Sonoma County’s unemployment rate in April was 6.5 percent, down from 7.3 percent in March and below last year’s rate of 8.7 percent. It’s the first time Sonoma County’s rate has dipped below 7 percent in April since 2008, according to Linda Wong, North Bay labor market consultant for the EDD.

Over the year, Sonoma County added 5,700 jobs, with the government sector adding 1,300 jobs while trade, transportation and utilities and leisure and hospitality added 1,100 and 1,000 jobs, respectively. Education and health services added 900 jobs over the year, while construction added 500.

Over the month, hospitality led the way in adding 300 jobs as the summer tourist season draws closer, while manufacturing added 200 jobs.

Marin Count continued to post the lowest rate in California, with a rate of 4.6 percent April, down from 5.2 percent in March.

Napa County saw its rate drop to 5.9 percent, down from a revised 6.8 percent in March and below last year’s rate of 8.1 percent. The county grew its workforce by 4,000, with manufacturing adding 1,100 jobs while hospitality and construction each added 800 jobs.

Solano County’s rate dropped to 8.1 percent, down from 8.9 percent in March and 10.1 percent a year ago.  The county added 3,100 jobs over the year, with construction adding 1,000, while the trades added another 800 jobs. Leisure and hospitality added 400.

Lake County’s April jobless rate fell to 12.8 percent, down from 14 percent last month and 15.6 percent a year ago. Farming added 160 jobs over the year, while government added 80.

Mendocino County’s rate fell to 8 percent, down a point from March and below last year’s rate of 10.2 percent. Leisure and hospitality led the rebound, adding 220 jobs over the year.

The comparable rate across California was 9 percent in April, down from 9.4 percent in March. Nationally, the unemployment rate fell to 7.1 percent in April from 7.6 percent in March.

The transaction included the 11-acre estate winery and vineyard property, tasting room and contemporary Tudor-style estate home. Zepponi & Company, the wine industry mergers and acquisitions advisory firm for ultra-premium, luxury and estate wine brands and vineyards, served as the exclusive financial adviser to the owners of Goosecross Cellars.  Financial terms were not disclosed.

 “Goosecross’ location, vineyard, and winery is what initially drew us to this property,” said Christi Coors Ficeli, GEI Manager and member of the Coors brewing family of Colorado. “Its direct-to-consumer success and reputation for premium quality wine varietals positions us for ongoing success.  Our focus will be to continue the tradition of producing high-quality wines, as well as growing the brand to gain more national recognition. We will continue to promote the current wines and look to grow the portfolio. I look forward to meeting the winery’s loyal customers and also intend to invest in the tasting room, the winemaking facility, and the estate to enhance the experience for our patrons.”

 The purchase of Goosecross marks GEI’s first investment in the wine industry. The firm saw the purchase of the winery as an opportunity to enter into the wine industry with the potential for growth, especially in the boutique luxury category. Christi Coors Ficeli will be moving to Napa Valley with her husband, Dave, and their two children, as the winery’s new President and CEO.  Christi began her career in the wine industry, and has spent the last 13 years in the beer industry in a sales and marketing capacity.

“This is an incredibly exciting time for all of us at Goosecross; to see this property and facility evolve to a new level is a vision come true,” said current Winemaker and Vice President, Geoff Gorsuch. “The wine business is not just about wine, but all the support of the people and friends that are the true reward. The past 27 years here on State Lane with my wife Karen and partners, David and Colleen Topper, have been both challenging and rewarding. I could not ask for a better change of ownership, and I speak for all of us when I say we are excited to work with and support Christi and her family as we start this exciting new chapter at Goosecross.” 

Founded in 1985, Goosecross is located in Yountville, California, and produces luxury-tier Napa Valley wines from grapes grown on its estate vineyards along with grapes purchased from local growers. The winery has a cult following with thousands of loyal wine club members and has established itself as one of the leading direct-to-consumer focused wineries in the Napa Valley. The winery’s nine acre vineyard is planted to primarily Bordeaux varietals including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

John Records

Effective July 1, Mr. Johnson will replace current and longtime Executive Director John Records, who will be transitioning to the COTS board of directors, where he will continue in an advisory role for fundraising and development of programs, according to the Petaluma nonprofit that serves the homeless and provides transitional and temporary housing.

The change in leadership is part of a strategic plan to coincide with the 25th anniversary of COTS, officials said. Mr. Records has served as executive director for 21 of those years. He will continue to assist the organization, founded in 1988, with research and collaborative efforts, including an ongoing partnership with the University of Albany, New York.

“I feel great satisfaction having guided COTS to its 25th successful year including gaining national recognition for our work to transform lives,” Mr. Records said in a statement.  “I am proud to be part of the team that has built a strong foundation for COTS, including mentoring my successor, to ensure that we continue to provide award-winning services to our community for many years to come.”

His successor, Mr. Johnson, has been with COTS since 1999 and become COO in 2010. He manages day-to-day operations at the nonprofit, which has an annual budget of $3 million, a staff of 30 full-time employees and 120 volunteers who account for roughly 40,000 hours.

“Our goal at COTS is to continue to provide the outstanding services and programs that have effectively and successfully transformed the lives of thousands of people in our community,” Mr. Johnson said.  “The agency’s number one priority will be support for our “Invest in Miracles” development strategy to sustain the long-term health of our programs for homeless families and adults.”

COTS currently offers nearly 319 bed per night for those without shelter, including 177 children last year, and its kitchen serves more than 126,000 meals per year, delivering over 762,000 pounds of food annually.

In addition to providing shelter, COTS has a significant positive impact on Petaluma’s local economy, according to a 2012 study by Economic Forensics & Analytics, which is run by Dr. Robert Eyler, who is also director of Sonoma State University’s executive MBA progam and Center for Regional Economic Analysis.

Without the services provided by COTS, businesses across Petaluma would lose over $20.6 million annually, according to the report. Businesses would lose the ability to support about 124 jobs, and the city would no longer generate approximately $1.66 million of state and local revenue due to lost business activity.

A reduction in services by COTS is akin to a tax of about 1 percent, according to the study, which would result in overall business revenues in downtown Petaluma falling by slightly more than $1.1 million. The lost revenues would no longer support some 13 jobs, and Petaluma would lose more than $424,000 in local annual tax revenue. Business impacted would likely include grocers, accounting, financial and medical services, bars and restaurants, wholesale businesses that sell good to retailers and bars and restaurants, and residential care facilities, according to the study. ‘

“If an inability to develop enough funding at COTS led to fewer people served, and thus more homeless people on the streets of downtown Petaluma without services, local businesses will experience lower revenues,” the study notes.

The nonprofit also boasts a higher than national average with regard to transitioning individuals from emergency shelters to transitional housing and from transitional housing to permanent housing, according to a 2012 study by the the National Alliance to End Homelessness

At COTS, 30 percent of its participants leaving the Mary Isaak Center’s emergency shelter go into permanent housing, and 77 percent of families and adults leaving transitional housing obtain permanent homes, compared to national rates of 15 percent and 40 percent, respectively, according to the study.  

Petaluma-based  Redwood Community Health Coalition received $830,000 to focus exclusively on the North Bay, while a number of Sacramento-based nonprofits with a local presence also received grants that will focus  efforts across the state. They include Catholic Charities of California, which has a presence in Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Lake and  Mendocino counties, which 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.

The grants are designed to help a number of nonprofit and community organizations across the state to help educate and enroll as many eligible people into the health exchange, where an online insurance marketplace has been developed for the newly insured come January 2014. Enrollment begins this October.

Enactment of the Affordable Care Act includes a significant expansion of Medi-Cal, which will enable tens of thousands of residents across the North Bay to obtain health insurance. 

Federal and state subsidies will be made available to uninsured residents with incomes between 138 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty line in an effort to help them obtain health coverage. The Redwood Community Health Coalition, a network of 16 health centers across Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino and Lake counties, estimates that there are more than 110,000 uninsured residents in those counties won’t qualify for the Medi-Cal expansion , but will qualify for financial assistance to purchase health plans through the exchange.

“Getting residents enrolled in quality health care coverage is crucial to improving their overall health,” Dr. Mary Maddux-Gonzalez, chief medical officer of the health coalition, said in a statement.  “When people have health coverage, they are much more likely to get preventative care instead of waiting until they are sick and being treated in emergency rooms or being hospitalized. Coverage improves our community’s health and ultimately drives down the overall cost to the health care system.”

Statewide, the  selected organizations will reach nearly 9 million individuals and more than 200,000 small businesses in California’s 58 counties, according to Covered California, also known as the California Health Benefit Exchange.  Covered California said it will focus its outreach on 5.3 million Californians in need of individual insurance, about half of whom may be eligible for financial assistance with their premiums.

Redwood Community Health Coalition said it will  collaborate with a number of county health agencies in its outreach efforts, among them: Sonoma County Health Services Department, Sonoma County Human Services Department, Marin County Department of Health and Human Services, Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency, Alliance for Rural Community Health, the Family Resource Centers of Mendocino, Lake County Family Resource Center, Lake County Office of Education, Redwood Children’s Services, and North Coast Opportunities.

“Covered California is designed for those who earn too much money to qualify for Medi-Cal, but may still need to find affordable coverage,” said Pedro Toledo, director of community and government relations for the Redwood Coalition. “With this grant, we’ll be able to help them find affordable, high-quality health care coverage.”  

Covered California said the goal of the grant program is to “increase awareness about the new benefits, to educate targeted audiences about the subsidy programs available to them and to motivate consumers and small businesses to be part of obtaining health insurance.”

As part of the Affordable Care Act, Covered California’s board of directors was allocated $43 million in federal funding over two years. Of that total, $34 million has been allocated for community outreach efforts in the individual market; another $3 million has been allocated to organizations that reach out to small businesses eligible to provide coverage to employees through the Small Business Health Options Program, better known as the SHOP side of the exchange.  The remaining $6 million will be used to augment successful outreach and education strategies in 2014.

“We are excited to build on our partnerships with organizations that have trusted relationships in diverse communities throughout the state,” Peter V. Lee, executive director of Covered California, said in a statement.

A full list list of grantees, grant amounts, and information on planned grantee activities is available at www.hbex.ca.gov.

EMG, headquartered in Santa Rosa, reported revenues of $760 million for the fiscal quarter ending April 30, 2013, compared with $876 million in 2012.

Agilent CEO Bill Sullivan said restructuring is in order: about 450 employees, or 2 percent of Agilent’s global workforce will be cut.

According to EMG President Guy Séné the local group will feel some pain.

“It’s not like 2009 at all. This is a relatively minor restructuring, although it pains me personally to let anyone go. This company has a tradition of caring very much for its employees,” he said.

The Santa Rosa workforce has already been trimmed of its temporary workers and expenses pared wherever possible, he said.

“We were hoping the economy would pick up before the end of 2012, but markets are still down worldwide and show no sign of improving very soon. Sequestration also definitely had an impact,” he said.

EMG employs about 1,175 in Santa Rosa.

    The former service area was limited to San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

    “This is an excellent opportunity for North Bay businesses to enhance their competitiveness in the local economy,” said Ben Stone, Executive Director of the Sonoma County Economic Development Board. 

   “Three leading manufacturers, including local medical and technology firms, have expressed strong interest in becoming part of this zone.  We are also conducting FTZ seminars and an Export University for local businesses to acquaint them with the new Foreign Trade Zone program.”       

    Over the years, the nationwide FTZ program has allowed American companies to obtain a more competitive position vis-a-vis their overseas counterparts, and to also help subsidize job growth. It does this by deferring, reducing or eliminating customs duties paid on imported goods by importers, distributors, manufacturers and processors.

    “Foreign Trade Zones are one tool to reduce logistics costs, which translates into savings for a company’s bottom line and enhances their competitiveness in the global economy,” said Jim Maloney, Maritime Marketing Manager at the Port of San Francisco, grantee of FTZ No. 3.

    All firms within the newly approved zone who wish to participate can secure FTZ site status under the Alternative Site Framework (ASF) program within 30 to 45 days from the receipt of their application. Without this accelerated program the process has taken up to 8-12 months in the past.

   Concern has arisen in the business community as to how the geographical boundary was established for the FTZ, specifically, why towns such as Cloverdale and Calistoga – for examples — were excluded.

    According to Mr. Maloney, the U.S. Customs Service typically limits the range of an FTZ to locations 60 road      miles or within a 90-minute commute from the port city.

   “Should firms in Cloverdale, Calistoga or other communities outside of the Alternative Site Framework wish to participate in the new FTZ they can apply as a sub-zone and pay annual dues to the port.  Approval of sub-zone status usually takes about 10 months.”

    Mr. Maloney said firms seeking to relocate or start a business are inquiring about the new FTZ so they can take advantage of the opportunities and benefits.  These benefits include:

• Duty Deferral – Duties are paid on goods only as they leave the FTZ to be sold, thereby improving cash flow.
• Duty Reduction – Items can be packaged, manufactured or utilized as part of another product. If a lower duty applies to the finished product, only that amount is paid.
• Duty Elimination – If a product is re-exported, or sold to the military, no duty is paid. Likewise, documented waste, scrap or faulty products incur no duty charge. An accounting of the failure rate is required to be sent in a memo to the U.S. Customs Service.
• Additional Benefits – FTZ members can avoid multiple processing fees, in a range from $25 to $485 based on the value of products, for each shipment of merchandize by aggregating several shipments subject to a one-time weekly fee. 
• By combining weekly shipments in a single document, the company can also save up to 80 percent on Customs House Broker fees assessed on individual shipments.
• No duty is paid on domestic content or value added to a product, including the cost of labor, use of domestic parts, overhead and profit. Final duties are assessed on the value of foreign content only.

    The Port of San Francisco, an enterprise agency of the City and County of San Francisco, oversees a broad range of commercial, maritime and public access facilities along the City’s waterfront that are held in public trust for the people of California.  The Port’s Foreign Trade Zone No. 3 was established by grant of authority in 1948.

    To participate in the FTZ program, interested businesses should apply through Foreign Trade Zone No. 3.

    Applications can be found on the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Board website at:

http://ia.ita.doc.gov/ftzpage/.   

Raptor signed a seven-year lease for the new space, which it plans to move into by mid-2014, according to a filing with the Securities Exchange Commission.  The developer of treatments for rare diseases, started in 2005 by former BioMarin executives, has outgrown its current 20,000-square-foot offices at 9 Commercial Blvd. and needs new space to accommodate a steady increase in employees, according to Georgia Erbez, chief financial officer of Raptor.

Although Raptor recently received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its first commercial product, Procysbi, the expansion is not a direct result of that, Ms. Erbez said.

“We have been searching for new space since last October, as our lease in our current facility expired March 31, 2013 and we have outgrown our existing space, and the capacity of our building,” she said.

Under the lease agreement, Raptor will initially move into a smaller adjacent space at 5 Hamilton Landing at a monthly rate of approximately $20,000, according to the SEC filing. Upon moving into the larger space, which Walt Disney Corp. vacated in early 2010, Raptor will pay an initial base rent of about $855,000 during the first year, according to the SEC filing.

Over the past 12 months, Raptor has nearly tripled in size, from 18 employees a year ago to about 50 now, Ms. Erbez said.

“We have been steadily increasing our headcount over the past 12 months and anticipate continued growth in human resources across all functions within Raptor,” Ms. Erbez said.

The new space will be for corporate headquarters and not manufacturing Procysbi or other drugs in Raptor’s pipeline, which are outsourced to a third-party manufacturer.

Both Raptor and the landlord, Barker Pacific, were represented by Haden Ongaro, Brian Eisberg and Mark Carrington of Cornish & Carey Commercial Newmark Knight Frank in the transaction.

Raptor recently reported a net loss $15.9 million, for the first quarter ended March 31, compared to $14 million in the year prior.  The loss was attributed to increased research and development costs for getting Procysbi market approval. The delayed-released capsules treat nephropathic cystinosis, a rare genetic and possibly life-threatening metabolic disorder that affects about 20,000 patients across the world and some 500 in the U.S. In addition, RP103, a potential treatment for Huntington’s disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children that is currently in Phase 2 clinical trials, contributed to increased R&D costs, according to Raptor.

R&D costs doubled over the year, from $4 million in the first quarter of 2012 to $8.4 million for the quarter ended March 31.

Raptor said it has cash and cash equivalents totaling $58.4 million of cash on hand. The company anticipates another $23.4 million in cash from net proceeds of the second payment from a $50 million loan agreement with Healthcare Royalty Partners, expected to close by the end of this month.

Marin food entrepreneur Annie Chun returns with certified-organic nori sheets and GMO-free seaweed “crumbles.”

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.

Though there are a number of options in grocery stores these days for packaged sheets of dried, roasted seaweed, Belvedere resident Annie Chun is betting Western consumers have developed not only a taste for it but will prefer a brand made with ingredients that are gluten-free, certified organic and doesn’t contain genetically modified organisms, or GMO. Her new San Rafael-based venture rolls into nationwide distribution next month.

Many may not know Ms. Chun ever left the consumer packaged foods business, because her beaming face graces the Annie Chun’s label on supermarket packaged noodles, instant rice, potstickers, sauces, sushi rolls and even seaweed sheets sold. But Ms. Chun and Steve Broad, her husband and business partner, sold the brand in 2009 to South Korea-based CJ Foods after building it to $15 million in annual sales. CJ had rapidly started increasing sales four years earlier through a distribution agreement. Brand sales are estimated to have more than doubled in the past three years.

After the noncompete agreement expired, Ms. Chun and Mr. Broad this year rolled out their own seaweed snack company, GimMe Health Foods, LLC (gimmehealth.com). It’s named for gim — pronounced “geem” — the Korean word for dried, roasted seaweed, called nori in Japanese.

The venture may be based in Marin, where the Annie Chun’s packaged Asian food brand was based until sold, and the staff of five mostly alumni of the previous business, but Ms. Chun and Mr. Broad have spent the last three years carefully planning and organizing this venture to differentiate its products from the wave of packaged seaweed now rolling into U.S. grocery stores under private labels or brands such as Annie Chun’s.

“I’ve been in the natural, organic food business for 21 years, and I wanted all the ingredients to be up to that standard,” Ms. Chun said.

Setting up manufacturing for frozen meals was too involved to tackle initially, so Ms. Chun and Mr. Broad went with the suggestion of their daughter, Mia, to give gim a go and call the snack brand GimMe.

Though many packages of gim in grocery stores say “Made in Korea,” finding suppliers that would meet USDA organic certification standards in production was challenging, according to Ms. Chun. After narrowing down the list of about 200 mostly small South Korean seaweed processors and suppliers to about 10, the GimMe team finally convinced an undisclosed 43-year-old family-owned company, which is among that country’s largest buyers and processors, to change the way it roasts.

Soybean and canola oils are commonly used in roasting to offset the cost and potency of sesame oil used for flavoring. But much of such oils come from GMO foodstock, so GimMe had to find certified-organic oil sources, including oil made from perilla, called kkaenip in Korean.

The source for the seaweed is Jangheung Bay, located on the southwestern coast of the Korean peninsula. It was the first area to be designated under the international “slow food” designation. The government has banned pesticide use in the watershed draining into the bay and limited what types of boats can enter it.

Texas-based grocery chain Whole Foods Market is set to start carrying the line nationwide in June. It is getting distribution to 150 Albertsons and 100 Sprouts markets in the Southwest through large distributors Nature’s Best and United Natural Foods.

About 2,000 Wal-Mart stores have started carrying packages of honey Dijon- and cheddar-flavored shredded dried seaweed, called “crumbles.” GimMe has been working with mom bloggers and the retailer’s publicity team to help raise awareness of seaweed’s nutritional benefits — high in iron and iodine — but also benefits of organic and GMO certification.

“The population at large is not as exposed to seaweed as the population at large,” Ms. Chun said. “Kids love it, and it’s low-calorie and not as high in sodium as other snacks.”

Sales projections are for $2 million the first year.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration

Lenders approved $42.2 million in both SBA 7(a) and 504 loans, the two most popular loan types through the SBA, in the three counties during the six-month period ended March 31. The number of loans, 83, was up from the 70 loans completed in the same period in fiscal year 2012, according to data from the SBA.

The increase comes as part of a broader trend for SBA lending across the Bay Area, a region where demand for financing has maintained its momentum despite the sunset of several temporary provisions Congress enacted to help jump-start business borrowing, according to the district director for the SBA in the Bay Area, Mark Quinn.

“We set a record level of lending in the San Francisco office in 2012. In 2013, we’re on a similar pace as last year,” Mr. Quinn said.

Sonoma County saw the greatest amount of lending in the North Bay during the period, with $17.9 million in both 7(a) and 504 and a total of 48 loans. That dollar volume was down from $22.6 million during the same six months in the prior fiscal year, but the number of loans completed had increased from 42 in the comparable period.

Lenders completed $13.4 million over 19 loans in Marin County, a significant boost compared to $4.4 million and 15 loans during the same period in fiscal year 2012, according to data from the SBA. There were 16 loans totaling $10.9 million in Napa County, compared to $11.3 million over 13 loans in the prior year.

Solano County saw $5.7 million in lending across 12 SBA loans for the period, with $2.8 million in loans for Mendocino County and $534,400 for Lake County.

Lending the highest dollar volume in the North Bay for the period was Santa Rosa’s First Community Bank, with $6.7 million in SBA 7(a) loans. The bank had five loans in Sonoma County totaling $2.8 million, and one loan in Napa County valued at $3.9 million.

Requests for financing to purchase big-ticket items has driven much of the recent demand, including equipment financing, business acquisition and commercial real estate purchase or refinancing. Demand for working capital has also increased, said Barbara Larson, senior vice president and loan officer for the bank’s North Bay commercial lending, including SBA products.

Also among the most active lenders in the North Bay was Wells Fargo, which funded $2.2 million in the six-month period over nine of the SBA-secured 7(a) loans in Sonoma County and $6.3 million across the broader region.

“We are seeing more small business owners coming in to learn about SBA loan opportunities and apply for commercial real estate loans throughout the North Bay,” said Tracy Sheppard, business development officer for Wells Fargo’s SBA and commercial lending in the North Bay. “Demand is up, especially in Sonoma County. And this is across all industries.”

Mr. Sheppard and others noted that the long-term fixed rates possible through an SBA loan were an attractive option in the current low-interest-rate environment, encouraging some business owners to seek financing to transition from leasing to owning a property and to make other large purchases.

Those conditions have also helped drive SBA financing activity at Exchange Bank, another active SBA lender with $3.4 million across seven loans during the period in Sonoma County, said Sherrill Stockton, a senior vice president and the bank’s head of SBA lending.

The permanent increase in loan size limits to $5 million for both 7(a) and 504 loans has helped fuel larger transactions for SBA lending at Exchange Bank and elsewhere, she said. As borrowers are able to use those SBA-guaranteed products to help meet underwriting standards and finance larger purchases, Ms. Stockton, who was recently appointed to the executive committee of the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders, said that the administration is now focusing on ways to make its microloan programs like the so-called “Small Loan Advantage” more user-friendly for lenders.

“The mantra they’re trying to use in everything they’re doing is to allow more of your internal processes,” said Ms. Stockton. “The Small Loan Advantage process was too complex. They tried to make it more in line with banks’ internal processes, and they saw an exponential increase in use.”

The lower capital needs of smaller borrowers have attracted some specialized players to the North Bay in recent months, including Oakland-based small loan specialists Oakland Business Development Corporation. Operating as Bay Area Small Business Finance, the non-bank lender recently received authorization to offer SBA-backed loans up to $250,000 and completed loans in Sonoma and Napa counties during the period, according to SBA data.

Among the provisions no longer in place this year includes a popular temporary program that provided debt refinancing under the 504 loan structure, a loan that involves a portion secured by a certified development company plus a mortgage from a traditional lender. The provision had required as little as 10 percent down and allowed significant extraction of equity, and fueled a major boost in 504 activity last year.

While demand remains for those loans, typically used to provide long-term, fixed rate financing for purchase of tangible assets, lenders specializing in them shared hope that Congress would make the refinancing element permanent in the near future.

“There is bipartisan enthusiasm in Congress to support recently introduced legislation that will bring back the SBA 504 refinance program that expired last September, just as it was gaining momentum,” said Kelly Ryan, Bay Area loan officer for CDC Small Business Finance.

Other active lenders in the region included First Community Bank, with nearly $6.7 million in loans in Sonoma and Napa Counties, Redwood Credit Union, with six loans totaling nearly $1.5 million in Sonoma and Napa, and Bay Area Development Company, a 504 lender with more than $6.3 million in loans across the North Bay.

Construction is nearing completion for SSU’s new student center (photo courtesy SSU, Cody Fitzgerald)

Together, the world-class Donald and Maureen Green Music Center, proposed outdoor pavilion and student center represent well over $200 million in completed and planned construction projects.

Approximately $3.7 million in additional funding is required to begin work on the outdoor pavilion, said Ryan Ernst, who helps direct the school’s revenue-generating functions as its director of sales and marketing for entrepreneurial activities. The total cost for the outdoor venue, which would adjoin the center’s Joan and Sanford I. Weill Hall, is estimated to be less than $20 million.

The school announced in July of last year that it had entered into a sponsorship arrangement with Mastercard Worldwide that would provide $15 million for construction of the pavilion. If fundraising proceeds as hoped, Mr. Ernst said that the school anticipates contract documents to be issued in the spring of next year and for construction to begin that summer. The pavilion could be completed as early as spring of 2015.

Leaders at the Green Music Center are also hoping to raise $3 million by September of this year to complete Schroeder Hall, a recital and instruction space near the main 1,400-seat concert hall. The Weill family has pledged to donate $1 million to that effort, assuming that an additional $2 million can be raised. When completed, the hall will also house a 1,248-pipe organ gifted to the center in 2005.

The $62 million student center, which will feature the largest single conference space in Sonoma County, is expected to open this fall, Mr. Ernst said. Between 300 and 350 people have been hired to work on that project, according to information from the project general contractor Sundt Construction.

The student center is funded by a partner group that includes University Housing, Sonoma State Enterprises, Associated Students, Student Union Corporation and a $150-per-semester student fee passed in 2011.

The three-story, 130,000-square-foot building will feature restaurants, retail and office spaces, providing a central hub for a student population that has trended towards spending more time on-campus. The 12,000-square-foot “grand ballroom” at the center can be configured for large and small events, and is expected to enhance school functions and the university’s summer conference season.

Rudolph and Sletten is the general contractor for the Green Music Center and the proposed outdoor pavilion.