Welcome to our 2012 special issue introducing you to some of the 'Successful Women in Business' that make up our thriving communities. For nearly a quarter of a century The Valley Business Journal (a woman-owned business), has been providing our readers the most up to date business news in the Temecula Valley. During that time we've seen four local cities born and a host of businesses grow up to support the burgeoning population of Southwest California.

Whether or not you believe Mitt Romney's recent claim that 92% of jobs lost under President Obama have affected women, the simple fact is that women in the labor force have been impacted more severely than men during the past three years. The reasons for this are myriad but the easiest to understand is that women were generally spared the worst of the early recession, accounting for only one-quarter of the jobs lost. Men, on the other hand, were hit hard by the devastation in the construction and manufacturing industries - the sectors leading the downturn, leading many to label those early days a 'mancession'.

It’s that time of year for the Murrieta Chamber of Commerce to honor the Businesses & Citizen of the Year as well as install our new Board of Directors. The 52^nd Annual Installation Dinner & Awards Ceremony will be held at Monteleone Meadows on June 9^th. The nominees are:

“I Got My Dream Job and So Can You” by Pete Leibman

c.2012, Amacom                      $15.95 / $18.95 Canada               246 pages, includes index

So what are you gonna do after college?

That’s the question that’s irritated you for the better part of eight months. Everybody’s been asking you and if you knew, you’d tell them.

The thought of taking a job just to have a job makes you feel awful. You can’t imagine getting up Monday through Friday to do something you hate while other people are doing jobs you’d kill to have. So, short of violence, how can you snag a once-in-a-lifetime position?

Read the new book “I Got My Dream Job and So Can You” by Pete Leibman, and you might find out.

What would you do with 5 million minutes?