North Bay Business Journal

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.

The Santa Rosa City Council voted on Tuesday to begin a process that could make it easier for wineries and breweries to set up shop in the city’s core districts, as well as easing the route for expansion at current and future sites and clearing the way for certain developments elsewhere in the city.

Vote and leave comments on this week’s NBBJ Pulse Poll question: “Should Santa Rosa encourage wine-tasting rooms downtown?”

Novato-based Hennessy Advisors, Inc. (OTCBB:HNNA) announced that the Hennessy Select SPARX Japan Smaller Companies Fund (symbol:SPJSX) has been named a 2012 Lipper Fund Award winner. … PowerCAD Drafting & Design opened in Rohnert Park. It is an experienced team of CADD (computer aided design and drafting) professionals that support AEC (architecture, engineering and construction) industries utilizing 2D and 3D AutoCAD and related software. … Hospice of Petaluma announced Clover Stornetta Farms as the new title sponsor for its 22nd annual benefit golf tournament. … Children in the North Bay can learn about clean and renewable energy thanks to a $100,000 grant from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) recently awarded to the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County. … Sonoma Valley’s Ledson Winery and Vineyards (www.ledson.com) recently took top honors at the 2012 San Diego International Wine Competition. … Dan and Marguerite Capp have signed a long-term lease for a wine tasting venue in the Curbside Café space on First Street in downtown Napa, across the street from the entrance to Napa Town Center shopping mall. … Customers strolling through Oliver’s Markets will soon have the opportunity to place yet another homegrown product in their shopping carts. … Assemblymember Jared Huffman presented his March Sustainable North Bay Award to Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary, in recognition of the company’s environmentally responsible business practices and consumer products.

SANTA ROSA — Santa Rosa Junior College’s Shone Farm Winery, part of the community college’s winemaking and viticulture training program, has teamed up with a new collective tasting room in the city to provide a higher-profile venue for the school’s award-winning wines and eventually other planned packaged agricultural products from the 365-acre west Sonoma County property.

Brief news about north San Francisco Bay area companies: RPM Mortgage opens San Rafael branch; Speedpro Imaging-Marin starts vinyl banner recycling; Marin General Hospital Foundation raises $340,000 for Spine & Brain Institute; Calix customer Vermont Telephone Company deplys optical network terminals; Russian River Valley wineries form tasting room network Taste Route 116

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.

SANTA ROSA — Another cluster of urban wineries is forming in Santa Rosa, this time in an industrial area just north of Railroad Square and soon to include a collaborative tasting room and culinary center.

Also: Jess Jackson, Kunde and Balletto families receive honors

NAPA VALLEY – Cuvaison Estate Wines redesigned its historic Calistoga tasting room as well as its Carneros site at the winery’s 400-acre estate vineyards. Green features used in the remodel include solar energy watch on its Web site, storm water routed through bioswales, reclaimed and certified sustainably grown wood, windows positioned for natural temperature control and used-denim insulation.

Printing Services Napa Valley at the beginning of April acquired St. Helena commercial printer Albright Printing & Design from Tim Doran, whose family started it as Doran’s Printing, sold it in November 2002 and regained ownership recently. … Several new North Coast wineries and tasting rooms have opened or received a green light recently. … ***

In wine packaging news, 585 Wine Partners of Sonoma launched a 3-liter “Mini-Barrel” format for the Red Truck brand in Wal-Mart Stores’ Sam’s Club chain, with a wider retail rollout planned this year. … Andrews & Thornley Construction of Napa in mid-March started reconstruction on Napa Valley Vintners’ new headquarters in the former Jackse Winery in St. Helena. … The Academy of Wine Communications, a Napa-based trade group for wine marketing and publicity professionals, has new officials as the organization looks to expand membership beyond Napa and Sonoma counties and reach new-generation media such as blogs and social networks. … In wine shipping news, Inertia Beverage Group of Napa launched WineREvolution.com to allow restaurants and retailers in 12 states to purchase 60-plus brands not commonly distributed via traditional wholesalers. … Cork stopper distributor M.A. Silva Corks USA in Santa Rosa was certified by the Green Business Program Sonoma County, coordinated by the Sonoma County Economic Development Board and the Business Environmental Alliance. … Wine People items

SANTA ROSA – A local family of investors is betting that a collective tasting room and new restaurant by a well-known local chef will be a winning combination for their building on a prominent corner of the Railroad Square district.