Kathryn Reed

Rumblings in the North Bay

Labor experts expect people frustrated with their employers are going to fight for better pay and benefits In 2023, as well as improved working conditions by trying to form unions. “The question for 2023 is as more workers organize and stand up for…

California Wine Country business gatherings outside the office to gain steam in 2023

When it comes to being a destination for business meetings in 2023, bookings in parts of the North Bay are outpacing the state and other locations. “Moving forward into 2023 we are forecasting a 3% increase,” Michelle Heston with Fairmont Sonoma…

Appeal of San Francisco North Bay ‘granny flats’ grows, but challenges to build them remain

Granny flat have evolved from makeshift additions for an older relative to live out her days to stylish dwellings that could win architectural and design awards. No longer are these units inhabited just by a certain age group either. That’s because…

California North Coast solar company leader keeps an entrepreneurial spirit

An entrepreneurial spirit is what allows Phil Alwitt to be flexible in the ever-changing world of solar energy. “It is an evolving industry so it’s not static in any way. It keeps me on my toes—the politics, policies, finances and employees,” Alwitt…

How these North Bay companies use technology to speed onboarding of new employees

Simply Solar CEO Cliff Johnson said technology has reduced the administrative workload to onboard and hire new talent at his Petaluma company by 75%. “The way it works for us is we are able to automate from beginning to end,” said Johnson, who for 14…

Sonoma Clean Power CEO gets a charge out of changing consumer energy habits

Geof Syphers is highly charged when he talks clean energy. As CEO of Santa Rosa-based Sonoma Clean Power, Syphers has a personal and professional mission to get more people to use renewable energy, while being as carbon-free as possible. Sonoma Clean…

North Bay firms struggle with escalating power bills

After getting hit with rate hikes earlier this year, commercial and agricultural customers throughout PG&E’s 70,000-square-mile service area in Northern and Central California face possible increases of 20% next year. The hike could have a painful…

This California vintner makes premium wine in a place you might not expect

Lisa Howard is no ordinary winery owner and winemaker. For starters, the winery she and husband, Cliff, own is in Solano County — a location often overlooked by the masses when it comes to growing grapes and producing wine. “When you visit Suisun…

Marin County CEO is persuasive advocate for cleaner Bay Area energy

Keeping the lights on is not as simple as flipping a switch. At least not for Dawn Weisz. Weisz is CEO of Marin Clean Energy, a not-for-profit that provides electricity from renewable sources to more than 540,000 customers in Marin, Napa, Solano and…

Demand is strong, but North Bay manufacturers still wrestle with hiring, supply lines

Machinery whirs and products roll off production lines, but despite continued demand, North Bay manufacturers say hiring and rising business costs remain threats to their sector. “Primary costs — compensation, property, utilities, taxes and interest…

How small businesses are coping with California’s expanded worker retirement savings requirement

Save. It’s a four-letter word, one which companies throughout California are legally required to encourage their employees to do in the name of retirement. Nearly all companies in California have incrementally been a part of their employees'…

Marin County CEO Jordan Moss finds ‘essential housing’ for those being left behind

As CEO of Larkspur-based Catalyst Housing Group, the only job Jordan Moss would trade for would be as a player for the Golden State Warriors. Moss played a year of professional ball in Europe after being on UC Davis’ team. “That competitive nature is…

Positive test for pot, but not impaired? New California labor law aims to address that

On Sunday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 10 cannabis-related bills into law. The one most likely to effect company-worker relations changes the rules for employee drug testing. “It is a big deal,” Lisa Ann Hilario, partner with Spaulding McCullough &…

Healdsburg accounting firm founder reveals what’s next after Moss Adams merger

Renee Mengali was so eager to get into the world of accounting that she got her high school diploma at 16 and a year later was a graduate in accounting from Heald Business College in Santa Rosa. A love of numbers came from a high school bookkeeping…

People can redeem that cash at a buyback center or surrender the money via curbside recycling or the trash.

California lawmakers on Aug. 31 passed legislation that could breathe life back into the state’s withering recycling industry which even those who run the program admit is stumbling. Around since 1986, the 5- to 10-cent fee charged for a bottle or…

Businesses ponder the cost of extending Covid sick pay

Even with the state offering grants to some businesses to help pay for It, a bill on the governor's desk extending employee Covid-related mandated sick leave to year's end is not being greeted with applause by some in the business community. “It’s…

Pepperoni to pot: A Sonoma County pizza franchisee opening a cannabis dispensary

Having built a portfolio of Mountain Mike’s Pizza franchises in the North Bay, Sonoma County-based Chandi Hospitality Group is branching out to cannabis. To do so, Sonu Chandi, president and CEO of the family-run enterprise, says the group will align…

Richard Anderson’s inflation worry isn’t what you might think

Inflation is on the mind of Richard E. Anderson, MD, FACP, chairman and CEO of The Doctors Company and TDC Group, the Napa-based 80,000-member physician-owned medical malpractice insurance company, the largest in the United States. It’s the inflation…

4-day workweek: Where this global movement came from, where it’s going in California

In April, 4 Day Week Global, a nonprofit foundation associated with Oxford University, began a six-month pilot program testing the four-day workweek at more than three dozen companies with a total of 7,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada. Most are…

How North Bay workers are flexing their muscles and getting a 4-day workweek

Like for most workers across the country, a four-day workweek was a new concept for employees of the Wrench Works in Vacaville. But, lockstep with a trend of workers being more vocal about when they want to work, they pitched the owner of the Solano…