North Bay Business Journal

SACRAMENTO — Covered California, the state’s online health exchange established under the Affordable Care Act, today announced that 13 commercial health plans will take part in its individual marketplace, while introducing premiums that vary from region to region.

PETALUMA — The American arm of Danish ambulance giant Falck, one of the largest ambulance companies in the world, has acquired Petaluma-based Verihealth Inc., an ambulance and medical transport company founded in 2000.

NORTH BAY — While the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s record-breaking close above 15,000 was a highly watched milestone this month, wealth managers in the North Bay expressed caution. Those broader market gains are no doubt good for many investors, they said, but it is the ones with a long-term strategy who have stayed in the markets during the past few years of downturns that are reaping the greatest rewards.

NORTH BAY — As median home prices climb sharply in the North Bay, a recent report by real estate data tracker RealtyTrac shows that the Santa Rosa-Petaluma market is one of the most profitable nationwide for “flipping” homes.

Also: Redwood Trust calls first quarter strongest since recession

Unemployment rates across the North Coast continued to fall, with every county improving its jobless rate over both the last month and over the year, according to figures released by the Economic Development Department.

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.

NOVATO — Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp. (Nasdaq: RPTP), after steadily growing its pipeline over the past 12 months, will relocate its corporate headquarters to a nearly 31,000 square-foot space at 7 Hamilton Landing, a space formally occupied by Walt Disney Corp.’s ImageMovers Digital animation studio.

SAN RAFAEL — Korean food has been topping trendy cuisine charts for the past few years, and now the Marin County natural foods entrepreneur who helped make it a household staple is getting national retailer attention for her new venture in seaweed snacks for the uber-health-conscious.

NORTH BAY — More capital is flowing to North Bay small businesses through loan programs backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration, with a 10.4 percent increase in dollar volume funded in Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties comparing the first half of the administration’s fiscal year to the same period one year ago, according to data from the SBA.

Spotlight on leading SBA lenders in the North Bay

The draconian changes recently proposed by a coalition of conservation organizations would help destroy the very foundation that makes the Marin weknow and love possible today and sustainable tomorrow. Among other things, the coalition seeks a series of drastic restrictions on our economic vitality, commerce, transportation, development, zoning, and property rights. The result would be [...]

Diana Brennan, who has worked in Sonoma Raceway media relations since 1999, was promoted from director to senior director of media and community relations. …

Altus Equity Group in Santa Rosa hired Kristy Brooks as operations manager. …

Kyle Young is the newest agent of commercial real estate brokerage Keegan & Coppin Company, Inc./ONCOR International’s Santa Rosa office….

Novato-based Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, Inc., appointed Eric Yuen, MD, chief medical officer and senior vice president. …

Marla Carroll was named winemaker at Franciscan Estate Winery in St. Helena. …

Commercial real estate leases and sales in the north San Francisco Bay Area

Sterling Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:STSA), parent company of Sonoma Bank and Sterling Savings Bank, and Newport Beach-based Commerce National Bank (OTCBB:CNBF) entered a definitive agreement for Sterling to acquire Commerce National for $15.10 per common share in cash, or $42.9 million including planned redemption of outstanding stock options and warrants. …

Sho-Ka-Wa Casino near Hopland said it plans to use the sbX software from International Game Technology (NYSE: IGT). That provides a game theme library, analytics and floor-management features. …

Sausalito’s Smart Meetings magazine, a resource for event-planning professionals, won the 2013 Maggie Award for Best Feature Article, “A Winning Combination” written by David Vranicar, within the Creative Trade & Consumer Print award division for publications with circulations of less than 50,000. …

The Marin Sonoma Concours d’Elegance added a 1961 Cooper T56 Mark ll Formula Junior owned by Steve McQueen to its showing of vintage automobiles once owned by Hollywood legends. …

SAN RAFAEL — BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (Nasdaq:BMRN) recently reported a net loss of $39.8 million, or 31 cents per share, for the first quarter ended March 31, compared to a net loss of $24 million in the same period last year.

NOVATO — Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp. (Nasdaq: RPTP) today reported its first-quarter net loss expanded by 13.6 percent from a year before.

NOVATO — Fueled by an acquisition that significantly increased its assets under management, Hennessy Advisors, Inc. (OTCBB: HNNA) today announced a 400 percent increase in earnings comparing the first three months of 2013 to the same period in 2012.

NOVATO — The Marin Community Foundation today said it will distribute to local health clinics $2 million in new grants from the Sutter Health Access to Care Fund.

MILL VALLEY — Thompson Dorfman Partners, LLC, today said it plans to spend $500 million in the next three years building multifamily and mixed-use developments in Northern California and hired a veteran of such projects to oversee the expansion.

The 14-year-old company hired Gillian Sutton Cho as vice president of development to manage acquisition and entitlement of projects, including almost 1,200 Bay Area units in design, entitlement or construction.