Sonoma Valley’s Annadel Estate Winery sells for nearly $6M; SoCal winery moves to Mendocino; more North Bay business news
Dan Whalen and Katie Honey have purchased the 33-acre Annadel Estate Winery from Dean and Abi Bordigioni for $5.95 million.
The space at 6687 Sonoma Highway includes an event venue, a residence, a barn and a tasting room. Tastings continue to be available by appointment.
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Weatherborne Wine Corp., started in Santa Barbara in 2012, has opened a new tasting room (707-684-5299) in the Mendocino County community of Philo, located at the last operating lumber mill in the valley.
Weatherborne makes limited production, handcrafted pinot noir and grenache from coastal vineyards, first in the Santa Rita Hills and now Mendocino.
The tasting room is located at the I&E Lath Mill in “downtown” Philo, at 8750 Philo School House Road. Due to COVID-19 safety precautions, all tastings are currently on the weather-protected patio only.
Reservations are recommended as outside seating is limited.
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Easy Breezy Wash Barn in Santa Rosa has received SBA’s 504 program financing allowing the car wash operators to create four new, local jobs and to purchase a 3,993-square-foot facility located at 1240 Mendocino Ave. in Santa Rosa, the Bay Area Development Company stated.
The Santa Rosa location is the fourth for car wash owners Matthew Riveras and Daniel Brown. The company stated they joined forces in 1997 and opened their first car wash, Roseland Car Wash, in Santa Rosa. Riveras had worked in banking/lending for seven years and Brown previously ran a chiropractic practice for nearly 20 years.
In 2008 they opened College Car Wash in Cotati, followed by a third car wash in 2009. All three locations are self-serve so customers pay for soap and water and use the facility’s equipment to clean their vehicles. Car washes like this have increased in popularity over the years because the water is recycled, which reduces runoff and minimizes negative environmental impacts.
The company stated it completed the financing through the SBA in concert with Redwood Credit Union in Santa Rosa.
Bay Area Development Company, headquartered in Walnut Creek, is an SBA licensed lender that works with banks and the SBA’s 504 program to provide small and mid-sized companies with long term commercial real estate financing. The loans have fixed, below-market interest rates and low down payments which allow businesses to purchase land and buildings, renovate existing facilities and acquire equipment.
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Career Technical Education (CTE) Foundation, founded in 2013, has provided nearly $40,000 in grants to date to 18 local teachers benefiting 1,500 high school students to help address the need for engagement and hands-on learning during a time when students cannot be in the classroom.
In April, CTE Foundation launched a distance learning grant program designed to get materials to students to support such programs as maker, engineering, construction and design curriculum. The program was further expanded this fall to include all CTE programs aligned with key local economic sectors and workforce development needs (agriculture, advanced manufacturing/STEM, construction/green services, health care and hospitality/tourism).
The grants of up to $2,000 per course are designed to supply students with maker kits, tools, materials or other support needed to enhance distance learning curriculum and increase student engagement. Grant requests are still being accepted and will be offered until the full budget of $54,000 is expended.
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Approximately 9,500 rural well owners in Sonoma County will soon be receiving a survey designed to elicit their concerns and ideas about local ground water conditions. This joint project of the county’s three groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) is the first step in an engagement project designed to educate and receive feedback from well owners in the Petaluma Valley, Santa Rosa Plain and Sonoma Valley groundwater basins.
Rural well owners will receive a survey in the mail asking for their opinions on groundwater and groundwater management. Well owners can complete the survey in either English or Spanish, and return by mail or online.
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SolarCraft recently completed the design and installation of a 177.5-kilowatt DC solar electric system addition at St. Supéry Estate Vineyards & Winery in Rutherford in the Napa Valley.
The Marin–Sonoma company installer stated that the solar addition combined with the existing system brings St. Supéry’s solar production to 506.1 kilowatts, offsetting nearly 100% of the winery’s energy bills.