North Bay Business Journal

A Sonoma County-based nonprofit and several others with ties in the North Bay are among 48 organizations across the state to share in $37 million in outreach and education grants from Covered California, the state’s online health exchange developed under health care reform.

Petaluma-based Redwood Community Health Coalition received $830,000. Catholic Charities of California, which has a presence in Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties, received $859,000. California Rural Indian Health Board, which has a presence in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, was given $300,000. The California NAACP, which has locations in Sonoma and Solono counties, received $600,000 and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Solano County received $100,00.

ROHNERT PARK — Efforts continue to secure full funding for constructing an outdoor pavilion at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center, one of a number of construction projects at the school that include a new student center that is nearing completion, according to the university.

Offered for the first time this year, the eight-course Wine Industry Finance and Accounting certificate program takes many of the financial skills taught in Sonoma State’s full-blown wine business degree programs and breaks those topics out for focused instruction to a non-student audience.

NORTH BAY — At a time of reduced state funding for public education in California, some of the North Bay’s largest and most influential employers are launching and supporting initiatives that seek to bolster programs for students from elementary school through the college level.

Gary Heck, owner and president of Korbel Champagne Cellars and Kenwood Vineyards, became an honorary inductee of the Sonoma State University chapter of the Beta Gamma Sigma business honor society last month. …

Amid the rising popularity of a for-credit “Banking and Finance Academy” program operated in partnership with Santa Rosa City Schools, Redwood Credit Union recent took part in a new “Bite of Reality” financial literacy program in San Rafael. …

Dominican University’s Venture Greenhouse incubator and accelerator program will host a “Marinnovation” showcase for innovators and entrepreneurs from Marin County on May 15, with Netflix co-founder and Mill Valley resident Mitch Lowe as keynote. …

On May 10, College of Marin will host a celebration for its recently opened Science, Math and Nursing building at the school’s Kentfield Campus, featuring a lecture by alumnus Adam Steltzner from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mars Rover “Curiosity” expedition. …

Stephen Olson, long-time agriculture instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College and a major force behind the college’s Shone Farm programs, has been selected to receive one of the school’s highest honors for staff, the President’s Medallion of Honor. …

Massage Envy Spa’s Santa Rosa location hired a certified massage therapist in March, Susan Losinski. …

The Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa hired an additional group sales manager, Mary Jo Baird. …

Jen Birmingham, a sales associate in Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Petaluma office, has been awarded membership in the company’s International Sterling Society, an honor bestowed upon the top Coldwell Banker sales associates worldwide. …

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage announced that Gary Sumner, a sales associate in its Santa Rosa office, earned membership in the company’s International Diamond Society. …

Sonoma-based marketing agency V2 Wine Group appointed industry veteran Ken Meyerson director of national retail accounts. …

North Bay Leadership Council is gearing up for the third year of its Algebra Academy Program this summer in San Rafael and Novato. …

Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) visited Quivira Vineyards in Dry Creek Valley to present the winery with his Sustainable North Coast certificate in recognition of Quivira’s work in restoring salmon habitat and healthy waterways. …

AT&T has expanded its high-speed 4G LTE network in the San Francisco Bay Area, bringing more customers the latest generation of wireless network technology. …

Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance and the first U.S. clinical uses of its new Affinity Fusion oxygenation system. …

Novato’s LumiGrow, Inc. announced a so-called “Cash for Clunkers” program. Through the new program, commercial growers receive a $150 cash rebate for each high intensity discharge (HID) greenhouse light fixture they replace with a LumiGrow LED luminaire. …

Site preparation for new academic center at College of Marin in Kentfield has begun. …

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Community Foundation, the philanthropic arm of one of the largest residential real estate services company in the Bay Area, raised $95,570 for Habitat for Humanity in Northern California. …

Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, in collaboration with the county Department of Health Services and the University of California Cooperative Extension, announced the launch of an online program to allow local gardeners to sell or donate their eligible produce. …

Petaluma-based Emma at Home (emmahome.com), retailer of modern home décor by Emma Gardner, has partnered with International Checkout to handle the retailer’s operational aspects of serving online customers outside the U.S. …

Matthew Taylor recently joined Sonoma Bank’s commercial banking office, located at 801 Fourth St. in Santa Rosa, as a commercial banker. …

The U.S. Green Building Council Redwood Empire chapter announced the election of nine new members to its board of directors. …

Armand Gilinsky, professor in the School of Business and Economics at Sonoma State University, was named as one of two recipients of the Bernie and Estelle Goldstein Award for Excellence in Scholarship. …

Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Sonoma County added James Conners and Kimberly Baldwin to its resource development team. …

W3 Partners, a San Rafael-based real estate investment operating company, named Peter Mette managing partner. …

Green Key Commercial, based in Petaluma, received the Green Company Innovator award at the Infusionsoft Innovation Summit in San Francisco. …

REACH Air Medical Services of Santa Rosa earned the Diamond Certified rating for the third consecutive year. …

San Rafael-based 10,000 Degrees announced that two grant awards will help kick off the organization’s 14th year of providing the 10,000 Degrees Institute — a wrap-around approach to college success for low-income students. …

This month, Mollie Stone’s Markets will note the 25th anniversary of its Sausalito location. …

SANTA ROSA — State-funded nonprofit First 5 Sonoma County granted $1.38 million to an early childhood and parent education “campus” at Santa Rosa’s Lawrence Cook Middle School, part of $5.13 million in one-time grants to support what educators and employers call the “cradle to career” approach to workforce development.

Sonoma County BEST (Building Economic Success Together) kicked off the “100 in 100″ effort on March 18. …

Petaluma Educational Foundation has been seeing increased activity in its TEC initiative, short for “Transforming Education in the Classroom.” …

Riley Flanagan, an eighth-grade student at Sonoma Country Day School, hosted a wine dinner in Healdsburg to benefit the the Community Child Care Council of Sonoma County (4Cs). …

Santa Rosa-based Zap said it is adding compressed natural gas power to its line of alternative-energy vehicles. …

Viña Perez Cruz appointed Sebastopol-based Paul Hobbs Imports as its U.S. importer. …

DAOU Vineyards and Winery of Paso Robles has retained Napa-based Wine Spoken Here. …

Santa Rosa-based Food & Wine Trails announced six new “wine shore adventures” for 2013. …

SANTA ROSA — A $1.38 million grant to Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County will help to establish a new hub for early-childhood and family-assistance programs in southwest Santa Rosa.

ROHNERT PARK — The North Bay iHub and the Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster are each on the verge of a significant evolutionary step, transitioning from a focus on high-tech startups to the promotion of innovative companies and nonprofits across a broad variety of industries in the North Bay, according to leaders coordinating those efforts.

NORTH BAY — Graduates of North Bay colleges are increasingly bracing to enter a job market that often thinks in terms of projects instead of long-term payroll, finding success by adopting the sensibilities of an entrepreneurial self advocate, educators said.

NOVATO — While scores of institutions await the fallout from across-the-board cuts to federal spending known as “‘sequestration,” the local impact is being realized particularly by medical research centers like the Buck Institute for Research on Aging.

Charles Schwab, a provider of full-service brokerage services, announced the opening of a new independent branch in Novato. …

Marin Energy Authority, the first community choice aggregation program in California and electricity supplier of choice to Marin County and Richmond residents, will deploy the P-ECOSYS consumer-engagement platform by San Francisco-based PlanetEcosystems. …

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is set to be the speaker for 86th annual commencement for the class of 2013 at College of Marin. …

Marin Energy Authority, the first community choice aggregation program in California and electricity supplier of choice to Marin County and Richmond residents, will deploy the P-ECOSYS consumer-engagement platform by San Francisco-based PlanetEcosystems. …

County of Marin can now fully fund retiree health benefits just like it does employee pensions by ensuring that funds are set aside for unfunded liabilities as well as current costs. …

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) announced that all new Agilent electronic test instruments sold after will be covered by a “bumper-to-bumper” three-year repair warranty. …

Meadowcroft Wines’ Thomas Henry brand received a World-Class Design award from HOW magazine in its 2013 International Design Awards issue. …

Vineyard & Winery Management and The Press Democrat are launching the North Coast Wine Challenge. …

CK Mondavi, a brand owned and operated for 70 years by C. Mondavi & Family, launched a mobile-device-optimized website to enhance the user experience for wine consumers using smartphones and tablets. …

SANTA ROSA — Empire College has been named to the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, marking the second year that the not-for-profit college has been selected for the prestigious national award recognizing the role of volunteering in its regular curriculum.

ROHNERT PARK — In his annual economic forecast at the Sonoma State University Economic Outlook Conference, Dr. Robert Eyler, director of the university’s Center for Regional Economic Analysis, said that the six North Bay counties of Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Mendocino and Lake could expect “broad growth” across various sectors through 2014.

American River Bank, a subsidiary of American River Bankshares [NASDAQ-GS: AMRB], with the American River Bankshares Foundation awarded $147,500 to nine nonprofit organizations in Northern California, including Legal Aid of Sonoma County. …

Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) declared a first-quarter regular dividend of 28 cents per share, the first increase in six years. …

Rabobank, N.A., launched a program that automatically rewards customers for everyday banking. …

Redwood Credit Union, in partnership with the Sonoma County Office of Education and Santa Rosa City Schools, plans to offer eighth free 16-hour Financial Academy sessions for Sonoma County high school juniors and seniors on March 19–21. …

The application deadline for the Doyle Scholarship at Santa Rosa Junior College, restored for the 2013–14 academic year, is March 14. …

Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH) said the 902-kilowatt photovoltaic project at Strain Ranches in Arbuckle was successfully commissioned. …