North Bay Business Journal

SANTA ROSA — Some 640 union nurses at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital said they would go on strike for a fourth time in less than a year, as the St. Joseph Health-owned hospital and the local union continue tense negotiations over unresolved labor issues.

The Staff Nurses’ Association, an independent union based in Santa Rosa, issued a statement saying the strike, planned for Thursday, May 23 at 5 a.m. and ending May 25 at 5a.m., is in response to “onerous, sub-market proposals” from Memorial. The union has been in negotiations with the 278-bed hospital since last August.

NAPA COUNTY — The groundbreaking for a 154-acre mixed use development near the city of Napa, Napa Pipe, moved a few steps closer today, after the Napa County Board of Supervisors voted to close public comment and have county staff spend the next two weeks ironing out a few final details for special zoning measures that would help facilitate the project’s construction.

SANTA ROSA — Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) today said it would cut 2,000 jobs across the company as a result of “manufacturing consolidation efforts,” while reporting that its Cardiac and Vascular Group, which includes operations in Santa Rosa, had worldwide sales of more than $2.3 billion for an increase of 5 percent over the year.

A Medtronic spokeswoman told the Business Journal that approximately half the job cuts will take place overseas.

Visitors to Sonoma County spent $1.47 billion in 2011, a more than 9 percent increase over 2010, according to the latest figures released by Visit California.

SANTA ROSA — GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (GTAT), a U.S. supplier of manufacturing equipment for solar and energy-efficient lighting products, has announced the acquisition of Thermal Technology LLC of Santa Rosa in a deal that values the supplier of high-temperature furnaces at more than $14.7 million.

SANTA ROSA — Commercial airline passenger volume at Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport rose 1.9 percent in April from a year before, according to the airport’s monthly report of passenger volume for its commercial carrier, Horizon Air.

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.

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 [...]

So here we are at half-past spring in 2013. Frost danger is just about over. Both the bulk-wine and grape markets have been active, and tonnage available on the spot market is limited. Most vineyards are reporting two clusters per shoot, as seen last year at this time.

Are we caught in a “Groundhog Day” replay of last year? Well, no, we’re not. Here are two differences.

Carlile Winery & Vineyards has outgrown its Santa Rosa custom-winemaking facility, so it is sort of swapping places with Windsor-based Robert Mueller Winery.

Spelletich Family Wine Company of Napa Valley is moving its operations into 16,180 square feet in the Napa Valley Commons business park in south Napa to fulfill its need for expansion. That’s more than twice the amount of space at its previous location.

Windsor-based Inman Family Wines, maker of Russian River Valley pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot gris wines, hired Mike Sai as marketing director and promoted Michelle Berger to director of direct to consumer sales.

The second North Coast Wine Industry Expo is still seven months away, but organizers say they are more than two-thirds toward the goal of tripling the number of registered vendors.

ST. HELENA — Bloom may be still a few weeks away for local winegrape vines, but economic conditions for the industry’s key consumers appear to be in full bloom, given the record-fast sellout of tickets to the upcoming 33rd annual Auction Napa Valley fundraiser (auctionnapavalley.org) May 30–June 2 and brimming guest logs at area hotels, according to organizers.

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.

PETALUMA — The nonprofit organization Committee on the Shelterless, better known as COTS, today announced a shift in leadership, with Mike Johnson, the agency’s chief operating officer, assuming the role of chief executive officer.

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.