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California was responsible for raising 57 percent of all cleantech venture capital funding nationwide last year, totaling $2.8 billion, according to a recently released analysis from Ernst & Young, as reported in the Los Angeles Times.

“It’s a good indicator of the innovation that can be found here and of the opportunities available in California,” Mark Sogomian, an Ernst & Young partner and leader of the Los Angeles cleantech group, says in the article. The state has that “secret sauce that allows companies to grow and develop and gain capital.”

Check out this powerful video from a firm in the UK about the impact of proper messaging in everyday life.

By now, most companies know they should be reaching audiences through Facebook and Twitter profiles. But as Jason Falls of Entrepreneur magazine reports, these social media giants have a serious competitor vying for the attention of Internet users – Pinterest. The site – which allows users to “pin” and share images of their favorite products, places, foods, pretty much anything, on virtual bulletin boards – launched in 2010 and already has more than seven million unique visitors as of December 2011, up from 1.6 million in September 2011.

Not only has it recently exploded in popularity, it’s also driving more traffic to corporate Web sites and blogs than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined, the article explains. Read on to find out why you and/or your company should consider creating a Pinterest profile, and more importantly, to learn how to use it to drive awareness and ultimately sales.

Seattle-based outdoors brand Filson has tapped American designer Richard Chai to serve as the company’s creative director, according to  Women’s Wear Daily. The designer will showcase looks from his first capsule collection — including nine interpretations of classic Filson styles such as the wool bomber and duffle bag — during his runway show in New York City on February 9.

“Richard is the ideal creative partner not only because he shares Filson’s values in craftsmanship, high-quality fabrications and classic, practical approach to design, but because of his passion for our brand’s heritage,” Mark Korros, president and CEO of Filson, told WWD.

Filson has a 115-year history of outfitting hunters, fishermen, explorers and outdoorsmen and is carried by outdoors retailers as well as more mainstream stores. The company was acquired in 2005 by Los Angeles-based private equity firm Brentwood Associates, which specializes in niche consumer brands.

Venture capital investment in cleantech companies reached $4.9 billion in the United States last year, according to an analysis by Ernst & Young. That’s a drop from 2010 of 4.5 percent and zero growth in the number of overall deals.

Of the 2011 investments, energy generation led with $1.5 billion, and products and services for the renewable energy industry came in second with $1 billion invested. The report also showed that California companies garnered the most cleantech investments, accounting for $2.8 billion of the total raised; Massachusetts was second with $465 million, followed by Colorado with $363.3 million.

From left, Bill Dube, West region director for PR Newswire; Tracy Williams, president and CEO of Olmstead Williams Communications; Linda Whalen, associate director of external communications and marketing for Ernst & Young; and Patrick Hainault, Vice President of SMB Marketing at Inc. magazine.

Public Relations and marketing professionals learned the do’s and don’ts of getting their company (or client) nominated for major business awards and leveraging the recognition each step of the way during a networking panel and breakfast at The Olympic Collection in West Los Angeles.

Panelists included Patrick Hainault, vice president of SMB Marketing at Inc. magazine; Bill Dube, west region director for PR Newswire; and Linda Whalen, associate director of external communications and marketing for Ernst & Young. Tracy Williams, president and CEO of Olmstead Williams Communications, moderated.

The panel discussed prestigious awards programs such as Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of the Year and the Inc. 500/5000. Olmstead Williams Communications and PR Newswire hosted the event.

Private Equity International reporter Graham Winfrey interviewed Brentwood Associates partner Bill Barnum at last week’s Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst conference to discuss the firm’s plans to begin raising its next vehicle late this year. Brentwood Associates, which focuses on niche consumer-brand companies with EBITDA between $5 and $30 million, is one of the leading private equity firms in the West.

The article noted that the firm has invested roughly 75 percent of its fourth fund that closed on $440 milion in 2008 and expects to make two more investments from that fund before coming back to market. According to Barnum, “We’ll probably have a couple of liquidity events this year. It’s more and more important as time goes on. LPs want to see several liquidity events before they re-up.”

In another recent article, LBO Wire’s Shasha Dai noted that Brentwood Associates plans to solicit contributions from existing and potential new investors later this year for a new fund that may target $500 million.

Staffing firms that carve out a different niche will be more likely to succeed, according to an article by Monster.com’s John Rossheim who interviewed numerous experts on their projections for 2012.

“Small to midsized companies bring us in because they lack specific management expertise — say they want to go into the international market,” says Pamela Wasley, CEO of Cerius Interim Executive Solutions in the article. As the company name suggests, Cerius provides interim executive management services.

“Big companies come to us because they’re having trouble finding the right executive, and they need someone to run the ship (temporarily),” Wasley adds. “The interim executive model is not well-known in our target market of small to midsized companies. But they love the idea when they find out about it.”

Ernst & Young’s Joe Muscat spoke about the value of awards programs and his company’s annual Entrepreneur of the Year program recently with Press: Here‘s Scott McGrew. Muscat, who leads the firm’s Strategic Growth Markets practice on the West Coast, stressed awards programs are a great vehicle for getting a brand name recognized — whether the company ends up winning or not.

Press: Here is a Sunday morning news roundtable discussion on NBC in the Bay Area featuring the top names in the technology industry.

Every year, leading institutional investors, buyout professionals, venture capitalists and industry experts meet for the Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst Outlook Conference. Hosted by top editors at Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal, this leading forecasting event consistently delivers accurate predictions and trend analysis. It is the only private equity event in the country dedicated solely to predicting the future of the asset class.

On January 26, Brentwood Associates partner Bill Barnum will speak on the panel: “The $400 Billion Overhang: Will Private Equity Become More Active In 2012?” Barnum will be joined by Philip A. Canfield, principal at GTCR, and Tully M. Friedman, Chairman & CEO at FF. David Barry, managing editor of the Dow Jones Conferences, will moderate. The panel will address the fact that while private equity firms raised record amounts of capital between 2006 to 2008, much of it has remained un-invested. As a result, LPs are nervous that firms will try to put it to work in a less-than-prudent manner. The panel will discuss what it will take to continue to get deals done in the upcoming year and what will happen with all the capital.