to clients shown by Pacific Union, and their drive to exceed expectations at every turn,” Paul said. “Those qualities are a perfect fit with Artemis Racing, and we are excited about working together.”

About Artemis Racing

Artemis Racing is the Challenger of Record for the 34th America’s Cup. Artemis Racing competes in the America’s Cup World Series, RC44 Championship Tour, and Vulcain Trophy. Artemis Racing represents the Royal Swedish Yacht Club (KSSS).

About Pacific Union International

Pacific Union International is the San Francisco Bay Area’s premier luxury real estate brand operating in seven regions, including the Contra Costa County, the East Bay, Marin County, Napa County, San Francisco, Sonoma County, and the Tahoe/Truckee region.

Pacific Union offers a full range of personal and commercial real-estate services, including buying, selling, and relocation.

Locally owned, Pacific Union’s leadership operates with an entrepreneurial mindset and unwavering commitment to deliver exceptional service and expertise to ensure deep, long-standing client and agent relationships.

For more information, please visit us at www.pacunion.com, get our real estate news and insights at blog.pacunion.com, or find us on Facebook (facebook.com/puintl) and Twitter (@pacunion).

Media Contact: Felicia Chan, Pacific Union International, +1-415-314-4929, felicia.chan@pacunion.com

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

SOURCE Pacific Union International

Article source: http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/10/15/4339002/pacific-union-international-supports.html

Novato, CA (PRWEB) July 11, 2012

SheSpree.com, a new daily deal website set to launch this fall, is based in Marin County, California. Its mission is to provide incredible deals from local women-owned businesses. The site has an inherent cause in it by supporting female entrepreneurship, but it also champions local commerce by keeping its revenue within the Bay Area itself. Residents of the greater San Francisco region maintain a widespread, community feel regardless of where they live. Home to about 7 million people, the Bay Area has many folks living in one county, but working in another. The city itself, for example, is home to about 800,000 people, but another 200,000 commuters make their way there each weekday for work. For this reason, SheSpree.com has embraced the entire Bay Area as its local niche, while chartering women merchants from Marin County as the stars of its initial launch.

With all the focus on failing city and township economies in the media these days, there is a growing concern among many that spending should be consciously funneled into local commerce. So it stands to reason that a daily deal website, offering local discounts, is a wise, as well as convenient, choice. SheSpree.com will offer women great deals on everything they need to help manage their personal lives, families, homes, and businesses. Having the merchants be local (especially for service-based products) adds value, saves time, and helps to develop repeat customer bases within the community. And because of the large population of commuters in the greater Bay Area, residents from the entire region can reap the rewards as well.

Owner Paula Richer comments, “SheSpree.com aims to provide smart deals for women all over the Bay Area yet focuses on our women entrepreneurs, one area at a time. We’re starting with Marin County, a creative, diverse community, where you’ll find a lot of unique artisans and small businesses. I want to showcase their talent and ingenuity by featuring their offerings on site. It’s very heartwarming and very exciting!”

SheSpree.com is set to launch this fall. For additional information email shespreeme(at)gmail(dot)com. To sign up as a subscriber visit http://www.SheSpree.com.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebdailydealwebsite/women-ownedbusinesses/prweb9687985.htm

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/business/prweb/article/SheSpree-com-Offers-San-Francisco-Daily-Deals-3698028.php

The Mission Blue butterfly is the central image in Mona Caron’s mural of Brisbane, California. www.monacaron.com

You drive by it often. You can see it from any high vantage point. And yet many people living in the Bay Area know very little about San Bruno Mountain – the massive, bald hill just south of San Francisco – let alone its fame among national and international conservationists.

The surprising story of why San Bruno Mountain, the largest undeveloped landmass in the urban United States, remains predominantly real estate-free is told in the documentary Butterflies Bulldozers, showing this week at the first San Francisco Green Film Festival.

The 40-year-and-counting fight to save the mountain has ruined friendships, altered the Endangered Species Act, and spurred E.O. Wilson to dub the mountain one of eighteen global biodiversity hot spots in need of protection.  All that and in your own backyard.

One of the few movies in the new film festival to focus on the Bay Area, Butterflies Bulldozers is the work of two local filmmakers Ann and Steve Dunsky. Way Out West recently spoke with the Dunsky’s about their movie.

WOW: Sum up the story told in Butterflies Bulldozers.

Ann: The big picture is that it’s a story about San Bruno Mountain and the attempts to develop it over the years.

Steve: It’s a story about compromise. We start with a quote by Aldo Leopold in which he says, “The question of when to compromise is one for which there is no easy answer.”

Ann: What really interested us was this relationship between David and Fred. Two young guys move to San Bruno in their 20s, both want to protect the mountain and wind up having this bitter falling out over how to go about doing it.

WOW: David and Fred seem to capture two opposite approaches to conservation.

Ann: I would agree. David’s heart is so big, and I think he bleeds when he thinks about anybody killing anything. And he’s right, they are killing endangered species through the destruction of habitat. And Fred decided to work within the system.

Steve: Whether David Schooley’s hard line, no-compromise stand is the right one or Fred Smith’s working within the system is the right one, we feel that both of those are valid ways of trying to achieve a conservation objective. This story is repeated over and over again in conservation history. And so while it’s about San Bruno Mountain, the story is symptomatic of the environmental movement.

WOW: Why is San Bruno Mountain worth protecting from development?

Ann: It’s the last intact fragment of what they call the Franciscan biome. It’s the only part of the original San Francisco landscape that’s left. It’s also the largest open space within an urban area in the country.

A lot of people we interviewed said, “Really, frankly, it’s a big, brown, bald mountain.” But until you get on it, you have no idea what’s up there. It’s cold and it’s wind swept, but it’s an amazing place. It’s a wonderland with springs, a cave, and there are different areas that are very distinct from one another. David is the one who knows it like the back of his hand. He still leads nature hikes.

WOW: How did the fight to save San Bruno Mountain change the Endangered Species Act?

Steve: It’s really a significant piece of environmental history. The larger story is the rights of endangered species versus the property rights of individuals. There was a train wreck coming between the fifth amendment of the constitution, which allows for just compensation of property owners, versus, as one character said, the rights of a subspecies of insect.

Legal minds like Fred Smith and Tom Adams, the lawyer in the film, said, “We’re going to lose this [San Bruno Mountain] if we try to make this butterfly versus development. We need to find a way to make a compromise.” When the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973, we had these charismatic megafauna that we were saving – grizzly bears, wolves, and bald eagles.

The act only allowed for the taking of endangered species for scientific purposes or for certain government projects. Tom Adams and his wife, who is also an attorney, were trying to figure out how they could maybe allow this [San Bruno Mountain] development to occur in this area that was designated as critical habitat for these butterflies. They started working with a bunch of people in Washington to develop the Habitat Conservation Plan.

It allows for the preservation of some areas of habitat that are critical, so you’re not taking all of the habitat. And the idea was that in exchange you could actually restore some habitat that was degraded.

A lot has been learned about how to do these in the 30 years since that first plan. There are habitat plans in other parts of the country that have also had problems and there are some that have been very successful.

Ann: Some people, like David Schooley, will tell you that they’re all horrible and all wrong, and other people will say they’re all brilliant. The truth lies somewhere in between.

Butterflies Bulldozers runs 62 minutes and is showing at 12:30 pm, Friday, March 4. Steve and Ann Dunsky will be in attendance.

Tags: ann dunsky, butterflies bulldozers, environment movie, san bruno mountain, san francisco green film festival, steve dunsky

Article source: http://www.wayoutwestnews.com/2011/03/02/bay-area-premier-of-the-san-bruno-mt-film-butterflies-bulldozers/