North Bay Business Journal

NORTH BAY — Lenders to the North Bay wine industry are following demand for capital as it ripples outward from a record-breaking grape harvest in 2012, after a boost in cash flow allowed many vineyards to pay down working capital and other business debt.

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.

SANTA ROSA – Rabobank, N.A. opened a new branch and agribusiness center in downtown Santa Rosa today, the third in the region after branches in Sonoma and Napa.

NOVATO — Bank of Marin is making a determined effort to extend the wine-related expertise of its commercial lending team into the industry with expansions into Napa and Sonoma counties over the past 12 months.

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.

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.