John's Blog

A boost to Sonoma County should be the forecast of increased grape prices in 2012 to the growers.  The supply of wine grapes has not kept pace nor will it for the next few years, with the demand;  Mother Nature has played havoc with the grapes, either with unexpected heat or early rains, the past few years.  The wine industry is a large part of the economy in Sonoma County, even the SRJC has Shone Farm Winery as part of the college’s winemaking and viticulture training program.  The SRJC currently sells between 300 and 400 cases annually on the Internet  and local stores; gross sales top $86,000/year.  The Shone Farm consists of 365 acres and is a different source of funding for the college—badly needed in the dwindling amount of funds available for education from the California legislature.

A lot of people will be watching the Super Bowl this weekend, including me.  I look forward to the commercials every year, where advertisers pay a pile of money for 30 to 60 seconds of air time.  Who says we are in a recession? 

Starting February 27^th through March 4^th, it is Restaurant Week here in Sonoma County.  This is the 3^rd year and over 100 restaurants participate.  Go to www.sonomacountyrestaurantweek.org and make your reservations ahead of time.

In watching the news on TV last evening, there was talk of an initiative being put on the ballot that Calif. should have a part-time legislature; we could save money, paying the part-timers $18,000/year and running the legislature three months a year.

Are they crazy?  California is the 9^th largest economy in the World and folks want to only attend to it 25% of the time?  We need to watch and see if this idea is pursued.  So, stay tuned.

On the bright side, the 2011 Sonoma County Business Confidence Survey and Report is out.  Highlights include:  58% of business executives are considering hiring new employees in 2012; average business confidence (on a scale of 1 to 10) rating is now 5.45, up from 3.2 two years ago; property crime rates have decreased 27.5% between 2005 and 2010, with violent crime decreasing 38.3%; hotel occupancy rates have increased 9.4%.  Lastly, compared to the national average, Sonoma County has a lower rate of coronary heart disease.

On the down side, too bad the 49ers were not able to win on Sunday.  Oh well, there is always next year.

There are a couple of crab feeds this weekend; Fri. Jan. 27^th at the Tides Wharf, call 707-875-3652 and Sat. Jan. 28^th in Windsor, benefiting the Boys/Girls Clubs, call 707-528-7977×108.

The football playoffs are this weekend and the 49er’s have a great chance to win and go to the Super Bowl—amazing! Hope it is not too wet or muddy but John Madden would say “that’s football!”

Sept. 29th is the date for the King Ridge GranFondo; over 70% of the 4,000 spots for the 103-mile ride were filled. Sonoma County is fortunate to have Levi Leipheimer, who organizes this event, which helps the City of Santa Rosa pay for the cost of hosting the Amgen Tour of California. Both events bring in money to the Sonoma County economy.

Also attracting people to Sonoma County is the new SRJC’s Café & Bakery facility, located at the corner of Mendocino & Carr Avenues. It is a 2-story 22,000 sq.ft. culinary arts facility that includes a dining room, demonstration kitchen, teaching kitchen, retail bakery, public café & restaurant, with 2nd floor classrooms, etc. This is an incredible building for Santa Rosa Junior College where students can learn hospitality and culinary skills, preparing them for entry into a local tourism and hospitality industry; this fits beautifully with Sonoma County and our own tourism industry.

There is a Chinese New Year celebration in Sonoma on Saturday, Jan. 21st, call 707-931-7551; or a Fiddle Festival in Cloverdale, Saturday & Sunday, call 510-847-6304.

It appears there are a few more projects Sonoma County will be involved in; the airport expansion, which approval will be finalized Jan. 24th and the SMART Train construction, which has started its first phase of the project. It is always nice to see positive changes in Sonoma County, which should enhance our local economy.

If you are in the process of updating your Family Trust (if you have one) and/or your will, research various charities that you might consider leaving a small amount or percentage of your estate. Find out what the charity(s) spend in Administrative Costs, as a percentage of their fundraising income. Think about what you were involved in as a kid or as a parent; don’t forget the senior population, as we are all going to be there, some sooner than later.

If a wedding is in your future, you might want to attend The Lab Event on Jan. 14th in Sonoma, call 707-771-9594; if curing olives, with no lye, is interesting, attend the Jan. 15th seminar in Sonoma, call 707-823-5097.

Every New Year starts with a list of new laws & regulations.  Residents in rural areas, which includes more of the North Coast region, are now subject to a $150/year fee to offset the cost of wildfire prevention by the Dept. of Forestry; out-of-state Internet retailers must collect California sales tax on transactions if the retailer has a presence in the State, effective Summer 2012; apartment buildings with 5 or more rental units are required to have recycling services for paper, plastic, bottles & cans; the California Presidential Primary has been moved from February, back to June 5, 2012.  There were 760 bills signed in 2011, with a majority of the bills making technical changes affecting a relatively small group of people.

Since this is an election year and there is sure to be a fair amount of stress in people’s lives from a variety of sources, here are some tips to minimize your stress:  Walk away—take a break, get up and walk away, stretch your arms and legs; Just breathe—take up to 5 deep breaths; Grin and bear it—close your eyes & gently smile, think of a pleasant or funny moment—your smile will send positive signals to your brain.  Speaking from experience, the walking away works—I haven’t tried the Grin & bear it smiley thing, yet.  This should make you smile – “Witnessing the Republicans and Democrats fight over the US debt is like watching two drunks argue over a bar bill on the Titanic”. 

If you haven’t seen the movie/musical Chicago, it is playing at the Raven Theater in Healdsburg from Jan. 27 to Feb. 19, call 707-433-6335.

I just love to end the year on a good note – our Company is busy at year-end, even with loans that borrowers want to close by the end of December.  We put out an email of 3 loan transactions needing to be funded, totaling $800,000; they were fully sold out within 45 minutes.  Not bad for a questionable economy, huh?  I guess there really is a Santa Claus.

According to a survey from The Conference Board, Consumer confidence shot up for the second month in a row in December.  It is probably too soon to tell if the year-end optimism is simply a rebound from declines earlier in the year or is a sustainable shift in attitudes.  Let’s hope for a shift in attitudes.

I’d like to take a few lines and remember a few of those that passed-on in 2011: Apple co-founder Steve Jobs—a little quirky perhaps but a creative genius; Elizabeth Taylor, strikingly beautiful and a devoted advocate for HIV/AIDS research; Andy Rooney, witty journalist and legendary commentator.

Have a safe New Year’s Eve, however you choose to celebrate.  I look forward to a prosperous and exciting 2012.  See you then . . . .

The Democrats & Republicans are at it again! They are taking front-center stage and are deadlocked in their debate over the pros and cons of the payroll tax holiday extension.  For a majority of employees it means an average of $40 per week, every two weeks, or about $1,000 per year. The economy looks to be getting some (yes, small) traction and perhaps this is the wrong time to stop pushing for a resolution. Remember, doing our job as citizens and voting intelligently is necessary.

It is nice to see there are some major private construction projects on tap for 2012 in Sonoma County: Oliver’s Market plans to open a store in the Bell Village Project in Windsor, in 2013; construction bidding is likely to open in Summer of 2012. An overhaul of the 12.5 acre former Barlow Apple Processing Plant in Sebastopol is due to be complete late in 2012. It will be 215,000 sq. ft. of commercial space tailored for artisan wine, beer and food producers. So far, 26 tenants have been lined up for 78% of the project space.

A Holiday Card from one of my nieces included some great words of wisdom that I would like to pass on: It is not what you do when you feel great but what you do when you feel awful that defines you. Never underestimate your ability to push it a step further. And, lastly, having a dream never goes out of style.

Have a Great Holiday!

I would like to digress into sports for a minute—Albert Pujols signed with the Angels with a $250 Million, 10-year contract.  Wow!  The Major League Baseball average salary is $4.5 Million/year.  So, I ask you – is there a problem with a National Debt of $15 Trillion?  Perhaps some of these players could contribute extra towards paying off our debt!

As the 2012 presidential election heats up, the impact of small business on the economy has become a focus of serious debate.  Where does your candidate stand?  Small businesses make up more than 95% of all business, more than half of all employees work for small businesses and 60% of new jobs come from the small-business sector.  Let’s hope that whoever gets elected next year has some new ideas, other than cutting taxes, increasing spending or griping about current regulations.

Tis the season, so lighten up and enjoy!  Take in some family fun with Fireside Stories in Sonoma on 12/16 (Fri.), 7 to 9 pm, call 707-939-7862; or, a Sing-along Messiah presented by the SR Symphony League on Sat. 12/17, call 707-546-8742.

There is different criteria used to determine at what age you are considered a “senior”; i.e.55 years for AARP, 65 years for Medicare, 65 or 70 years for senior ski lift ticket prices, 60 or 62 at some movie theatres.  The front edge of the nation’s generation of baby boomers started turning 65 last year.  As we are living longer, the Senior population is growing and will continue to grow, placing a significant demand for various services such as health care.  Government funding for senior services appears to be declining.  It will be interesting to see what programs survive and at what level they can function effectively.

On the other side of the coin, Seniors are a huge resource for communities needing volunteer services.  Seniors are used as mentors and volunteers  in schools and education, non-profits, hospitals and other businesses.  Several of us are still working full-time in our business.  I believe if you stay physically and mentally active, you live longer and feel better.

A couple of FREE events to consider – Take a drive to Occidental either Sat. or Sun. (12/10 & 12/11) and check out the Crafts Faire from 10 to 5pm, call 707-874-9407; go to Healdsburg on Sun. (12/11) and take the Victorian Inns Tour (6 different inns) from 2 to 4 pm, call 707-433-5228.

When the leaves start turning you know that crab season can’t be far behind.  Are you one of the people, like my wife, that have a “shellfish” allergy?  Hers is a recently acquired one, which was an unpleasant surprise, as we love to eat all kinds of shellfish.  This allergy has me thinking about foods that are very good for you, foods that help fight different kinds of cancers, such as: blueberries, tomatoes, garlic, cabbage, red wine (which has resveratrol) and even turmeric (the spice).  Being Italian, I’m all for tomatoes, garlic and red wine!  Green tea is also very good for you but take care to brush your teeth often, as the tea can discolor your teeth, if you drink a lot of it.  There was even a recent report that indicated regular teeth cleanings by a professional may lower your risk for heart attack or stroke. 

Next week is Thanksgiving so it will be a short work week for our office. We will be closing around 1 pm on the Wednesday before, closed Thanksgiving and the Friday after, reopening on Monday morning.  You probably won’t see a blog until the week after.

A couple of family events are the Annual Lighting of the Snowmen in Sonoma on 11/26, call 707-933-3010 or Santa’s Riverboat Arrival in Petaluma, call 707-769-0429.