North Bay Business Journal

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

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. …

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.

Bank of Marin Chief Financial Officer Christina Cook is leaving the bank. …

American AgCredit returned the largest dividend in its history to its members in 2012, the agriculture cooperative’s first year of positive loan growth since 2009. …

Citing an increase in income-generating assets and new loans, Summit State Bank (NASDAQ: SSBI) reported a 64 percent increase in net income for the first three months of 2013 and declared a larger quarterly dividend. …

AltaPacific Bank’s assets have grown steadily in the year since completing its merger with a Southern California-based bank, ending the first quarter 4.1 percent higher. …

So on a beautiful quiet day in pastoral Sonoma County, after almost three years, my 61-year-old client Diane finally received the final order from the court. It was ordered that a bank return the excessive prepayment/lockout fee that it had woven into the loan documents, unbeknownst to Diane at the time of origination.

MILL VALLEY — Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE: RWT) today announced net income of $61 million for the first quarter of 2013, equivalent to 69 cents per diluted share and up 45.2 percent versus earnings in the first three months of last year.

SANTA ROSA — American AgCredit returned the largest member dividend in its history in 2012, the agricultural cooperative’s first year of positive loan growth since 2009, the lender reported today.

NOVATO — Bank of Marin Chief Financial Officer Christina Cook to is leaving the bank to join Petaluma-based First California Mortgage Company. Bank of Marin has nearly doubled in size since Ms. Cook joined the bank as CFO and executive vice president in August of 2004, growing from $737 million in assets at the end of 2004 to $1.43 billion in assets as of March 31 of this year. The 35-year-old First California Mortgage has funded more than $200 billion in residential loans across the United States throughout its history.

SANTA ROSA — Citing an increase in income-generating assets and new loans, Summit State Bank (NASDAQ: SSBI) reported a 64 percent increase in net income for the first three months of 2013 and declared a larger quarterly dividend.

SANTA ROSA — AltaPacific Bank assets have grown steadily in the year since completing its merger with a Southern California-based bank, ending the first quarter 4.1 percent higher.

After returning from the annual executive conference for Western Independent Bankers, a community bank trade group, Russell Colombo, president and CEO of Bank of Marin, said that leaders in the industry are starting to express greater optimism after a historically challenging economic period. …

Loans and deposits have grown at Bank of Napa, N.A., with net assets growing 8.2 percent over the course of a year and approaching $150 million as of March 31. …

NOVATO — Bank of Marin Bancorp (NASDAQ: BMRC), parent company of Bank of Marin, today reported net income in the first three months of 2013 increased from the prior quarter and was level with income a year before.

The bank realized a net recovery on troubled loans for the first time in several years.

Exchange Bank announced its after-tax income for the first three months this year was 9 percent higher than a year before, partly attributed to improvements in efficiency and loan quality. …

A low interest rate environment a fierce competition for loans was cited for a decline in first quarter earnings for San Rafael-based Westamerica Bank, with parent company Westamerica Bancorporation announcing net income had fallen 17.6 percent versus the same period last year. …

Terry Davis has joined Santa Rosa’s SAFE-BIDCO as chief financial officer, his latest leadership role in a long history as a North Bay banking executive. …

Kimberly Kaselionis, who served as CEO of the former Circle Bank, has joined her mother, Kit Cole, as an inductee in the Marin Women’s Hall of Fame. …

NAPA — While assets and pre-tax income have grown at Bank of Napa, N.A. (OTCBB: BNNP), the bank announced today that net income was 9.4 percent lower comparing the first three months of 2013 to the same period in 2012. The change was largely attributable to a reduction in the bank’s income tax benefit from the prior year, according to the announcement.

SANTA ROSA — Exchange Bank today reported its after-tax income for the first three months this year was 9 percent higher than a year before, partly attributed to improvements in efficiency and loan quality.

WINDSOR — Santa Rosa’s Exchange Bank is preparing to recast its Windsor branch as a testing ground for the future of brick-and-mortar banking, optimizing the location for an era when advanced ATMs and Web services have encroached significantly on the role of the traditional bank branch, executives said.

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. …

Assessing the value of a wine investment opportunity is the key to a good purchase.

The due-diligence process provides an opportunity for a buyer to identify an asset’s unseen potential — and possible pitfalls — in order to gain a better understanding of value.

Carine Arend, CPA, has been promoted to senior manager in the tax department of the Santa Rosa public accounting firm of Dal Poggetto & Company, LLP. … Also in the tax department of the same firm, Ryan Fitzsimons, CPA, has been promoted to manager. …

Reed Upson joined Warren Capital Corp. in Novato as finance and operations analyst. …

Surani Kwan was presented the 2013 Nurse Practitioner of Distinction award by the California Association for Nurse Practitioners. …

Autodesk Inc. of San Rafael appointed to its board of directors Tom Georgens of NetApp. …

Penfolds, managed by Treasury Wine Estates, named Napa-based DLynn Proctor its winemaking ambassador for the Americas. …