North Bay Business Journal

News about north San Francisco Bay area professionals

SEBASTOPOL — The Palm Drive Healthcare District on Monday night unanimously approved an affiliation agreement with Marin General Hospital, a move that district officials hope will help Palm Drive Hospital achieve long-term financial stability.

Novato-based Circle Bank has partnered with Keiretsu Forum, said to be the world’s largest angel investor network, to provide financing advice to startup and early-stage companies in the North Bay and San Francisco. … Adam Capital, a Sonoma-based lender specializing in financing small-scale solar projects, is urging solar companies to act before the window closes on a 30 percent federal grant on solar projects at the end of this year. … Westamerica bank is making preparations to move its branch in Ignacio near its current location in the Pacheco Plaza shopping center early next year, said Robert Thorson, the bank’s chief financial officer. … Community First Credit Union signed up the greater number of new members in November than in any month in its 50-year history, beating a record set in October. … The U.S. Small Business Administration is hosting a free web seminar on Dec. 15 to help small business owners prepare for the end of the 2011 tax year. … Images in Motion, a Sonoma-based studio specializing in puppets for television, is filming a series of commercials for Hawaiian Tel Federal Credit Union to “explain the benefits of credit union services to customers on the Big Island.”

SONOMA – When Sarah and Darius Anderson bought the Ramekins Culinary School in 2008 at 450 W. Spain St., they saw an opportunity to transform the facility into an elegant European-style learning center, event locale and inn.

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.

NORTH BAY — Nearly two dozen North Bay restaurants have been named to the “Bib Gourmand” list of the forthcoming Michelin Guide San Francisco, Bay Area and Wine Country, a ranking that indicates the Michelin inspectors’ favorites for good value.

SANTA ROSA — Empire College is expanding its hospitality program, offering a new specialized associate degree in guest services. The 18-month program includes eight certificates and two certifications from the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association.

SONOMA — The Wiseman Co., a Fairfield-based real estate developer, is in the early stages of planning for a 39,000-square-foot medical office building tnear Sonoma Valley Hospital.

SANTA ROSA — Residential real estate brokerage Wine Country Group by Better Homes and Gardens is expanding its holdings in Sonoma County by merging with three Pacific Union International branches, two in Santa Rosa and one in Petaluma.

SONOMA — Under new leadership and with a broader range of services, Groskopf Warehouse & Logistics has significantly expanded its customer base and plans a big boost to its storage capacity and markets served.

SONOMA — The Sonoma Valley Healthcare District has settled on a $38.1 million plan for refurbishing the 83-bed hospital to make it seismically safe before the state-mandated deadline of March 2013.

NAPA — The Hess Collection is acquiring the 4,000-case-a-year MacPhail Family Wines brand and inventory, and the winemaker for which it’s named, James MacPhail, is joining Hess.

SONOMA — The U.S. distributor of one of the world’s largest winemaking supply companies is expanding to Petaluma.

The Sonoma County Tourism Bureau is increasingly benefitting from two sources — trade shows and weddings. … Several winery tasting rooms are opening in Sonoma and Napa counties in coming months. … The Napa Tourism Improvement District and the Napa Downtown Association have launched a new website as part of an effort to promote the downtown region.

SONOMA – Nelson Interactive and Nelson Technology, divisions of Sonoma-based staffing firm Nelson Family of Companies, have opened a new office in Austin, Texas.

SONOMA — Bill Foley has added to his growing portfolio of wine companies with what’s being described as a “major investment” in Crushpad, a custom winery for hundreds of hobbyists and small-scale labels that moved to Napa Valley a year ago and now is bound for another of Mr. Foley’s holdings, Sebastiani Vineyards in Sonoma.

SONOMA COUNTY — The Sonoma County Economic Development Board, in partnership with city councils and chambers of commerce, has released a new series of City Economic Reports for each of the nine incorporated areas in Sonoma County. Areas covered by the reports include employment, demographics, residential and commercial real estate, consumer spending, and education.

Sonoma-based Cecchetti Wine Co. reported that it had its third year of volume sales growth. Roy Cecchetti’s goal of making lower-priced wines has resulted in 200,000 cases sold in 2010, a 39 percent increase from 2009. The winery is projecting sales of 250,000 cases total this year. … Winners from vineyard pruning contests in Mendocino, Sonoma and Napa counties. … A California Department of Industrial Relations Division of Labor Standards Enforcement opinion letter has added new wrinkles to the quandary over whether student interns have to be paid at least minimum wage as employees, according to Jennifer Phillips, an employment and real estate attorney with Dickenson Peatman & Fogarty in Santa Rosa. … Graton-based custom winemaker Sonoma Wine Co., which now produces more than 5 million cases of wine from six facilities in Sonoma and Napa counties, inked a deal with Sebastopol-based Winesecrets to provide services to Sonoma Wine’s 30 clients. … Golden State Overnight and FedEx expand direct-shipping services. … Bill Hambrecht teams with Paul and Heath Dolan and Phil Hurst in the H.D.D. wine group venture. … Dry Creek Vineyard entered a sales and marketing agreement with Sonoma-based V2 Wine Group, which will manage Dry Creek’s distribution nationwide.

Some winegrape crop watchers were expecting 2010 North Coast tonnage to be 10 percent to 30 percent below the size of the big 2009 harvest because of late-season heat and rain damage.

SONOMA and NAPA COUNTIES — Bay Area real estate industry veterans Ed Krafchow, Earl Shuttleworth and Gerrett Snedaker announced today the formation of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wine Country Group Realtors with nine offices and over 180 agents concentrated in northern California’s Wine Country.