Education
The University of California-Irvine ranked No. 1 on the New York Times’ recent College Access Index. The list ranks schools with a five-year graduation rate of at least 75% based on their commitment to economic diversity. The paper bases the index on the number of low- and middle-income students enrolled and how much the schools charge them. UC schools dominate the top of the list of 170 schools.
Vanguard University in Costa Mesa plans several additions to its nursing programs. Its nursing work began more than a decade ago, and it added an on-site master’s in nursing in 2012. The school said it will add an accredited off-site master’s at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton this fall.
Finance
Newport Beach business owner Darrin Shawn Wilson pleaded guilty in a $5.6 million insurance fraud and tax evasion case and was sentenced to five years in prison, according to the Orange County Register. Wilson, 52, is owner of American Blacktop Inc. and The Maverick Co.
Food
Anaheim-based A&R Wholesale Distributors was bought by Ontario-based Gold Star Foods, a portfolio company of private equity investment firm Castle Harlan Inc. in New York, according to news reports. Terms were undisclosed. A&R, which does business as A&R Food Distributors, supplies food to schools and companies and has been in business for 31 years. Chief Executive Jeff Kuriel will join Gold Star’s leadership after A&R moves operations to Ontario, where it has offered jobs to employees now based in Anaheim.
Healthcare
Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach, one of MemorialCare Health System’s five hospitals, said it will work with UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital, part of UCLA Health, on pediatric care. They’ll “combine their academic, clinical and research expertise, and resources to enhance children’s health care services in Southern California,” according to Fountain Valley-based MemorialCare. Miller Children’s has 369 beds and is among the largest children’s hospitals in the U.S.
Anaheim-based medical device maker ClearFlow Inc. secured Food and Drug Administration approval for the FlowGlide Active Clearance Technology System, a device that clears chest tubes to prevent or reduce retention of blood and fluids. Drainage-related complications can be harmful in cardiothoracic surgery, resulting in post-surgery complications, such as retained blood syndrome. ClearFlow develops and manufactures devices that help drain blood and fluids.
Insurance
Newport Beach-based Alliant Insurance Services Inc. appointed Reshma Dalia chief financial officer of its recently formed Alliant Specialty Group. The group includes nine industry groups: public entity, real estate, aviation, financial services, energy and marine, healthcare, agriculture, construction, and environmental. Dalia was previously senior vice president, operations and finance for the Construction Services Group, which she helped grow from four offices with 100 employees in 2011 to 25 offices with 475 employees last year.
Manufacturing
Connerton Company Inc., a Santa Ana-based manufacturer of cooking equipment for the food service industry, was bought by Genkraft Technologies of Long Beach on undisclosed terms. “We see an opportunity to grow the brand,” said Tom Egan, Genkraft co-founder. Genkraft has distributorships and dealers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Connerton lacks wide distributorships that Genkraft will be able to provide, he said.
Media
Ubiquity Inc. Chairman Chris Carmichael added duties as interim chief executive, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed. He was president and chief executive from 2009 to 2016. A press release said some of the media firm’s largest shareholders asked him to return to help restructure Ubiquity, resolve debt, strengthen its management and restore timely financial reporting. He replaces Nicholas Mitsakos, who resigned in August after being arrested on non-Ubiquity matters.
