AUTOMOTIVE
Irvine-based Mazda North American Operations is offering voluntary buyout packages to an unspecified number of employees. Employees must apply by April 16, with the company expected to decide on submissions by April 27. Mazda said it will lay off some workers if it does not receive a sufficient amount of voluntary buyouts. The situation traces to Mazda North American’s Japan-based parent Mazda Motor Corp., which projects a $1.2 billion net loss for its fiscal year ending March 30.
GOVERNMENT
Laguna Greenbelt Inc. urged Laguna Beach and Irvine to work together to halt a proposed takeover of a local wildlife corridor by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI, which has a few buildings and a shooting range in the 38,000-acre corridor, has proposed taking over management of all the land from the Federal Aviation Administration.
HEALTHCARE
Billboards for 1-800-GET-THIN—which advertise certain clinics using Allergan Inc.’s Lap-Band weight-loss surgery product—have started to disappear after the marketing firm behind the campaign let contracts with outdoor-advertising firms expire. Irvine-based Allergan stopped supplying clinics behind the campaign in February, when federal regulators began investigating the deaths of some patients of the clinics. Allergan is a diversified drug maker whose flagship product is Botox (see related story, page 8).
MEDIA
Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc. is reportedly in talks with several potential buyers of its newspapers. Discussions involve 24 publications in Florida, North Carolina, Texas and elsewhere. The Business Journal reported in February that Freedom was discussing the possible sale of its Orange County Register to developer Doug Manchester, owner of the daily U-T San Diego.
RETAIL
Angel Stadium is changing its food-vendor mix, adding three Jack in the Box locations and one Chronic Tacos stand. Carl’s Jr., California Pizza Kitchen and Ruby’s Diner are closing sites at the stadium (see related story, page 1).
TECHNOLOGY
Newport Beach-based tech startup SignNow raised $2 million in first-round equity funding from Silicon Valley investors including Menlo Park-based Khosla Ventures. SignNow markets mobile phone applications including an app for signing documents via iPads.
TOURISM
Walt Disney Co. said it will hire 1,000 military veterans in the next three years, including an unspecified number at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. The Burbank-based company will recruit for its Heroes Work Here program via a company website and job fairs, including a May 22 event set for Anaheim, which Disney has dubbed the West Coast Veterans Career Expo.
OTHER NEWS
Nobel laureate and University of California, Irvine, professor F. Sherwood Rowland died at home in Corona del Mar on March 10. Rowland, who had Parkinson’s disease, was 84. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1995 as one of three researchers who found that chlorofluorocarbons, such as used in aerosol sprays, were harmful to the Earth’s ozone layer.
Founder Rev. Robert H. Schuller and wife Arvella resigned from the board of the Crystal Cathedral Ministries Inc. in Garden Grove over a dispute involving back pay and intellectual property. The bankrupt ministry agreed to sell the church and its campus to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange in February for $57.5 million and is leasing back space on the property for up to three years. The Schullers’ daughter, Sheila Schuller Coleman, announced plans to establish a new congregation at the AMC 15 movie theater in the nearby Outlets of Orange mall after also breaking with the Crystal Cathedral, where she had been a pastor.
Irvine City Councilman Larry Agran proposed a November ballot referendum to increase and extend city support of the Support Our Schools funding program through 2016. The referendum will call for increased support for the Irvine and Tustin United School Districts by $500,000 to $1 million per year via a matching grants program, and up Irvine’s contribution to the Educational Support Fund by $2 million to $2.5 million annually.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: Quarterly hiring prospects in Orange County and Los Angeles. Manpower Inc. of Milwaukee said survey responses show that 16% of employers expect to add workers in the second quarter, with 4% looking to decrease staff and 76% expecting to maintain current levels. A similar Manpower survey for the first quarter showed 10% of area companies planning to add workers.
