North Bay Business Journal

The Internal Revenue Service has delayed the release of a new set of guidelines clarifying the tax perks of certain building improvements, responding to an outpouring of opinions on the proposed regulation and giving property owners more time to plan for possible impacts. …

California’s sales and use tax now stands at a base rate of 7.5 percent, following a decision by voters in November to pass a quarter-cent levy to support public education known as Proposition 30. … In addition, a new California law, Assembly Bill 1492, has added a 1 percent tax to lumber and engineered-wood products. …

G&J Seiberlich & Co., based in Napa, cited increased business in the Napa Valley and Solano County as drivers in hiring four: Jenea Smith, Tammy Brenner, Randy Peace and Tami Powers. … Other firms adding staff include Petaluma-based Baldwin McGaughey & Co. and Santa Rosa-based Elliott & Phillips. …

If you’re involved in a dispute, don’t make the same mistake as the defendant in a recent California appellate court case, or you could end up losing your contractual right to recover attorney’s fees — potentially a six-figure amount — when you win your next lawsuit.

Napa-based Coombs & Dunlap recently hired Karl Frisinger as an associate. …

Eric Fischer of Novato has joined Homeward Bound of Marin as chief financial officer. …

Connie Irwin of Pacific Union International in Kentfield was named “Realtor of the Year” by the Marin Association of Realtors. …

Robert Mondavi Winery has appointed Nova Cadamatre as winemaker. …

Rutherford Wine Company announced the appointment of John Trant as direct-to-consumer manager for Rutherford Ranch Winery. …

NAPA — Responding to growth in numerous practice areas, the law firm Dickenson Peatman & Fogarty has added five attorneys over the last six months as it seeks to bolster its ranks for what hopes to be a busy 2013.

PETALUMA — Redwood Community Health Coalition recently took part in a pilot project testing a mobile health application that enrolls patients in public assistance programs, a potentially pivotal development for the public health sector. The accelerating convergence of mobile technology and health care will likely open new avenues of access to underserved populations, which could in turn help states with implementing key pieces of health care reform, officials said.

Here is a look at some of the regional measures and tax initiatives recently passed.

NAPA — Gaw Van Male, a Napa-based law firm that specializes in business law, estate planning and related litigation, announced it has added six attorneys as it seeks to secure its rank as one of the top firms in the North Bay.

ROHNERT PARK — If you’ve ever wondered about trademarks, how to get and protect them, there’s a free seminar tomorrow at the iHub in Rohnert Park.

SANTA ROSA — A $40 million project near Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport that would convert agricultural waste such as chicken manure into natural gas, electricity and certified-organic fertilizer has run afoul of the 2013 expiration of a federal renewable-energy incentive said to be crucial to the economics of the venture.

Proposed state regulations on North Coast vineyard erosion are moving toward draft rules to be considered for adoption in 2013. Through Jan. 2, San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board staff will be taking comments on a draft conditional waiver of waste-discharge requirements for vineyard properties in the Napa River and Sonoma Creek watersheds and an associated draft document on environmental affects of the waiver program. Those drafts were released Nov. 16, and the board is set to consider them at a public hearing set for Feb. 13 in Oakland.

Bank of Marin hired Jill Selden as branch manager for the its new Tiburon branch, which opened Nov. 19 in the Cove Shopping Center. …

Bank of Marin also promoted Jackie Williams to market manager for Tiburon and Sausalito. …

Redwood Regional Medical Group’s risk assessment counselor, Kathleen Mott, R.N., MS, WHNP-BC, recently received her credential as an advanced practice nurse in genetics, issued by the Genetic Nursing Credentialing Commission. …

Michael Stusser, founder of Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary in Freestone, was awarded in the individual category of Green Spa Network Visionary Leadership at The Green Spa Network’s Sustainability Awards. …

Lisa Yoshida, Esq., has returned to the practice of law with Anderson, Zeigler, Disharoon, Gallagher and Gray. …

Frank Howard Allen announced that Carolyn Metz, an agent in its Santa Rosa office, completed the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Certification Program. …

Message Bus, which makes cloud-based infrastructure for email, mobile and social messaging based in Corte Medara, announced the addition of four team members.: Paul Midgen, Neil Schwartzman, Tim Moore and Len Shneyder. …

NORTH BAY — Health care reform is here to stay and employers must adjust quickly in order to meet compliance with the complex law, whether they find it politically palatable or not.

Providers, meanwhile, are themselves rapidly adjusting to new incentives and payments under the law, resulting in transformational changes that will begin to address, though not completely solve, some of the high cost curves seen over the last decade.

SANTA ROSA — As a 13-year project to transform the historic yet vacant cannery area around a planned downtown commuter-train station reaches a critical point to start construction next year or lose critical funding, the city of Santa Rosa plans to plead its case in Sacramento later this month for the release of redevelopment funds considered key to starting the $200 million-plus project.

NAPA COUNTY — As planners in Napa County continue development of a strategy to address state-mandated reductions to greenhouse gas emissions, industry groups have expressed concern that a proposed local market for carbon credits will increase costs for developers and suppress new vineyard and agricultural projects in the region.

Isaac M. Gradman joined the law office of Perry, Johnson, Anderson, Miller & Moskowitz LLP in Santa Rosa. …

Santa Rosa-based Loring Smart Roasters hired Robert W. Austin as its new chief executive officer. …

Gayle Stephens joined Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage as a sales associate in its Santa Rosa office. …

Jeff Kreutz joined MarketLive of Petaluma as senior vice president of product management. ,,,

Napa winemaker Aaron Pott was named a 2012 “Winemaker of the Year” by Food & Wine magazine in its November issue. …

NAPA — The Doctors Company, the largest medical malpractice insurer in the country, today said it signed a merger agreement with the Utah Medical Insurance Association.

As the health care sector moves toward wide-scale adoption of electronic medical records, the potential for personal-data breaches has significantly increased, creating a precarious legal environment for health plans and providers while class-action firms are carving out a lucrative niche in California.

The Meritage Medical Network, formerly known as the Marin-Sonoma IPA, has officially made known its plan to earn accountable care organization, or ACO, designation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act of 2010. …

Mendocino Coast District Hospital, a 25-bed nonprofit critical access facility, is seeking bankruptcy court protection from creditors as it seeks to reorganize its debts while keeping the doors open. …

Evan Rayner, Healdsburg District Hospital chief executive officer, is stepping down from his position, according to the North Sonoma County Healthcare District, which owns and operates the 43-bed hospital. …

SANTA ROSA — Smith Dollar PC opened the firm’s third office, located in Lewisville, Texas, giving the financial services law firm now a presence in three states — California, Florida and now Texas.

Is your winery or tasting room registered under the Bioterrorism Act? If so, did you know that this year you are required to renew your registration?