NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EVENT

Impact Napa

Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 8-10:45 a.m., Napa Valley Marriott, Napa

Best Places to Work 2008 Awards Reception

September 25, 2008, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Doubletree Hotel, Rohnert Park

E-Mail Express

Name:

Company:

E-mail:

Phone:

The News in Brief

Women in Business winners announced

NORTH BAY – On June 26 the North Bay Business Journal will honor nine women from Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties who have distinguished themselves as leaders, innovators and visionaries in their fields at the eighth-annual Women in Business Awards Dinner Gala.

The 2008 Women in Business win-

ners in their respective categories are: Christina Cook, Bank of Marin, Banking & Finance; Monica Soiland, Midstate Construction, Construction; Coreen Cordova, Que Milagro, Entrepreneurship; Naomi Fuchs, Southwest Community Health Center, Health Care; Elaine Bell, Elaine Bell Catering, Hospitality; Karen Johnson, Charles M. Schulz Museum, Nonprofit; Teresa Cunningham, Gaw Van Male, Professional; Janice Nicholson, i2i Systems, Technology; and Amelia Moran Ceja, Ceja Vineyards, Wine.

The keynote speaker will be Emmy-award winner Jan Yanehiro, current executive producer of “Pacific Fusion TV,” syndicated in the U.S., Europe and Asia. For 15 years, she co-hosted “Evening Magazine” on San Francisco’s KPIX TV.

The awards dinner will be held at the Sheraton Sonoma County in Petaluma from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Register online at www.northbaybusinessjournal.com.

The profiles of award winners will also be featured in a special publication supplementing the June 30 issue of the North Bay Business Journal.

Wine REIT to liquidate

SAN RAFAEL – Wine-oriented startup real estate investment trust Vintage Wine Trust will liquidate after acquiring two wineries and 13 vineyards totaling more than 6,000 acres in the North Coast, throughout California and in Oregon since the effort launched in March 2005.

The San Rafael-based trust – started by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Joe Ciatti, a wine and grape broker, and wine trade publication publisher Richard Shell – raised $159.4 million in its first private offering of common stock in March 2005 and amassed $170 million in properties by November of last year.

In June 2007, the trust announced it hired Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. to explore “strategic alternatives, including a possible sale or merger of the company, in order to enhance stockholder value.”

Raydiance wins among top tech companies

PETALUMA – Raydiance Inc. has been recognized as a Red Herring 100 North America winner, an award given to the top 100 private technology companies based in North America. The company is also a finalist in the Most Innovative Company category in the 2008 Stevie American Business Awards.

Raydiance, with operations in Petaluma and Orlando, Fla., is the developer of a compact, cost-effective and fully software-controlled ultra-short pulse laser that can precisely vaporize virtually any material without generating heat. The technology is used by research centers to develop applications in the medical, military and materials-assaying industries, among others.

Raydiance employs 44 in Petaluma, 16 in Orlando. It plans to add 20 to the Petaluma staff before the end of the year.

Leadership awards nominations open

NORTH BAY – The North Bay Leadership Council is accepting nominations for its 2008 Leaders of the North Bay Awards, which will be held Oct. 30 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in San Rafael.

The council will honor outstanding organizations, individuals and teams or partners for leadership in the following categories: individual leadership, community building, environmental stewardship, innovative and entrepreneurial spirit and empowering the Latino community.

For a nomination form, visit www

.northbayleadership.org or call 707-283-0028 for more information. The deadline to submit nominations is June 13.

UPS joins Teamsters

SANTA ROSA – In the four months since the Teamsters won card-check agreement from UPS and began collecting cards, more than 11,000 UPS Freight drivers and dockworkers in 40 states have signed cards to become Teamsters, including Local 624 in Santa Rosa. More than 9,900 of these workers have already ratified a new contract that improves wages, benefits and working conditions.

Book of Lists Online