Strictly Business: Made-in-Sonoma gift boxes, changes at Gloria Ferrer and more

Business news from in and around Sonoma Valley|

Tour company pivots: Sonoma Food Tour is pivoting its business to offer a taste of its food tour experience wrapped up in a box. Owner Mia Steiger said that she is focusing efforts on supporting local food tour partners and local businesses in and around Sonoma. The Made-In Sonoma Gift Boxes include items that are all locally made and produced. Packages include selected items from Vella Cheese Company, Ovello Salumeria, Angelo's Meats, Basque Boulangerie, Savory Spice Shop, Sonoma Creamery, Sonoma Brands, Figone Olive Oil, Wine Country Chocolates, Scandia Bakery, Barking Dog Roasters and more. The boxes are available for local delivery or can be shipped. SonomaFoodTour.com.

New hire: Gloria Ferrer has appointed Mayacamas Olds, 45, as its first general manager for the Sonoma winery. Olds will oversee operations, hospitality, marketing, winemaking and viticulture. She attended Dunbar Elementary and Altimira Middle schools as a child and currently lives in St. Helena. She attended UC Davis and has an MBA in corporate sustainability management. Previously, she worked at Newton Vineyards and Diageo. Gloria Ferrer is located at 23555 Arnold Drive.

Creative offering: Jeweler Christine Bennett and Myriad/Perle owner Erica Heald have created a gift for students that can be customized to school spirit. The sterling and gold vermeil necklaces come with a choice of charm and a stone in a school colors, gift wrapped on a 2020 card for $48. Email Erica at myriadsonoma@gmail.com. Peek inside her new Myriad store on the Plaza on First St. E. She's ready to open the doors as soon as allowed. In the meantime, she is offering curbside shopping.

Beer subscription: Sonoma Springs is now offering monthly subscription shipment/delivery of new releases. Similar to their mixed case, the offering includes several 16-ounce four-packs as well as beer tasting notes, food recipes and beer paring recommendations, and other exclusive content. sonomaspringsbrewing.com.

Giving: Native Sons of the Golden West Parlor 111 has been handing out food at two locations every Friday for the past month. One group is at the county parking lot at Thompson across from La Michoacán ice cream and the other location is at the Boyes Center near the Post Office. Distribution starts at 3 p.m.

Sausage options: Miranda Ives has adapted her business model during this SIP for Hare & Hatter Sausage Emporium's wine and sausage subscription service of sausages, salumi, cheese, mustards and local wine. They also now have an online shop and free contactless delivery for a huge selection of sausages delivered in Sonoma without a subscription. societysonoma.com.

Back: Laurent Orthodontics is back open on Patten Street after 67 days closed. The team there will not be operating at full capacity and there are several changes, including serious face shields for their safety and those of their patients. They are also limiting the number of patients in the office and restricting certain procedures to only special times.

Philanthropy: Local graphic Designer Lori Winter is hard at work on a national project just launched over Nurses Week, to help stem the ongoing hand sanitizer shortage among nurses. A cosmetic chemist has developed 'Nurses Care' specially for nurses that takes care of their hands instead of ravaging them through constant use. The hand sanitizer is free to nurses helping fight COVID-19. The campaign is called 'Hand to Hand, Coast to Coast.' Winter is designing the logos and graphics. The Go Fund Me page is at gofundme.com/f/one-million-hand-sanitizers-for-our-nurses.

Salves: Studio M Pilates has a small retail store and owner Susan Aslin is now offering curbside pick-up and 10 percent off CBD salves as well as 'build your home studio' fitness equipment, like rollers and resistance bands. The studio also offers $15 virtual pilates classes. studiompilates.com.

Shopping local on the web: A newly created online shop features all the Sonoma Valley businesses who are offering products for pick-up and delivery. Visit sonomavalleylocal.com/shop for products from all over Sonoma Valley.

Kivelstadt update: Jordan Kivelstadt hopes to open Kivelstadt Cellars Wine Garden & Eatery in Schellville in June. He describes the restaurant as New American cuisine with an emphasis on local ingredients, BBQ with an international flare.

Add a charging station: According to the Sonoma Chamber of Commerce, Sonoma is currently under-served by EV charging stations. Sonoma Clean Power and CALeVIP are offering a three-year, rebate program for the purchase and/or installation of EV charging stations to improve the Valley infrastructure. Businesses, multifamily properties and nonprofits can apply starting July 1 until each fiscal year's funds are allocated. And, the City of Sonoma adopted an expedited permit review program for EV charging stations.

Email news and tips to businessnews@sonomanews.com.

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