Other news items of interest from the Orange County Business Journal
Orange County added 3,300 jobs, and its unemployment rate dropped to 5.7% in April from 6.3% the prior month and 7.3% a year earlier, according to the state Employment Development Department. The jobless rate for OC compares with 8.5% for California and 7.1% for the U.S. The number of jobs in OC has grown by nearly 27,000 over the past year, for a total of 1,420,900.
Irvine-based Opus Bank launched a division focused on providing financing to healthcare professionals. The division will work primarily with practitioners in dental, medical, ophthalmology and veterinary services. Opus has tapped Evan Barker as senior managing director of the unit. He recently served as senior vice president overseeing the healthcare division at Sunwest Bank, also in Irvine.
La Habra-based American First Credit Union has named Jon Shigematsu its new chief executive. Shigematsu, a certified public accountant, joined the credit union in 2011 as chief financial officer. He succeeds Pam Easley, who served as chief executive of American First for about three years.
Healthcare-focused private equity firm Strathspey Crown LLC tapped banking industry veteran Vikram Malik as a managing partner. Malik arrives at the Newport Beach firm after spending two years at Deutsche Bank in New York, where he was vice chairman of investment banking and global head of medical technology. He previously was at Bank of America for 11 years, serving as a managing director in the healthcare corporate and investment banking group.
Anaheim’s City Council approved a $158 million hotel room tax subsidy toward construction of two luxury hotels. Developer Bill O’Connell Sr. can keep 70% of bed taxes until the benefit reaches $158 million or 2042, whichever comes first. The city will get 10% of the hotels’ occupancy taxes, and 20% will go to pay off bonds that paid for resort district improvements in 1997.
Casanova Pendrill in Costa Mesa and two of its sister advertising agencies were tapped by the Frozen Food Roundtable of McLean, Va., to develop a national consumer campaign promoting the benefits of frozen foods.
The recently formed trade group—comprised of several companies, including General Mills, the Kellogg Co. and Pinnacle Foods—operates as part of the American Frozen Food Institute.
Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. promoted its former head of marketing to president as part of the company’s 10-year growth plan. Brian Niccol, formerly the chain’s chief marketing and innovation officer, is now president, with duties that include marketing, menu development and operations. Niccol reports to Chief Executive Greg Creed.
Universal Protection Service acquired Burbank-based Sky Security Services, a deal that gives the Santa Ana-based company entry into Nevada and Hawaii. Terms weren’t disclosed. Sky Security has about 20 offices overall, with a presence in Florida and Texas, where Universal already operates. It specializes in hotels and residential communities, including condominiums and apartments, and is planning to open offices in Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia.
Lake Forest-based Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. plans to raise $2.7 million in a direct offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes. The deal calls for Crede Capital Group LLC in Los Angeles to acquire 4.9 million shares of common stock from Quantum, with an option to buy an additional 2.9 million shares over the next five years.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: The outlook on bankruptcies in Orange County in March, when filings by individuals and businesses fell to 1,048, a decline of 31.5% from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. Filings were also down for the quarter compared to the same period in 2012, to 3,008, or a 29.7% drop.
MIXED: Orange County’s residential real estate market, which saw home prices continue their upward trend, with a 27.4% increase in the median price in April, to $535,000, according to DataQuick Information Systems. The price was the highest since December 2007. The California Association of Realtors reported that the recent run-up in prices means that fewer than one in three OC residents could afford a home at the median price, or $600,150.
