Napa wine group gives another $250,000 for farmworker coronavirus mobile testing
Napa Valley Vintners announced an additional $250,000 investment in the Adventist Health St. Helena/St. Helena Hospital Foundation mobile health unit to expand its usage and provide COVID-19 testing for farmworkers, seniors and low-income community members.
In addition to this money for the mobile health unit, NVV has invested in several other endeavors to bring COVID-19 testing to Napa.
• $108,000 to the St. Helena Hospital Foundation to provide the start-up supplies, equipment and professional staffing of the mobile unit. To date an estimated 1,200 tests have been administered.
• $10,000 to the St. Helena Hospital Foundation to cover the costs for 100 people to get tested this summer.
• $40,000 since April toward a partnership spearheaded by community leader Lydia Mondavi involving CORE Response, the non-profit that has administered more than a million tests nationwide, including more than 31,000 in Napa so far, along with Napa physician Dr. Eric Grigsby who has supplied infrastructure for a new testing pathway.
•$800,000 grant to OLE Health to provide healthcare services to underserved, vulnerable and out of work populations with a portion of funding going toward testing; of which 585 existing patients have been tested so far.
The Wine Institute submitted formal comments today to the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services urging them to preserve the long-standing guidance on alcohol consumption contained in the U.S. Dietary Guidelines (DGA). Since 1990, the DGA have recommended that adults who chose to consume alcohol should do so in moderation and defined this as no more than one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men. Last month, the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommended a significant change to the guidance on consumption for men, changing the guidance to no more than one drink per day.
“The current recommendation in the Dietary Guidelines should be preserved based on the strength of the current body of scientific evidence supporting that recommendation,” said Bobby Koch, President and CEO of Wine Institute. “The Advisory Committee report clearly fails to establish the preponderance of evidence needed to change this guidance which has been in place for thirty years.”
The agencies are in the process of drafting the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) and will issue the final recommendations later this year
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The Trump administration has decided to keep a 25% tariff on European products that include bottled table wine from France, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative made some modifications to the list of products it has targeted for higher levies because of European government subsidies to aircraft manufacturer Airbus but the wine tariffs were not changed. The duties were first imposed in October.
Ben Aneff, president of the U.S. Wine Trade Alliance, said his group was “devastated” that the tariffs were not dropped and noted that the “tariff on wine has utterly failed to punish European firms.”
American vintners have not been supportive of the tariffs because they fear retaliation from EU winemakers.
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Napa-Sonoma Small Business Development Center is offering the NxLeveL program for entrepreneurs, available online starting this September.
NxLeveL is an intensive 11-week training course for existing businesses and startups is available on Thursday or Tuesday evenings, beginning September 10 and September 15, respectively.
The course combines classroom training with individual mentoring to help business owners and start-ups analyze and plan all aspects of their business in order to launch, expand, or pivot their operations.
The cost is $375 per participant, all-inclusive. Thanks to a community grant from US Bank, participants can request a $275 scholarship, paying only $100 for the books.
Napa and Sonoma County businesses are invited to attend a free orientation on Aug. 27 or Sept. 1, 3 or 8.
To register for orientation or to learn more and apply for a scholarship, go to napasonomasbdc.org/nxlevel.
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Faust, producing limited-production cabernet sauvignon from Napa Valley, will open its new winery and tasting room, the Faust Haus, on Sept. 4.
Located at 2867 St. Helena Highway, the former farmhouse and prohibition-era cellar provides was created with the help of the architectural design firm Aidlin Darling Design to reimagine and restore the home, which was originally built in 1878. San Francisco-based landscape architecture and design firm, Surfacedesign, was brought in to envision the property grounds.
Faust purchased a property in Coombsville in 1997 and planted Cabernet Sauvignon on what would later become Napa’s AVA.
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Renewable Properties, a developer and investor of small-scale utility and community solar energy projects throughout the U.S., begins construction on the Silveira Ranch Solar Project, the largest community solar array in Marin County to date, after months of development, planning and preparation.
Renewable Properties developed the utility-scale solar project to supply Marin Clean Energy (MCE), California’s first Community Choice Aggregation Program, with 3 MWac of in-service area solar electricity. This is the firm’s first project in Marin County, and third overall developed for MCE to deliver clean, locally-produced electricity to its customers through a 20-year power purchase agreement.
Founded in 2017, Renewable Properties specializes in developing and investing in small-scale utility and community solar energy projects throughout the U.S. Led by experienced renewable energy professionals with development and investment experience, Renewable Properties works closely with communities, developers, landowners, utilities and financial institutions looking to invest in large solar energy systems. For more information about Renewable Properties, visit www.renewprop.com.
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Marin Community Clinics’ announced that its June 24 annual Summer Solstice fundraising event raised $240,000; proceeds will support the Clinics’ COVID-19 response programs.
This year’s event was a virtual celebration, with 160 supporters participating online. In tradition with previous Summer Solstice celebrations, the clinics honored several Community Health Champions, including Matt Willis, MD, MPH, Marin County’s Public Health Officer; Timothy Sowerby, MD, a gastroenterologist and longtime volunteer; and, Melissa Osheroff, a student volunteer.
Sponsors included PharMedQuest; Susan and Dennis Gilardi; the Nancy and Richard Robbins Foundation, which donated a $25,000 matching grant; Arrows Benefit Group; and, Sutter Novato Community Hospital.
