San Francisco Business Times articles from September 1997

San Francisco Business Times archives from September 1997

S.F. waterfront open for business. (real estate development at Port of San Francisco)
September 5, 1997... Developers lead stampede; will Disney arrive by sea? The Port of San Francisco is wooing developers for several choice parcels of land as the city ends a seven-year moratorium on construction along the waterfront. Port Executive Director...

Celebs hit bottle; Celebrity Cellars seeks to quench baby boomers' thirst for collectibles.
September 5, 1997... Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra and Janis Joplin have been poured, bottled and sent on their way to wine and record stores near you. San Francisco-based Celebrity Cellars, in a partnership with Sony Signatures Inc., is introducing its first...

Philips forsakes Fremont. (Philips Electronics plan to launch consumer electronics plant in Fremont, California, shelved)
September 5, 1997... Electronics firm bails out of huge project Philips Electronics has shelved its plan to manufacture consumer electronics goods in Fremont, costing the city hundreds of jobs and forcing the facility's developer to find a new tenant for the...

Owner of 49ers scores site for gridiron eatery. (Edward DeBartolo Jr. to open restaurant with San Francisco 49ers theme)
September 5, 1997... If Steve Mariucci flops as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, he can always get a job as maitre d' at the football team's new restaurant, which will open next year along the city's waterfront. Ending a two-year search, 49ers owner Edward...

All backed up and no place to go. (economic impact of traffic condition in San Francisco Bay Area)(Transportation in the Bay Area: Trapped in the Slow Lane)
September 5, 1997... With no relief in sight, business counts the cost of region's traffic Around 6:10 a.m. Rolf Johnsen turns the metering lights on at the Bay Bridge toll plaza, signaling the start of the morning backup as thousands of cars start inching their...

CHW looks eastward for expansion. (Catholic Healthcare West)
September 5, 1997... Catholic Healthcare West is looking to expand to the east, while contemplating layoffs closer to home. The San Francisco-based hospital system launched an enormous new business-services subsidiary, known as CHW Shared Business Services, in...

Oakland ready to ride El Nino tides. (Port of Oakland)
September 5, 1997... The Port of Oakland is calling on national scientists and technology to help batten its hatches against El Nino. Port of Oakland Executive Director Charles Foster is meeting with experts from the U.S. Coast Guard and National Oceanic and...

The view from New York: Bay Area is cheap for business. (cost of doing business in San Francisco Bay Area, California)
September 5, 1997... [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] It may seem like it costs more to do business in the Bay Area than in other places, but a new study found that San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose didn't even make it into the top 10 in 1996, and that they have...

Economy puts trucks in high gear. (trucking in San Francisco Bay Area)(Transportation in the Bay Area: Trapped in the Slow Lane)
September 5, 1997... People like to complain about trucks. They're big and noisy. They double park on main thoroughfares. They unload in the wee hours, stealing those last 15 minutes of sleep. They're also the only way to get groceries and clothes into the city,...

Relocating manufacturers to make 250 jobs in Hayward. (A-1 Plating Inc., Spectrum Label Corp. to relocate to Hayward, California)
September 5, 1997... A pair of manufacturing companies squeezed by rising Bay Area land costs has found a haven in Hayward, where their combined expansions could generate up to 250 new jobs. The two companies, A-1 Plating Inc. of Santa Clara, and Spectrum Label...

Ferries are treading water. (ferry business in San Francisco Bay Area)(Transportation in the Bay Area: Trapped in the Slow Lane)
September 5, 1997... As the sky clears on a late summer morning, a business-suited rank files down the gangplank, lattes in hand and papers tucked in briefcases. They greet other regulars, make room for friends and slowly wake up while watching the loons on the bay...

Airports stuck in rush-hour jam. (San Francisco Bay Area airports)(Transportation in the Bay Area: Trapped in the Slow Lane)
September 5, 1997... Call five executives on a given day, and you're bound to find at least two who are out of town. "Six, seven years ago, everyone thought that with all of the videoconferencing and teleconferencing technology, people would not have to travel...

Air cargo: no way to go but up. (increasing air cargo in San Francisco Bay Area airports)(Transportation in the Bay Area: Trapped in the Slow Lane)
September 5, 1997... Times are flush. Shops are crowded. Cell phones and haute couture are flowing out of the stores, and express mail is whipping through the city. And it's all coming out of thin air. As business looks to the global market for trendy consumer...

Corporate dropout: from banking to Tuscany to olive oil. (Zecca Roberto of Frantoio Olive Oil Co. and Ristorante)
September 5, 1997... From banking to Tuscany to olive oil If you scripted the ultimate fantasy of a corporate dropout, you couldn't do better than the real-life story of Roberto Zecca, owner of Frantoio Olive Oil Co. and Ristorante. After a successful career as an...

Top minority-owned firms grow in vibrant economy. (San Francisco Bay Area)
September 5, 1997... A flourishing Bay Area economy has allowed many successful minority-owned businesses to grow over the past year. Many of the small businesses on last year's List of the 25 largest minority-owned businesses are now medium-sized (see The List,...

Feds probe powerful S.F. doctors group. (Federal Trade Commission's investigation of San Francisco-based Brown & Toland Medical Group)
September 19, 1997... FTC scrutinizes Brown & Toland over antitrust issues Brown & Toland Medical Group, one of the largest doctors' groups in Northern California, is being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission for possible antitrust violations. Michael...

Anchor tenant. (Aircraft Carrier Hornet Foundation's efforts to turn the USS Hornet aircraft carrier into a tourist attraction)
September 19, 1997... Alameda seeks to become USS Hornet's nest An Alameda-based citizens' group is moving forward in its bid to turn a mothballed aircraft carrier into a tourist mecca that would create nearly 800 new jobs. The Aircraft Carrier Hornet Foundation,...

Lincoln buying into rising tech star: Newark. (Lincoln Property Co's planned acquisition of a property in Newark, CA)
September 19, 1997... Banking on continued Silicon Valley spillover, Lincoln Property Co. is negotiating to buy an 82-acre parcel in Newark for up to 1 million square feet of development. Roughly a third of the privately owned site - located off Cherry Street and...

Reform movement falls flat. (opposition to National Bankruptcy Review Commission's proposed bankruptcy reform)
September 19, 1997... Jeffrey Sternklar walked up the steps of a Massachusetts bankruptcy court recently, and all he could see was a sea of people: Individuals, couples with children and attorneys huddling to make last-minute changes to their testimony before...

S.F. banks hit in pocketbook. (impact of bankruptcy filings on San Francisco banks)
September 19, 1997... San Francisco bankers are bearing the brunt of the nation's record level of bankruptcies and they see little reason for hope. Americans are filing for bankruptcy at a record rate even though the economic outlook hasn't been brighter in decades....

Spilled beer. (India's beer baron Vijay Mallya's failed attempt to acquire Nor'Wester Brewing Co)
September 19, 1997... Beer baron's microbrew empire is over a barrel Vijay Mallya's first U.S. brewery acquisition has gone flat. Mallya, India's largest beer baron, wants to build a network of microbreweries in the United States through his United Breweries of...

Longs writes a prescription for its ailing profits: new stores. (Longs Drug Stores)
September 19, 1997... Longs Drug Stores plans to open 15 to 18 new stores next year, including expansions in Las Vegas and south Denver, in spite of a downward trend in pharmacy profits. The Walnut Creek-based drug store chain has been revamping store merchandise,...

Stock options no longer reserved for top executives. (companies' offering of performance-based incentives)
September 19, 1997... Don't think that a move to Silicon Valley is necessary to cash in on stock options or other types of performance-based pay. According to a 10-year study by benefit consultants William M. Mercer, more and more companies are offering...

Life of a techie: another day, another great job offer. (availability of high-tech jobs in San Francisco, CA)
September 19, 1997... It's one thing to recruit your competitors' staff. It's altogether another to wait for laid-off workers as they head for the parking lot on their last day. That was the scenario at Silicon Graphics, where recruiters stood outside the door...

Biotechs discover new tool for raising research cash. (biotechnology companies)
September 19, 1997... Tired of watching their stocks crash after announcing public offerings, a number of biotech companies have turned to convertible debt to feed their cash-consuming research needs. Biotech companies including Sugen Inc. and Shaman Pharmaceuticals...

So many jobs, so few low-wage workers. (low-wage worker shortage in San Francisco, CA)
September 19, 1997... Western Staff Services isn't joking when they say they're looking for 3,000 Santas. The Walnut Creek-based firm, which provides in-store St. Nicks and accompanying kiddy photographers for malls throughout the U.S., New Zealand and Australia,...

Once the dispensable layer of fat, mid-managers now getting meaty job offers. (employment for middle managers in San Francisco, CA)
September 19, 1997... For Pacific Telesis executive Linda Healey, Sept. 12 was corporate independence day. "Tomorrow, I'm turning in my badge, my computer, my cell phone, all the trappings of corporate life," Healey said. After 13 years with the phone giant, most...

With execs scarce, more firms get professional help. (San Francisco-based small- and medium-sized businesses' use of employee search firms)
September 19, 1997... It used to be that only large companies could afford to hire search firms to help fill top-tier executive positions. But a tightened employment market has even small and mid-sized firms seeking the aid of search firms to fill positions ranging...

Executive profile: Martin Brotman. (California Pacific Medical Center president and chief executive officer)
September 19, 1997... Name: Martin Brotman. Title: President and CEO. Company: California Pacific Medical Center, in San Francisco. Also, senior vice president of Sutter Health. Education: B.S. and M.D. degrees from the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg,...

Kaiser is back on top in booming East Bay job market. (Kaiser Permanente as San Francisco's largest employer)
September 19, 1997... For at least one East Bay security outfit, the tight labor market is making it tough to find good security guards. Dwight Pedersen, president and CEO of American Protective Services Inc., said his Oakland-based security firm is running about 80...

How to logically manage a growing firm. (Ibis Consulting Inc)
September 19, 1997... Brenda Wong, co-founder of one of the Bay Area's fastest growing private companies, Ibis Consulting Inc., learned early-on the classic entrepreneurial lesson about letting go. As revenues at her three-year-old San Francisco company soared, and...

Archaic laws let bankrupt keep riches. (bankruptcy law)
September 19, 1997... In the mid-1980s, hundreds of real estate developers around the nation found themselves in serious financial trouble. Some were forced to file for bankruptcy. But bad fortune was not going to deter Melvin Lane Powers, a millionaire Houston...

Swig family cashing out of Fairmont chain. (Swig Co.; Fairmont Hotel)
September 26, 1997... Fall-out with prince could mean huge windfall The Swig family's 52-year relationship with the Fairmont Hotel could come to an end as San Francisco's oldest real estate dynasty seeks a buyer for its stake in the luxury hotel chain. The Swig...

Uncramped style. (CNet Inc. to occupy another office building in San Francisco, CA's North Waterfront)
September 26, 1997... Web media group stretches out on S.F. waterfront CNet Inc. has agreed to occupy another office building on San Francisco's North Waterfront as it seeks much-needed breathing room for its growing ranks of Web programmers and cyberjournalists....

Medical group's ailing health plan signs CEO No. 3. (California Advantage Inc. appoints Kenneth Reuter as CEO)
September 26, 1997... After going through two CEOs in six months, the California Medical Association's beleaguered health plan is hoping that number three's a charm. The CMA's Oakland-based California Advantage Inc. health plan on Sept. 11 appointed former...

Jon Douglas realtors defect en masse. (Jon Douglas Co.)
September 26, 1997... New employer Alain Pinel instantly becomes East Bay force More than 100 real estate brokers have defected from Jon Douglas Co. and will spearhead an expansion into the East Bay by South Bay powerhouse Alain Pinel Realtors. All but seven of...

Big developers steaming into Alameda for naval battle. (control of Alameda, CA's Fleet Industrial Supply Center)
September 26, 1997... A troika of development heavyweights are vying to control an unpolished property gem in the heart of the East Bay that could prove a multimillion dollar bonanza for the one left standing. The prize: Alameda's soon-to-be-closed Fleet Industrial...

Web pioneer, doctor group in $25M 'net deal. (World Wide Web; Internet)
September 26, 1997... A startup launched by Netscape founder Jim Clark has teamed up with San Francisco's Brown & Toland Medical Group to create a $25 million Internet health-care information network. The proposed system, the first of its kind, will allow Brown &...

Credit risk. (an investor attempts to collect defaulted loans from the Philippine government)
September 26, 1997... S.F. investor says Philippine loan guarantee' leaves it $9M out of luck After two years of legal battles, a San Francisco investment firm has yet to collect $9 million in defaulted loans from the Philippine government. In an era of...

A foreign affair: tech firms vie for emigres' affections.(Technology Quarterly)
September 26, 1997... To celebrate the 50th anniversary of India's independence, Fremont staged a parade attended by 60,000. At Oracle, the anniversary was celebrated with "India Day," in recognition of the company's 1,500 employees born on the subcontinent. For...

Autodesk tool helps doc test breast surgery in 3-D. (Autodesk Inc.)(PEG as an innovative procedure for performing mastectomies)(Technology Quarterly)
September 26, 1997... A partnership between a plastic surgeon and a software company has improved on an innovative procedure for performing mastectomies without leaving massive scarring. The procedure, called PEG because of a circular incision central to the...

Blum partnership bids on Triad's Livermore land. (San Francisco, CA, financier Richard Blum; Triad Systems Corp.)
September 26, 1997... A partnership led by San Francisco financier Richard Blum has made an offer for the remaining real estate assets of the former Triad Systems Corp. for about $26 million in cash plus debt. The deal, subject to shareholder and regulatory...

Home pages: brokers and buyers meet in cyberspace. (applied technology)(Technology Quarterly)
September 26, 1997... Ira Serkes is one of a growing number of web-savvy agents taking advantage of online technology to attract potential home buyers. Serkes, a broker at RE/MAX Bay Area in Berkeley, established his own web site in mid-1994, in the midst of a...

Printer giant HP thinks it oughta be in pictures. (Hewlett-Packard Co.)(Technology Quarterly)
September 26, 1997... Hewlett-Packard Co. sees its new photographic technology changing the way the world takes pictures. But the move also pits the technology giant against Eastman Kodak Co., a name synonymous with photography. Earlier this year, Hewlett-Packard...

Old-time ball with some high-tech perks. (new baseball facilities)(Technology Quarterly)
September 26, 1997... When the San Francisco Giants step onto the field at their new downtown ballpark in 2000, fans can expect a little bit of the old and a little bit of the new. Following the trend in new baseball facilities, architects will try to capture the...

East Bay self-storage firm thrives on excess baggage. (Pegasus Group)
September 26, 1997... Walnut Creek-based Pegasus Group is polishing up its development plans for Northern California, Hawaii and Arizona as it strives to become the Nordstrom of self-storage companies. After years of expansion through acquisitions, the company,...

Emerging format war may strike down DVD in its youth. (digital video disk)(Technology Quarterly)
September 26, 1997... It's still early to say whether DVD, the next-generation digital videodisk product, will become a standard feature in American households. But five months into its promising launch, a distant cloud has formed. The threatening storm: A company...

Opus takes stake in bustling Tri-Valley office market. (Opus Southwest Corp.)
September 26, 1997... Aggressive Opus Southwest Corp. is moving ahead with plans to develop a half million square feet of Class A office space in eastern Dublin - one of the largest speculative office projects in the bustling Tri-Valley area. The Minneapolis-based...

Probst the conqueror takes all in video war games. (Electronic Arts CEO Larry Probst)(Technology Quarterly)(Cover Story)
September 26, 1997... CEO's aggressive, no-nonsense style leads EA to victory Larry Probst would make a good character for one of his company's video games. At 47, the Electronic Arts CEO is the video game industry's grizzled, conquering warrior. He's led EA to...

Peninsula REIT plans two East Bay housing developments. (real estate investment trust Essex Properties Trust)
September 26, 1997... A Palo Alto-based public real estate investment trust that owns several thousand apartments in Northern California is planning to expand into the constricting San Ramon and Pleasant Hill areas. Essex Properties Trust will build 226 one- and...

Jonathan Nelson. (co-founder and CEO of Organic Online)
September 26, 1997... Name: Jonathan Nelson. Title: Co-founder and CEO. Company: Organic Online, the San Francisco-based online advertising agency, software company, production house and retail operation. Education: BA degrees in art and art history from...

Multimedia field shrinks amid consolidation frenzy.(Technology Quarterly)
September 26, 1997... In the rapidly consolidating multimedia and entertainment software industries, Electronic Arts has emerged as the fastest-growing large predator. EA has moved into the top spot on The List of the 25 Largest Multimedia Companies (see Page 14A)....

Skip the one- or two-person startup. (Herlihy Marketing Group)(Small Business Growth Strategies)
September 26, 1997... Bernard Herlihy, owner of the Herlihy Marketing Group in Oakland, first caught the entrepreneurial bug in an unlikely place, at Procter & Gamble. The consumer products giant arguably represents the antithesis of an entrepreneurial environment,...

Survey: more small businesses saying, 'Charge it.'
September 26, 1997... Nearly one out of four small businesses still don't have computers, and bank loans are becoming increasingly unpopular among the nation's smaller firms, according to a new national survey. Little more than a third of the small businesses...

Introduction. (San Francisco Bay Area)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... As even the most recent arrival to this region will know, the Bay Area is a place like no other. It's more than unsurpassed natural beauty and an enviable lifestyle that marks the region. Poised on the edge of the continent, it is also a...

Demographics. (San Francisco Bay Area)(tabular and graphical data only)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] Leading causes of death, 1995 Bay Area and California Metro area Bay Area California Heart disease 28.0% 30.5% Cancer ...

Economics. (San Francisco Bay Area)(tabular and graphical data only)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] Annual unemployment rate Market area 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 July '97 San Francisco 5.9% 5.9% 5.4% 5.1% 4.0% 3.8% San Jose 6.9%...

Biotechnology. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes tabular and graphical data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... Biotechnology was born in the Bay Area and continues to thrive here. Upwards of 300 biotechnology and biomedical companies are located in the region, including some of the world's largest and most successful: Genentech Inc. of South San...

Retail. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes tabular data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... As the sixth-largest metropolitan market in the country, the Bay Area constitutes one of the strongest retail regions. Residents boast the fourth-highest discretionary income in the country, with a tradition of free spending, and the area's...

Education. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes tabular, graphical and cartographic data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... As a home to one of the nation's best educated populations, the Bay Area's rich array of educational institutions should come as no surprise. Nor should the high-technology industries that those universities have fostered. The region's...

Entrepreneurs. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes graphical and tabular data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... The impressive intellectual capital of the Bay Area, mixed with the equally impressive concentration of venture capital, have made the region fertile ground for entrepreneurs. Whether it was David Packard and Bill Hewlett tinkering with...

Real estate. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes tabular and graphical data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... A surging economy has helped the Bay Area commercial and residential real estate markets post their best marks in more than a decade. Landlords are once again king on the commercial side of the real estate business, as heavy demand for office...

High technology. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes tabular and graphical data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... Whether it is the personal computer or new multimedia applications, the Bay Area has long been a center of technological innovation filled with stories of commercial successes. As Silicon Valley continues to grow, it has spread northward into...

Manufacturing. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes tabular data only)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... The technology boom is reflected in the sector's growing dominance in Bay Area manufacturing activity. While Chevron Corp. leads the' region's list of manufacturers, with $44 billion in revenues last year, Palo Alto's Hewlett-Packard Co. is by...

Health care. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes tabular data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... For the region's health-care industry, the earth still hasn't stopped shaking. The Loma Prieta earthquake may be fading into history, but hospitals, medical groups, HMOs and other major segments of the Bay Area health-care industry continue to be...

International trade. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes tabular data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... It wasn't long ago that "think globally, act locally" was the Bay Area bumper-sticker mantra. Now, the business community has turned it around: act globally, survive locally. With more than $105.5 billion in international trade last year and...

Transportation. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes tabular and graphical data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... When the Bay Area economy thrives, the work force drives, making transportation one of the region's greatest challenges. More than three million commuters clog the roads and public transit systems each day with 68.2 percent driving alone....

Finance. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes graphical and tabular data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... The Bay Area's financial community has been the focal point of significant merger activity as major banks sought to become one-stop capital shops for corporate clients by purchasing investment bankers. San Francisco investment bankers, with...

Tourism. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes tabular and graphical data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... More than 4 million people visit San Francisco each year - to meet with each other. Business meetings comprise 24 percent of the 17 million people that visit this city each year, said the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau. And...

Media. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes tabular data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... The growth of the Internet is spawning a brand new media industry that has turned San Francisco into its capital city. Dubbed "multimedia" by some, "digital media" by others, it encompasses a wide variety of high tech companies that use the...

Energy/environment. (San Francisco Bay Area)(includes tabular and graphical data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... The area's utility sectors - phones, electricity and gas service - have seen major changes in the past few years. Not only has the region's growth pushed local service to capacity in various areas, but new laws to open up the sectors are also...

Alameda County. (California)(includes graphical and tabular data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... Alameda is one of the most economically diverse counties in California, with a strong base of traditional manufacturing complemented by a growing multitude of established and emerging high-tech industries. The Bay Area's second largest county...

San Francisco. (California)(includes tabular and graphical data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... San Francisco is both the financial center and tourist mecca of the nine-county Bay Area. The compact downtown financial district is home to BankAmerica Corp. and Wells Fargo Bank, the Pacific Stock Exchange and financial services firms like...

Marin County. (California)(includes graphical and tabular data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... Located just over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, Marin County is known as the Bay Area's natural playground. Nearly 85 percent of the county's land, including Pt. Reyes National Seashore, Mt. Tamalpais State Park, Muir Woods...

Contra Costa County. (California)(includes graphical and tabular data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... Contra Costa County has a knack for riding the crest of the Bay Area's economic prosperity. In the mid-'80s, when the bedroom communities of San Ramon, Walnut Creek and Concord grew business parks, office towers and shopping centers, Contra...

Napa County. (California)(includes graphical and tabular data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... Napa County - seemingly buffered from the rest of the Bay Area by the rolling hills that surround it - is becoming a magnet for some companies looking for less frenetic surroundings. The southern part of the county, specifically the area...

San Mateo County. (California)(includes tabular and graphical data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... San Mateo County's growth is driven by its location between booming Silicon Valley and robust San Francisco. Several technology companies, for instance, have moved to Foster City, while Redwood City has become synonymous with Oracle Corp., the...

Santa Clara County. (California)(includes graphical and tabular data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... Santa Clara County's robust economy demonstrates how quickly the California economy shifted from a focus on real estate, defense and aeronautics to technology, trade and entertainment. The problems facing Santa Clara County stem from an...

Solano County. (California)(includes graphical and tabular data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... Solano, capitalizing on its position as a link between the Bay Area and Sacramento, has begun to reap some of the economic development rewards sowed by the growth of the area's economy. Until recently a largely agricultural and bedroom...

Sonoma County. (California)(includes graphical and tabular data)(Bay Area Market Fact Guide 1997)
September 26, 1997... Sonoma County, from its bustling centers of Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park to bucolic Sebastopol, is growing at a faster rate than its less populated and geographically smaller Napa County neighbor. Sonoma County produces far more grapes but sells...