Local Business

The coronavirus pandemic is taking a devastating economic toll on Sonoma County’s economy: tourism, once a mainstay, is non-existent; 16,000 local workers have filed for unemployment; more than a thousand small businesses have applied for the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) Payroll Protection Plan (PPP). Meanwhile local governments continue to provide essential public health and welfare services, while their normal revenue sources trickle to near-zero.

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A county study on the impacts of congestion, noise, safety and related issues linked to winery and rural tasting room and other special events, has taken so long that the original conditions and concerns that prompted the study in 2016 may now all be changing thanks to the potential post-pandemic business changes anticipated in the local wine industry.

The welcome mat for Sonoma County’s wine country was rolled up several weeks ago in the midst of the COVID-19 shelter-in-place, and there is no prediction of when it might be rolled out again. Only a little over one quarter (27.8%) of the county’s 7,000 lodging rooms were occupied at the beginning of this month, down from an average occupancy rate of 78% from a year ago.

Chalkboard, the high-end Healdsburg restaurant on the ground floor of Hotel Les Mars at 27 North St., closed abruptly late last month. Under the hotel’s signature striped awnings, its street-facing windows are now covered in brown paper. Both the hotel and restaurant space are owned...

On July 1, the Sonoma County Library went “fine-free” and eliminated overdue fines for items returned late. In addition, all past fines were waived. In all, more than 80,000 people — 30 percent of all library borrowers — had their overdue fines waived.

March is about to be branded ‘the tastiest time of the year’ with Restaurant Week lasting for a full 10 days this year, for the first time since its debut.

Colleen Carmichael to seek new calling in trauma teachings and therapy

It’s with an eye toward making the most of that most valuable of assets—parking in Healdsburg—that Mat Humphrey is filling up the available leases on the property at 44 Mills St. one by one, and staggering their prime hours so the lot is productively filled as much as possible. The highest and best use, one might say, to echo the realtor’s mantra.

James Schuessler replacing the retiring Joe Harrington