North Bay Business Journal

The Business Journal is researching for its new list of the largest North Bay Women-owned Companies. Deadline to submit your name is Tuesday, June 25th.

If your company is 51 percent or more women-owned and is located in Sonoma, Napa, Marin or Solano counties, please fill in this form.

The deadline for signing up is Friday, June 21.

SANTA ROSA – Navigating economic realities involving energy, debt and climate trends that will impact our lives and provide the context for local economic development in the North Bay, was the focus of Richard Heinberg’s presentation May 8 at the Glaser Center in Santa Rosa.

One of the benefits of an electricity purchasing program which is non-profit and publicly-owned, is that revenues can be retained and available for reinvestment on behalf of the public. Sonoma Clean Power intends to offer a number of incentive programs to do just this. One investment vehicle will be the expansion of energy efficiency programs for homes and businesses.

As part of the implementation of the Local Vendor Preference policies adopted by the Napa County Board of Supervisors, the county will host a Contracting Opportunities Workshop for Professional Services Consultants and Construction Contractors in May. …

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. officials presented College of Marin with a check for the energy efficient design and construction of the new Science, Math, Nursing Building. …

Direct Flow Medical, Inc., the Santa Rosa-based transcatheter heart valve company focused on improving patient outcomes, announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an investigational device exemption to begin the SALUS feasibility trial of the Direct Flow Medical Transcatheter Aortic Heart Valve System. …

Phoenix, Ariz.-based Sprouts Farmers Market is getting closer to opening its first store in Sonoma County. …

Petaluma’s Enphase Energy, Inc. announced its support of Team USC in the 2013 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, a biennial competition powered exclusively by the sun. …

A number of new regulations related to dirt, air, water and energy are facing the North Coast wine business. In Napa County, vintners and growers trade groups are concerned about a coalescing county climate action plan (countyofnapa.org/CAP) that includes specific numerical targets for greenhouse gas reduction. The county Board of Supervisors sent the draft plan [...]

NAPA COUNTY — Founded five years ago with a startup grant from the Peter A. and Vernice H. Gasser Foundation and support from other partners, Sustainable Napa County helps local nonprofits conserve energy and water. But this is just the beginning.

Amy Bolten is public information officer for the Energy Resources Group of Sonoma County Water Agency.

She is set to speak on projects related to the water agency and the proposed Sonoma Clean Power program at Construction Conference 2013, hosted by the Business Journal in Santa Rosa on May 15.

Ms. Bolten and SCEIP manager Jane Elias, a 14-year veteran of green building and energy, spoke with the Journal about construction activity generated by these agencies and programs.

Allen Wine Group, LLP, a Calistoga-based wine industry business advisory service and CPA firm, now offers bookkeeping services. …

Nine Marin County communities recently qualified for national “Green Power Community” recognition by the Environmental Protection Agency due to the countywide switch to renewable electric service from Marin Clean Energy. …

Rohnert Park-based sheet metal engineering and fabricator ASM Precision, Inc., purchased and installed a new AMADA EMLK 3610NT punch and laser combination machine. …

Zap Jonway Automobile (ZAAP), manufacturer of electric vehicles and other new energy vehicles with operations in Santa Rosa and China, is exhibiting at the 15th International Shanghai Automobile & Manufacturing Technology Exhibition. …

The city of Santa Rosa earned the highest achievement for its economic development programming — the Award of Excellence — from the California Association of Local Economic Development. …

Healdsburg’s SHED, a multifaceted market, café, coffee bar, fermentation bar and “modern Grange” event center is now open to the public. …

As Sonoma County’s political leaders continue to move forward with the process of setting up a county-wide public power agency, many in the business community are examining what the renewable energy-focused proposal would mean to their operations.

SONOMA COUNTY — Offering the clearest picture yet of expected pricing from a renewable energy-focused power agency under development in Sonoma County, a new report shows that a typical business customer in the launch phase of Sonoma Clean Power could expect to pay between 3.1 percent less per month and a half-percent more than conventional utility rates.

The New Energy Efficient Home Credit, also known as the 45L credit, first became available for tax years after Dec. 31, 2005. Though it expired in 2011, the recently passed 2012 Taxpayer Relief Act retroactively restores and extends the credit for 2012 and 2013.

HEALDSBURG — Santa Rosa-based Climate Protection Campaign is hosting a forum this week for the local wine industry on the impact the proposed Sonoma Clean Power agency could have on their businesses.

Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH) of Petaluma said its microinverters are available in Switzerland, the seventh European country for sales and installations. …

The Sutter Health network of doctors, hospitals and other health care service providers announced its financial performance for 2012. …

Adventist Health, which has a number of North Bay locations, will transition responsibility for its revenue-management services to Cerner Corp. …

Smart Meetings magazine, a Sausalito-based resource for meeting professionals, received five nominations for the 2013 Maggie Awards. …

Systema Software, a Larkspur-based provider of claims administration software and services to the insurance industry, and Instec, a provider of policy administration services and technology to the commercial property and casualty insurance industry, formed a strategic alliance to offer an integrated insurance platform. …

Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards of Windsor has been named the top wine in two categories of the 24th annual restaurant poll in the April issue of Wine & Spirits Magazine. …

SANTA ROSA — A newcomer to the no-upfront-cost residential solar energy market, but affiliated with a company that has national experience with home security, energy-management and automation systems, has opened a North Bay installation hub, one of three in the Bay Area as the company rapidly expands locally.

Commercial real estate broker Burt Polson, who has operated ACRES Real Estate Services in Napa for two decades, is joining Strong & Hayden Commercial Real Estate. …

Stellar Energy, based in Rohnert Park, hired Chris Larsen as director of southeast project development. …

Kurt Hahn was honored for 15 years of service to Healdsburg District Hospital after he announced his retirement and resignation from the board. …

Chris Call recently joined the board of the Santa Rosa-based Climate Protection Campaign as treasurer. …

The California Parenting Institute board of directors welcomed five new board members. …

Sausalito-based Equilibrium named Pal Storehaug as its vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. …

Rack & Riddle, a Hopland winery and custom-crush facility, hired Raphael Brisbois as director of winemaking to lead the production of client and branded wines. …

Signorello Estate appointed Britny Sundin estate chef. …

Soutirage hired Master Sommelier Desmond Echavarrie as senior wine advisor. …

The Hess Collection, which has a winery in American Canyon, appointed Illinois-based Jeanne Jesse as north central regional sales manager. …

Cline Cellars and Jacuzzi Family Vineyards in Sonoma Valley named Robert Hawk as Great Lakes regional manager. …

The board of directors of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission announced that Karissa Kruse will be its next president, replacing Nick Frey as he retires. …

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. …

SAN RAFAEL — In the Dominican Republic and its troubled neighbor Haiti people whisper about a vast, untapped source of oil, mysteriously ignored by the government and foreign mining teams.

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. …

Sonoma Clean Power is a community choice aggregation program being developed by the Sonoma County Water Agency to purchase electricity for Sonoma County customers. This program has multiple benefits and risks, is complex and not well understood by Sonoma County residents and businesses. In order to help the North Bay Business Journal readers understand the various aspects of Sonoma Clean Power, the Journal is partnering with the Sonoma County Water Agency to publish a series of articles discussing the various aspects of this effort. This article, the sixth in the series, discusses the potential risks and benefits of developing a community choice aggregation program in Sonoma County.

Solar permitting throughout Sonoma County is now a singular process with one fee, solar advocates announced.