North Bay Business Journal

Now that Western Health Advantage formally announced its expansion into the North Bay, existing care providers said the arrival of a new health plan is an important step in providing choice for employers and consumers and will help those involved move toward a more integrated model of care.

It also caps off years of planning among the region’s hospitals and independent physicians, who collectively sought collaborations amid an increasingly competitive, consolidating health care landscape spurred by the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

SANTA ROSA — A sharply divided Sonoma County Board of Supervisors last week put off a decision on a proposed countywide project labor agreement policy for public projects of more than $25 million and sent the matter back for further study.

ROHNERT PARK — In an executive shuffle at the Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster and iHub in Rohnert Park, Michael Newell has left the position of executive director, replaced for the time being by a mentor and financier of startups.

The Business Journal’s Sept. 17 Wine Industry Lenders list [p. 10] omitted Westamerica Bank.

Welcome to the Business Journal’s seventh Best Places to Work in the North Bay. This was a year of firsts. …

Companies selected as Best Places to Work in the North Bay were analyzed by the editorial staff of the Business Journal on the basis of several criteria, including the employer application, the survey ratings by employees, the number of responses, size of the company, the breakdown of responses from management and non-management as well as written comments by employees.

Read profiles about winners of the Business Journal’s Best Places to Work 2012 with 20 to 50 employees: Abbey, Weitzenberg, Warren & Emery; Bank of Napa; BKF Engineers; Burr Pilger Mayer; Cardno ERI; Codding Enterprises; Dal Poggetto & Company LLP; Frank Howard Allen; Friedemann Goldberg LLP; Ghilotti Brothers, Inc.; Ghirardo CPA; Heffernan Insurance Brokers; Inn Marin & Rickey’s; Innovative Business Solutions; M.A. Silva USA, Inc.; Marizco Landscape Management, Inc.; Métier, Ltd.; Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Sonoma County; O’Brien Watters & Davis, LLP; Petaluma People Services Center; Play-Well TEKnologies; Private Ocean Wealth Management; Quattrocchi Kwok Architects; QuieTrack Insurance Services; Schurter, Inc.; Scott Technology Group Inc.; Smith Dollar PC; Summit Engineering; TLCD Architecture; Valley Tire & Brake; Vantreo Insurance Brokerage; Vasyli, LLC; Woodruff-Sawyer & Co.; and Wright Contracting, Inc.

Read profiles about winners of the Business Journal’s Best Places to Work 2012 with 51 to 100 employees: Circle Bank; Coast Landscape Management; Costeaux French Bakery, Inc.; Filtration Group; First Community Bank; George Petersen Insurance Agency; Glassdoor; Golden LivingCenter of Petaluma; KCC, LLC; LEMO USA, Inc.; Moss Adams, LLP; Nova Group; Sonoma Technology Inc.; St. Francis Winery & Vineyards; Summit State Bank; Town of Windsor; Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, Inc.; and WRA Environmental Consultants.

Read profiles about winners of the Business Journal’s Best Places to Work 2012 with 101 to 250 employees: Bank of Marin; Coldwell Banker Brokers of the Valley; Community Child Care Council of Sonoma County; Embassy Suites Hotel – San Rafael; First American Home Buyers Protection Corporation; IDEX Health & Science; La Tortilla Factory; Petaluma Health Center; REACH Air Medical Services; Sequoia Senior Solutions; Sonic.net; and W. Bradley Electric, Inc.

Read profiles about winners of the Business Journal’s Best Places to Work 2012 with 251 to 500 employees: Bradley Real Estate, Exchange Bank, Mary’s Pizza Shack and Redwood Credit Union.

Read a profile about the winner of the Business Journal’s Best Places to Work 2012 in the 501- to 1,000-employee category: Wells Fargo Business Services.

Read profiles about winners of the Business Journal’s Best Places to Work 2012 with more than 1,000 employees: Agilent Technologies; Kaiser Permanente – Santa Rosa; Kaiser Permanente – San Rafael; and NorthBay Healthcare Corp.

Sutter Health, which operates a number of North Bay hospitals and other care services, has filed plans with the state to launch its own health maintenance organization by 2014 and aims to offer a commercial health plan to employer groups.

Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa and Kaiser Foundation hospitals in Santa Rosa and Vacaville were the three North Bay facilities on latest list of the nation’s top performers in “key quality measures” by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of U.S. health care organizations. …

Northern California Center for Well-Being on Sept. 14 held its annual “Celebration of Dreams,” honoring local health care professionals and individuals for improving overall health in the region: Amy’s Kitchen, Gary Pace of West County Health Centers, Zuli Baron of St. Joseph Health, Andrea Michelsen of Kaiser Permanente and Hannah Early, a student at Analy High School. …

Two Petaluma orthodontists recently purchased a 7,500 square-foot former Wells Fargo branch at 301 Washington St. and plan to remodel it for their private practice. …

North Bay Cancer Alliance, a Santa Rosa-based nonprofit, launched a new website, a new brand and renewed focus on expanded community programs. …

As positive indicators continue to strengthen across the North Bay housing market, real estate leaders in the region expressed increasing confidence that housing is starting to recover from the crash of 2006.

The county of Napa has released a series of documents, posted at countyofnapa.org, describing a revised proposal for the 154-acre Napa Pipe residential and commercial development, allowing time for public review prior to a planned hearing before the county’s Planning Commission in October. …

Marin Association of Realtors released a new, mobile version of its Housing Turnover Index (marinhousingturnoverindex.com), an interactive website designed to illustrate how certain mandated repairs are discouraging home sales and slowing the turnover of Marin County housing stock. …

SAN RAFAEL — Marin Association of Realtors released a new, mobile version of its Marin Housing Turnover Index, an interactive website financed in part by the National Association of Realtors and designed to illustrate how certain mandated repairs are discouraging home sales and slowing the turnover of housing stock in Marin County.

RCU Services Group, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Redwood Credit Union, named Lisa Wittke Schaffner as a board member for a one-year term. …

Stellar Energy announced the addition of two solar industry veterans to its operations team: Michael Mittleman as senior vice president of operations, and Wayne Williford as operations and maintenance manager. …

Sanovas, Inc. announced has hired three industry veterans to serve on its executive team. …

Tash Bunge has joined Grgich Hills Estate as its Northern California Area sales manager, which includes Napa, Sonoma and Sacramento counties. …

Parallel Napa Valley announced the appointment of its first employee, Lindsay Faith Weinhold, who will be manager of business development. …

Dalla Terra Winery Direct announced that Amelia Di Marco has joined the sales team as New York and New Jersey district manager. …

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

Continuing its commitment to increasing the numbers of primary care physicians in California, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development awarded more than $2.89 million to 29 family practice residency training programs. …

Enphase Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENPH) last week announced the availability of the Enphase Microinverter System at Dynamic Solar, a leading distributor of photovoltaic solutions in the United Kingdom. …

Napa-based digital wine tourism pioneer WineCountry.com released a new iPhone app. …

OFFbeat Brands of Petaluma was selected by Grant Burge Wines of Barossa Valley as the Australian brand’s exclusive importer in the U.S. …

Pivot Charter School, North Bay, a free public charter school that offers full-time programs for grades 6–12 in Sonoma and surrounding counties, will offer new two- and five-day-a-week programs for the 2012–2013 school year. …

Assemblymember Jared Huffman presented his Sustainable North Bay Award to Novato’s Andalou Naturals in September in recognition of the company’s commitment to creating personal care products that are both good for people and the planet. …

Business-oriented events in the north San Francisco Bay Area