North Bay Business Journal

HAY

SMART groundbreaking draws hundreds

February 24th, 2012

PETALUMA — Officials from the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit District took part in a ceremonial groundbreaking in Petaluma today to celebrate the start of construction for a commuter rail system that is planned to span the entire length of Sonoma and Marin counties.
Friedman’s signs lease for Deer Creek store

February 13th, 2012

PETALUMA — Friedman’s Home Improvement, the largest locally owned home improvement retailer in the North Bay, announced today it’s returning to Petaluma 66 years after brothers Benny and Joe Friedman opened the original store.
Clover moves offices back to south Petaluma

February 13th, 2012

PETALUMA — Clover Stornetta Farms moved its headquarters back to the south end of Petaluma, closer to its production facility for milk and other dairy beverages.
Lagunitas explores own wastewater plant

February 6th, 2012

PETALUMA — Lagunitas Brewing Co. wants to build its own process-wastewater treatment plant to handle the expected growth of its brewery in the next several years, and Petaluma and business leaders are exploring whether additional industrial wastewater treatment capacity is needed to accommodate current food and beverage companies as well as attract more.
Food production incubator considered for Petaluma

January 30th, 2012

PETALUMA — Creators of artisan food products who are challenged to find a place to take their businesses to a new level may be able to find such help in a food manufacturing incubator being considered in southern Sonoma County.
Barbara’s to leave Petaluma

January 19th, 2012

PETALUMA — Weetabix North America, owner of the Barbara’s brand of Puffins breakfast cereals and other snacks, today announced plans to relocate its local operations to Massachusetts in the next six months, affecting 24 jobs.
Raydiance weighs Petaluma expansion

January 16th, 2012

Raydiance, developer of next-generation laser technology, is considering a major expansion in Petaluma this year. Other items in this commercial real estate column: Santa Barbara-based multifamily property investment firm Nevins Adams Lewbel Schell, or NALS, purchased the 292-unit Rolling Oaks luxury apartment complex at 3700 Lyon Road in Fairfield for $52 million, or about $178,000 a dwelling. … Prima Fluer Botanicals of San Rafael signed a five-year lease for the 14,400-square-foot warehouse and offices at 23 Pimentel Ct. in Novato. … An affiliate of San Francisco-based industrial real estate investor Lowenberg Corp. purchased a 101,700-square-foot warehouse in American Canyon, Lowenberg’s ninth North Bay holding. … As part of planned projects around the Bay Area, San Ramon-based gym chain 24 Hour Fitness has been upgrading its North Bay facilities.
2011 top stories: New hospital, tech advances define year of the economy

January 2nd, 2012

The national and local economy was on everyone’s mind in 2011. But as the Business Journal editorial staff set out to develop its Top Ten Stories of the Year, it quickly became clear that the North Bay was blessed with multiple economy-boosting projects and new commitments job creation.
People news: Week of Jan. 2, 2012

January 2nd, 2012

News about north San Francisco Bay area professionals
Oculus to raise $2 million in stock offering

December 23rd, 2011

PETALUMA — Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq:OCLS) today said it has received commitments to purchase aboout $2 million company stock in a registered direct offering set to close next week.
Amy’s Kitchen to revamp local operations as East Coast plant delayed

December 20th, 2011

PETALUMA [updated Dec. 21] — Amy’s Kitchen, maker of prepared natural and organic foods, plans to reconfigure its Santa Rosa and Oregon operations as the planned opening of a $63 million East Coast production facility has been pushed back “a few years.”
Major private construction projects on tap in 2012

December 19th, 2011

A number of major private-sector construction projects will be under way or are set to begin in 2012: Grady Ranch, San Rafael; Madera Vista, Corte Madera; East Washington Place, Petaluma; Marin County Emergency Operations Facility, San Rafael; Safeway expansion, Petaluma; Bell Village, Windsor; Multitenant warehouse, Napa; Kaiser data center expansion, Napa; The Barlow, Sebastopol; and Napa Century Center, Napa.
Auto body chain installs $2 million in solar on three shops

December 12th, 2011

Santa Rosa-based G&C AutoBody is spending $2.09 million installing photovoltaic power arrays on three of its seven locations to write off the whole project cost in one year under a special 2011 tax incentive for capital investments.
Petaluma Health Center: A welcoming new place for doctor and patient

December 5th, 2011

PETALUMA — When the Petaluma Health Center opened the doors to its brand new, 52,000-square-foot location this June, an immediate impact was felt by both staff and patients working in and getting treatment at the federally qualified health center.
Tegal invests in medical device developer

November 29th, 2011

PETALUMA — Tegal Corporation (Nasdaq: TGAL) today announced it made a $300,000 strategic investment in NanoVibronix Inc., which develops medical devices and products that use its proprietary therapeutic ultrasound technology.
GCX: When the boss is a coach, wellness is serious business

November 28th, 2011

PETALUMA – When the president of the company is also a football coach at Marin Catholic High School, you can be sure that he encourages employees to tone up and stay active both on and off the job. Several GCX managers attended Terra Linda High School at the same time, played in basketball leagues and participated in 10K runs, so there is a legacy of athleticism in a firm that now places strong emphasis on weight loss and fitness.
EPIC insurance: ‘If we were any healthier, we’d be broccoli’

November 28th, 2011

The San Mateo-based brokerage opened the Petaluma branch last July. With 265 employees across the company — and about 20 in the North Bay — the company boasts an 80 percent participation rate in its two-year old employee wellness program.
Commercial real estate: Madera Vista apartments get $65 million investment

November 21st, 2011

Denver-based Apartment Investment and Management Co. (NYSE: AIV) is betting about $65 million on the renovation of the 126-unit vacant apartment complex in Corte Madera, amounting to $516,000 a unit. Also: Rowland Plaza to be refi’ed not sold; San Rafael Corporate Center gets medical office rezoning; Deer Creek Village courts Friedman’s, Home Depot; Santa Rosa office short-sale lands big tenant.
Corporate wellness taking center stage

November 14th, 2011

NORTH BAY — As wellness emerges as a key business strategy in containing health care costs, questions often arise on what, exactly, the term means — what works for one company or one industry won’t necessarily work for another, and how do you define wellness to employees? More importantly, how do you get a staff to fully buy-in to the concept?
World’s top young sommelier an SSU grad; technology initiative for Petaluma schools

October 24th, 2011

Ian Cauble becomes the world’s top young sommelier. … The National Science Foundation has awarded Sonoma State University’s School of Science and Technology with more than $1 million in grant funding. … McCormick & Company has donated $30,000 to the Culinary Institute of America, funding a scholarship that will be distributed to six Hispanic students in the coming semester. … The Petaluma Educational Foundation is looking for support from the business community for its new “Transforming Education in the Classroom”Initiative, an effort to act on the growing number of grant applicants who see technology as an asset in the classroom.