Solano County OKs $2M for coronavirus pandemic grants to small businesses; wine DTC conference goes virtual

Small businesses and employers in Solano County facing financial impacts and layoffs due to COVID-19 can apply to the county’s Rebuild Solano’s Small Businesses grant program designed to support businesses and employers impacted by the ongoing pandemic health emergency.

On Aug. 25, the Solano County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved $2 million in CARES Act funding to establish the grant program. It administered by the Workforce Development Board of Solano County and the Solano County Small Business Development Center.

For more information, follow the Workforce Development Board of Solano County on social media @SolanoWDB, the Solano County Small Business Development Board @SBDCSolano and #RebuildSolanoBusiness.

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Free the Grapes! said its Direct to Consumer Wine Symposium will take place virtually, Jan. 19–22, 2021. Now in its 14th year, the symposium is the annual, national conference on winery DTC sales and marketing.

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Works by Gordon Huether, a Napa-based artist specializing in large-scale, site-specific permanent art installations, were part of the recently opened first-phase of the eventual $4 billion expansion of Salt Lake City International Airport expansion.

Huether’s largest airport installation, The Canyon, reflects Utah’s “slot canyon” landscape and is integrated into both walls (east and west sides) of the new main terminal. Other significant Huether installations include a 65-foot-tall glass sculpture in the escalator well, titled The Falls, in the main terminal; Column Plates and Benches that echo the theme of The Canyon walls, also in the main terminal; and other pieces planned for the future Concourse B include Northern Light, Canyon 2.0 and the awe-inspiring River Tunnel featured in the underground pathway that connects the main terminal to Concourse B.

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Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest integrated, nonprofit health system, announced it has become the first health care system in the United States to achieve carbon-neutral status.

“This move to carbon neutrality eliminates the organization’s 800,000-ton annual carbon footprint, the equivalent of taking 175,000 cars off the road. The U.S. health care industry overall is responsible for roughly 10 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, “ the announcement stated.

The accomplishment was certified by the CarbonNeutral Protocol. The certification applies to its Scope 1 emissions (direct emissions from sources it owns or controls) and Scope 2 emissions (emissions attributable to the electricity it consumes), as well as select Scope 3 emissions (emissions from sources it does not directly own or control), including corporate travel.

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Santa Rosa Junior College received the 2020 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. As a recipient of the annual HEED Award — a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion — SRJC will be featured, along with 89 other recipients, in the November 2020 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. This is the second year SRJC has been named as a HEED Award recipient.