North Bay Business Journal

SAN RAFAEL — Video game developer and publisher Telltale Inc. has quite a tale of success to tell with its story-based episodic entertainment such as The Walking Dead fast-selling series, and now the 8-year-old company is planning to nearly double the size of its studio in an expansion this spring.

NORTH BAY — Health care reform is here to stay and employers must adjust quickly in order to meet compliance with the complex law, whether they find it politically palatable or not.

Providers, meanwhile, are themselves rapidly adjusting to new incentives and payments under the law, resulting in transformational changes that will begin to address, though not completely solve, some of the high cost curves seen over the last decade.

SONOMA COUNTY — In an effort to determine the specific rates that customers would pay under the proposed power agency known as Sonoma Clean Power, planners have proposed forming an initial governing authority between the County of Sonoma and the Sonoma County Water Agency.

The accounting leaders featured here were selected from the Oct. 22 Business Journal list of the largest North Bay accounting firms. They are listed alphabetically by last name.

Address: 16 Digital Dr., Ste. 130, Novato 94949; 415-382-9083; okizu.org Age: 74 Residence: Novato Professional background: Supervisor and then Vice President of Matson Lines and Pacific Far East Line Steamship Travel. Founder and Chairman of Golden Bear Travel, retired. Education: Bachelor of Arts, San Francisco State (Liberal Arts) Staff size: 10 salaried, 670 volunteers  Describe your organization. [...]

Address: 3569 Round Barn Cir., Santa Rosa 5403; 707-303-3600; srheallthcenters.org Age: 55 Residence: Sebastopol Professional background: 15 years as a managed care executive in Santa Rosa, 5 years as a national health care consultant, 12 years at SRCHC. Prior to that, ran a preschool, planted trees after the Cazadero fire and made goat cheese and tofu. [...]

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 [...]

Address: 7351 Bodega Ave., Sebastopol 95472; 707-829-5833; ceresproject.org Age: 56 Residence: Sebastopol Professional background:  Varied background in both the for profit and nonprofit sectors, including 8 years marketing, marketing research and strategic planning experience, 4 years as Director of Communications for The Hunger Project US, and ten years founding and running an organic home meal delivery service. [...]

David Goodman is executive director of Redwood Empire Food Bank. It provides food to more than 78,000 people every month through its three hunger initiatives and a network of 166 charitable and faith-based organizations throughout Sonoma County. The REFB also helps smaller food banks and organizations in Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties.

Address: 1300 N. Dutton Ave., Santa Rosa 95401; 707-544-6911; capsonoma.org Age: 39 Residence: Windsor Professional background: Since graduating from College, my work has focused on increasing access to education and opportunities for low income and minority students.  For the past decade through the Community Action network, I have worked to alleviate the conditions of poverty by shifting [...]

Address: 300 Sunny Hills Dr., San Anselmo 94960; 415-457-3200; sunnyhillsservices.org Age: 59 Residence: Larkspur Professional background: 20+ years in international banking and finance, first with Bank of America and then as a consultant. After serving on the board of a very small nonprofit in San Francisco, when I saw the tremendous impact the organization had on [...]

Events in the north San Francisco Bay Area of interest to the business community

Bank of Marin has announced management promotions in its five southern Marin branches: Jackie Williams, Stephanie Kelsey, Heidi Duckor, Renee Rymer, Jon O’Halloran and Linda Lippstreau. …

The county of Marin approved more than $600,000 to add eight psychiatrists to the county’s Health and Human Services mental health and substance abuse program. …

Colleen Ryan has joined Wells Fargo Insurance Services in Petaluma as an account executive in personal lines. …

Community Foundation Sonoma County appointed Elizabeth Brown as its new president and CEO. …

Equity Solar, Inc., a San Aneslmo-based company that commercializes solar photovoltaic technology, appointed David Maloney, Ph.D., to its board of directors. …

Commercial real estate leases and sales in the north San Francisco Bay Area

Corte Madera-based Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: RH) announced Nov. 7 that it has completed its initial public offering …

Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), whose CardioVascular division is based in Santa Rosa, announced a grant of $250,000 from the Medtronic Foundation to the American Red Cross to support relief efforts in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. …

Novato-based Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc., a biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for rare and ultra-rare genetic disorders, announced it has completed patient enrollment in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase two study of UX001. …

Sutter Health employees raised over $661,000 in 2012 for the California Chapter of March of Dimes. …

For the month of October, Envolve Winery of Sonoma and its “Real Men Drink Pink Campaign” raised money for the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation and their programming offering free mammograms in October. …

The Non-GMO Project has verified San Rafael-based EO Products as the first certified non-GMO body care company. …

Oct. 23, 2012: The YWCA hosted “October E.V.E.” a benefit for YWCA Sonoma County featuring Wonder Bread 5 at Lagunitas Brewery in Petaluma.