Welcome to another edition of the Solano County Business Journal. Even those of us long out of school think of summer as a time to slow down, enjoy the weather and maybe even get out of town. But for hardworking entrepreneurs and businesses all around us, there’s no slowing down. In fact, with everyone else looking for something fun to do, this is likely the busy time.
The pace of commerce changes in the summer. With longer days and warmer nights, we stay out later looking for more good times. Beyond summer festivals and events, which bring their own excitement, one thing merchants have learned is that offering customers an experience on-site helps make crucial connections to the community. So, touring the candy factory, the winery or the olive oil farm, beyond being a fun time out, provides one more outlet where people can connect with local businesses and strengthen local economic bonds.
Solano offers myriad activities for this time of year. Here, you’ll find out about some of the people getting out there in the heat of summer to make things more enjoyable for the rest of us. And, maybe, you’ll be inspired to find a new way
to enjoy your time here, close to home. Get an up-close look at the way these hard-working folks do what they do. The new perspective can be wonderfully enlightening.
Beyond the one-on-one interactions, there is the business of business. How do successful people get to where they are? What education and training did it take? What were the sacrifices along the way? Education is critical to the business environment, not only training the workforce of tomorrow, but educating the movers and shakers who will go on to shape the local economy in the years ahead. Here you will also meet the people training these future business leaders. When we say “business environment,” we mean it. It’s a whole ecosystem out there, where each business, each entrepreneur, adds to the whole in an intricate network that provides opportunities to everyone.
Once again, we hope to bring you the stories of your neighbors who are out there providing the goods and services that make the community go. The Daily Republic is part of the extended network of commerce and here we seek to celebrate those who had the vision to create a dream and, through their hard work, have made those dreams happen.
Contributing
Recent discussions about the Solano County economy moving forward seem always to include references to Solano Community College.
Economists such as Robert Eyler, owner of Economic Forensics and Analytics and a professor at California State University, Sonoma, and Robert Hess, described by the Solano EDC as a real estate titan and an industry leader in corporate location, each pointed to the college as an essential piece to developing the workforce skills that are needed now and those that will be needed.
“That’s why these programs are so important,” Superintendent-President Celia Esposito-Noy said about the college catalogue of careerfocused programs.
The advantage a community college has, the economic leaders asserted, is the flexibility to change coursework quickly, and adapt to an employment world that was not even on the horizon a few short years earlier.
Whether that is actually changing the curriculum of an existing course, something that can be done typically in one or two years and even more rapidly by instructors, or developing new studies to meet changing needs, Solano College provides that flexibility.
And while nearly all students who attend college or a university are, by definition, seeking a career, at the heart of the workforce movement at Solano College are the Career Technical Education disciplines.
“It really is to change the trajectory of your life,” said David Williams, vice president of Academic Affairs.
“In our workforce programs, we are required to have advisory boards, and our advisory boards (include) employers in the field,” Williams said. “They keep us up to date.”
He added, “Now, a lot of our faculty work in their field.”
Of course, when the college announced in November 2016 that students can earn a bachelor’s degree in biomanufacturing, the spotlight
brightened on a course of study closely linked to a growing industry in the county.
There were 25 students in the 2023 graduating class to earn that degree.
However, there are more than 25 programs for which students can earn certificates that provide critical, and often direct steps into the workforce.
And to make some of those decisions easier on students still working their way toward college, Solano offers a series of summer boot camps that help students get introduced to such fields as cosmetology, auto mechanics, industrial robotics and the rapidly growing field of cybersecurity.
There are other more advanced camps as well.
So Esposito-Noy is not surprised the college comes up in discussions about growing the economy.
“We are an economic engine,” she said.
The largest program is nursing, featuring several career paths, including one to become a registered nurse. But
there are much smaller, specialty courses such as aeronautics. The school also has what is called the Hard Hat Academy, part of the relationship the college has with the trades.
And what appears in the title does not necessarily reflect the depth of opportunities the courses can offer.
Esposito-Noy remembers a number of years ago when Budweiser came to the college looking for machinists for their specialized brewery equipment. The representatives described the skills they were looking for and were somewhat surprised when directed to the aeronautics program.
It turns out, students learning what it takes to keep an airplane in the air have the skills needed to keep a brewery working, too.
And, of course, the college has a range of technology programs.
Kevin Anderson, dean of Applied Technology and Business, said he sees students who are early entry with sights set on careers as computer programmers, website designers or in other related fields. But a lot of students are already gainfully employed and just need to upgrade their skills.
“A lot of students don’t want a four-year degree or even a two-year degree. They just want to master a skill and take one of them forward ... And
then they can go back and get their degree if they want,” Anderson said.
“I have students who already have their four-year degree and take my classes (because) the technology has passed them by,” he added.
He said Solano College is a place for all those students, including those looking to move on to a four-year program.
Anderson himself was hired out through a contracted education program to train Kaiser employees on email and other programs in a new system the health group had employed.
Esposito-Noy said contracted education is not as common as it once was, but is still something the college offers in the right situation. It can prove to be the fastest education impact program available.
Williams said teaching what is often referred to as “soft skills” also is part of the creed: interpersonal skills, critical thinking and communication skills among them.
“There are 1,000 people out there who can run a bioreactor. You can learn those things,” Williams said. “But if you can’t deal with conflict, with dissent and you
don’t show up on time, you can’t learn that.”
That is also why the college provides the kind of personal services – financial assistance, technology access, veterans services, housing, food assistance and other support systems – for all the students on campus.
Lisa Neely, vice president of Student Services, oversees those efforts.
“My primary duty is to make sure students have all the resources they need to be students in the classroom,” said Neeley, who was dean of Career Technical Education from 2019 to 2022.
She said that experience showed her just how important it is for those courses to reflect the community in all its diversities, breaking down barriers that prevent women from getting into professions dominated by men, and to provide opportunities for ethnic groups that traditionally have avoided certain pathways.
But another division that has to be erased is how students who are on traditional academic paths are viewed compared to students who may instead choose a more direct career path. The two are connected, Neeley said, and need to be blended to the advantage of the students.
She also believes students have to adjust their attitudes so they think of themselves as entrepreneurs and learn how to best brand themselves for future success.
“But they cannot be successful in class unless they have that support,” Neeley said.
Solano College SuperintendentPresident Celia Esposito-Noy.
Celia Esposito-Noy has spent more than half her life working in higher education, with an employment focus as a central piece of the academic itinerary.
It’s a byproduct of her own career path, but also true to a bloodline from a blue collar upbringing in San Leandro.
“I came from a ... working class family,” Esposito-Noy said. “All the men in our family were in the trades.”
Later she came to realize that some of the math involved in the heating and air conditioning industry her brother and others were involved in was far more complex than the math she was taking in college.
“Not going to (college) does not mean someone isn’t smart enough to go to (college),” Esposito-Noy said. That applies to college students who are not interested in four-year, academicbased educations, too.
In the meantime, she was
happy to be singing and dancing on the stage, playing the leads in such productions as “Kiss Me, Kate” and “Guys and Dolls.” She also traveled with the group, Youth of America.
“I performed with Youth of America in the 1970s and ’80s, a group of young singers, musicians and dancers recruited from Bay Area high schools. Not only did we travel and perform, but we developed great friendships. Many of the participants went on to become professional musicians who are still working in the industry,” Esposito-Noy said.
Esposito-Noy, however, did not aspire to be a professional entertainer.
Instead, she chose to go on to college, joking that she changed her major every semester or so –“really, I had a lot of interests” –and at one point, she even leaned toward being an attorney.
“I opted not to apply to law school and instead focus on higher education where I could be
involved in policy work and support students. Being on a college campus every day was the draw for me. It’s where I feel most comfortable and effective,” she said.
Esposito-Noy holds a bachelor’s degree in Black studies from San Francisco State Univer sity, which developed the first ethnic-studies program in the nation, following the 1968 strikes led by the Third World Liberation Front.
Involved in that movement were such diverse ethnic groups as the the Black Student Union, the Latin American Student Organization, the Chinese for Social Action, the Mexican American Student Confederation, the Philippine American Collegiate Endeavor, La Raza, and the Native American Students Union.
She said her own background in ethnic studies is valuable in today’s work world, where the ability to work in a diverse environment is essential and is what corporations are looking for in employee candidates.
Esposito-Noy, who was student body president at San Francisco State, went on to get her master’s in education at Stanford, and later her doctorate in education leadership through Mills College.
In all, Esposito-Noy, 60, has spent 32 years in higher education, mostly at four community colleges. She came to Solano in January 2016, two months after she was hired as the superintendent-president.
However, prior to her career in education, she worked for another workforce-related agency.
“I worked for a nonprofit community-based training program, Center for Employment Training, that developed out of CETA, Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973, a federally funded program to train workers for public-service jobs. I prepared youth participants for work, teaching what we refer to now as essential skills, and assisted those with retraining and maintaining employment,” Esposito-Noy said.
It was about then that there was a greater understanding that not every high school student was going to college, and with that understanding, a need to create pathways for those students to succeed in the workforce.
“Once I began working in the community college, I recognized that many of the participants who I worked with at CET were also our students who needed to earn certifications in order to advance in a career,” she added.
So it was not much of a leap to realize Career and Technical Education at the community colleges was, and is, “an essential part of the community-college mission, now more than ever since so few high schools offer CTE programs that lead to career opportunities,” she said. “CTE programs also allow us to partner with the trades in order to support industries that are losing workers to retirement. Those programs are essential to creating a diverse, well-paid workforce that will sustain our economy.”
In fact, Solano College has been pointed to by a number of economists and industry leaders as critical for the county’s financial health.
They tout the flexibility the college has to adjust its workforce programs to the needs of area employers, and has even contracted with companies to provide educational and training services to their employees or potential employees.
Esposito-Noy said it is part of her foundational message to the faculty. That message also includes an education formula that begins with finding out what the students want and need.
“We want students to find out what they’re passionate about,” she said.
Esposito-Noy and her husband, Solomon Noy, live in Fairfield. They have a daughter from his first marriage and a granddaughter.
Not going to (college) does not mean someone isn’t smart enough to go to (college).
— Celia Esposito-Noy
Jamie Glazier stands inside the Gallery Waterfront Salon and Spa in Suisun City.
Punk rock was the craze when Jamie Glazier was styling her friends’ hair in her mother’s bathroom in the family home in Fairfield.
Glazier was 15 at the time, but knew already she wanted to be a hairdresser.
“(Cutting) stars and stripes and checkerboards and flames in people’s heads,” Glazier recalls.
The 2001-02 graduate of the Solano Community College
PHOTOS BY AARON ROSENBLATT DAILY REPUBLIC STAFFcosmetology program is now the owner of The Gallery Waterfront Salon & Spa on Kellogg Street in Suisun City.
Curley Wikkeling-Miller, an adjunct professor at Solano College and a former owner of two Richmond salons, said if she ever wanted to get back into the business, The Gallery, with its waterfront location adjacent to the harbor master’s office, is the kind of place she would want.
She is thrilled to see a number of her students get their start at the establishment.
Glazier has worked at the salon for 21 years, the last two as the owner.
She has hired five recent graduates of the Solano College program – one from 2018-19, three from the 2021-22 class and one, Adrianna Rodriguez, just ended her studies this past semester.
Glazier did not, however, specifically target Solano program graduates. She has, however, known one of them – Halie Havens (2021-22) – since she started coming in to the salon when she was all but a baby.
Friendships and other connections with Havens brought the others to Glazier.
“I’m very proud of my girls,” she said. The Solano program, currently chaired by Toni Coleman, dates back close to 60 years.
“I’m fairly young in respect to the 60 years,” said Coleman, who has more than 20 years in the industry, either in the private sector – including product jobs – or as an instructor. She has seen cosmetology evolve.
“Anyone can blow dry hair,” said Coleman, saying that the industry has tried to “dummy down” the cosmetology instruction. “There were a number of people who felt we were erecting barriers to becoming gainfully employed.”
Coleman said it is critical that students are exposed to the full art and science of cosmetology – as Wikkeling-Miller likes to define it.
“I’ve been in the business for 44 years. I started in 1979 as a hairdresser,” she said, adding, “The definition of cosmetology is where the art and science of beautification meets.”
She said the course can lead to a host of career opportunities beyond being a hairstylist or even a manicurist. She said there are jobs in product development, management and marketing; there are jobs in movies and theater.
“You can even be a makeup specialist that works at weddings or in travel,” Wikkeling-Miller added.
But the knowledge required goes far beyond blow drying hair.
It includes anatomy, physiology, chemistry, electricity and the specific job skills, not the least of which is precision cuts. She especially emphasizes that students need to learn about sanitation, disinfection and disease control.
Students can earn their certificate in two semesters – 1,000 hours of course time – for about $4,300, which includes the tuition, their kit and a subscription to Cima, which has the study plans and other information in an online platform.
The program used to require
1,600 hours of course time, and for the money, Wikkeling-Miller, Coleman and Glazier think the extra time is good for the students.
“It was a little frustrating that they changed (the hours requirement) in the middle of our program ... but I’m glad I got the extra training,” Havens said.
“I think 1,000 hours would be OK if we were in-person,” added Jade Miller, a 2021-22 classmate of Havens, and noting the difficulty of completing the coursework during the Covid pandemic.
“We had a really different experience ... We didn’t even know day-to-day if we were even going to school,” said Ellie Kaai, also a 2021-22 program graduate.
Pandemic aside, Glazier said the one thing the local program needs to enhance is practical experience, and that is going to take time.
The new stylists said an internship program would be helpful.
To get that needed work experience, but in a real-life salon setting, Glazier put her new hires on a one-year assistant’s program: some receptionist work, some styling, some of this and some of
that. For most of the new hires, that year ends in August and they will become junior hair stylists.
Glazier thinks the Solano program would also benefit the students if a little more training on the business side was part of the curriculum.
“Learning more about being an independent contractor, taxes, business licenses, branding yourself, marketing yourself, and getting in touch with the public,” Glazier said.
The young hair stylists agree, but in the end, they said the real learning curve starts when they are on the floor of a working salon.
That said, they believe the Solano program did give them a foundation from which to start their careers, but they have learned much more on the job.
The program is limited to 30 students. It starts with 25 enrolled on a first-come basis. Five are added from a waiting list. If anyone drops out, then those spots are filled.
The college also offers a beginners boot camp, focused mostly on high schoolers, who are testing the waters for
a future career choice. A more advanced boot camp also is offered to fill in for some of the hours that have been lost.
Miller was added to the program just two days in, and was immediately behind everyone else with no wiggle room to miss any class time.
The regimen is tough and accountability is demanded – though like other college courses, they got holidays and the usual breaks off.
The vast majority of the students are women, though that can change as the college pushes toward what would be the first barber program at any community college.
“I definitely want to expand the program ... I want to add a night program for cosmetology and I want a barbering program,” Coleman said.
The barbering program also would be taken into juvenile hall as another job training for youth looking to turn their lives around, Coleman added.
But it is going to take more space at the
college, more instructors and more funding.
Also in the future will likely be more specialized courses, classes that would focus just on hair or just on nails or just on esthetics, which is makeup and skin care. State testing will have to be adjusted if that is going to work.
Glazier said had the option been available when she was in school to specialize in hair alone, she would have jumped on that.
“If I could do it all over again, if I could do 1,100 hours for just hair, I would have done that,” she said.
And while her five young employees all got their certificate and passed the full cosmetology state test, only Havens (2021-22) actually works in all the disciplines, except nails and that could be next.
The others are all hairdressers, and Emma Nickel (2018-19) goes a step further, specializing in curly hair.
“I think she inspired me. She has curly hair,” Nickel said.
BY AARON GEERTS PHOTOS COURTESY OF BALLY KEAL ESTATE
While many are proponents of a good old-fashioned Irish goodbye, Bally Keal Estate is far more fond of the old Irish saying, “Céad Míle Fáilt,” which translates to “one hundred thousand welcomes.” With the property being as vast as it is beautiful and abounds with wine, beer and spirits, Bally Keal Estate undoubtedly delivers that warm, Irish friendliness and hospitality the business was built upon to every visitor.
Founder Joe Cassidy came to the United
ere’s nothing quite like the feeling of coming home. It’s your safe place - which is why protecting it is so imp ortant. e great news is that protecting your home with a security system is more a ordable and less complicated than ever before. ere are a variety of ways to protect your home. First Homeowners insurance is a smart, proactive way to blanket your property in security e best part is, your insurance carrier may partner with a home security system to o er you homeowners insurance discounts. Today’s home security systems have so much to o er! ey’re transforming the way home security is viewed and what is expected from a security system; from protecting your home from burglars to giving you con dence that you’re doing all you can to protect your property and your family. Identify the features that mean the most to you and nd the system that answers your needs.
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Toni Parkhurst - Budget Blinds“Bally” is derived from the Gaelic phrase “baile na” meaning “place of.” The surname “Keal” means “villages” or “farmsteads.” Together they speak to the heritage vines that provide grapes for its limited production wines, the curated selection of beers and spirits that are crafted on site, and the welcoming gathering places they have created. throughout the estate.
THE ESTATE: Situated on 80 acres in the picturesque Suisun Valley, Bally Keal Estate is a vibrant wine country destination designed to create dynamic social hubs where hundreds of guests and extended family can gather and celebrate on the grounds or in the event center. Bally Keal has a unique trifecta in libations for California, which includes a winery, a distillery and a brewery all in one location.
Inspired by iconic Irish stories of trade and travel, Bally Keal Estate brings the old-world custom of warm, natural hospitality to a modern guest experience. Guided by the traditional Gaelic greeting “Céad Míle Fáilte” (Kay-od mee-leh foyle-cha), which literally translates to “One Hundred Thousand Welcomes,” its mission is to ensure that every visitor enjoys personalized, authentic Irish friendliness.
OGHAM STONES: Featured on the winery label is an ogham stone depicting inscriptions of a primitive Irish language and the earliest known form of Gaelic dating back to the fourth century. The 20-letter alphabet was carved on wooden or rock markers primarily to indicate ownership and territories. Thus, Bally Keal was inspired to create its own, handcrafted in Ireland to spell “Bally Keal,” and have placed them throughout the estate.
States from his home country of Ireland in 1976. His work ethic and business savvy led him to success and fortune as a contractor in the Bay Area, but his ambitions were far from satiated.
Cassidy had always wanted to open a winery and distillery and purchased the the land Bally Keal Estate would be built on in 2018. To bring his ambitions to fruition, Cassidy needed a jack-of-alltrades to get the job done. As things would turn out, Cassidy was able to find himself a Sterlingof-all-trades instead.
“I met Joe on May 1 of 2020, and said to him, ‘if you let me build you a state-of-the-art facility I will,’ ” said estate director Sterling Albert. “Then I asked him, ‘what’s your budget?’ And he told me he doesn’t have one. I knew then that we’d get along really well. So, we started construction in January of 2021, and it’s been a mad dash to convert a 24,000-square-foot open span warehouse into a winery/brewery/distillery.
“If you have a distillery, you
have a brewery anyway. The only difference is you’d add hops and carbonate, and now you got beer. So, we had to fight with the ABC (alcoholic beverage control) for a while to get our beer license. But now we have the trifecta and have all three licenses for wine, beer and spirits and I don’t believe anybody else in California has that going for them. Basically, I’m building a Disneyland for people who enjoy alcohol.”
With a background in engineering, grape growing, wine making, distillery building and business that spans decades, Albert was given full autonomy to bring Cassidy’s dream to life. Luckily, Cassidy’s dream has indeed become a reality, and one can indulge in it by simply waking up and smelling the rosé – or rather, cabernet.
“We’re cabernet-centric,” Albert said. “We get our chardonnay from our neighbors next door at Monroe Ranch, but we’re basically a big cab house. The goal here is to be the best cabernet winery in the valley, which won’t
be too hard. I don’t mean to boast, but we make a pretty good product. Then on the distilled spirits side, we make brandy and we make eau de vie out of the Cabernet. Basically, this is a mass waste of money. There’s about $255 invested into an $85 bottle of brandy.
“Even more ludicrous than that is that the eau de vie is $45 a bottle and there’s about $255 in that bottle, too. But we do it because it’s a novelty and it’s never been done. We really wanted to be unique and do something crazy, and Joe lets me do crazy stuff. We also have my rum recipe that I created back in 2011 and we make rum in three different ways. There’s the clear, island style then the dark rum.”
As if that wasn’t enough, Bally Keal also has tequila, as well as Irish and Japanese whiskey on its to-brew (or distill) list. While cost poses no issue to this enterprise, the driving force isn’t to make money hand over fist or to create extravagance, rather, experience. Quite simply stated by Albert himself, it’s something that just has to be done, and done to perfection.
As unique and flavorful as the wine, beer and spirits offered at Bally Keal Estate are, so are the vast variety of experiences one can receive there. There’s a half-acre amphitheater-esque lawn venue for weddings, a 10,000-square-foot event center that can seat 500 people, a 23,000-square-foot mansion with eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, a car museum that flexes its American muscle and other iconic automobiles, a basketball court, a tennis court, a 9-hole putting green, a tasting room nestled into the vineyard (to be completed by Jan. 1), a jazz concert series coming next summer and an
abundance of fresh air outdoorsy ambiance. All things considered, it’s hard to believe Bally Keal Estate only opened this past June 15.
“It’s been great. We have 74 wine club members already,” Albert said. “Sales are increasing each week. I’m very impressed with that and largely due to my excellent staff. We’re just getting ready to launch and blow this thing up. Also, you don’t need to make a reservation to come here. By the time we’re all said and done here, we’re going to have close to 19,000 square feet worth of wine tasting, beer and spirit tasting experience.
“This place is going to be huge. Just covered space between the event center and new tasting rooms for the spirits and wines along with what we’re calling the Raven’s Lounge, alone is going to be 15,000 square feet. I’ve been able to do whatever I want here and it’s been the best job in my entire life. Everything I’ve done in this industry has led me to this part and it’s taken all my skill sets to be able to pull it off, and we’re pulling it off – and I also have a great team so that’s why it works.”
With more to come in the months to come for Bally Keal Estate, one can stay up to date, learn more about, make purchases from or become members of Bally Keal on its website, www.ballykeal.com.
One can also call Bally Keal Estate at 707-646-2901 or visit it at 4286 Suisun Valley Road, Fairfield.
From the estate to its variety of beverages and experiences, one is sure to have their spirits lifted by Bally Keal and its mantra of Céad Míle Fáilte.
Ataste of Tuscany can be found in Suisun Valley at Il Fiorello Olive Oil.
The 15-acre site is a working organic farm, a culinary center, relaxing retreat, research resource and an experience.
Fifteen years ago, Ann and Mark Sievers saw a business opportunity. Shortly after, they began planting a variety of olive trees.
Why olives? “We both liked to work in the kitchen,” Mark Sievers said. “The plant fits very well in this environment.”
The couple also saw a need and loved Suisun Valley, which is home to several wineries. That ruled out growing grapes.
Il Fiorello gave them a place to showcase the benefits of olive oil, an ancient food that belongs on the modern table, Mark Sievers said.
Their business now has more than 3,000 certified organic olive trees, which get tender loving care. The olives
are essentially handpicked from the trees. The couple do not care for the over-the-top industrial harvest method. “Be good to the trees,” he said.
Italian varieties include Frantoio, Leccino, Pendolino, Moraiolo, Taggiasca and Cerignola. Originating in France are Bouteillan, Tanche and Aglandau. Those with Spanish roots are Arbequina and Mission. From Greece comes Koroneiki, and from Tunisia, Chemlali.
There are also 200 certified organic olive trees in Green Valley. They are from Frantoio, Leccino and Pendolino varieties.
Each olive gives a different flavored oil, Sievers said.
Olive trees are sturdy and resilient. There is one in Lebanon believed to be more than 6,000 years old, still producing, Sievers said.
Il Fiorello is home to five different types of lemons, seven varieties of oranges and two kinds of limes. They also grow pomegranates and kumquats.
Lettuce, onions and tomatoes can also be found. The fruits and vegetables are used in the Visitor Center kitchen. “Fresh is best,” he said.
A home on the property, brought up to county code, serves as a visitor center, and visitors come
from around the globe. Recently, Il Fiorello hosted a Sister City visit from a Japanese delegation. That event culminated with one of the guests giving his tie to Sievers as a gift.
Going to Il Fiorello is an experience. The staff quickly interacts (often within 10 seconds) with visitors, ready to share the history of Il Fiorello and answer questions about olive oil and more.
The employees, part- and full-time, are told the only way to get in trouble at work is to not smile. “It’s all about the customer experience,” Sievers said. “Attentive but not obtrusive.”
The Visitor Center is home to a retail shop where guests can purchase the company’s awardwinning olive oil. On one wall hangs a trove of ribbons Il Fiorello has won in competitions, including international.
The company has won almost 200 awards, including many gold awards and best of class. “Competitions are a benchmark,” Sievers said.
There is also a commercial kitchen, staffed by trained chefs, offering food and classes. Lunch is served. Reservations are highly recommended for lunch.
Guests can also sample local craft beers, spirits and California wines.
The tasting room is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily for visits and oil tastings. Oil tastings are by reservation.
The olive mill handles 3 tons of olives per hour. It also welcomes guests for two community milling days. One gentleman, who attends the community milling days, said he drives 157 miles, each way, to participate.
Each time, more than 60 families haul their olives to the event, totaling about 8 to 9 tons of olives. The event is happy and fun, Sievers said. “We joke they hand-polish every olive,” he said.
The 2023 community milling days are Oct. 22 and Nov. 19. Scheduling gets underway in September.
More than 250 private growers have their olives milled at Il Fiorello.
There are about 12,000 olive oil mills in Italy, and
Village 360 brings elements of food, art and wine into one place for an unforgettable experience.
The business is owned by Jeff and Jody Anselmo, founders of BackRoad Vines, which celebrated its 10th year in July.
They began as a humble winery just off Suisun Valley Road. They began to look at the future and Village 360 became a dream that would help them grow as a business by attracting agro-tourism to the valley.
“It was a little venue,” Jeff said. “We were looking at the Suisun Valley Strategic Plan. Being a winery takes some time to get established. So we thought about doing a cafe, along with yoga.”
BackRoad Vines is at the base of the hills, and accessed on a different road from Village 360, but it is less than a mile away.
The winery itself has grown into a big hit with visitors by offering wines, bocce and a picnic area.
The concept of Village 360 is something
along the lines of being a little village with food, wine and things to do for visitors on the same property.
“It really is like a small village,” he said.
Village 360 is housed in two steel buildings connected by two skyways with a large courtyard in between. Behind it is rolling hills covered with vineyards, which grow the grapes for BackRoad Vines.
Surprisingly, the placement of the actual space was inspired by the three-way stop, which was located along Suisun Valley Road.
“There were accidents there about every oneand-half-years. I thought, ‘if it was a four-way stop then those accidents would end,’ ” he said.
So he brought the idea to the county, which liked the idea of less accidents.
Once up, Village 360 offers many things for many people.
For those looking for a nice place to eat, there is The Landing, which features breakfast, lunch and dinner with a view. For those looking for a peaceful place to practice yoga, there is Yoga at Village 360, which offers an opportunity to seek out healthy lifestyle changes. Then there is Buzz Coffee, which offers bakery goods along with coffee and tea in the mornings.
Across the way from the Buzz Coffee is the venue for Fairfield-Suisun City Visual Art Association’s annual Art on the Vine event, where artists have exhibited their works as patrons enjoy wine, food trucks and live music. Upstairs is the official meeting place of the association and an art gallery where they display the work of local artists.
In between is a patio space with tables, chairs and a perfect view of the hills. It also would make a great place to get married, celebrate an anniversary or just sit and sip for awhile.
The main building serves different functions throughout the day. From 6 to 11 a.m. every morning, it is known as Buzz Coffee, giving visitors an opportunity to start their day with everything from espressos to lattes to cappuccinos to teas. They also can order small breakfast foods such as bagels, avocado toast, yogurt parfait, BLTs and lemon bars.
From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the focus transitions into a wine bar serving BackRoads Vines wines and a menu of small bites.
“You can order a steak and it’s really small, so then you can pair it with something else,” Jeff said. “The idea is to get a little taste of everything.”
The Landing offers different menus each week under a different theme.
“We try to get as much use out of the space as we can,” Jeff said.
An additional feature is a private club room for members of BackRoads’ Wine Club, which people can get into by purchasing two cases of wine with a 10% discount.
The Anselmos plan to build a small boutique hotel next door to Village 360. The plans are in place but the pandemic stalled the progress.
“Once the paperwork goes through with the county, we can start building,” he said.
Jeff estimates that the hotel will be finished by the end of 2025.
Village 360 has been a hit since it officially opened June 14, 2021, and has seen patronage from throughout Solano County and beyond, including other Suisun Valley vintners.
To view the venues, go to Village 360 at https:// village-360.com or Backroad Vines at https:// backroadvines.com.
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It makes sense to share your commute with people who live and work near you, especially for commuters who work far from home.
In partnership with Commute with Enterprise and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), Solano Transportation Authority’s (STA) Solano Mobility vanpooling program offers commuters traveling to and from Solano County a shared mobility option. A vanpool can save you a significant amount of money by sharing the cost of commuting with 7 to 15 passengers and a driver. It’s a comfortable way to travel and provides lots of room for passengers. If you prefer not to drive and live in an area that’s not immediately accessible by mass transit, a vanpool is a great solution.
Advantages of vanpooling include:
• Savings on commute costs
• A faster trip in carpool/express lanes
• Savings on gas, car maintenance, and wear and tear on your vehicle
• Shared rides with neighbors, co-workers, friends, and new acquaintances
• Lowers stress from having to drive every day
• Save parking for others
• Limit your carbon emission
Vanpools are most cost effective when they start 15 miles or more from their destinations. New, qualifying vanpools traveling to or from Solano County for work can receive from $200 to $700 in monthly subsidies. The pricing for a van commuter depends on the number of riders and distance you are traveling.
Commute with Enterprise will also provide 24-hour roadside assistance, liability insurance, and scheduled maintenance. Recently, 23 new vanpools have taken advantage of this program traveling from Benicia, Dixon, Fairfield, Rio Vista, Vacaville, and Vallejo to Alameda, Napa, Richmond, San Francisco, and Treasure Island. Currently, there are 60 total vanpools traveling to and from Solano County.
As of Aug. 4, the Solano Express Blue Line will no longer serve the Sacramento area. The last Solano Express eastbound stop will be in Davis. STA’s Solano Mobility program has partnered with Commute with Enterprise to expand the existing STA vanpool program to provide Blue Line riders with a weekday connection to Sacramento from Vacaville and Dixon. Four 7-seat Solano Mobility Express Vanpools will travel from Dixon and Vacaville (two vanpools from each city) during the morning commute and return in the afternoon to match the previous Solano Express Blue Line schedule.
Participants must register with STA and Commute with Enterprise. STA will subsidize the monthly vanpool cost (regularly $90) for all but $50 per rider for anyone who purchased a Solano Express Blue Line pass in the past six months and is traveling from Vacaville or Dixon. Blue Line riders who purchase a monthly pass and start their commute south of Vacaville can transfer to the Solano Mobility Express Vanpool for free.
For more information about starting a vanpool or participating in the Solano Mobility Express Vanpool program, visit www.solanomobility.org or call 800-535-6883, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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Valley Strong works to empower communities through small business support. By providing affordable loan options and other supportive services, its goal is to help foster the growth of small businesses, which can be a major contributor to the local economy.
For more information or if you have questions regarding your business, connect with a Business Banking Representative at valleystrong.com.
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about 50 in North America, Sievers said. That number gets even smaller for custom milling – Il Fiorello is one the few that handle that work. A sixth mill upgrade is planned.
The couple’s passion for olive trees and olive oil was instrumental in the formation of the Olive Oil Commission of California. Mark is a voting member; Ann sits on the research committee. The commission’s work sets standards to prevent consumer fraud.
Membership connects them with the UC Davis Olive Center, a self-funded university/industry coalition that brings together nearly 60 UC faculty members, research specialists and farm advisers.
Selina Wang, a research director of the Olive Center, is a frequent visitor. Her testimonial can be found on the Il Fiorello website, citing the strong work ethic and passionate care for the environment.
Il Fiorello hosted two international doctorate candidates, one from Spain, the other from Italy. Both said their time with the Sievers and their staff reminded them of home.
More than 65 species of birds have been identified living at Il Fiorello. Owls and hawks control pests. There is also some amorous ravens, who communicate constantly and are known to ruin a window screen or two.
On the ground, bobcats and coyotes have been seen.
Il Fiorello takes its name from Ann’s family – she is a third-generation descendant of “The Chief,” Dominic Fiorello, who immigrated to America in the 1860s. The family traces its roots from Sicily and Sant’ Angelo D’alife, a village north of Naples.
It’s a family affair as the Sievers’ two daughters are also part of Il Fiorello.
Ann worked 30 years in health care as an advancedpractice nurse, researcher, author and lecturer.
Mark is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, then spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force as an officer, including a stint at the Pentagon.
He attended UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and graduated with high honors. Having had his interest piqued by analytical finances, he founded Epsilon Financial. He now focuses his attention on managing individuals’ financial affairs and the financial running of Il Fiorello Olive Oil Company.
Marc definitely went above and beyond our expectations by making sure that all the inspections were done and done properly. Marc knew that we were in a time crunch to get into our house and even negotiated with the seller for us to get the keys to the house a couple of da ys early so we didn’t have to stay in a hotel any longer. I am so glad that we had Marc as our agent and would only use him next time we either sell or buy a house. To me, Marc is what a VET Real Estate Agent should be.
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Sincerely, Lyle R Hammon USAF
A unique opportunity to own property in the highly desirable Ag. Tourism (ATC) centers within Suisun Valley, at Mankas Corner. There are only 5 ATC locations and it’s very rare to see one for sale. The zoning allows for a wide variety of uses. Currently 100% leased this one-acre property has 3 successful businesses plus an apartment. Situated in a high traffic pattern area and along with many businesses having five-star ratings, attracts visitors from near and far. The Filling Station: A tasting room offering wine and beer made locally. In side space is approx. 300sf plus a covered patio seating area, an entertainment stage with additional seating, and room for a food truck. Suisun Valley Antiques/John’s Hauling is a family-owned and operated company. They feature an eclectic selection of goodies in their 2435sf space. This business has a fenced storage yard which has one permanent structure 30’x40’. Simply Savvy 1300sf is an interior design studio. The apartment is a 3bed/1bath dwelling approx 800sf + 2 assigned parking spaces. $2,800,000
Business Opportunity! If you have always dreamt of owning your own flower shop this is your opportunity. Green Valley Floral & Gifts has been an independently owned and operated full-service floral and gift shop for the past 37 years. They create unique fresh floral arrangements for all occasions and deliver locally. They also carry a large variety of oneof-a-kind gifts, and locally sourced specialty items. Inside is a beautifully appointed 1250 sf-Retail Space, 266 sf-Office and 250 sf-Storage, totaling 1766 sf. Centered in an area with heavy traffic patterns, wonderful restaurants, wineries/ tasting rooms, event centers, and Ag Tourism locations of Suisun Valley. $115,000
