North Bay Business Journal

Ask Jen: Pros and cons of the independent contractor

We are a small company and have been searching for the past year for a specialized engineer to round out our development team with no success. We are considering using an independent contractor to fill the gap until we find the perfect candidate. What are the pros and cons of going this route?

What this season is really all about

To tell the truth, I really just wanted to cry. That was my reaction as I scanned the dining room at the Assisted Living facility into which my 93-year-old mother just moved. Not because it isn’t a terrific facility. It’s one of the nicest I have ever seen, visited or heard about, with a wonderful and genuinely caring staff. No, it’s not that at all.

Grape Market Insights: Bulk cabernet inventory reveals naked truth of shortages

Commodity traders watch feed prices and count pork bellies. As for me, I watch what is hanging on grape vines (not much right now) and I study our proprietary data, especially bulk-wine inventories. Those two data points, plus a good bottle of Sonoma County cabernet sauvignon, can reveal the future. Let’s talk 2012, and let’s talk North Coast cab.

Managing workplace stress during the holiday season

The “most wonderful time of the year” can also be one of the most stressful times of the year for U.S. workers. Year-end deadlines combined with holiday obligations – both work and personal commitments – can add up to increased stress levels for employees, resulting in absenteeism, lost productivity and other physical and emotional issues.

The health crisis that is largely silent: Dental disease

an you imagine going through high school with dentures? Sabrina is a 16-year-old sophomore at a Santa Rosa high school. Sabrina is a good student, with a B+ average, but she has already missed several days of class this school year because of severe toothaches she began to experience over the summer. Sabrina’s family has no dental insurance, and she hadn’t had her teeth examined or cleaned professionally in more than two years.

Occupy Santa Rosa vs. Exchange Bank: The wrong target

This is the time of year when news organizations pick their “best photo of the year.” My choice is a photo of Exchange Bank CEO Bill Schrader meeting Occupy Santa Rosa protesters who recently descended on the bank’s branch in Roseland.

New court rulings jeopardize asset protection benefits of single-member LLCs

If you own a single-member limited liability company (“SMLLC”) and live in a community property state, recent developments now make it prudent for you to seriously consider adding at least one more member to your LLC

Extending a hand during a time of great need

There has not been such dire need in our community since the Great Depression. Most of us weren’t around then, but according to statistics, unemployment, homelessness, and families struggling to put food on the table have made living in our beautiful country a daily test of survival.

Building a Business: Delaying the tough call only makes it worse

Remember how Mom used to say: “You know better than that?”

It wasn’t that we were ignorant or unaware of what was supposed to be done. Quite the contrary. We knew well what we were supposed to do but we just didn’t want to do it. Why not?

$50 million Marin Commons renovation set for 2012 start

SAN RAFAEL — As the county of Marin prepares to take ownership of a 328,000-square-foot office building in north San Rafael in December, preparations are under way to start the estimated $53.1 million transformation of a large portion into the county’s Emergency Operations Facility in mid-2012.

50 new jobs is a great start heading to 2012

Several months ago I had the privilege of participating in a group tour of Agilent Technologies’ sprawling and visually stunning Fountaingrove campus. When the tour was done, I felt for the first time in 25 years of following Agilent that I understood — in a non-technical way, for sure — what the company does in Santa Rosa. (Coincidentally Agilent is a winner of one of our Healthiest Companies Awards and is profiled below.)

It all comes down to making the tough choices

It’s been interesting to re-examine some of the concepts we’ve discussed over the last four years. It’s truly fascinating, really, to be reminded about our timeless journey and our ongoing struggle to find the right balance to fulfill the lives we envision for ourselves.

Commercial real estate: Madera Vista apartments get $65 million investment

Denver-based Apartment Investment and Management Co. (NYSE: AIV) is betting about $65 million on the renovation of the 126-unit vacant apartment complex in Corte Madera, amounting to $516,000 a unit. Also: Rowland Plaza to be refi’ed not sold; San Rafael Corporate Center gets medical office rezoning; Deer Creek Village courts Friedman’s, Home Depot; Santa Rosa office short-sale lands big tenant.

Occupy Santa Rosa camp distracts from real issues

Santa Rosa city leaders by now must be wishing they hadn’t blinked when they first gave Occupy campers an inch, allowing them to pitch tents in violation of the city’s ordinance. It’s going to be very hard to put the genie back in the bottle.

What will be California’s economic game changer?

A look back at three decades of new and expanded manufacturing facilities in California leaves us scratching our head. What’s the state’s next big game changer? Our investment highs this decade equal our lows of the ’80s and ’90s.

North Coast wine industry sings the ‘hang time’ blues

According to Brian’s Dictionary of Wine, the term hang time designates three related times: a time of flavor development for grapes, a time of anxiety and expectation for winemakers and a time of dread, despair and paranoia for grape growers. The poor grape broker’s job is to try to reconcile these three times to keep everyone happy — a tough task in a year like 2011, when no one is anything remotely like happy.

Winery Exchange revamps Echelon with North Coast grapes

After acquiring the Echelon Vineyards brand from Diageo Chateau & Estates Wines early this year, Novato-based Winery Exchange has revamped the brand inside the bottle and out. … Boisset Family Estates, whose U.S. portfolio of brands includes DeLoach, Buena Vista and Raymond, formed a “strategic partnership” with 75,000-case-a-year Lockwood Vineyard in Monterey County. … Part of the makeover of the Main Street Exchange building at 1040 Main St. in downtown Napa, are tenant improvements to accommodate 22 employees of Huneeus Vintners. The Huneeus family wine company plans to relocate accounting, sales administration and marketing personnel from the Quintessa winery in St. Helena to 5,800 square feet in Napa around the beginning of next year … What started as a novel packaging idea to distinguish their 400-case-a-year Rua wine brand has turned into a business in its own right for Windsor-based wine sales and marketing veterans Máire Murphy and her husband, Walt Averill. In the past year since launching CapaBunga — a surfer-esque play on “capsule” and wine barrel “bung” — they’ve sold 117,000 of the stretchable food-grade silicone bottleneck capsules. … Tony Linegar, 46, Mendocino County agricultural commissioner and sealer of weights and measures for nearly three years, will move to that role in Sonoma County on Jan. 3. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved his appointment Tuesday. … With harvest mostly over in the North Coast, it’s the start of wine business conference season.

Former Santa Rosan Shurtleff sets a Rotary milestone

Check “Visit 200 Rotary clubs around the world” off Gordon Shurtleff’s bucket list.

Okay, it’s not a big deal to non-Rotarians, but in his world – 1.25 million global community leaders dedicated to service above self – this is big stuff.

Critical shortage of talent makes recruiting key

Recruiting is critical to the success of any business even if not all executives buy into this idea. There is a critical shortage of talent available to companies today, baby boomers are leaving the workforce and our population is aging. The need for savvy, creative recruiters is greater than ever and will continue to grow.

First principle of basic estate planning: Get started

egardless of the source of motivation, all adults should have an estate plan notwithstanding their wealth, marital status or parental status. It is never too soon to start planning.