North Bay Business Journal

Featured in this spotlight on commercial lenders are executives at American River Bank, AltaPacific, Bank of America, Bank of Marin, Bank of Napa, Bank of the West, Comerica Bank, Exchange Bank, First Community Bank, First Northern Bank, Luther Burbank Savings, JP Morgan Chase, Mechanics Bank, Presidio Bank, Rabobank, Silicon Valley Bank, Sonoma Bank, State Assistance Fund for Enterprise Business and Industrial Development Corporation (SAFE-BIDCO), Summit State Bank, Travis Credit Union, U.S. Bank, Umpqua Bank, Union Bank, Warren Capital, Wells Fargo and Westamerica Bank.

Sunny Hills Services, a private nonprofit organization with more than 15 programs throughout the Bay Area serving vulnerable children, youth, and their families, was recently named a recipient of a $5,000 grant by Umpqua Bank, through the bank’s “Joy of Giving” campaign on Facebook. …

Redwood Credit Union recently provided $7,787 to assist the American Red Cross with Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. Members and employees contributed more than $3,500 to the fund over the past several weeks, making donations at all 18 RCU branches or via an option in their online banking. …

Santa Rosa’s Food & Wine Trails, the 28-year-old tour division of the HMS Travel Group, announced that Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, one of Italy’s most lauded wineries, will be the winery host on Food & Wine Magazine’s fourth-annual Wine Voyage. …

The Angel Resource Institute and Silicon Valley Bank released their third-quarter Halo Report, a nationwide survey of angel group investment activity with data from CB Insights. …

2K Sports, based in Novato, announced that the company has reached an agreement with Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association, and Major League Baseball Advanced Media to release Major League Baseball 2K13, the next iteration of the popular MLB 2K franchise. …

Santa Rosa-based Liquid Image announced completed development of the Ego Mini, a wi-fi equipped high-definition video sport/DVR/IP camera nearly half the size of the company’s Ego model, which is currently the smallest camera of the same application. …

Calling, downloading apps and surfing the web on the Verizon Wireless network is now easier and faster for residents and travelers in Sonoma County thanks to new cell sites in Healdsburg, Petaluma and Santa Rosa. …

Hot topics in the North Coast wine business in 2012 were rapid grape and bulk-wine inflation as bottle sales outstrip anticipated supply, an unexpectedly big, “perfect” harvest and a string of mergers and acquisitions. Dominating 2013 likely will be moderating supply pricing and accelerating M&A activity, according to experts.

A number of wine industry lenders in the North Bay have seen an uptick in demand for financing this year as wineries, vineyards and related industries seek to position themselves more strongly in a changed economy.

SANTA ROSA — Increasing competition, along with volatile U.S.-global economies and capital markets, are affecting the way wineries are being financed, according to banking and capital-management experts at the Moss-Adams LLP Wine Industry Financial Roundtable. The quarterly event attracted more than 65 CEOs, CFOs, winery owners and managers to the Vintner’s Inn on May 31.

NORTH BAY – Borrowers in the wine industry have found it easier to access financing recently, with industry lending experts citing a warming approach to commercial lending from traditional sources and an uptick in interest for specialty non-bank lending.

ST. HELENA — After strong sales growth last year, U.S. makers of fine wine could see somewhat moderated growth this year as an improving domestic economy and shrinking supply of grapes and wine may allow planned luxury bottle price increases stick in the marketplace, while global economic problems together with an increasing supply shortage may boost imported wine sales for the next few years, according to a highly watched annual wine industry forecast released today.

Unless the global and U.S. economies weaken, wine industry experts predict 2012 could be the year of the vineyard, considering a number of fine wine producers have worked through ample inventories, wine sales continue to grow and few new vines are going into the ground.

The cold 2011 season and wet harvest dampened North Coast crop yields by as much as one-third from norms by early estimates, and lenders are closely observing grower ability to make payments on crop and other loans with fewer tons to sell and higher vineyard-management costs.

The fine wine segment of the industry is at the beginning of a “long-term, steady growth phase,” with sales of such wines forecast to grow 11 percent to 15 percent from last year and wineries enjoying “marginally improving profitability,” according to a report released this morning by Silicon Valley Bank.

ROHNERT PARK – High-end cabernet and cars will be sideshows at the second North Bay Investor Summit, an event its sponsors hope will attract capital to aspiring startups in the area.

North Coast “marquee” wine labels and cash-flowing brands and other assets are more dominant in the deals getting done these days than discount transactions on troubled assets, according to a top wine industry transaction adviser.

NORTH BAY – Summit State Bank in Santa Rosa reported net income of $540,000 for the first quarter. That is a decrease of $307,000 from the $847,000 reported the same quarter last year.

NORTH COAST — The high-end part of the wine industry will start to recover by the end of this year, with revenue growth this year for wines retailing for more than $20 a bottle of 8 percent to 12 percent from that of last year, according to an economic forecast released today by Silicon Valley Bank.

(Listed alphabetically by name)

Economy increases role of direct sales; buying on Facebook?

Last August when we published our first group of Most Influential Leaders in the North Bay, we promised we would bring you more of their stories. We honor that pledge today and promise to bring you more of the inspiring stories of business people in future editions.

Executive Vice President and Wine Division Founder, Silicon Valley Bank

HEALDSBURG – Healdsburg Family Housing held a ceremonial ground-breaking for an affordable and green housing development on its site near downtown Healdsburg Wednesday.