Welcome to the NorthBay biz Top 500 bonus issue. The magazine began publishing this list of the top revenue-producing companies in 1991 as the Sonoma Business 350. In 1997, in response to the growth in Sonoma County, this issue was expanded, and it became the Sonoma Business 500. Now this special issue, in its 19th year, is celebrating its seventh as the NorthBay biz 500, reflecting the magazine’s expansion into Marin and Napa counties in November of 2002. Due to its specialized nature, it doesn’t contain the normal complement of stories and features. However, it does include: By the Numbers, Quick Takes, Biz Tips, Green Scene, Beyond the Boardroom and all our long-established and new columnists.
Several years ago, we decided to publish the Top 500 as a bonus issue. So now it comes out between the March (Building, Development and Construction) and April (Business of Wine) issues. In addition to being delivered to all our subscribers, the NorthBay biz Top 500 will be available at the newsstands for the entire year—effectively extending its shelf life so it can be a resource to more people and businesses throughout the year. We also publish two other bonus issues during the year. The Best Of the North Bay edition publishes in May and the Wine/Harvest Fair edition in October. That’s how a monthly magazine manages to print 15 issues annually.
To say 2008 was a challenging year for business would be a gross understatement. The news was fueled by the ongoing housing crisis, mortgage meltdowns, an unprecedented credit crunch, economic uncertainly riddled with turmoil in the manufacturing, retail and auto industries (to name a few) and insanely fluctuating gas prices (at press time they’re climbing again—let’s hope they don’t reach last year’s extremes). The National Bureau of Economic Research finally admitted we’d been in a recession since late 2007. Financial bailouts by the government and buyouts within the financial industries also prevailed, and the markets only tumbled in response. The result of this nationwide wave of negativity has been a rippling effect on the global—and local—economy. As I write this, our state budget has yet to pass. In other words, we’re seeing it from all sides, and it’s anyone’s guess when things will turn around.
So what are the positives when we’re constantly being pummeled with not only the news, but also the realities of a nation in recession? Will the historic presidential election of Barack Obama deliver the changes our country desires? Will the Obama administration’s stimulus package give the country the jump-start it truly needs? We’ll have to wait and see. But even amid all the doom and gloom, we in the North Bay are fortunate to live where we do, and we don’t have to look far to see that. The local economy has been hit, yes, but is thriving when compared to other places.
Our diverse economy works in our favor, as does the area’s beauty and myriad natural resources. The tourism/hospitality industries remain strong and are even growing; and a new crop of green businesses is sprouting up all around, as established companies look for new ways to increase sustainability and decrease their carbon footprint. It’s become all too obvious that energy, the economy and the environment have become more intertwined than ever before, which is certainly a step in the right direction. And the North Bay has an excellent start when it comes to being a leader in green industries and sustainable business efforts.
This year more than ever, we’d like to congratulate each company that made our Top 500 list. It took creativity and courage (to say the absolute least) to make the difficult decisions that resulted in positioning each company for success.
We strive to make the NorthBay biz Top 500 list as accurate and up-to-date as possible. Our database has really grown and improved over the past seven years as we’ve migrated to assembling more information online, simplifying the process and enhancing accuracy. Some companies provide their revenue numbers as estimates because their fiscal years are incomplete. We report those numbers as verified because the company supplied them. When the company can’t or won’t divulge revenues, we estimate based on history, research and comparative industry data. If a company is headquartered here, we count all its revenues. If a company does business here but is headquartered elsewhere, we count only its North Bay-generated revenue. And for the first time ever, this year we’ve included whether the number of employees is verified or an estimate. Six zeros have been omitted from all the revenue numbers on the list because of space constraints. Therefore the first four companies on this year’s list reported revenues in the billions, and every other company reported revenues in the millions. And finally, because of available space restrictions, we were unable to publish every company profile that was submitted. We will post the complete set of Top 500 company profiles on our website. We work hard on this issue to make it as complete and accurate as possible. If you discover any inaccuracies, or if we’ve overlooked a company that merits inclusion, please let us know and we’ll correct it for the future. The Top 500 list will be posted on our website (www.northbaybiz.com) and you can contact us there if you have any input about this year’s list.
We certainly hope you enjoy perusing the Top 500 and find it interesting, informative and useful in running your business. The North Bay possesses tremendous economic power and vitality, and with a little luck and continued hard work, let’s hope 2009 turns out to be a good year for us all.
That’s it for now. Enjoy this special bonus issue of NorthBay biz magazine.
