North Bay business news from Petaluma Health Center, Cuvaison, Sonoma Clean Power and more
Petaluma Health Center, Inc. (PHC) – which operates seven health clinic sites in Sonoma County, including the Rohnert Park Health Center – will merge with Coastal Health Alliance, Inc. (CHA), which operates three clinic sites in Point Reyes and Bolinas in West Marin.
Merger conversations began over a year ago to ensure due diligence, with each health center’s respective Board of Directors voting in favor of the merger in December 2019. As a Federally Qualified Health Center, the expanded Petaluma Health Centers’ Board of Directors will be comprised of Directors from both organizations. The health center organizations have worked closely together to ensure a smooth process and transition for employees and patients alike.
Petaluma Health Center will, as of July 1st, provide high-quality preventive care to almost 50,000 unduplicated patients through an estimated 243,000 health care visits in Sonoma and Marin County across its 10 health care delivery sites, including a mobile health clinic, with an annual operating budget of $63 million and a staff of 500-plus employees.
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Alten Construction, a full-service San Francisco Bay Area commercial construction company, recently began working on an $8.05 million renovation to St. Anselm Hall on the campus of Marin Catholic High School.
Alten Construction began demolition of the 17,733-square-foot, two-story building and started working on the new construction phase. The classroom portion of the project is expected to be completed in time for the start of school with the remainder of the building slated for completion in September 2020. St. Anselm Hall is divided into two sections: a main building and the east (drama) wing. The space also serves as an access route to the chapel building, which is connected via a covered walkway.
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Cuvaison Estate Wines, which includes Cuvaison winery in Los Carneros, and Brandlin Vineyard on Mount Veeder, announced that it will be expanding its support of the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation with a new charitable initiative.
The new initiative builds on the success of the company’s recent philanthropic program, which allocated a portion of the proceeds from every May wine club shipment to fund the foundation, culminating in a June 16 donation of more than $13,000. To continue supporting the foundation, Cuvaison and Brandlin have created three new Restaurant Wine Tasting Kits, and will be donating 5% of the proceeds from each kit to the foundation.
The organization is one of the leading nonprofits dedicated to supporting restaurant workers during the COVID-19 crisis.
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Businesses, government agencies and apartment buildings in Sonoma and Marin counties can apply for rebates that will cover all or most of the cost of installing electric vehicle charging stations.
“We want to make them more prevalent,” said Nelson Lomeli, program manager at Sonoma Clean Power, which is partnering with a California Energy Commission program on the rebates.
Nearly $7 million in state and local funding is available for a rebate program that aims to establish 550 new chargers in the two counties in the next three years -- aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
Starting July 8, businesses, public agencies, nonprofits and multi-family housing complexes may apply for rebates to cover eligible equipment and installation costs.
Rebates will cover up to $7,500, or 100% of the cost, whichever is less, for level 2 chargers, which provide about 25 electric miles of driving per hour of charging.
For direct current fast chargers, which can completely charge a car in as little as 30 minutes, rebates will cover up to $80,000; or 75% of the total project cost, whichever is less.
Charges must be available to the public around the clock every day of the year.
Businesses can potentially attract more customers by providing charging stations and may also use them for employee parking.
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Anaba Wines recently partnered with the Novato- and Sonoma-based clean energy company, SolarCraft, to complete the installation of the 167.4-kilowatt solar electric system on their Carneros property in Sonoma. The newly installed solar photovoltaic system will increase the sustainability of the winery’s operations and cut power cost significantly.
Solar Craft stated that during the life of the system, nearly 172 metric tons of carbon dioxide generated by Anaba operations will be eliminated. This impact is equivalent to removing air pollution produced by over 428,014 miles of driving annually or the pollutants removed by 225 acres of trees in one year.
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Napa County Farm Bureau board of directors voted on June 17 to oppose the upcoming split roll tax initiative which will be placed on California’s November ballot and to lead a professional opposition effort in Napa County to defeat it.