North Bay Business Journal

NAPA — Petaluma-based Pure Luxury Transportation is establishing a Napa Valley base of operations for up to a quarter of its 100-plus limousines, sedans, SUVs, buses and, soon, motorcoaches as part of a Bay Area expansion plan amid a double-digit increase in revenue last year.

NAPA — Bank of Napa, N.A. (OTCBB: BNNP) today reported record profit in 2012, with net income up by more than two-thirds from the year before.

NAPA — The developer of a 107,000-square-foot warehouse near Napa County Airport finished last year and leased to wine-related tenants is back with a like-sized project in the same industrial area.

Novato-based Winery Exchange continues to expand beyond its roots as a worldwide creator of wine, beer and spirits brands with the acquisition of a portfolio of certified-organic and sulfite-undetectable wine brands, led by Our Daily Red and Orleans Hill, from Nevada County Wine Guild. …

St. Helena-based Trinchero Family Estates on Wednesday announced a strategic alliance with vintners Charles Smith of Walla Walla, Wash., and Charles Bieler of New York City to manage sales, distribution and marketing of their joint-venture brand Charles & Charles. …

Safe Harbor Wine Storage (707-252-9690, safeharborwines.com), a bulk cellaring business opened five years ago by two notable Napa Valley winemakers and two owners of Sausalito-based oak stave insert maker StaVin, has outgrown its 50,000-square-foot south Napa winery and is moving forward with plans to expand down the street. …

Because the original comment period for the proposed vineyard waiver program for rainwater runoff in the Napa River and Sonoma Creek watersheds ran through the winter holidays, the State Water Resources Control Board extended the comment deadline and rescheduled the public hearing. …

DH Wine Compliance of Windsor this month launched Wine Compliance Academy. …

After two decades as president of Lake County Winegrape Commission, Shannon Gunier left the organization this month. … To replace Ms. Gunier, the board of the Lakeport-based trade group chose Debra Sommerfield from more than 30 applicants. …

NAPA — The owner of The Meritage Resort & Spa has purchased land across the street as part of a plan to enhance the experience for the tens of thousands of visitors the recently expanded 323-room facility brings to Napa Valley each year.

More than a dozen North Bay companies undertook major expansions or moves: TricorBraun WinePak, Raydiance, Enphase Energy, General Dynamics, Langers of Sonoma, Anette’s Chocolates Napa Valley, Marmot Mountain, Wineshipping, BioMarin Pharmaceutical, EO Products, Birkenstock USA, Toys for Bob, Adventist Health, Amorim Cork America, SPG Solar, Biosearch Technologies and Telltale Games.

Sterling Financial Corporation, owner of Santa Rosa-based Sonoma Bank, announced that its principal operating subsidiary, Sterling Savings Bank, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Seattle-area operations of Boston Private Bank & Trust Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc. …

Sunrise Management has more than doubled its Northern California presence with the recent addition of six multifamily properties to its portfolio, including Estancia Apartments in Santa Rosa. These six additions bring Sunrise’s regional portfolio total to well more than 1,200 units. Also added earlier was Santa Rosa complex Cedarwood Apartments. …

Oxbow Public Market is planning a week-long birthday party on Jan. 21–25 to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the public market in downtown Napa. …

NAPA — Paul Hobbs Winery today said it purchased the 90-acre Tourmaline Vineyard in the Coombsville winegrowing region east of Napa, making this the western Sonoma County winery’s first Napa Valley acquisition.

The Business Journal honored 14 building projects last Thursday at its seventh annual Top Real Estate Projects Awards reception. The event allowed us to pause for a moment during this busy time of year to consider the accomplishments of the organizations, architects, designers, builders and others behind these significant projects.

NAPA — Throughout a still-teetering economy that saw tourism business plummet across the country, The Meritage Resort and Spa’s planned expansion was the first major construction project in the hospitality sector to take hold following much angst in the industry.

NAPA — The brains behind two fast-growing Napa-founded Internet companies is back with a third — Attracta — and the 2-year-old company now is looking to attract 120 hires to Napa Valley next year to handle a customer base that is projected to double.

Nine Solano County businesses were honored at the annual Spirit of Solano luncheon Dec. 6 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Fairfield. …

Basin Street Properties is offering a new Tenant Advantage Program (basin-street.com/tenant-advantage-program), which offers exclusive discounts and promotions for companies and their employees who work in Basin Street’s 44-building Northern California and Northern Nevada commercial and mixed-use property portfolio in Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Sacramento and Reno, Nev. …

On its 65th anniversary, The Ledcor Group of Companies, which has a construction office in Napa, announced a $150,000 donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to be shared in Napa and 11 other cities across North America with Ledcor operations. …

Bank of Marin announced the nine local winners of their third annual high school photography contest. …

San Rafael-based SportsMark Management Group, the official corporate hospitality management partner and exclusive global sales agent of the America’s Cup Club hospitality program, launched the sales of 2013 America’s Cup Club packages. …

NAPA and VACAVILLE — The United Kingdom-based parent of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which has two North Bay stores, today said it is considering options for the struggling startup chain of small-format grocery stores, including selling all or part of the roughly 200-location chain or bringing in a partner to operate it.

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.

Address: 2425 Jefferson St., Napa 94558; 707-253-3563; nvef.org Age: 54 Residence: Napa Professional background: Business, Non-profit management Education: Sonoma State University Staff size: four staff members, nine board directors Describe your organization. For nearly three decades, the Napa Valley Education Foundation (NVEF) has been supporting public schools in Napa Valley by mobilizing public support and providing leadership [...]

NAPA — For the second year, a food and wine festival that boasts some of those industries’ highest-profile chefs and winemakers is aimed at attracting visitors to Napa Valley and providing an economic boost to the region during the tourism off-season.

The five-day Flavor Napa Valley festival at Silverado Resort & Spa near Napa and the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena starts today.

SANTA ROSA and NAPA — The North Bay Angels is going into the loan business and Napa technology company Visicon stands to gain.

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. …

ST. HELENA — Blicker Pierce Wagner Wine Merchants, an online retailer of fine and rare collectibles that is better known as BP Wine, and the owners’ “flash” online wine sales venture Last Bottle Wines are growing so quickly that they are have secured a much larger south Napa warehouse.

NAPA — Bank of Napa, N.A. (OTCBB: BNNP) earned a net income of $435,800 in the three months ended Sept. 30, a 75 percent increase over profits made during the same quarter in 2011.