Education
The family of retired Air Force Gen. William Lyon plans to give $150,000 to the Center for Oral and Public History at California State University-Fullerton, the school said. The center is being renovated, expanded and relocated to the university’s Pollak Library. The gift is for a research and study area that will be named the William Lyon Family Reading Room. It has more than 120 hours of interviews with Lyon and his father, Abraham, on newly digitized, recordings from 1975. The center has raised more than $920,000 toward a $1.25 million goal.
Healthcare
Kaiser Permanente named Mark Costa executive director of its Orange County service area. He succeeds Julie Miller-Phipps, now president of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia, and will begin his new role in early January. Costa currently serves as executive director of Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. Kaiser’s OC operations include hospitals in Anaheim and Irvine, along with medical offices. It serves more than 490,000 members through a network of some 6,660 workers and 860 doctors.
Actavis PLC, which is buying Irvine-based Allergan Inc., will lay off 200 workers at its operation just across the county line in Corona, according to a state filing. The layoffs take effect Jan. 2, according to a notice filed with the state Employment Development Department. Actavis, which is based in Dublin but operates from New Jersey, struck a $68 billion deal for the maker of Botox last month.
Hospitality
Laguna Beach boutique hotel Casa Laguna Inn & Spa sold on undisclosed terms to Villa Carlotta LLC in Los Angeles. The seller was Casa Laguna Inc. in Montreal. PRG Investment and Management Inc. in Los Angeles has been named the new management company for the hotel, built in 1924. The property last traded hands in 2000 for about $2.4 million.
The Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa named Peter Rice its general manager, effective Dec. 2. He previously ran the Hyatt Regency resort property in Scottsdale, Ariz., and replaces Paul Devitt, who transferred to Hyatt’s Lone Pine resort in Austin, Texas.
Media
I-5 Publishing LLC in Irvine said it will replace its long-standing Dog Fancy and Cat Fancy magazines with print versions of its websites Dogster.com and Catster.com “to meet the needs of the contemporary marketplace.” The company said it doesn’t anticipate changes in editorial headcount related to the switch.
Restaurants
Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. plans to open 1,300 more restaurants, with an aim of adding $2 billion in overseas sales by 2022, according to a report in Nation’s Restaurant News. Most of the Mexican-style fast food chain’s units are in the U.S.—about 5,800 out of about 6,000. Its plans mention the United Kingdom, Poland, Chile, Peru, Korea, Japan and Thailand—but not China—the report said.
Newport Beach-based restaurant chain Roy’s is set to be sold on undisclosed terms by parent company Bloomin’ Brands, according to a report in Nation’s Restaurant News. The Tampa-based owner plans to sell the Pacific Rim cuisine restaurant operator to United Ohana LLC in Dallas, a company formed by Sunil Dharod, who runs about 70 Applebee’s franchises in Texas. Roy’s has 29 restaurants, including two in Orange County. Bloomin’ bought the chain in 2000.
Services
Irvine-based food manufacturer and distributor Golden State Foods Corp. opened a distribution center in Chicago focused on environmental sustainability. It serves about 460 McDonald’s restaurants in the Chicago and Northwest Indiana markets and replaces an older distribution center in the area.
Technology
Longtime Accenture Plc executive Martin Cole joined the board of Irvine-based storage products maker Western Digital Corp. Cole, who spent 34 years with the technology consultancy and IT provider, will serve on the audit committee. Several Western Digital directors didn’t seek re-election this year, and there was a recent board resignation from its Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Ltd. subsidiary.
Other
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange said its foundation received a $20 million pledge from an undisclosed person for its Christ Cathedral campus, the former site of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. The pledge is to the Orange Catholic Foundation, which raises money for the diocese.
