remained lean, but passionate. Editors in those years included such talented local journalists as Laura Hagar Rush, Julie Fadda Powers, Alexandra Russell and Karen Hart. Petaluma native Russell joined NBb in 2006 following her move back to the county after cutting her teeth at Bay Area Music (BAM) magazine in the 1990s. She says joining the team at NBb gave her a “new perspective” on her home county. “I was able to see SoCo
Today, NorthBay biz’s team is still lean, but every bit as passionate as it was under previous regimes. Anne Schenk has been with the magazine since 2003, starting as a member of the graphics team before rising to become our current design director. Anne led a celebrated redesign of the magazine in
2023—updating NBb with a fresh, contemporary look—and has been the talent behind the magazine’s many dazzling covers since 2022. Associate Editor Rosie Padilla joined in 2023 and her responsibilities are almost too numerous to mention—from bylining features, inside stories and the popular Lawrence Amaturo, owner of Amaturo Sonoma Media Group.
As with our other writers in this issue, here’s a 50th anniversary shot of Lawrence Amaturo in his pre- entrepreneurial youth.
as a well-rounded, thriving and supportive community—not as a
podunk hometown I couldn’t wait to leave [as a youth],” she says. “There were people and industries I had never considered—from health care to technology to nonprofits and entertainment.” Russell says her stories covering the intricacies of the wine industry were particularly memorable. “Its complex web of [legal] requirements and restrictions was fascinating,” says Russell, who continues to byline our Great Tastes winery features each month. Working at hyper-local publications like NBb have made her “a faster and better editor, and a more succinct writer,” she says. “But mostly it’s the people I met, both colleagues and subjects,” she adds. ”The C-suite players and the on-the-ground workers each had a story to tell. Finding those stories—and telling them with clarity and empathy—was the best part of the job.” Adds Russell: “Well, that and the NBb Best Of parties.” ……… After 17 years running the magazine, the Rosinskis decided the time was right to step away from red-ink-stained page proofs, ever-tightening deadlines and an endless parade of business mixers to attend. In 2017, they sold NorthBay biz to Amaturo Sonoma Media Group (ASMG), the Santa Rosa-based broadcasting company operating such county radio favorites as News/Talk KSRO, Froggy 92.9 FM, KHits 104.9 FM, Hot 101.7 FM and 97.7 FM The River. (ASMG has since added KZST 100.1 FM and other popular local stations to its stable.) Looking to expand its avid “listenership” to include a longtime “readership,” NorthBay biz was ASMG’s foray into print and online business news, as well as a chance to extend the company’s footprint into Napa and Marin, says Lawrence Amaturo, ASMG managing partner. The Rosinksis, meanwhile, returned to Chicago to be closer to their two daughters and five grandchildren, while John Dennis stayed on as president of the magazine, before retiring in 2021. Amaturo describes taking on the role as magazine publisher nearly a decade ago as a way of showing his company was in a growth mode. Publishing “was a business moving in all directions” Amaturo recalls about purchasing NorthBay biz —and indeed it was. Traditional news media was rapidly adopting digital products, with content being created for both online and print audiences. Being a newly anointed magazine publisher at the time “was like trying to build the plane, while flying the plane, while reading the owner’s manual at the same time,” says Amaturo. Even after all these years, publishing in many ways “is still new to me,” he reflects. But, Amaturo adds, owning NorthBay biz has cemented his respect for “the power of the printed word, and the deeper understanding” of timely issues it can provide. ………
Beyond the Boardroom business- leader profiles to creating marketing collateral, managing northbaybiz. com , event planning and acting as editorial lead on our epic Best of the North Bay issue. Meanwhile sales superstar Lori Rooney has been the face of the magazine since 2009—
engaging with the
Anne Schenk, NBb's design director of magic.
community at business mixers, industry events and as an irrepressible dancing diva several nights a week on the local live-music circuit. Lifelong North Bay resident Jason Walsh sharpened his journalism chops with reporter and editor stints at the Marin IJ, Pacific
Lori Rooney, NBb's marketing consultant extraordinaire.
Sun, Santa Rosa Press Democrat — and now serves as editor in chief of NorthBay biz .
With the recent sale of the Press Democrat to a corporation based in New York, and most other locally circulating media being owned by companies outside the Bay Area, NorthBay biz stands as not only the longest-running news and business publication with local ownership in the region, but the only locally owned publication covering the entire North Bay, period. Amaturo believes time will tell “if local ownership is meaningful or necessary to the community.” But ever since moving from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to what he once thought of us “small town” Sonoma County in 1996, owning local media has been highly meaningful to him. “I met my wife, raised my family and walked our kids to school here,” he says. “It’s been a blessing to be in media in this county.” For more of the in-depth, locally owned North Bay coverage we’ve been striving to produce for 50 years, visit northbaybiz.com . g Rosie Padilla, NBb's super star associate editor.
December 2025
NorthBaybiz 25
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