North Bay Business Journal

First Community Bank in January hired April Hines as chief financial officer and Jonathan Graves as vice president and commercial loan officer. …

Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors elected Rolf Nelson, senior vice president of Exchange Bank, as 2013 chairman-elect. …

Brent Ainsworth, editor of the Novato Patch community news website and a former Marin Independent Journal reporter and editor, will join the county of Marin as public information officer. …

To Celebrate Life Breast Cancer Foundation, a volunteer-based organization whose goal is to ensure that no one faces breast cancer alone, appointed Jeanne Capurro the new president of its board of directors, and Rebecca Spencer and Gerard Bourguignon, Ph.D., as new board members. …

W Property Management hired Donna Nordby as North Bay director of management and leasing. …

Luann Scally joined 5th Street Financial in July as the sales manager as well as a mortgage loan office. …

Joe Scaramella joined Santa Rosa-based 5th Street Financial and W Real Estate as business development officer. …

Cline Cellars and Jacuzzi Family Vineyards hired Robert Hawk as regional manager for the Great Lakes territory. …

Doug Wright, shareholder in charge of the International Tax Services Group of Burr Pilger Mayer, was selected as a new board member of the Northern California World Trade Center after receiving unanimous approval from current members. …

Brian Pon, a partner in Financial Connections, a Corte Madera-based financial planning and wealth management firm, has been named Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Member at Golden Gate University for 2012. …

Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce hired Steve Lyman as membership sales manager. …

Kim Link has been hired as the marketing project and research support with the Santa Rosa Convention & Visitors Bureau, focusing on special marketing, sales and media projects. …

Kristina Combs is the new executive director of human resources and labor relations at College of Marin. …

Angwin resident Julie Crow-Petersen, R.N., was hired as a flight nurse by California Shock Trauma Air Rescue, better known as CALSTAR. …

Joan Kermath joined Decker Bullock Sotheby’s International Realty in Marin County. …

Veteran Marin real estate agent Rocky Vannucci joined Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage as sales manager for central and southern Marin County. …

Carra Clampitt of Eugene Burger Management Corp. in Rohnert Park has been elected to the statewide board of directors for Laguna Hills-based California Association of Community Managers. …

Summit State Bank appointed Kim August vice president and commercial loan officer. …

Jodi Shubin, director of client and community relations at Pisenti & Brinker, was named the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce 2012 Ambassador of the Year. …

The Democratic Caucus selected Rep. John Garemendi, D-Fairfield, for the House Agriculture Committee. …

Nick Hansen, CPA, of Moss Adams, LLP, was appointed vice president to the 2013 board of directors for Santa Rosa Wednesday Night Market. …

Pacific Coast Air Museum announced that Julia Hochberg of Sonoma Jet Center was elected to the 2013 board of directors. …

Patsy Van Ouwerkerk, president and CEO of Travis Credit Union in Vacaville, was named chairman of the Solano Economic Development Corp. board of directors. …

Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce announced its 2013 board of directors. …

Jonathan Eldridge was named vice president of student services for College of Marin. …

Jerry Dunn will become the new human services director for the county of Sonoma. …

James Keller has been hired by the Napa Sanitation District to fill the vacancy left by former plant manager Sharleen Maglione, who retired in December after 28 years with the district. …

Tom Kemper joined Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage as a sales associate and technology consultant in its Santa Rosa office. …

SANTA ROSA — Santa Rosa Junior College is embarking on a multi-year strategic planning process that participants say is of unprecedented scope in the college’s 95-year history, with hope that widespread community participation will strengthen a longstanding spirit of collaboration between the college, the regional business community and other stakeholders throughout the North Bay.

Santa Rosa business leaders and planners said they hope that a tweak to the city’s zoning rules will encourage wineries and breweries to set up shop in the city’ core commercial districts, speeding the way for pedestrian and tourist-friendly offerings akin to commercial districts in cities like Healdsburg and Sonoma.

SANTA ROSA – Agilent Technologies’ commitment to education has been amply demonstrated in the North Bay, where students from elementary school through college graduation benefit from a series of programs and partnerships.

A unique summer algebra academy pioneered in Santa Rosa has grown throughout the North Bay, and organizations as far away as Arizona are expressing interest in duplicating the public-private partnership that works to expose English language-learners to real-world applications for math.

SANTA ROSA — The Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce said today it plans to relocate its downtown offices to a business park in the west central area of the city this summer.

SANTA ROSA — A public-private Sonoma County partnership aimed at spurring job growth plans to survey 100 local businesses in as many days on what they need to stay and thrive in the county.

Share your thoughts: Should North Bay local governments provide financial and other incentives to attract and retain businesses?

Call it a tipping point or an epiphany, but business has found its voice on the critical public policy issues of the day.

SONOMA COUNTY — The Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce today announced the appointment of Carolyn Stark as executive director of the Building Economic Success Together program, a countywide economic development organization created to spur job growth while making Sonoma County more economically competitive.

SONOMA COUNTY — After winning approval from the Santa Rosa City Council, a countywide job creation effort headed by the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce received positive feedback from the cities of Sonoma and Healdsburg as it closed in on its $3.25 million fundraising goal.

SANTA ROSA – The Mike Hauser Algebra Academy, sponsored by the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, is expanding to other cities in Sonoma and Marin counties. Now in its fourth year, the academy has helped more than 200 English language learners going into eighth and ninth grades appreciate the practical value of math in the real world.

Napa Valley College is offering late start computer-aided drafting classes, designed for youths looking to enter the workforce, individuals of all ages looking to change careers and for existing CAD users who need to update skills on newer software.

SANTA ROSA – Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce’s 3-year-old Worksite Held Employee English Learning, or WHEEL, program is graduating 100 people this month from five businesses, and is expanding into three more businesses this year.

SANTA ROSA – The Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce is kicking off another session of the Mike Hauser Algebra Academy—and is helping other cities have their own programs.

SANTA ROSA — A list of viable business enhancing proposals, that could help jump start the local Santa Rosa economy and be implemented quickly, is being actively considered by the Mayor’s Task Force on Economic Competitiveness.

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

SANTA ROSA — A proactive and coordinated effort from the public and private sectors targeting job growth, Sonoma County BEST – “Building Economic Success Together” — officially kicked off with a breakfast this morning at Santa Rosa Junior College.