Grass Valley named one of best places to start a business in Northern California

Grass Valley has been named one of the best places in Northern California to start a business, according to NerdWallet. NerdWallet is a personal finance, information service.

The list is 1. Emeryville; 2. South San Francisco; 3. Grass Valley; 4. Burlingame; 5. Palo Alto; 6. Fremont; 7. Monterey; 8. Los Gatos; 9. Walnut Creek; 10. Mill Valley.

“In the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, between Sacramento and Reno, Nevada, Grass Valley is a historic Gold Rush town with a diverse economy supported by tourism and technology,” it reads. “The Grass Valley Downtown Association represents downtown businesses including Tess’ Kitchen Store, Carolines Coffee Roasters and Tofanelli’s Gold Country Bistro. Grass Valley has the largest percentage of businesses with paid employees — 44% — compared with other places in our top 10. It also has the lowest median housing costs of the top 10 communities at $922 a month.”

NerdWallet analyzed 177 places in Northern California with populations of at least 10,000 and considered six metrics in two categories — business environment and the local economy — to assess each location. For more details, see the methodology section here.

NerdWallet is a free tool to find you the best credit cards, cd rates, savings, checking accounts, scholarships, healthcare and airlines.

The spring issue of our magazine featured Grass Valley in eight pages.

(Kial James for Sierra FoodWineArt magazine, SierraCulture.com)