Ted Smith counts on the Center Club when he wants to impress a new recruit.
“I take them to the Center Club because of the food, the atmosphere and the sense of exclusivity,” said Smith, chief executive of Santa Ana-based Mind Research Institute, which makes interactive math and science software for schools.
It’s also a place to meet clients or just unwind with colleagues from OC’s business community. “Perhaps after work I’ll meet a friend or a business connection,” Smith said. “We’ll have a glass of wine and some hors d’oeuvres.”
Smith and his wife, Janice, have been members since the club started in 1985 on the garden level of the Center Tower next to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.
The 20,000-square-foot club counts some of Orange County’s most prominent businesspeople on its roll of about 800 members, starting with board members George Argyros, Larry Higby and Parker Kennedy. Individuals from companies such as Edwards Lifesciences Corp. and Allergan Inc. both in Irvine, are members, along with representatives of academic institutions such as Chapman University in Orange and the University of California, Irvine.
The place has hosted dignitaries and prominent business and political leaders, including Lady Margaret Thatcher, Broadcom Corp. Chief Executive Scott McGregor, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Meg Whitman.
“It is a wonderful place to mingle with the leaders of the business community,” said Victoria Collins, chairwoman of the club.
Collins, a philanthropist active in many nonprofits, retired earlier this year as senior managing director at Irvine-based wealth adviser First Foundation Inc.
Segerstrom’s Idea
Henry Segerstrom, who developed South Coast Plaza down the street, founded the club on the principle that strong personal relationships lead to good business.
Segerstrom, who’s nearing 90, was the only chairman the club had known until last year, when he hand picked Collins to take over the job.
Collins and her husband, David Collins, are charter members of the club. They even held their wedding reception at the club.
The club is owned and operated by Dallas-based ClubCorp USA Inc. Members can schmooze in the 650 Lounge, a business-casual bar area, or have upscale lunch or dinner meetings in the California Dining Room. There also are several meeting rooms as well as informal meeting areas and a landscaped outdoor patio space with fountains.
The interior design is elegant and traditional, decorated with paintings and other art.
The club hosts monthly events such as charity fundraisers, lunches, social hours and educational classes. “The club is a sought-out place for having events,” Collins said.
Good food helps.
“We don’t have a golf course or a gym or a spa,” Collins said. “We are a dining club and a business club. The restaurant and catering matters greatly.”
The club recently hosted a fashion-themed breakfast to benefit Costa Mesa-based nonprofit Working Wardrobes.
Member Paul Evan Greenwald, attorney for Santa Ana-based law firm Greenwald & Hoffman LLP, recently held a cocktail party for fellow alumnus of Los Angeles-based Southwestern Law School.
“As a law firm, we’ve done everything there,” he said.
Close to Shows
Many of the long-time members say they were originally drawn to the club because of its proximity to the theater and concerts at the Segerstrom Center. Members can park and eat at the club, and then walk over to see a show.
“The proximity to the performing arts really was a draw for us, because we love the symphony and we love the theater,” Collins said.
Long-time members, who make up about half the club, are now recruiting younger executives to join the club.
“A lot of the club members have been there for many years and are getting to be older people,” Mind Research Institute’s Smith said. “It makes sense to bring in middle-age to younger members. We’d like to get a mix of business and community leaders, people in mid-career or on their way up.”
The dress code has relaxed a bit as younger members have joined.
“There’s a lot of successful people that work in jeans,” said Amanda Thomas, membership director.
That’s includes many executives in the tech and apparel sectors. But they have to wear dress jeans to the Center Club, and flip-flops are still a no-no.
The club has added about 50 new members, most of them under 40, in the last six months.
Lincoln Salazar, publisher of Cigar & Spirits magazine, is one of the under-40 set. Salazar started a cigar club and hosts an annual tasting at the Center Club.
Women’s Programs
Collins has encouraged businesswomen to join the club since becoming a member. She started a women’s investment club and an executive women’s club for members.
“As I look back on it, women were underserved in clubs across the country,” she said. The club’s management doesn’t solicit new members—prospective members are referred. Center Club doesn’t disclose membership prices, which include an enrollment fee and monthly dues.
The club has memberships that tap ClubCorp’s network of 200 clubs and 20 country clubs, including two in Orange County: the Coto de Caza Golf & Racquet Club and the Aliso Viejo Country Club.
There also are social and networking opportunities through all sorts of clubs and committees that people can join, such as the food and wine committee, and the public affairs committee and the Ben Franklin Forum. The Ben Franklin Forum, founded by attorney Greenwald, hosts a variety of business speakers, including Chapman University’s Esmael Adibi, who presents an annual economic forecast that draws standing-room-only crowds in the California Dining Room.
“We were integrated into the club by working on these various committees,” Greenwald said.
His wife, Isabel, who used to own a catering company, spent time on the food committee. Greenwald also shares his travel adventures at the club.
“I produce a half-hour, fully narrated documentary, and I show that at a dinner, usually,” he said.
Documentaries
Greenwald has done films documenting remote tribes in China, Burma, Ethiopia and India. “It’s been very popular,” he said. “We get a capacity crowd.”
The club has allowed him and his wife to spread their wings socially.
“We’ve developed some lifelong friends out of the relationships on these committees and in the club,” he said.
