North Bay business briefs from Carneros Resort, Beneficial State Bank, Sweet Pea Bake Shop and more

Carneros Resort and Spa in Napa Valley announced completion of renovation to 94 cottages and suites. The work included redesigned interior bedrooms, living rooms, and bathrooms, upgraded outdoor terrace amenities, and new gas fire pits. This multi-pronged renovation follows a complete spa renovation in July 2018.

Designed by Oakland-based firm Nina Chiappa Interiors, which also oversaw the Spa at Carneros renovation, the cottages range from 400 square feet of living space and up to 800 square feet of outdoor living space.

Floor to ceiling glass bi-fold doors have replaced French doors on one complete wall in a majority of cottages, opening onto a private deck creating a seamless indoor-outdoor living area that doubles the size of the indoor space, the resort stated. All cottages and suites will have individual gas fire pits on outdoor terraces, with upgraded dining tables and chaise lounges, and landscaped plantings,

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Beneficial State Bank will celebrate the opening of its Santa Rosa branch from 5:30 to 8 pm. on Jan. 15. The branch is located at 804 Fourth St. Ribbon cutting is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.

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Sweet Pea Bake Shop, formerly of Napa, has taken over the old Crisp Bakeshop location at 720 W. Napa St, in Sonoma.

The owner-chefs are a husband-and-wife pair – chef Zaclyn Rivera formerly of the Carneros Inn and chef Albert Rivera, formerly of Boonfly Cafe.

The Riveras met working as chefs at Market A-Go-Go in Palo Alto. Zaclyn attended the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, before working for Google's culinary team.

Previously, most of their Napa business was wholesale, the owners said.

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Sonoma County Economic Development Board is offered businesses help in applying for California Competes tax credit. The program helps businesses which are investing in and creating new jobs in California. The state will be accepting applications Jan. 9–21, for $75 million in tax credits.

Contact the board at 707-565-7170 or edb@sonoma-county.org for assistance in applying for the tax credit.

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Applications for the sixth year of the Farm to Shelf grant program are open. The grant program is offered by Sloat Design Group of Petaluma.It offers its services pro bono to the winning company producing farm-to-table products.

Preserve Farm Kitchen won the 2018 grant, and Sloat Design is finishing a year-long campaign, worth about $50,000, owner Carrie Dufour said. The work included brand strategy, comparing Preserve Farm Kitchen to competitors already on the market and a complete overhaul of the brand's packaging.

Information and applications for next year at farmtoshelf.org. Applications are due Jan. 15.

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The Louis M. Martini Winery in St. Helena will host the barrel auction for the Auction Napa Valley weekend this spring.

The winery is undergoing a restoration that is scheduled to be completed by March. The 85-year-old building is being restored to its original form, removing nonhistoric additions that have been made through the years.

The Friday barrel auction will be held May 31 at the winery, which was purchased by E. & J. Gallo Winery in 2002. The overall event has raised more than $185 million for children's education and community health programs in the area since first being held almost 40 years ago.

Auction Napa Valley will take place May 30–June 2. Tickets will go on sale March 1 at auctionnapavalley.org.

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Santa Rosa Junior College is offering a new wine class for spring 2019 on the causes that make wine go bad.

The class is Wine 123: Causation and Detection of Wine Faults. It is a six-week introductory wine sensory course designed to teach basic analytical wine-tasting techniques and expose students to the causes and effects that result in flaws and faults in wine.

Journalist Deborah Parker Wong will teach the course. It will be held on Thursdays from March 28 through May 2 from 6 to 9 p.m. in Lark Hall Room 2060.

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Napa County Farm Bureau has been recognized by the California Farm Bureau Federation with its Activities of Excellence with its Policy Implementation Award for excellence in policy analysis and implementation. CEO Ryan Klobas and members of the board of directors received the award at the California Farm Bureau's annual dinner Dec. 6 in San Diego.

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Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport's parking lot renovation and expansion project has expanded ChargePoint and Tesla electric vehicle charging stations, the airport announced. The ChargePoint stations are in the long-term parking lot and in front of the airport terminal. Tesla stations are in the long-term parking lot.

ChargePoint is the world's largest electric vehicle charging network, and Tesla has a network of 1,359 charging stations across the nation.

The EV charging stations at STS were partially funded through a partnership with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Charge! Program, which provides funding to public agencies and businesses to expand the network of publicly available plug-in electric vehicle charging stations at workplaces, multifamily dwelling units and public locations.

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