CALISTOGA -- After six years of consideration, the federal government approved the Calistoga Viticultural Area, barring use of brands with Calistoga in the name after a certain point and requiring 85 percent Calistoga grapes for wines mentioning that name on the label. Full Story »
PETALUMA -- Dilithium CEO Paul Zuber will be traveling to the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Switzerland in January to receive one of the world's most prestigious technology rewards, it was announced today. Full Story »
SANTA ROSA -- Wines made with environmentally sensitive methods in the vineyard or winery are increasing in number in the marketplace, but also increasing are consumer sensitivity to the price of such wines, confusion over their greenness and claims of sustainability, according to experts this morning at a large conference on green wine. Full Story »
SANTA ROSA -- At a lively Sonoma County Alliance meeting Wednesday, representatives from Codding Enterprises, the Accountable Development Coalition and a building industry representative discussed the hotly debated Community Benefits Agreement signed by Codding and the coalition on affordable housing, sustainable building practices and wage and benefit packages for the project. Full Story »
GUERNEVILLE -- After several years on the market, a former successful manufacturing entrepreneur purchased the 19-room Applewood Inn, according to an announcement today. Full Story »
GEYSERVILLE -- The operator of River Rock Casino today announced that Scott Garawitz resigned as chief executive officer and general manager and the search for a replacement is beginning. Full Story »
SAN RAFAEL – Central Payment Corp., which processes financial transactions for small to large-sized companies, has secured space for more headquarters employees as the company accommodates strong growth in its customer base. Full Story »
NORTH BAY – Serial entrepreneur and QuickBooks guru Ridgely Evers is zooming in on small business investing and he's out to fix it. Full Story »
As the world's leaders – including seven from Sonoma County – prepare to descend on Copenhagen for a climate change summit next month, they should keep in mind that spending trillions on emissions-reducing schemes is likely to be very bad for the planet's poorest and most vulnerable people. Full Story »
SANTA ROSA – Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit District plans to open a project office, located in downtown Santa Rosa, as initial work on the $590-million project progresses toward targets for construction in 2011 and the start of commuter rail service in 2014. Full Story »
SANTA ROSA – A financier of properties involved in the $32 million U.S. Bankruptcy Court reorganization of four companies connected to real estate developer-turned-vintner Dinesh Maniar claims the properties were improperly transferred into a "shell corporation" declared defunct just before a foreclosure sale. Full Story »
SAUSALITO – Marin Magazine co-founders Nikki Wood and Lisa Shanower launched The Marin Store, www.themarinstore.com, the first regionally focused online store in the U.S. associated with a magazine. The store features more than 400 products of artisans, producers and merchants from Northern California, which are advertised in a quarterly catalogue. The target audience ... Full Story »
SONOMA COUNTY – Ryan Sawyer Merman of Santa Rosa pleaded no contest to six felony charges of embezzlement, elder fraud and forgery. The charges arose from an investigation initiated when STX of Petaluma discovered a number of unauthorized checks had been written to Mr. Merman, who was in charge of the company finances. Investigation revealed [...] Full Story »
SAN RAFAEL – In 1988, a young college president was hired to come on board at the 600-student campus of Dominican University in San Rafael. Full Story »
NORTH BAY – In addition to lost productivity, employers can add legal risk to the list of annoyances related to employee use of social networking at work, according to North Bay legal experts who sounded off on trends for 2010. Full Story »
The chief science officer for one of the nation’s largest employer wellness program providers, Gordian Health Solutions Inc., described in an interview with the Business Journal last week the potential impacts of recently released regulations for the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, or GINA. Full Story »
The city of Napa will commence the next step in a nine-month process to design and implement pot sale regulations. The community is invited to provide input on the development of a medical marijuana dispensary ordinance Dec. 9 at 6 p.m. in the Senior Activity Center. The meeting will be the first of several public discussions on the contentious rules that officials hope to finalize by mid-2010. Full Story »
CALIFORNIA, U.S. – The following is a review of recently decided and pending cases related to employment law including: noncompetition agreements, disability discrimination, patents and wage and hour issues. Full Story »
Realtors have long searched out new ways of marketing themselves and the homes they sell. And it is particularly important in this harsh economic climate to be innovative about how clients are searched for and kept around. Full Story »
An unfortunate event in this economic crisis is the increase in short sales and foreclosures of homes. Full Story »
Last time I presented the dichotomy of two opposing cultures and posed the question: If measured by financial performance, how can dramatically different organizations be equally successful? In this continuing series, we’ll explore some of the combinations and permutations of sound business principles and cultural patterns that often collide within an organization’s walls. Full Story »
Our local elected leaders have displayed courage, commitment and imagination in tackling issues such as conservation, gang prevention, education, public health and affordable housing. They now need to apply that same commitment to recruiting employers to Sonoma County. The need is critical. Full Story »
As we all painfully remember, it’s only a year ago that the foundation of Wall Street started to crumble, and the collapse of the financial markets seemed imminent. Full Story »
People items submitted by North Bay businesses for publication in the Business Journal for November 30th Full Story »
Size and location; use; tenant; agent or landlord; approximate date of occupancy or transaction. Full Story »
Holiday lights illuminate the Denver City/County Building in downtown Denver. AP Photo/David Zalubowski
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