Three companies that have immense impact on the Sonoma County economy will make their debut today on the North Coast Stock Index.
Safeway, the Pleasanton-based supermarket chain, which was the fourth-largest private employer in Sonoma County last year with 1,475 workers.
PG&E, the San Francisco-based utility, which was the third-largest company in Sonoma County in 2004, based on $640 million in estimated revenue.
Fortune Brands, an Illinois beverage conglomerate, whose Healdsburg-based wine unit was the nation's fifth-largest producer of super-premium wines last year. Fortune acquired Allied Domecq Wines USA last summer, adding Clos du Bois and Buena Vista Carneros to its stable of brands.
The North Coast Stock Index tracks the weekly change in the value of a portfolio of 18 North Coast company stocks selected to represent the economic diversity of the region.
The index of public companies was developed in 1996 by The Press Democrat and Stephen Lewis, professor of economics at Sonoma State University.
To make room for the new companies, Calpine and Louisiana-Pacific are being removed from the index.
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