Marin County distributing funds to small businesses hurt by pandemic; Meritage Medical expands to Solano
Marin County plans to distribute nearly $448,000 of federal funds to support Marin small businesses with lower-wage employees that have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The money will be in the form of grants of no more than $10,000 and interest-free loans of up to $50,000. In a recommendation by the Marin County Community Development Agency, 53% of the funding will be targeted for businesses in or near San Rafael, 27% to those in or near Novato, and 20% for the rest of the county. Businesses will be selected by a lottery because of the expected high demand for assistance.
The county’s partner on the funding distribution is the Mission Economic Development Agency, established in San Francisco in 1973. MEDA serves historically under-resourced families throughout the Bay Area, especially those among the Latinx population, by promoting economic equity and social justice. MEDA will use federal community development block grant (CDBG) funds to create a new Marin County Small Business Fund worth more than $900,000.
In December, the board approved $1,790,994 in grant funds distributed to the county from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. A quarter of that, $447,749, was set aside for microenterprise and small business financial assistance. The funding does not affect the county’s general fund.
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Meritage Medical Network is partnering with NorthBay Healthcare to expand its service area to Solano County.
NorthBay Healthcare operates two acute-care hospitals and an array of advanced medical services, including the NorthBay Cancer Center, NorthBay Center for Orthopedics, NorthBay Heart and Vascular Center, a Center for Neuroscience and an accredited Level II trauma center. It is one of only two members of the Mayo Clinic Care Network in California.
Meritage is a Network of over 700 physicians delivering value-based care for HMO and Medicare patients in the San Francisco North Bay area.
In addition to contracting with HMO insurance plans, Meritage offers services to physicians and patients including providing Practice Management support as well as Care Management, Care Transitions, & Care Coordination. Meritage is the only North Bay network owned and led by physicians. Meritage’s medical and administrative staff operates in Marin, Sonoma, Napa and now Solano counties.
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Sonoma County has partnered with Safeway to administer COVID-19 vaccinations to county health workers and, eventually, the broader public.
On Jan. 13, Safeway pharmacists were scheduled to begin vaccinating some 5,000 in-home supportive services workers in the County. These phase 1a tier 2 health care workers will be contacted through the county Human Services Department and asked to schedule an appointment for the drive-through clinic located at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.
They will be vaccinated using the county’s supply of Moderna vaccine.
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Dominican University of California’s Barowsky School of Business is expanding its portfolio of graduate and professional programs to prepare students for careers in the rapidly evolving workplace while meeting a growing demand for employees trained to work with big data.
This summer, Dominican will launch a master’s degree in accounting (MSA) that incorporates accounting analytics with traditional accounting coursework. This comes as data analytics, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and robotic process automation are playing a growing role in the accounting profession.
The MSA is the second specialized master-level degree program Dominican has introduced in order to meet a demand for employees skilled to work with data. In August 2020, the University added a master’s in business analytics (MSBA). The first MSBA cohort started with 21 students, much more than the initial projection of 12 students.
Nationwide, business schools are gearing up to meet the growing demand for advanced coursework focused on data analytics. Dominican is ahead of many of its Bay Area competitors, says business school Dean Yung-Jae Lee.
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Marin Management Inc., a Sausalito-based hotel management company, has added three hotel management contracts to its portfolio of properties.
The historic Callahan’s Mountain Lodge nestled alongside the Siskiyou Mountains expands Marin Management’s presence in Oregon, with California’s Motel 6 Hayward East Bay and Villa Franca Inn Monterey topping off new management contracts totaling over 200 rooms. With the addition of the three new properties, Marin Management, founded in 1990, currently operates 24 branded and independent hotels totaling 2,200 guest rooms across California, Oregon, Arizona and Texas. Marin Management is owned by Hogan Hospitality Group, a hotel management company. In addition to Marin Management, the company owns Hawaiian Hotels and Resorts, manages nearly 30 properties across the country.
