EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
AEROSPACE
The Air Force certified Boeing Co.’s Delta IV rocket engine managed from Huntington Beach Boeing’s Irvine-based Connexion by Boeing unit was granted the first Federal Communications Commission license to offer in-flight Internet and other data services.
AUTOMOTIVE
Kia Motors America, Irvine, named former Hyundai Canada executive J.H. Lee as president while executive vice president Peter M. Butterfield added the chief operating officer title.
DEFENSE
Costa Mesa-based Ceradyne Inc. leased a 40,000-square-foot plant in Irvine to expand production by about 40%; the company plans to move production of diesel engine parts and orthodontic brackets to Irvine to free space for defense work at its 86,000-square-foot Costa Mesa site (see related story, page 6) Boeing Co., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Orbital Sciences Corp. were awarded $26 million to work on a vehicle to replace NASA’s aging space shuttles; Boeing’s Seal Beach unit was awarded $5.4 million to study crew-escape systems for the proposed spacecraft.
ENERGY
Southern California Edison wants to raise electricity rates 15% in 2003 to pay for repairs to power plants and lines and to cover energy costs since May 2000 Southern California Edison said it expects to get financing that will let it pay creditors in March Edison urged the Public Utilities Commission to decide who will serve Enron Corp. customers if the company is unable to Huntington Beach has to rewrite only part of a utility-tax ballot measure aimed at AES Corp.’s power plant after a judge reversed a prior rewrite ruling.
EL TORO
A San Diego judge suspended the county’s $8 million El Toro airport public relations campaign until a trial is held on charges the effort is an illegal campaign against the anti-airport Measure W A last minute legal challenge to Measure W was rejected by the California Supreme Court.
GOVERNMENT
The Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board put off until Jan. 18 a decision on new tougher rules meant to curb contaminated runoff Huntington Beach City Councilman Dave Garofalo resigned after five months of ethics charges scrutiny County supervisors voted to delay a proposal by Treasurer-Tax Collector John Moorlach to buy investments rated “credit watch negative.”
HEALTHCARE
Cardiac Science Inc., Irvine, sold 150 Survivalink defibrillators to airports in Chicago, St. Louis, Orlando, Fla., and elsewhere (see related story, page 10) The heart valve put in Los Angeles Lakers announcer Chick Hearn was made in Irvine by Edwards Lifesciences Corp.
REAL ESTATE
The Irvine Company, Newport Beach, awarded a contract to Insignia/ESG Inc., Los Angeles, to handle property and construction management of Irvine’s Jamboree Center as well as four office centers in Los Angeles and San Diego.
TECHNOLOGY
Lake Forest-based Western Digital Corp. expects to post a profit of about $7.5 million for the quarter ended Dec. 28, its first in three years; Western Digital workers received holiday bonuses Irvine-based Intersil Corp.’s wireless networking chips will be put in IBM Corp.’s NetVista personal computers … DisplayWorks, an Irvine-based trade show marketing firm, will produce some 100 exhibits for Hewlett-Packard Co. in 2002 . Tickets.com Inc., Costa Mesa, named former GameWorks executive Ron Bension as its chief executive, replacing W. Thomas Gimple, who becomes chairman Autobytel Inc., Irvine, said Yahoo Inc. users will get access to Autobytel’s network of auto dealers … Printer maker Printronix Inc., Irvine, said revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 28 would be down by as much as 10% from the prior quarter’s $36.5 million Wonderware Corp. added 10,000 square feet to its lease at the Allred Corporate Center in Lake Forest, where it plans to move its headquarters from Irvine in February; the software maker now has 116,000 square feet in Lake Forest Irvine-based Quest Software Inc. ranked No. 25 in the top 100 sellers of business intelligence software by DM Review Magazine Irvine-based SSP Solutions Inc. raised $2.5 million in a private offering of debt to executives and an investment banker; SSP also secured financing with Wells Fargo Business Credit Santa Ana-based Micro General Corp.’s LDExchange unit will quit its wholesale long distance business, resulting in an expected charge of $4.5 million to $5.5 million.
TRANSPORTATION
The Transportation Corridor Agencies voted to raise tolls for cash customers on OC tollroads in 2002 but will continue subsidizing drivers with electronic transponders.
WHAT ELSE IS NEWS
Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. opened a Taco Bell Grill test restaurant in Garden Grove serving “fresh Mex” cuisine Anaheim-based trash hauler Taormina Industries sued Costa Mesa’s Special Solutions Industries for alleged unfair competition in Special Solutions’ bid to break into the garbage and recycling business Christopher Joseph Slaughter, the 42-year-old chief financial officer of El Pollo Loco, Irvine, died after battling lymphoma Hispanics accounted for 48.3% of OC babies in 1998 and should account for half within five years, according to the University of California, Los Angeles.
TOP STORIES:
Conexant Systems Inc., Newport Beach, will spin off its wireless chip unit and combine it with Woburn, Mass.-based Alpha Industries Inc.; the new company is set to be based in OC and Massachusetts and count $600 million in yearly sales A federal jury rejected Intel Corp.’s claims that Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. illegally copied two Intel chips, relieving Broadcom of the threat of royalty payments and damages; a second trial on other Intel claims is pending Aliso Viejo-based Fluor Corp. named Alan Boeckmann as chairman and chief executive, replacing Philip Carroll Jr., who is retiring Feb. 6.
Mixed:
OC’s median home price hit $322,000 in December, up 14.6% from a year ago, though escrow closings were off 15% in November from the prior month, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
