As NorthBay biz celebrates its 40th year, we take a look back at its milestones and those of the world surrounding it.
In 1976, Sonoma Business magazine was founded by William Bryon, David Bolling and John Brill. Their mission, Bolling says, was to take a feature-oriented look at the business environment in the North Bay. “There was this whole cadre of civic leaders who, in many respects, represented and drove the North Bay business climate, like Hugh Codding and Henry Trione. It seemed like there was an inexhaustible supply of interesting people, businesses and issues to cover.”In 1984, Sonoma Business and the Santa Rosa News Herald (which Bryon, Bolling and Brill also owned) were sold to Lesher Communications Inc. (LCI), a regional newspaper syndicate that owned suburban and rural newspapers in Northern California, including its flagship publication, the Contra Costa Times.
In the early 1980s, LCI bought up a dozen North Bay newspapers. However, Sonoma Business was the only glossy magazine it owned and, Bolling says, the company never understood that the economics of monthly magazines were different from those of daily newspapers. Profitability of both publications suffered under LCI’s corporate stewardship.
Bolling stayed on for three years after the purchase, but finally departed in 1986 in frustration. Joan Voight, who became the magazine’s senior editor, saw her task as professionalizing the publication: “Our vision was to make it a real journalistic publication that took on substantial issues.” She’s particularly proud of stories the magazine did on the decline of unions and the efforts of women to break into the social world of Sonoma County business. In general, Voight says, she worked to make the magazine more lively and up-to-date.
When Voight moved on, her managing editor, Carol Caldwell-Ewart, took the helm. Her vision for Sonoma Business was very personal: “My vision of the magazine was based on my dad, a small business owner and entrepreneur who didn’t have time to take a lot of business management classes. I always kept him in mind when thinking of stories: What kind of thing would he want to know? What would help him run his business better?”
Caldwell-Ewart left the magazine in the late-1980s, about the time the syndicate began scavenging capital from its perimeter papers to pay its bills. When LCI closed down the Santa Rosa NewsHerald, Sonoma Business’ newest editor, Jim Dunn, could read the writing on the wall.
“LCI felt the magazine was unprofitable, but I knew it was just poor leadership on their part,” says Dunn. “I took a significant risk buying the magazine, but I thought I could run it better than they had, and it turned out I was right.”
For the next 10 years, Dunn was owner, publisher and senior editor of the magazine, taking on a variety of controversial issues and specializing in investigative pieces. His favorite, he recalls, was an interview he did with Mike Rosen, a Republican real estate agent-turned-con man, who bilked dozens of prominent local citizens out of millions of dollars in a fraudulent real estate scheme.
The birth of NorthBay biz
By 1999, the strain of wearing three hats at a monthly magazine—publisher, editor, writer—began to tell, and Dunn was looking for a buyer. At the same time, a trio of investors from Chicago, Norm and Joni Rosinski and Joni’s brother, John Dennis, was on a swing through California looking to buy a small suburban newspaper chain.
The Rosinskis were newspaper people. Norm had been president and publisher of the Midwest Suburban Publishing Group, a subsidiary of the Chicago Sun-Times that published a chain of newspapers in suburban Chicago. Joni was the ad director. John had owned and operated several businesses throughout his life. They’d never considered buying a magazine, but something about Sonoma Business intrigued them.
“We recognized it had a venerable tradition and thought that, with our knowledge and experience, we could take it to the next level,” Norm says. They bought the magazine in June 2000 and, over the next few years, reinvented it from top to bottom. Expanding into Napa and Marin was a part of the new owners’ business plan from the very beginning. By 2003, the publication’s name settled where it is today: NorthBay biz.
Managing editors came and went quickly in the first few years until school teacher-turned-editor Cathy Fisher took the helm. Laura Hagar succeeded her until the end of 2005, when Julie Fadda Powers took over the position (she’d shared it with Hagar beginning in the spring of 2005). Powers was promoted to editor in early 2007, and associate editor Alexandra Russell took over as managing editor. David Brawley joined the staff in 2008 to oversee the graphics department.
Over the years, the magazine has added five bonus issues, bringing its total output to 17 issues annually. There’s the long-standing Bonus 500 issue, the annual BEST Of the North Bay readers poll issue, GameChangers (covering people and businesses that are truly changing the business landscape of the North Bay), the Special Wine Issue (the official publication of the Sonoma County Harvest Fair) and North Bay Perspective (an overview of each county).
Norm thinks of the magazine’s recent graphic and content redesign as a natural evolution—one that isn’t over yet. “Our pursuit of excellence is ongoing,” he says. “As you fulfill the first goals you’ve set for yourself, you set others. Our goal is to provide business people in the North Bay with news they can’t get anywhere else. It’s like our motto says, ‘Helping grow your business isn’t just something we do…it’s all we do.’”
Can Ya Dig It?
For a little fun, we thought you might like to see some “then and now” photos of our current staff. So here’s a look at us back in the 1970s (well, except for Tori, our youngest member). My how things change….
 
Norm Rosinski, Publisher
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John Dennis, COO
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Joni Rosinski, VP Sales
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Julie Fadda Powers, Editor
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Alexandra Russell, Managing Editor
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David Brawley, Design Director
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Lori Rooney, Advertising Executive
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Teena Hardee, Advertising Executive
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Anne Schenk, Sr. Graphic Designer
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Tori Goldman, Administrative Assistant
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As Time Goes By
Our last major anniversary was 35 years in 2010, when we published a timeline titled “Do You Remember?” This time around, we’ve decided to include some of the things from that timeline, as well as make updates and additions. We hope you enjoy this new and improved version, as it marks the magazine’s milestones as well as those of both the local area and the world at large, with business insights and a bit of fun.
1975
• William Bryon, David Bolling and John Brill, owners of the Santa Rosa News Herald, decide to launch a new quarterly magazine aimed at business people in Sonoma County. The work begins.
• The Cloverdale Business Association is founded; changes its name to Cloverdale Area Chamber of Commerce in 1985.
• Edmund Gerald “Jerry” Brown, Jr. is elected governor of California.
• The laser printer and digital camera are invented.
• The Coastal Post begins publishing in Bolinas.
• “Saturday Night Live” debuts.
1976
• Sonoma Business magazine debuts in January. Guion Kovner is its first editor.
• A 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay and a 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, both from Napa Valley, win a blind wine tasting in France, beating out entries from heritage French wineries.
• Apple Inc. is launched.
• The 18-foot-high Running Fence, spanning 24.5 miles through Marin and Sonoma counties, is completed by Christo and his wife, Jeanne-Claude.
• California’s minimum wage is raised from $2 to $2.50.
1977
• Verna Mays becomes editor of Sonoma Business.
• The Oakland Raiders win Super Bowl XI.
• Jimmy Carter is sworn in as president of the United States.
• MRIs and mobile phones are invented.
• “Star Wars” opens in cinemas.
• Elvis leaves the building.
• Elizabeth Burbank bestows the Luther Burbank Home & Gardens to the city of Santa Rosa.
1978
• The Jonestown massacre happens.
• The first test tube baby, Louise Brown, is born.
• Proposition 13 is approved by California voters.
• San Francisco’s Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk are assassinated by former Supervisor Dan White.
• The French Laundry opens in Yountville.
• Sonoma State College is granted university status.
• Safari West begins as a private wildlife sanctuary. In 1989, Peter and Nancy Lang purchase it and later introduce tours and lodging.
• Cabbage Patch Kids are introduced.
1979
• Cell phones and the Sony Walkman are invented.
• ESPN debuts.
• The Iran hostage crisis begins.
• McDonald’s introduces the Happy Meal.
• The Susan B. Anthony dollar coin is introduced.
• Michael Jackson releases his breakthrough album “Off the Wall”
• Eleven fans are killed and dozens are injured at a Who concert in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Sony introduces the Sony Walkman.
• Sid Vicious dies due to a heroin overdose.
1980
• The Greater Larkfield Chamber of Commerce is established in Santa Rosa; changes its name to Mark West Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center in the 1990s.
• CNN launches as the first 24-hour television news network.
• CDs are invented.
• The Winter Olympics take place in Lake Placid, N.Y. The U.S. men’s hockey team defeats Russia for the gold.
• John Lennon is assassinated.
• Mt. St. Helens erupts.
• George Lucas begins construction of Skywalker Ranch, 95 percent of which is deeded to Marin Agricultural Land Trust.
• The United States boycotts the Summer Olympics in Moscow.
1981
• Oakland Raiders win Super Bowl XV.
• Ronald Reagan is sworn in as president of the United States.
• MTV debuts.
• For the first time, NASA successfully launches and lands its reusable spacecraft, the Space Shuttle.
• Lady Diana Spencer marries Charles, Prince of Wales.
• Air traffic controllers strike and President Ronald Reagan fires them.
• Researchers find the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic.
• The first Frequent Flyer Miles AAdvantage is introduced by American Airlines.
• Scientists identifythe AIDS virus.
1982
• The San Francisco 49ers win Super Bowl XVI.
• Santa Rosa Plaza opens for business.
• Dr. Robert Jarvik invents the artificial heart.
• Sony launches the first consumer CD player.
• The first issue of USA Today is published.
• The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is dedicated
1983
• George Deukmejian is elected governor of California.
• Time magazine names the PC “Man of the Year.”
• The Apple Lisa computer is invented.
• Jaron Lanier coins the term “virtual reality.”
• The birth of the Internet begins with the invention of the first TCP/IP network.
• The first mobile phones are introduced to the public by the Motorola Company.
• 125 million watch the final episode of "M*A*S*H."
1984
• Sonoma Business and the Santa Rosa News Herald are sold to Lesher Communications Inc.
• The Summer Olympics take place in Los Angeles. New sports include the women’s marathon, synchronized swimming, rhythmic gymnastics and wind surfing.
• CD-ROMs and the Apple Macintosh are invented, as is the portable CD player.
• Ronald Reagan is reelected president of the United States.
• Band Aid records the single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” to raise money and create awareness of famine and poverty in Ethiopia and the whole of Africa.
1985
• The San Francisco 49ers win Super Bowl XIX.
• Corte Madera Center is redeveloped and renamed Town Center Corte Madera.
• The Village at Corte Madera opens for business.
• Microsoft invents Windows.
• Michael Jackson buys ATV Music and every Beatles song for $47 million.
• Coca-Cola introduces New Coke (six months later, it returns to the original formula).
1986
• Bolling resigns from the Santa Rosa News Herald; maintains editorship of Sonoma Business.
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 20) first observed as a federal holiday.
• Space shuttle Challenger explodes after launch; all aboard perish.
• Fuji introduces the disposable camera.
• The first PC virus begins to spread.
• Details of the Iran-Contra affair come to light.
• Duncan Garrett joins Sonoma Business as photographer.
1987
• The U.S. Stock Market crashes on Monday, October 19, with a 508 point drop (22.6%).
• Northgate Mall in San Rafael is roofed and enclosed as part of a remodel.
• The first 3-D video game is invented, as are disposable contact lenses.
• The Golden Gate Bridge turns 50.
• The custody battle for “Baby M” brings surrogacy to popular awareness.
• The first “naked eye” supernova since 1604 is observed.
• Fox Broadcasting Co. makes its primetime TV debut.
1988
• Joan Voight is named editor of Sonoma Business. Under her watch, the magazine moves from quarterly to bimonthly and then to monthly publication.
• Prozac, Indiglo nightlights (remember when you could finally see your watch at night?) and digital cell phones are invented.
• Stephen Hawking publishes A Brief History of Time.
• The first major computer virus infects computers connected to the Internet.
• Laser eye surgery is invented in the United States.
• California’s minimum wage is raised from $3.35 to $4.25.
1989
• Sonoma Business presents its first “BEST of” readers poll awards.
• Carol Caldwell-Ewart is named editor of Sonoma Business.
• The San Francisco 49ers win Super Bowl XXIII.
• The Oakland As defeat the San Francisco Giants to win the World Series.
• The Loma Prieta earthquake shakes the Bay Area.
• George H.W. Bush is sworn in as president of the United States.
• High-definition TV is invented.
• The Berlin Wall is torn down.
1990
• Jim Dunn is named editor of Sonoma Business; buys the publication from Lesher Communications Inc.
• The San Francisco 49ers win Super Bowl XXIV.
• The World Wide Web and Internet protocol (HTTP) and language (HTML) are created by Tim Berners-Lee.
• Nelson Mandela is freed from prison in South Africa after 27 years.
• Saddam Hussein orders the Iraqi invasion of neighboring Kuwait. Operation Desert Shield begins.
• “The Simpsons” debuts on Fox.
• The space shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit, revolutionizing astronomy.
• Depletion of the ozone layer is discovered above the North Pole.
1991
• Pete Wilson is elected governor of California.
• The memory card and the digital answering machine are invented.
• The Soviet Union collapses.
• The Oakland Hills firestorm kills 25 and destroys 3,469 homes and apartments.
• Concert promoter Bill Graham is killed in a helicopter crash over Sonoma County.
• Jim Boggio and Clifton Buck-Kaufman co-found the Cotati Accordion Festival.
• “Seinfeld” debuts on NBC-TV.
1992
• Plasma color displays are invented.
• The Rodney King riots occur.
• Johnny Carson retires as host of “The Tonight Show” and Jay Leno takes the helm.
• John Gotti, “The Teflon Don,” is convicted of 13 criminal counts, including racketeering and murder.
• The “Dream Team” wins the gold medal in men’s basketball at the Summer Olympics in Barcelona , Spain.
• Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy” hits number one on the music charts.
1993
• Bill Clinton is sworn in as president of the United States.
• GPS is invented.
• Michael Jordan retires to play minor league baseball. Seventeen months later, he returns to basketball.
• “Jurassic Park” opens in theaters.
• The last episode of “Cheers” is broadcast on NBC-TV.
1994
• Olympian Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the leg by an assailant, under orders from figure skating rival Tonya Harding’s ex-husband.
• The Northridge earthquake hits the San Fernando Valley.
• O.J. Simpson demonstrates just how slow a police chase can be.
• Netscape Navigator is released.
• Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
• The first annual Napa Valley Mustard Festival takes place.
1995
• San Francisco 49ers win Super Bowl XXIX.
• DVDs are invented.
• The Oklahoma City bombing occurs.
• The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia dies.
• The World Trade Organization is established.
• The last daily “The Far Side” by cartoonist Gary Larson is published.
1996
• The summer Olympics take place in Atlanta, Ga.; an Olympic Park bombing occurs.
• President Bill Clinton is reelected.
• The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, is arrested in Montana.
• Professional cyclist Lance Armstrong is diagnosed with cancer.
• Tickle Me Elmo is introduced.
• The musical “Rent” opens off-Broadway.
1997
• Plasma television is invented.
• Princess Diana dies in a car crash.
• The Toyota Prius is unveiled in Japan.
• Julia “Butterfly” Hill climbs into a redwood tree in Humboldt County, names it Luna and remains there for two years—the tree, and a 200-foot buffer, were saved due to her efforts.
• Rene di Rosa opens the di Rosa Preserve, a sculpture garden and nature preserve, in the Carneros region of Napa.
• Interleague play begins in professional baseball.
1998
• American Canyon Chamber of Commerce is formed.
• NorthBay biz publisher Norm Rosinski marries Joni Dennis.
• Smoking is banned in all California bars and restaurants.
• The Napa Valley Museum opens its doors.
• Viagra is invented.
• California’s minimum wage is raised from $5.15 to $5.75.
1999
• The U.S. women’s soccer team defeats China in overtime penalty kicks to win the World Cup tournament.
• Joseph Graham “Gray” Davis is elected governor of California.
• “The Matrix” debuts in movie theaters, setting new standards for special effects in movies.
• The revolutionary music download service, Napster, debuts.
• Exxon and Mobil merge to form ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded company in the world.
• Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station.
2000
• Sonoma Business is purchased by John Dennis and Norm and Joni Rosinski; Riba Taylor is named editor.
• Turns out the whole Y2K scare was just a bunch of crap.
• “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz dies.
• The average gas price in California hits $1.63 per gallon.
• California celebrates its 150th birthday.
• FasTrak is added at the Golden Gate Bridge.
2001
• COPIA: The American Center for Art and Wine is founded in Napa by Robert and Margrit Mondavi.
• George W. Bush is sworn in as president of the United States.
• Apple introduces the iPod and iTunes.
• The 9/11 attacks occur on the United States, claiming 2,976 victims.
• Wikipedia goes online.
• Netherlands becomes the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.
2002
• Sonoma Business begins its transformation by publishing three simultaneous monthly issues—labeled Sonoma biz, Marin biz and Napa biz—for several months.
• John Gizzi, then Cathy Fisher, oversee the editorial helm of transitioning Sonoma Business magazine.
• River Rock Casino opens for business in Sonoma County.
• MySpace is invented.
• Web browser Mozilla Firefox is released.
2003
• Sonoma biz, Marin biz and Napa biz consolidate into a single publication, NorthBay biz, targeting the business communities of all three counties.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected governor of California.
• WordPress introduces the blog.
• The Human Genome Project is completed.
• Lucasfilm signs a lease to build a digital arts campus in San Francisco’s Presidio district (it opens in 2005).
• Anne Schenk joins the graphics team at NorthBay biz.
2004
• Laura Hagar Rush is named managing editor of NorthBay biz.
• Oregon Steel Mills Inc. closes its Napa Pipe facility.
• SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight.
• Google goes public.
• Janet Jackson suffers a “wardrobe malfunction” during her half time performance at Super Bowl XXXVIII.
• TV sitcom “Friends” airs its season finale.
2005
• Julie Fadda Powers joins NorthBay biz as co-managing editor (with Laura Hagar Rush)
• Facebook goes mainstream and YouTube is invented.
• Santa Rosa’s W. Mark Felt is confirmed to be Watergate’s “Deep Throat” informant.
• Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans.
• Lance Armstrong wins his seventh straight Tour de France.
• United States Supreme Court ruled Medicinal Use Of Marijuana users can be prosecuted for violating federal drug laws.
• Microsoft releases the Xbox 360 gaming console in North America.
2006
• Julie Fadda Powers is named managing editor of NorthBay biz.
• Alexandra Russell joins as associate editor of NorthBay biz.
• The population of the United States reaches 300 million.
• Former Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling are convicted of 29 counts of conspiracy.
• Flooding devastates downtown Napa.
• Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hits his 715th home run and breaks the record held by Babe Ruth.
• Nintendo releases the Wii in North America.
• Google purchases YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock.
• Pluto is downgraded from a planet to a dwarf planet by The International Astronomical Union.
2007
• Julie Fadda Powers is named editor of NorthBay biz.
• Alexandra Russell is named managing editor of NorthBay biz.
• The iPhone hits the market.
• Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy, while AIG receives an $85 billion bailout from the Federal Reserve Bank and Washington Mutual is seized by the government and sold to JP Morgan Chase.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final in the popular children’s book series, is published.
2008
• David Brawley joins NorthBay biz as design director.
• Oxbow Public Market opens in Napa.
• Robert Mondavi dies.
• Muir Woods is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places on its 100th anniversary as a national monument.
• Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is arrested on federal corruption charges including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery.
• Oil hits an all time high of $147 per barrel.
• President Bush signs the $700 billion bailout.
• Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival debuts in Golden Gate Park.
2009
• Lori Rooney joins the NorthBay biz sales team.
• Barack Obama is sworn in as president of the United States.
• Michael Jackson dies at age 50. His death is ruled a homicide caused by his doctor.
• World Health Organization declares H1N1 influenza strain, commonly referred to as “swine flu,” as a global pandemic.
• US Airways Flight 1549 (piloted by Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger) makes a successful crash landing in the Hudson River after being struck by a flock of Canada geese shortly after takeoff.
2010
• President Obama addresses the country from the Oval Office and declares that “the American combat mission in Iraq has ended.”
• A magnitude-7.0 earthquake wreaks havoc on Haiti. The quake destroys 60 percent of government infrastructure and leaves more than 180,000 homes uninhabitable.
• An explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon, an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, kills 11 workers and begins the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
• Website WikiLeaks releases 75,000 documents relating to the United States and the war in Afghanistan.
• After being trapped underground for nearly 70 days, 33 men are safely rescued from a collapsed copper mine in northern Chile.
• San Francisco Giants defeat the Texas Rangers in the 106th World Series, the team’s first championship since 1954.
2011
• Occupy Wall Street, a protest movement against social and economic inequality, begins in New York City.
• A 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan causes widespread destruction and nuclear disaster.
• Apple visionary Steve Jobs succumbs to pancreatic cancer at age 56.
• The final voyage of the space shuttle Atlantis marks the end of NASA’s space shuttle program.
• Osama bin Laden is killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan.
• Prince William and Kate Middleton marry.
• Charlie Sheen is fired from “Two and a Half Men.”
• The U.S. Military repeals the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
• Richard Branson opens the first commercial spaceport in the United States.
2012
• Hurricane Sandy devastates the U.S. East Coast, killing approximately 200 people there and in the Caribbean.
• San Francisco Giants win the 108th World Series vs. the Detroit Tigers.
• Disney buys Lucasfilm for $4 billion.
• The Mars Science Laboratory or “Curiosity Rover” successfully lands on Mars.
• At the Summer Olympics in London, U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps becomes the most decorated Olympian of all time after bringing his medal count to 22.
• Facebook goes public with an initial stock offering of $38 per share
• Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, dies at age 82.
• Barack Obama wins his second term as U.S. President.
• End of the Mayan calendar-based “end of the world” predictions prove just as lame as the ones surrounding Y2K.
2013
• Lance Armstrong admits to doping in all of his Tour de France wins during his cycling career.
• Two bombs explode near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring more than 260 others.
• NSA surveillance program is leaked to the media by Edward Snowden.
• Nelson Mandela dies at age 95.
• BottleRock Napa debuts with a stellar lineup, only to declare bankruptcy shortly after the event.
• Millions of Target customers’ data is stolen in a security breach over the holiday shopping season.
• A full conversion to all-electronic tolling begins on the Golden Gate Bridge.
2014
• NorthBay biz debuts a redesign and improved content.
• Teena Hardee joins the NorthBay biz sales team.
• Tori Goldman joins NorthBay biz as administrative assistant.
• San Francisco Giants win the 110th World Series vs. the Kansas City Royals.
• Marin County actor/comedian Robin Williams commits suicide at age 63.
• The Ebola outbreak in Western Africa creates international panic as travelers carry the deadly disease around the globe.
• The U.S. and Cuba restore diplomatic relations.
• A 6.0-magnitude earthquake causes severe damage in Napa County.
• Jimmy Fallon debuts as host of “The Tonight Show.”
• BottleRock is purchased by Latitude 38 Entertainment and comes back strong, including paying much of the former owners’ debt.
2015
• NorthBay biz magazine celebrates 40 years of covering business and enterprise in the North Bay, now publishing 17 issues per year (including five bonus issues).
• NorthBay biz magazine is named Small Busines sof the Year by the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce.
