North Bay Business Journal

SANTA ROSA — The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors today voted unanimously to create an initial governing authority for a proposed countywide renewable energy-focused power agency known as Sonoma Clean Power, a step needed before determining rates to charge potential customers when service is targeted to begin in early 2014.

SANTA ROSA — The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday evening agreed to temporarily table talks on a hotly debated proposed countywide project labor agreement policy for public projects of more than $25 million and send the matter back to county staff for further study.

A battle is brewing between big business and labor in Sonoma County over the prospect of the Board of Supervisors possibly adopting a project labor agreement for construction projects of over $25 million.

Greg Hurd, principal and vice president at BKF Engineers in Santa Rosa, is the 2012-2013 president of the North Coast Builders Exchange, a nonprofit construction industry advocate representing 1,250 members in Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties.

Potential for significant projects on the horizon is limited to a few “bright spots,” or business sectors that are moving forward with construction, according to poll of North Bay architecture firms to be presented at the Business Journal’s Construction Conference 2011 on Tuesday.

Oct. 7, 2010: The North Coast Builders Exchange Construction Expo 2010 / Dec. 1, 2010: Summit State Bank presented a $2,500 check donation to the Elsie Allen High School Drama Department to help send students to a film festival in Scotland

The 2010 Spotlight on Leaders in Contracting on pages 6 to 13 illuminates how top general and specialty contractors have remained on top as a number of sectors of the construction industry have contracted significantly in the past four years.

NORTH BAY – Three North Bay organizations have seed-funded the formation of a Jobs & Prosperity Project to educate voters on local candidates and their support of job creation.

NORTH BAY — The good news is that the worst part of the recession generally is over for the local construction industry, according to conference panelist Rob Eyler, chair of the Sonoma State University Economics Department and director of the institution’s Center for Regional Economic Analysis.

Dr. Eyler will be one of the panelists at the Business Journal’s annual Construction Conference on Wednesday, offering opportunities for the North Bay economy and its significant construction industry to prepare for the next business cycle.

NORTH BAY — The Business Journal’s 2010 Construction Conference on May 19, titled “We’re ready: Laying the foundation for economic recovery,” will focus on taking action to build a plan for a healthy construction industry in the North Bay.
The event will be Wednesday, May 19 at the Doubletree Hotel in Rohnert Park with registration from 1 to 1:30 and the program from 1:30 to 4:30. A wine and hors d’oeuvres reception will follow. Tickets are $49 per person or $510 for a table of 10, including company name on the table. To register, call 707-521-5264, e-mail events@busjrnl.com or go to www.NorthBayBusinessJournal.com by Friday, May 14.

SANTA ROSA — At a lively Sonoma County Alliance meeting Wednesday, representatives from Codding Enterprises, the Accountable Development Coalition and a building industry representative discussed the hotly debated Community Benefits Agreement signed by Codding and the coalition on affordable housing, sustainable building practices and wage and benefit packages for the project.

NORTH BAY – Green building performance, or rather failure to perform, has long topped the list of legal risks related to sustainability-minded construction, but developers face even greater stakes this year as government-mandated LEED standards loom and achieving certification becomes more difficult.

NORTH BAY – The Home Builders Association of Northern California is working on ways to help get the housing industry back on its feet and keep it green.

June 25: The North Coast Builders Exchange 55th Annual Dinner honoring the 2009 inductees to the Construction Hall of Fame was held at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa.

June 25: The North Coast Builders Exchange 55th Annual Dinner honoring the 2009 inductees to the Construction Hall of Fame was held at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa.

People items submitted by North Bay businesses for publication in the Business Journal for June 22nd

With the construction industry severely weakened by the current recession, the Business Journal decided it was time to give a fresh face to its annual Building the North Bay Construction Conference.

SONOMA COUNTY – The county of Sonoma plans to adopt a green-building ordinance in time for more stringently water- and energy-efficient state building codes and project-rating standards to take effect this summer.

Construction trade organizations are watching closely how President Obama’s Feb. 6 executive order on project labor agreements, or PLAs, on federally funded construction projects larger than $25 million will be implemented with the pending economic-stimulus package. The order rescinded a Bush administration ban on such arrangements.