Advertising
Ad agency Grupo Gallegos in Huntington Beach rebranded itself as GALLEGOS United after buying two companies on undisclosed terms—New York-based digital agency Canvas and public relations shop RL Public Relations & Marketing in Los Angeles. The acquisitions raise GALLEGOS United’s employee count from 90 to 150.
Apparel
Irvine-based Wet Seal notified the state Employment Development Department that it plans to lay off 148 local workers by March 21, listing permanent closure as the reason.
Susan Crank, chief executive of Lunada Bay Corp. in Anaheim, died on Jan. 23 after a battle with cancer, according to California Apparel News. Crank, 67, joined Lunada Bay in 1987. She also served on the board of CommerceWest Bank in Irvine.
Automotive
Mazda North American Operations set the stage for a new generation of executives to join its senior management in Irvine. Vice President of Sales and Retail Operations Ron Stettner left the automaker to “pursue other opportunities” and was replaced by Tom Donnelly, former western region general manager. Kara Hudson moved into Donnelly’s old post; she joined Mazda in 2009. Robert Davis, former senior vice president of U.S. operations, fills the new role of senior vice president, special assignments, which includes “mentorship of the company’s next generation of senior leadership.”
Education
University of California-Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business announced the creation of a master of finance program in response to research showing high demand from recruiters and students.
Entertainment
Pacific Symphony will make its Carnegie Hall debut in April 2018 with a special program dedicated to composer Philip Glass. Pacific Chorale—a fellow resident of the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at Segerstrom Center for the Arts—will make its Carnegie Hall debut alongside the symphony. Glass is Carnegie Hall’s 2017-18 composer-in-residence.
Finance
Irvine-based Banc of California Inc., the biggest OC-based bank by assets, announced that Chairman and Chief Executive Steven Sugarman resigned. Robert D. Sznewajs, chairperson of its Joint Audit Committee, will take over the chairman position while the bank searches for Sugarman’s successor. The bank also created an interim Office of the CEO/President to run the bank during the search. Chief Risk Officer Hugh Boyle will be interim chief executive and work with Chief Strategy Officer and Principal Financial Officer J. Francisco Turner to lead the bank. Sugarman’s resignation follows an investigation of possible dealings between the bank and Jason Galanis, who pleaded guilty to securities fraud last year involving a separate company. The bank’s board of directors hired law firm WilmerHale to investigate the issue, and the probe has so far found no evidence of a relationship between Galanis and the bank, which said it anticipates a final report in coming weeks.
Hospitality
Four Orange County resorts earned Automobile Club of Southern California’s AAA Five Diamond Award, and 10 resorts and hotels earned AAA Four Diamond status for 2017. Monarch Beach Resort and Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, both in Dana Point, and Montage Laguna Beach and Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast, earned the group’s highest honors, at the Five Diamond Level. The 10 properties nabbing a Four Diamond nod were Disneyland Hotel and Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa in Anaheim, Avenue of the Arts, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel in Costa Mesa, Blue Lantern Inn and Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa in Dana Point, Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa and Waterfront Beach Resort, A Hilton Hotel in Huntington Beach, Surf & Sand Resort in Laguna Beach, and Balboa Bay Resort, Fairmont Newport Beach, and Island Hotel in Newport Beach. Riverside’s Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, owned by Orange County resident Duane Roberts, also was named a AAA Four Diamond property.
Law
Partner Ketan Vakil is the new head of the Orange County office of Snell & Wilmer LLP, succeeding Bill O’Hare, who led the office for over 20 years. O’Hare remains active in his practice as a senior commercial litigation partner.
