Job creators tell their stories: Clubsource Development Partners, Enphase Energy, Horizon Air, Metier, Raydiance, TriVascular.
Clubsource focuses on new model of ‘community clubs’
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Jill Kinney, Managing Director, Clubsource Development Partners
Tells us about your company and the market you serve.
Clubsource is a developer and owner of athletic clubs. We have a full-service design team that has more than 50 years of combined experience in building and operating many of the leading clubs in the country. We develop our own clubs and provide design/development services to other club owners, municipalities and corporations.
Although we work on a number of club models, we focus our own new development projects on “community clubs.” These clubs offer a new approach to publicly funded and managed recreation centers and bring contemporary health and wellness facilities and programs to underserved communities. Members range in age from 6 months to 90 years and split evenly between men and women. Our average age is 44 and average household income is approximately $120,000. Members typically live or work within 10 minutes of our clubs but are attracted from as far as 20 minutes.
What are your plans in Sonoma County for the next 12 to 24 months?
We plan to build a new community club in Santa Rosa at Railroad Square that would open in 2012. We opened a club in Petaluma in 2009, and it’s done quite well.
What do you see as the main impediments to your local growth right now?
We have recently run into an obstacle with the SMART (Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit) board that could prevent us from proceeding with our new club in Santa Rosa. We have had overwhelming support from the city of Santa Rosa and the neighboring communities and hope to overcome this issue soon.
If there was one thing that would help your company prosper locally, what would it be?
Ours is a complicated and expensive venture that requires a great deal of planning and experience to be successful. At this point the one thing that would help us the most would be for the SMART board to choose to work with us to overcome the challenges of today’s economy that seem to be common in many new real estate projects.
Is there something you would like to add?
I’ve had the opportunity to work in many communities throughout the U.S. and I’ve never had a more welcome, responsive environment than Sonoma County. From the politicians to the neighborhoods and the business community, Sonoma County is clearly working to attract and retain businesses that will enhance the area. It’s a real pleasure to work in this kind of partnership.
Enphase poised to grow; clean-tech focus an opportunity for region
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Bill Rossi, Chief Marketing Officer, Enphase Energy
Tells us about your company and the market you serve.
Enphase Energy is a high-profile, venture-backed company in Petaluma serving the solar industry. It was founded in 2006 by two Sonoma County natives.
What are your plans in Sonoma County for the next 12 to 24 months?
We expect to continue to grow the company as the solar industry grows over the next 12 to 24 months. We're over 100 employees today, and we hope to more than double our size in the next year. We'd like Sonoma County to be the heartland for solar and renewable energy innovation and plan to do our part in making that a reality.
What do you see as the main impediments to your local growth right now?
We're often trying to recruit talent from both within and outside the Bay Area to Sonoma County. It doesn't have a high-tech reputation like Silicon Valley or the emerging Media Alley of San Francisco. However, it's a beautiful area and the more the community can do to promote affordable living, high-tech job growth, great secondary schools and an attractive lifestyle, the more successful we can be in recruiting a renewable energy work force.
If there was one thing that would help your company prosper locally, what would it be?
We love being in downtown Petaluma. It has so much to offer with a convenient downtown and a choice of attractive office space with free parking. However, it looks like we might outgrow our current location. We'd love to continue our success story in downtown Petaluma and grow to 250 or more employees either in our current location or another downtown option.
Is there something you would like to add?
I've worked in Silicon Valley my entire life. When I first heard of Enphase and its Petaluma location, I'll be honest, it was a negative for me. I remember Petaluma from 15 years ago, and I didn't exactly think of it as a high-tech center. But when I visited, I fell in love with the company and the location.