NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL EVENT

2008 Going Green Conference: Building, Technology & Practices

Thursday, October 9, 2008, 7:30-11:45 a.m., Doubletree Hotel, Rohnert Park

E-Mail Express

Name:

Company:

E-mail:

Phone:

The News in Brief

St. Joseph selects new blood supplier

NORTH BAY – St. Joseph Health System-Sonoma County will no longer buy blood under contract from Blood Bank of the Redwoods.

St. Joseph will now purchase blood from the San Francisco-based nonprofit, Blood Centers of the Pacific, a subsidiary of Blood Systems Inc., the second-largest blood collection organization in the United States.

St. Joseph, which operates Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and Petaluma Valley Hospital, opened up its blood contract for bidding this year after having signed with Blood Bank of the Redwoods for 60 years.

Hospital officials said it is their obligation to keep prices as low as possible for patients, and Blood Bank of the Redwoods has consistently increased prices. Local blood bank officials said prices increase an average 2 percent to 3 percent per year.

Blood cost per adjusted patient day at St. Joseph’s closest facilities in Eureka and Napa averaged between $15 and $20. Sonoma County blood averaged a little more than $25 per adjusted patient day, St. Joseph said. Blood makes up less than 1 percent of the organization’s Sonoma County budget.

St. Joseph was nonprofit Blood Bank of the Redwoods’ largest customer, accounting for nearly a quarter of the blood products the bank sells.

Wine business software maker acquired

GLEN ELLEN – Orion Wine Software Inc., formerly eSkye Software, acquired Santa Rosa-based Vintage Consulting Group, which makes winery operations and direct sales management software.

Toronto-based Constellation Software (TSX: CSU) acquired eSkye Software in October as part of its Constellation Homebuilders Systems division. The company has 1,400 employees and revenue of more than $200 million a year.

Company gets Adcon vineyard data network

NOVATO – Ranch Systems LLC acquired the Adcon Telemetry network of vineyard weather stations from AquaSpy Group Pty, formerly Agrilink Holdings Pty.

Ranch Systems makes software and wireless equipment vineyard managers can use for remote collection of site-specific weather, soil and crop information and adjustment of irrigation systems. The company now manages more than 400 remote systems in Napa, Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties.

Unemployment rates up

NORTH BAY – Unemployment rates in Sonoma, Napa, Marin and Solano counties increased year over year in May, according to data released by the state Economic Development Department. Most areas reported significant job growth, excluding Solano, which lost jobs for the third month in a row.

Sonoma County’s unemployment rate, measured by the number of people actively seeking jobs, was 5.1 percent in May, up from 4 percent last year. The county reported 700 new jobs in May, bringing the total to 2,100 jobs created since April. Construction, financial activities and government were the only industries to lose jobs, with the largest number in construction at 900.

Napa’s unemployment rate increased from 3.5 percent last May to 4.5 percent last month. The county had significantly higher overall job growth last month, adding 600 total jobs compared with only 200 added in April. Construction had the highest losses with 500, and government recorded the largest gains with 700 new positions.

Unemployment in Marin County was 4.2 percent last month, up from 3.9 percent. Industry-specific numbers are not available for Marin.

Solano County was the only region to lose jobs, dropping by 3,300, bringing the total lost since April to 5,400. Unemployment increased from 4.8 percent a year ago to 6.5 percent last month. For the third month, construction reported the bulk of losses with 2,200 in May. The only sectors to increase jobs were leisure and hospitality by 100, other services by 100 and government by 700. Professional and business services also lost a chunk of positions last month, dropping by about 600.

California recorded an average jobless rate of 6.5 percent last month compared with 5.2 percent nationally.