PG&E employees raise ,3.9M for charity

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said its employees and retirees have pledged nearly ,3.9 million 7 a 19 percent increase over last year 7 to 3,868 schools and nonprofit organizations through the company/s 2008 Campaign for the Community.

PG&E/s annual employee and retiree giving campaign raises money for nonprofit organizations and schools, a company spokesman said.

Employees and retirees have directed the funds to the Relief for Energy Assistance through Community Help program, Salvation Army, Red Cross, United Way, children/s charities, hospitals, hospices, schools and other community and environmental groups.

One-time gifts and payroll deduction pledges for this year were made by 7,580 employees and retirees, with the average annual gift pledge ,510. Many of the pledges will be matched by the company, the spokesman said.

PG&E employees also used a variety of events to raise nearly ,63,000 for charity, 66 percent increase over last year.

For more information, visit www.pge.com/giving.

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Women/s conference to focus on sales

Women/s Economic Ventures will help women entrepreneurs tackle one of the most intimidating tasks crucial to small businesses 7 sales 7 at BThink BIG,C its quarterly conference and business expo.

Alyse Hart, executive sales Binsider,C coach, trainer and business development expert, will speak at the event set for

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday at Fess Parker/s Doubletree Resort in Santa Barbara.

Hart will present BSell It Like a Woman: If You Can Talk, You Can SellC as the keynote speaker at the event.

The first in Women/s Economic Ventures/ 2008 series, the March BThink BIGC conference will include a full-day program of expert speakers, a panel of successful local women entrepreneurs and hands-on activities.

The cost is ,189 at the door for the individual conference or ,480 for all four events in the series. For more information, call 965-6073, Ext. 106, or visit www.wevonline.org.

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KSBY general manager named

Evan Pappas has been appointed president and general manager of KSBY-TV in the Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo market, said Terry Hurley, president of Cordillera Communications.

Pappas is currently general sales manager of Cordillera-owned KVOA-TV in Tucson, Ariz. He has served in both the local and general sales manager/s positions since he joined KVOA in 2003.

Prior to that, he was Southeast Division national sales manager for Comcast Broadband in Atlanta.

From 1990 to 2001, he served in various management roles for Blair Television in Chicago, Austin, Texas and Miami.

Pappas is scheduled to assume his duties at KSBY on April 1.

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Riverbench Winery opening tasting room

A new winery on an old vineyard is opening in the Santa Maria Valley.

Riverbench Vineyard and Winery is scheduled to open its new tasting room at 6020 Foxen Canyon Road in Santa Maria during the first week in April, a winery spokeswoman said.

Riverbench has been producing winegrapes for well over three decades, and when the property was acquired by new owners in 2005, they decided to start their own boutique winery, the spokeswoman said.

The owners just completed renovating a 1920s Craftsman-style house on the property to convert it to a tasting room, where the winery will offer an estate and reserve pinot noir and an estate and reserve chardonnay.

All Riverbench wines are made in limited quantities and available exclusively through the tasting room and Web site at www.riverbench.com.

Chuck Ortman of Meridian fame joined the as winemaker in 2006. Jim Stollberg, general manager, works with Dale Hampton for Hampton Farming and owns Maverick Farming in the Santa Maria area. He has farmed Riverbench for several years.

Laura Booras, whose family is in the wine business, was appointed brand manager for the winery in September 2007. She previously worked for Consilience and Zaca Mesa wineries.

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Skytt Mesa homes grand opening set

Local builder Curtis Homes will hold a grand opening Saturday, April 5, for Skytt Mesa, a collection of new homes in Santa Ynez Valley.

The project includes nine single-story, detached home models priced from the low ,800,000s and ranging from 1,940 to 3,373 square feet with four or five bedrooms, two or three baths and three-car, completely finished garages.

Guests can walk the models that day and tour the site by horse-drawn hayride to view lots becoming available.

Festivities will include a tri-tip barbecue luncheon and giveaways handed out through an on-site live remote broadcast by KRAZ Country Radio 105.9 and The Mix 96.7.

Children can participate in an interactive drum performance and birdhouse construction at a Home Depot Kid Clinic. A balloon artist, face painter and caricature drawings are also planned.

To visit Skytt Mesa, take Highway 246 east from Highway 101 to Skytt Mesa Drive and turn left into the community.

The sales office is open from noon to 6 p.m. daily. For more information, call 686-5414.

7 From staff reports