North Bay Business Journal

SANTA ROSA — Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and Advanced Surgery Institute, LLC, have entered into a joint venture on operations of a central Santa Rosa ambulatory surgery center, giving Memorial further reach beyond hospital walls as health care providers seek to expand outpatient services.

ROHNERT PARK — Tourism in Sonoma County continues to rebound at an encouraging pace, with revenue and hotel occupancy rates besting those of the previous two years, experts said Wednesday at an annual meeting on local tourism.

PETALUMA — Calix, Inc. (NYSE: CALX) today announced revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012 was $91.4 million, up 12.5 percent compared to $81.3 million for the third quarter of 2012, and flat compared to $91.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2011.

As president and CEO of the state’s largest tourism marking organization, Caroline Beteta is among a growing roster of industry leaders that will take part in Sonoma State University’s 2013 Economic Outlook Conference, “Game-Changers: Innovations and Leaders Transforming the North Bay Economy.”

Registration for the event, underwritten by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Empire College, is available at www.northbaybusinessjournal.com or by calling 707-521-5264. Tickets are $59, or $590 for priority reserved seating.

The Business Journal is looking for nominations for its seventh annual Forty Under 40, a special publication and awards reception that will recognize 40 professionals under the age of 40. Nominations are now open, ending Feb. 20.

SANTA ROSA — Osseon Therapeutics, Inc. announced today that it has raised a $14 million round of equity financing led by a private investor, which will allow the medical device maker to expands its product line that treats vertebral compression fractures.

SACRAMENTO — Shipments of wine to the U.S. hit another record last year, but growth slowed considerably from 2011 as producers turned to imports in a big way to try to meet demand, according to experts at a major industry symposium in Sacramento.

William “Bill” Price III, co-founder of private investment company TPG Group and a financier of North Coast wineries such as Kosta Browne, purchased the 138-acre Gap’s Crown pinot noir and chardonnay vineyard in the Sonoma Coast appellation east of Rohnert Park.

ROHNERT PARK — Sonoma County’s economic recession that led to more than 25,000 jobs lost is mostly over, as job growth through most of last year outpaced that of the Bay Area, state and nation as well as nearly matching national growth leader North Dakota, an economist with the closely watched UCLA Anderson Forecast told an annual gathering of civic and business leaders in the county.

Unemployment rates in the six North Bay counties edged upward or remained unchanged in November, according to state figures, as lower employment in farming and processing winegrapes after the harvest helped offset hiring in retail for the holidays.

Despite the dip in farming employment, Sonoma County continued to have among the fastest annual job growth in the state last month.

[Updated Wednesday, Jan. 16, 3:30 p.m.] GREENBRAE — Roughly a year after being dismissed from the long-running legal dispute between Marin General Hospital and Sutter Health, former hospital board chair Robert Heller was awarded $848,202 in legal fees and costs from the suit brought forth by the Marin Healthcare District, his attorneys said Tuesday.

Marin General, meanwhile, revealed Wednesday that it was awarded roughly $11 million in legal fees and costs as a result of being declared the prevailing party over Sutter Health.

The deadline for reserving your spot at one of the North Bay’s largest business networking events is Jan. 18. More than 500 are expected to attend the release celebration for the Business Journal’s 2013 Book of Lists.

SANTA ROSA — Sonoma County winegrape growers, vintners and tourism promoters are launching a coordinated multimedia campaign to promote one of the county’s top economic engines.

NOVATO — The Meritage Medical Network today was approved as an accountable care organization under a Medicare initiative stemming from the new health care law.

ROHNERT PARK — The massive $800 million Graton Resort and Casino today reached a key phase in construction, as hundreds of workers and officials involved in the project celebrated a “topping out” ceremony.

SANTA ROSA — An anonymous donation to fund scholarships at Santa Rosa Junior College has grown to $6 million, following an additional $1 million gift from the original donor.

SAN RAFAEL — BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ: BRMN) today said it has acquired San Diego-based Zacharon Pharmaceuticals, a private biotechnology company focused on developing small molecules targeting pathways of glycan and glycolipid metabolism.

SANTA ROSA — A Southern California real estate investment trust for medical office buildings purchased the 100,125-square-foot Sutter North Bay Health Plaza building, mostly occupied by Sutter Health, fronting on the west side of Highway 101 in northwest Santa Rosa.

Unemployment rates in the six North Bay counties edged upward or remained unchanged in November, according to state figures released this morning, as lower employment in farming and processing winegrapes after the harvest helped offset hiring in retail for the holidays.

Despite the dip in farming employment, Sonoma County continued to have among the fastest annual job growth in the state last month.

NOVATO — Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. today said it raised $75 million in Series B financing for development of the company’s lead clinical testing–stage drugs to treat rare genetic diseases.