North Bay Business Journal

A 48-year-old executive at The Wine Tasting Network’s Napa office faces 23 federal counts of fraud and money-laundering related to about $900,000 WTN purportedly paid a bogus tax-compliance service.

Home-improvement retail chain Orchard Supply Hardware, which has six North Bay stores, today filed for Bankruptcy Court reorganization protection and has inked a $205 million tentative deal with Lowe’s Home Improvement, which has four North Bay stores, to acquire many of the OSH stores.

NOVATO — Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company today named Andrew Torrance as its new president and chief executive officer.

He is Fireman’s Fund’s fifth executive since 2007.

PETALUMA — Two fresh-produce distributors in Marin and Sonoma counties have come together under one centralized roof in Petaluma, serendipitously providing a home for the People’s Harvest occupational training business Buckelew Programs has been trying to launch for two years.

Hospitals across five North Bay counties generate at least $4.9 billion in annual spending and support more than 35,400 jobs, according to a report by the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California.

A multiyear effort to boost career technical education at Sonoma County schools has begun to fund programs, with a new Career Technical Education Fund pledging more than $500,000 over five years to help launch and support workforce training courses.

HR professionals listed in alphabetical order by their organization’s name, drawn from the top five largest employers in Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties, as well as trade organizations and the region’s staffing companies who responded to the Business Journal.

The California Energy Commission on Thursday delayed until Sept. 1 energy-use benchmarking that will be required before sales, full-building leases and financing of California commercial buildings larger than 50,000 square feet, expanding to smaller buildings next year, under a new state law.

The postponement came because the primary tool for compliance will be offline for upgrades as the first phase of the regulations were to take effect.

SANTA ROSA — JDS Uniphase Corp. said it plans to cut 125 jobs at its Santa Rosa-based optical division.

SANTA ROSA — Ware Malcomb, an international architectural firm, was selected to design Sutter Health’s forthcoming 80,00-square-foot medical office building next to the $284 million hospital currently being construction in northern Santa Rosa.

SAN RAFAEL — The Marin Community Foundation will no longer be involved in a proposal to construct an affordable housing project at the site of filmmaker George Lucas’s Grady Ranch outside San Rafael, citing uncertainties in obtaining federal and state financing necessary to bring the project to fruition, according to a joint announcement today by the foundation and Mr. Lucas’s real estate company.

SANTA ROSA — More than $500,000 will be allocated over five years to support workforce training programs in Sonoma County schools, with a first round of programs announced today that will receive support from a fund launched last year to promote career skill education in the region.

SONOMA — Sonoma-based luxury lodging management company BeautifulPlaces acquired McLaughlin Anderson Luxury Villas, a 28-year-old U.S. Virgin Islands vacation rental company.

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 — The number of commercial airline passengers traveling through the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport in May increased 16.6 percent from a year before, according to figures released today.

PETALUMA — Yuba Bicycles LLC, maker of the Mundo and Boda Boda families of cargo bikes, has moved its headquarters to 409 Petaluma Blvd. S. with 5,000 square feet of space — more than five times the capacity of its previous location in Sausalito.

“We chose Petaluma because it is a bike-friendly and very livable community where we could expand our business in an affordable manner,” said company owner Benjamin Sarrazin.

SANTA ROSA — Datum Technologies passed another milestone last week. After a year of careful documentation and other qualifying measures the precision machine shop received its AS9100C quality-control certification for aerospace manufacturing.

“It was grueling,” said Datum president and co-founder Richard Hunt. His wife, company CEO and co-founder Analisa Hunt, did most of the work, he said.

The North Bay Business Journal named 11 companies as recipients of the third annual Top Manufacturers in the North Bay Awards.

“We are proud to once again shine light on this critical economic sector,” said Business Journal Editor and Associate Publisher Brad Bollinger. ”

A special award this year goes to Dan Sunia, manufacturing technology teacher at Petaluma High School as well as president and program coordinator for the California Tooling & Machining Apprenticeship Association.

ROHNERT PARK — Longtime San Francisco-based organizational consultant and established author Key Sprinkel Grace will be the keynote speaker for the Business Journal’s Nonprofit Boot Camp and Nonprofit Leadership Awards, co-presented by Pisenti & Brinker.

[UPDATE] SANTA ROSA — Electric vehicle maker Zap (Bulletin Board: Zap), which has headquarters in Santa Rosa and production facilities in China, is facing up to $21 million in federal court civil penalties and refunds over 2009 brake recalls on hundreds of three-wheeled electric vehicles.

On Friday, Zap Chairman Priscilla Lu said a resolution of the matter could be finalized this month.