North Bay Business Journal

Doug Wright, shareholder in charge of the International Tax Services Group of Burr Pilger Mayer, was selected as a new board member of the Northern California World Trade Center after receiving unanimous approval from current members. …

Brian Pon, a partner in Financial Connections, a Corte Madera-based financial planning and wealth management firm, has been named Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Member at Golden Gate University for 2012. …

Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce hired Steve Lyman as membership sales manager. …

Kim Link has been hired as the marketing project and research support with the Santa Rosa Convention & Visitors Bureau, focusing on special marketing, sales and media projects. …

Kristina Combs is the new executive director of human resources and labor relations at College of Marin. …

Angwin resident Julie Crow-Petersen, R.N., was hired as a flight nurse by California Shock Trauma Air Rescue, better known as CALSTAR. …

Joan Kermath joined Decker Bullock Sotheby’s International Realty in Marin County. …

Veteran Marin real estate agent Rocky Vannucci joined Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage as sales manager for central and southern Marin County. …

Carra Clampitt of Eugene Burger Management Corp. in Rohnert Park has been elected to the statewide board of directors for Laguna Hills-based California Association of Community Managers. …

A new office for the federally administered Small Business Development Center program opened Friday in Santa Rosa, expected to be joined by a first-ever Marin County office later this year. The two locations boost the physical presence for the national program along the Highway 101 corridor in the North Bay.

SANTA ROSA — Santa Rosa Junior College will be adding up to 500 new class sections in its 2013–2014 academic year, using new revenue from the voter-approved tax measure Proposition 30 to restore approximately 7 percent of courses cut in the past three years.

ROHNERT PARK — Opening the 2013 Economic Outlook Conference at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center on Wednesday, Sandy Weill, former chairman and top executive of Citigroup and a major donor to the project, pointed to the upper seats of the concert hall that his contributions had helped to complete.

Kaiser Permanente has earned accreditation for its Santa Rosa Medical Center Family Residency Program, which was developed to attract and retain more physicians to the region in lieu of national shortages.

Monday–Tuesday, March 18–19, 2013, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. This two-day seminar is targeted to wine company principals, senior leadership and their advisers. It will concentrate on what drives value growth and how that is accomplished in today’s ultra-competitive wine industry.

SANTA ROSA — A training center for North Coast apprentice electricians is getting a major upgrade as the skills needs grow to work on increasingly advanced automation, alternative-energy and energy-efficiency systems.

The herd of beef cattle at Petaluma’s Spring Hill Ranch is now certified by the Alexandria, Va.-based Animal Welfare Approved program. …

Working Solutions, a nonprofit microlender that recently opened an office in San Rafael, recently funded Marin County businesses. …

Three wines produced by students at Santa Rosa Junior College won medals in the 2013 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Shone Farm 2010 pinot noir won a gold medal, while its 2009 syrah and 2011 rosé won a silver and bronze, respectively, in the January competition. …

Keiretsu Forum, a large global private-equity angel investment network, and The Venture Greenhouse at Dominican University of California plan to hold the Green Technology Investment Showcase on April 3 from 1–4:30 p.m. at the early-stage green business accelerator in San Rafael. …

An abandoned elementary school on Main Street in the west Sonoma County’s Monte Rio community will be transformed into a destination where residents and visitors can enjoy a café, hiking trail, a skate park and a community farm. …

Patsy Van Ouwerkerk, president and CEO of Travis Credit Union in Vacaville, was named chairman of the Solano Economic Development Corp. board of directors. …

Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce announced its 2013 board of directors. …

Jonathan Eldridge was named vice president of student services for College of Marin. …

Jerry Dunn will become the new human services director for the county of Sonoma. …

James Keller has been hired by the Napa Sanitation District to fill the vacancy left by former plant manager Sharleen Maglione, who retired in December after 28 years with the district. …

Tom Kemper joined Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage as a sales associate and technology consultant in its Santa Rosa office. …

SANTA ROSA — California Parenting Institute announced it has merged with New Direction School in Santa Rosa.

ROHNERT PARK — Mark Nelson, former president and chief operating officer of the Nelson Family of Companies, has been selected for a newly created “entrepreneur-in-residence” position at the Sonoma State University School of Business and Economics, according to an announcement today.

KENTFIELD — The accreditation agency overseeing College of Marin has lifted a warning it issued the college a year ago, citing marked accomplishment in addressing issues that could have lead to loss of accreditation.

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.

College of Marin hired Jonathan Eldridge as new vice president of Student Services. …

Attorney Michael Pfeifer has joined Santa Rosa-based law firm Smith Dollar PC. Mr. Pfeifer will head the firm’s office in Orange. … Also joining the firm’s Orange County office are attorneys Annabelle de la Mora and Libby Wong. …

Buckelew Programs named Steve Eckert, LCSW, as the organization’s new executive director. …

Kim Kaselionis has been named to the governing board of the Women’s Inititative for Self-Employment, a national organization headquartered in Novato, and elected to the Marin Women’s Hall of Fame. …

The Press Democrat appointed Jennifer Williams as director of advertising. …

Blu Homes, Inc. announced that Gary Martell has joined the company as chief financial officer, based in Vallejo. …

Visit Napa Valley promoted Sonyia Grabski to vice president, consumer direct marketing. …

Cline Cellars and Jacuzzi Family Vineyards promoted Keith Morris to vice president and national sales manager. …

Share your thoughts on this week’s NBBJ Pulse Poll question: “Santa Rosa Junior College has embarked on a long-term strategic plan process. What do you see as the college’s role in the future?”

Amid budgetary challenges, as well as new state mandates, many community colleges have been forced to change registration priority and restrict class offerings to focus on the “core mission” of helping students graduate from a certificate program or transfer to a four-year institution.

Santa Rosa Junior College is embarking on a multi-year, unprecedentedly wide-ranging strategic planning process, with hope that widespread community participation will strengthen a longstanding spirit of collaboration between the 95-year-old college, the regional business community and other stakeholders throughout the North Bay.

SANTA ROSA — Santa Rosa Junior College is embarking on a multi-year strategic planning process that participants say is of unprecedented scope in the college’s 95-year history, with hope that widespread community participation will strengthen a longstanding spirit of collaboration between the college, the regional business community and other stakeholders throughout the North Bay.

The recently completed, $150-million Green Music Center at Sonoma State University, that will play host to the North Bay Business Journal’s annual Economic Outlook Conference on Feb. 27. For 2013, the conference is titled Game Changers: Innovations and Leaders Transforming the North Bay Economy.

Sonoma State University in February will launch a certificate program taught by wine industry professionals in the finance and accounting fields.

ROHNERT PARK — Nearly eight years in the making, Sonoma State University plans to open the doors of a three-story, 130,000-square-foot student center this August, creating a central hub for student activity and providing the largest conference and event space in Sonoma County.

As the new director of the University of San Francisco’s Santa Rosa campus, Xavier Nazario said that he hopes to pursue new academic programs and grow enrollment in 2013 and beyond. …

A gift of advanced electronic measurement equipment valued at more than $220,000 will help Sonoma State University to offer new courses and develop one of the most advanced measurement laboratories in the California State University system. …

Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch will deliver the commencement address at Empire College’s semiannual graduation ceremony for the School of Business on the evening of Jan. 21. …

Corey Lee, chef and owner of Benu Restaurant in San Francisco, delivered the keynote address to a graduating class from the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus in St. Helena. …