North Bay Business Journal

SANTA ROSA — Wells Fargo Center for the Arts today announced plans for a four-part, $10 million upgrade project to improve patron and artist experience, increase accessibility and provide greater flexibility at the 31-year old center.

SANTA ROSA — A newcomer to the no-upfront-cost residential solar energy market, but affiliated with a company that has national experience with home security, energy-management and automation systems, has opened a North Bay installation hub, one of three in the Bay Area as the company rapidly expands locally.

SANTA ROSA — About 400,000 Americans broke a collar bone last year. They tumbled off bicycles, tripped while jogging or walking and texting, fell out of trees and off of horses.

SANTA ROSA — Direct Flow Medical Inc., a Santa Rosa-based developer of transcatheter heart valves, recently won approval on two new patents, one from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the second from the Japan Patent Office.

Commercial real estate broker Burt Polson, who has operated ACRES Real Estate Services in Napa for two decades, is joining Strong & Hayden Commercial Real Estate. …

Stellar Energy, based in Rohnert Park, hired Chris Larsen as director of southeast project development. …

Kurt Hahn was honored for 15 years of service to Healdsburg District Hospital after he announced his retirement and resignation from the board. …

Chris Call recently joined the board of the Santa Rosa-based Climate Protection Campaign as treasurer. …

The California Parenting Institute board of directors welcomed five new board members. …

Sausalito-based Equilibrium named Pal Storehaug as its vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. …

Rack & Riddle, a Hopland winery and custom-crush facility, hired Raphael Brisbois as director of winemaking to lead the production of client and branded wines. …

Signorello Estate appointed Britny Sundin estate chef. …

Soutirage hired Master Sommelier Desmond Echavarrie as senior wine advisor. …

The Hess Collection, which has a winery in American Canyon, appointed Illinois-based Jeanne Jesse as north central regional sales manager. …

Cline Cellars and Jacuzzi Family Vineyards in Sonoma Valley named Robert Hawk as Great Lakes regional manager. …

The board of directors of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission announced that Karissa Kruse will be its next president, replacing Nick Frey as he retires. …

Share your thoughts on this week’s NBBJ Pulse Poll question: “Amy’s Kitchen plans to hire up to 800 for a Santa Rosa production expansion. Should local government expedite that project?”

Amy’s Kitchen, one of the nation’s largest makers of natural frozen foods, is planning to build a second manufacturing plant in Santa Rosa that one day could employ an additional 800 workers.

Santa Rosa Mayor Scott Bartley and other city officials welcomed the news of what they said would be the largest business expansion in the city in a decade.

SANTA ROSA — McLea’s Tire & Automotive Service plans to open its fifth location this spring as the family-owned company tries to capture more Sonoma County commercial and retail business as well as increase its purchasing power.

Nearly every major health care provider in the region has recently opened a new clinic or outpatient center, and numerous others have said plans are under way for similar expansions, reflecting a concerted effort by providers to move outside of the hospital setting. …

Marin General Hospital recently opened the Baden Diabetes Center, an outpatient program that provides self-management skills, treatment and on-going guidance for patients with diabetes. …

NorthBay Healthcare is in the process of developing a new medical office building in Fairfield adjacent to its administrative center at 4500 Business Center Dr. …

St. Joseph Health recently completed the move if its Memorial Hospice program to 439 College Ave. in Santa Rosa, where it will occupy 12,000 square feet. …

Northern California Center for Well-Being will hold its third annual Workforce Wellness Symposium this month at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. …

The Santa Rosa office market continues to be challenging for property owners with vacancies. While higher than the doldrums of 2009–2010, tenant touring activity continues to be modest. Tenants still have the ability to take advantage of opportunities in the market to upgrade to higher quality space and in most cases are able to do so while lowering their occupancy expenses.

The North Bay’s low vacancy rate — not as much as the economy — is the biggest challenge to North Bay retail property. Increasingly rare available quality retail space and soaring rents for it are discouraging retailers.

SANTA ROSA — Empire College has been named to the 2013 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, marking the second year that the not-for-profit college has been selected for the prestigious national award recognizing the role of volunteering in its regular curriculum.

SEBASTOPOL — FlashCo Manufacturing, a fabricator of roof-penetration details with integrated flashing designed to trim installation time and enhance waterproofing, is doubling the size of its headquarters plant in a move to Santa Rosa.

Certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design building rating systems, better known as LEED, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council has been long the domain of single-tenant or owned commercial properties in the North Bay. Tens of thousands of dollars in consultant and staff time to document and verify materials, supplies and operations was an expense that had been difficult to line up with increased demand for multitenant properties. But that’s changed, as Macerich and Seagate Properties have been pursuing LEED certification for hundreds of thousands of square feet of North Bay office and retail buildings. …

Terra Firma Global Partners, started in 2010 as a residential real estate brokerage by former Pacific Union senior executives Bill Facendini and Heidi Rickerd-Rizzo, officially unveiled a commercial division in January with the completion of a few sales and leases in Santa Rosa and Windsor. …

A new office for the federally administered Small Business Development Center program opened Friday in Santa Rosa, expected to be joined by a first-ever Marin County office later this year. The two locations boost the physical presence for the national program along the Highway 101 corridor in the North Bay.

SANTA ROSA — Santa Rosa Junior College will be adding up to 500 new class sections in its 2013–2014 academic year, using new revenue from the voter-approved tax measure Proposition 30 to restore approximately 7 percent of courses cut in the past three years.

SANTA ROSA — In its latest effort to expand outpatient services, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital today announced a partnership with eight local cardiologists to open a diagnostic cardiology clinic.

Kaiser Permanente has earned accreditation for its Santa Rosa Medical Center Family Residency Program, which was developed to attract and retain more physicians to the region in lieu of national shortages.

Russian River Brewing Co.’s cult-like Pliny the Younger, a rare triple IPA, has received yet another accolade, this one coming from state Sen. Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa. …

The Napa Winery Inn has joined the Ascend Hotel Collection, a portfolio of independent hotels from Choice Hotels International, giving the portfolio its first property in the Napa Valley. …

Passenger volume at the Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport in January was 2.4 percent higher than a year before and up 33.9 percent since the same month in 2008 after airline service returned. …

La Condesa, a farm-to-table restaurant in St. Helena, hired Chris Mortenson as its new executive chef. …

A website has been launched to promote downtown Napa’s riverfront, www.NapasRiverfront.com, including information on everything from retail promotions and product offerings to special events and lodging information. …

Medtronic, which has cardiovascular-device operations in Santa Rosa, received the CE (Conformité Européenne) mark to be able to market the Evera portfolio of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) in the European Union. …

SenarioTek, a Santa Rosa-based designer and manufacturer of radio-frequency and microwave products, announced it has received ISO 9001:2008 certification from ABS Quality Evaluations. …

SpotOn, a San Rafael-based digital loyalty network for local merchants and consumers, announced a major milestone six months after officially launching its tablet-based incentive program in July. …

SANTA ROSA — Medtronic’s Santa Rosa-based Cardiac and Vascular Group reported worldwide third-quarter sales increased 5 percent from a year before.