There was a buyer and a seller.
One oversaw a $1.5 billion addition to Orange County’s tourism landscape. Another scored a hit with $1.50 tacos.
One made good on investments that were made in the teeth of the recession and have flowered amid the current recovery. Another is stirring the real estate market with big bets that the recovery and local job growth will continue.
That’s the overview on the Business Journal’s Board of Achievement this year—a group that includes representatives of different industries who have one thing in common: They all plowed through a choppy year that saw the sort of fits and starts that have become a regular part of the post-recession landscape, with global economic concerns and a presidential election and subsequent “fiscal cliff” drama adding degrees of uncertainty here last year.
Start with John Coyne (see story, above), who stepped down last week as chief executive of Irvine-based hard-disk drive maker Western Digital Corp. Coyne wrapped up on a high note after guiding the company through its biggest buy ever, with a $4.3 billion buy of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Ltd.
The acquisition took about a year, and required a deft hand to pass muster with regulators around the world.
Coyne oversaw that while also getting Western Digital through the devastating effects of flooding in Thailand, a major manufacturing center for the company.
Hykes
Kevin Hykes earned a spot on the board with the sale of San Clemente-based medical device startup Cameron Health Inc. to diversified device maker Boston Scientific Corp. of Natick, Mass., in a deal that could ultimately be worth more than $1.3 billion.
Boston Scientific wanted Cameron’s S-ICD device, which is implanted under the skin to provide an electric shock to interrupt potentially fatal rhythms during a heart attack and does not have lead wires that have caused problems with other implantable defibrillators.
It’s considered by many in the healthcare industry to be a potential game-changer.
Hykes led the efforts to refinance Cameron as it finished up its clinical work and got the device ready for market. He’s probably skiing now, but expect him to resurface in coming months (see story, page 10).
Carpenter
Ed Carpenter continued to grow the string of banks he started to put together during the recession.
He started Carpenter Community BancFund in 2008 as part of Carpenter’s Irvine-based advisory firm Carpenter & Co., with a rare designation that allows it to function as a bank holding company.
Carpenter Community BancFund now controls five banks, including two based in Orange County. All are thriving—the five combined for about $36 million in earnings in the last 12 months. They would have posted a collective loss of about $30 million for the 12-months before Carpenter Community bought into them (see story, page 4).
Baldridge
Kevin Baldridge is in charge of Newport Beach-based Irvine Company’s apartment division, which includes more than 44,000 rental units and close to 125 developments across the state.
The apartment sector has been a red-hot segment of the real estate market, and Irvine Co. has been prominent in the trend, with an aggressive pace of land acquisition and construction over the past year.
It stands to add as many 10,000 or more rental units in the next few years.
The push on apartments indicates a bullish outlook on the future of OC and other select markets in California, and it’s being done on a scale few other developers could take on (see story, page 6).
Kalogridis
George Kalogridis was in charge of last year’s Cars Land addition to Disney California Adventure, the most prominent feature of a $1.5 billion makeover—a bet that has gone decidedly right, based on early returns.
How right?
California Adventure has gone from long-time burr under Disney’s theme-park saddle to a shout-out from the parent for contributing to record earnings.
Is a third gate for the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim in the future?
Kalogridis doesn’t rule that out (see story, page 8).
Creed
Greg Creed reversed a sales slump at Irvine-based Taco Bell with several new initiatives, including the biggest product launch in the history of the chain, which now has about 6,000 restaurants and nearly $7 billion in annual sales.
The big push came for the Doritos Locos Tacos, which hit stores in March.
Taco Bell sold more than 300 million of them by the end of 2012.
Creed also oversaw the rollout of breakfast offerings at Taco Bell, a first in its history, and a new Cantina Bell menu, with a new tag line and marketing campaign in the mix for good measure (see story, page 11).
Momentum
This year’s Board of Achievement reflects the broad array of executive talent in Orange County as well as the remarkable diversity of the local economy.
They all took different paths to the same destination, offering indicators that 2013 holds the potential for shift to full recovery for the local economy.
