North Bay Business Journal

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.

SANTA ROSA — Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) reported today that its Electronic Measurement Group (EMG) saw second quarter revenues drop 13 percent since the same period last year. The loss was attributed to continued weakness in wireless manufacturing.

NORTH BAY – The U.S. Department of Commerce gave final approval to an application submitted by the Port of San Francisco last October to expand its Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) No. 3 service area to include portions of Sonoma and Napa Counties, in addition to Contra Costa, Marin and Solano counties.The former service area was limited to San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

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.

ROHNERT PARK — Efforts continue to secure full funding for constructing an outdoor pavilion at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center, one of a number of construction projects at the school that include a new student center that is nearing completion, according to the university.

Spotlight on leading SBA lenders in the North Bay

NORTH BAY — Legislation has been introduced that could significantly help grape growers and other farmers in the region utilize an additional resource for securing water during the dry season.

Assembly Bill 1200, introduced by Mark Levine (D-San Rafael) and sponsored by the Sonoma County Water Agency, would establish a pilot project that would permit the agency to study the impacts of using recycled rain water for use in watering crops.

A bill recently signed by Gov. Jerry Brown seeks to eliminate a two-month long delay on the state level in processing business applications. Assembly Bill 113, authored by John Pérez, D-Los Angeles, grants $2 million to the Secretary of State’s office in attempt to eliminate a backlog of 122,000 business entity filings that currently take 65 calendar days to be processed, causing businesses to wait months to hire and finalize plans, according to the California Chamber of Commerce, which supported the bill.

CALIFORNIA — Proposed changes to California’s statute governing limited liability corporations, or LLCs, could be advantageous for new businesses — and it may nudge the state in a more business-friendly direction — but both new and existing companies will need to look at the terms closely in order to benefit, attorneys said.

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

April 1, 2013: To Celebrate Life Breast Cancer Foundation, a volunteer-based nonprofit organization whose goal is to ensure that no one faces breast cancer alone, held a reception at Servino’s Ristorante in Tiburon to announce the recipients of its 2013 grant awards.

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.

PETALUMA — Petaluma-based Cyan, Inc. (NYSE: CYNI) completed its initial public offering on Thursday, raising $88 million in the sale of 8 million shares priced at $11 per share.

HEALDSBURG — The California Lottery, one of the fastest growing lotteries in the United States, announced today their partnership with project portfolio management (PPM) firm, Métier based in Healdsburg. California Lottery selected Métier’s PPM-as-a-Service and PMO-as-a-Service offerings to enhance visibility and drive PPM maturity within the organization.

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.

Share your thoughts on this week’s NBBJ Pulse Poll questions: “How will hiring 2,000 for the opening of Graton Resort & Casino in late 2013 impact the local hospitality and leisure job market?” and “What job-market aspects would be most affected by Graton Resort & Casino hiring?”

In less than a year’s time, Sonoma County will be home to the Bay Area’s largest casino, a prospect that has some people and businesses anticipating a significant economic boon to the region while others still vow to block a project in the making since 2003.