An Irvine-based construction company will build a weapons surveillance test lab and a calibration lab at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. Hensel Phelps Construction Co. landed a $25.7 million order for the work from the U.S. Navy’s Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest in San Diego.
Anaheim-based drug maker Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. appointed Kelly Martin, head of Elan Corp. in Ireland, to its board of directors. Questcor is one of the largest drug companies based in Orange County and among the fastest-growing public companies here, according to a recent Business Journal list that ranked companies based on two-year revenue increases. Questcor recently posted a third-quarter profit of $94.4 million on $236.3 million in revenue, both figures above analysts’ estimates.
Oomba Inc. in Irvine completed a $1 million round of financing and secured a $610,000 bridge loan from a group of investors. The company, launched by Atari and Chuck E. Cheese founder Nolan Bushnell, said it plans to use the money to start its social media platform.
Microsemi Corp. Chief Executive Jim Peterson has been named chairman of the Aliso Viejo-based chipmaker. Dennis Leibel, who has served as board chairman since 2004, will assume the role of lead independent director. Microsemi also announced that Paul Pickle has been promoted to president and chief operating officer to oversee the company’s growth plan. Ralph Brandi, who has served as COO since 2002, will continue with Microsemi as executive vice president and focus on optimizing the company’s manufacturing operations.
Tim Leyden was named chief financial officer for Western Digital Corp. to replace outgoing finance chief Wolfgang Nickl, who’s taking a similar position with ASML Holding N.V. in the Netherlands to be closer to friends and family in his native Germany. Leyden has served in a variety of roles during his 23-plus year tenure at the company, including as CFO from 2007 to 2010 and chief operating officer from 2010 to 2012. He most recently served as president of the company’s WD subsidiary. Jim Murphy, 54, will succeed him as president of that unit.
Newport Beach software manufacturer Cloud Security Corp. plans to acquire Slice Networks LLC in Costa Mesa, which develops online and mobile applications. It’s the second acquisition move for the company of late. It agreed to buy the assets of App Ventures Ltd. in Hong Kong last month.
The Orange County Visitors Association launched websites aimed at marketing the area to visitors from the United Kingdom and Canada. Each site provides local visitor information on local events, attractions, dining options and other points of interest. It plans to launch a website next year aimed at Chinese tourists. International visitors accounted for 8% of the nearly 43.8 million visitors to Orange County last year, according to research by the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau and CIC Research Inc. That’s about flat compared to the figure reported in 2011.
Officials with South Coast Plaza welcomed Consul General of China Liu Jian. The shopping mall, along with the American-Chinese CEO Society, hosted the visit, which included dinner at the Capital Grille. The CEO society is made up of business leaders from the U.S. and China and has offices in Los Angeles. The Consulate General of the People’s Republic of
China in Los Angeles serves Southern California, the
U.S. Pacific Islands, Hawaii, Arizona, and New Mexico.
Santa Ana recreational leaders are trying to get organizers of the Tet Festival of Southern California to bring the annual event to the city. The Union of the Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California has been scouting for a new location for the festival since discussions with the city of Garden Grove, where the event used to take place, ended last month. The Tet Festival, which would run from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, celebrates the Vietnamese lunar new year. Organizers have indicated they’re searching for a new place to hold it. Garden Grove City Council, meanwhile, last week discussed hosting a new Tet Festival.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: Orange County home prices in October, when
the median price reached $540,000, up 18.7% from a
year earlier.
