EDUCATION
Vanguard University in Costa Mesa will open a new science lab this fall, thanks to a $300,000 grant from the Fletcher Jones Foundation. The Outdoor Learning Laboratory will include an aquaponics area, greenhouse and butterfly conservatory. Its opening is timed to the launch of Vanguard’s Environmental Sciences major. The foundation isn’t affiliated with Fletcher Jones Motorcars; it’s named for a Fletcher Jones who was a mathematician known for co-founding Computer Sciences Corp., or DXC Technology.
— Subrina Hudson
HEALTHCARE
Newport Beach-based Bonti closed $15.5 million in series C financing. The company develops Botox-like neurotoxin EB-001, for which it’s seeking aesthetic and therapeutic uses. Proceeds will be used to complete a phase 2 study to use EB-001 to treat musculoskeletal pain. Chief Executive and Co-Founder Fauad Hasan said participation exceeded the company’s initial target. Bonti also hired current Bonti director David Ramsay as chief financial officer, effective next month. He formerly held the same role at Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. in San Diego. San Diego-based healthcare-focused investment firm City Hill Ventures LLC led the round.
— Sherry Hsieh
MANUFACTURING
Kimberly-Clark Corp., which owns a 348,000-square-foot plant in Fullerton, where CoStar Group Inc. records show it employs 350 people, said it will cut up to 5,500 jobs and close about 10 factories. It didn’t specify which plants are targeted for closure. The Irving, Texas-based maker of consumer products, including Kleenex and Huggies, is trying to cut over $2 billion in costs by 2021.
— Hannah Mitchell
SERVICES
Rashaan Salaam’s Heisman Trophy attracted nearly $400,000 in an auction run by Laguna Niguel-based SCP Auctions. The winning online bid of $399,608 at the close of the 12-day auction was a record, according to media reports. Salaam rushed for 2,055 yards and 33 touchdowns in his junior season in 1994 at Colorado University in the lead-up to his Heisman win. Denver venture capitalist Tyler Tysdal, who put up the award for auction, told CBS Sports he intends to donate the proceeds to research on Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE. Salaam committed suicide in December 2016 at a Boulder, Colo., park in the shadows of CU’s Folson Field. His brain was never tested for CTE, a progressive degenerative brain disease found in several former NFL players and other athletes with a history of repetitive brain trauma that has led to depression, dementia and suicide.
— Chris Casacchia
TRANSPORTATION
Long Beach Airport passenger traffic was up 33% last year to 1.9 million. November and December passenger traffic were up 23% and 21% year-over-year. The showing reflects a full year of routes added when a regular noise test showed the facility had space for more planes. Southwest was a new entrant. Cargo declined 9% last year to 23,000 tons.
— Paul Hughes
