AUTOMOTIVE
Hyundai Motor America Inc. in Fountain Valley launched a Hyundai Recognized Collision Repair Center program, which will be administered by the Laguna Hills-based Assured Performance Network. The program ensures independent and dealership-owned collision repair centers have training, tools, equipment and facilities needed to properly repair Hyundai vehicles. The nonprofit Assured Performance Network verifies that each body shop meets the program’s requirements and passes an annual inspection, plus manages shops’ enrollment in the program, proof of compliance documentation, and marketing.
EDUCATION
University of California-Irvine is No. 13 on Money Magazine’s 2015-2016 list of the 736 “best colleges” in the U.S. UCI received an overall A grade for the value of a bachelor’s degree, with a net cost of $122,445 and “early career” annual earnings of $49,600. Stanford University, California Institute of Technology, Harvey Mudd College, and University of California-Berkeley were the only California schools listed above UCI.
Attorneys for Corinthian Colleges Inc. students reached an agreement with the Department of Education to give students four months of debt relief while the Santa Ana-based for-profit company goes through bankruptcy and the department and students develop a long-term debt-relief plan, according to news reports.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based Edwards Lifesciences Corp. is buying privately held CardiAQ Valve Technologies Inc. for $350 million in cash and up to $50 million in regulatory milestone payments. CardiAQ, also based in Irvine, is developing less-invasive replacement mitral heart valves. Edwards said it bought CardiAQ to expand its portfolio of the products. The company stopped enrolling patients in a clinical trial for its own less-invasive mitral valve, known as Fortis, about two months ago.
SERVICES
Mission Viejo-based Hoffman Southwest Corp., which provides underground pipeline inspection and repair services, has been acquired by Chicago-based private equity firm Sterling Partners on undisclosed terms. Hoffman operates Professional Pipe Services on the West Coast, providing pipeline inspection and cleaning services to municipalities, engineers, homes and others. It was founded in 1946 as a franchisee of Roto-Rooter and has 20 branches in 12 states and more than 650 employees.
OTHER
Orange County Great Park executive Cliff Wallace left its real property and site administration manager position to join the Nixon Presidential Library & Museum as education specialist. He follows another former Great Park executive who left the park for the Nixon library. Last year, former Great Park chief executive Mike Ellzey became the library’s director.
The Surfing Heritage & Culture Center in Costa Mesa helped the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., develop its first large-scale surfing exhibit, the Orange County Register reported. The exhibit includes some artifacts from Orange County, such as a surfboard made by Duke Kahanamoku.
TECHNOLOGY
San Juan Capistrano-based investment firm Frost Data Capital partnered with security service provider Symantec Corp. in Mountain View to create and seed startups in the cyber security analytics, Big Data, and Internet of Things markets. The plan is to incubate as many as 10 companies per year to deliver advanced cyber security analytics to stymie increasing security attacks through mainstream technology applications.
TOURISM
Destination Irvine said it plans to enter a float in the Rose Parade on Jan. 1 called “Innovation Rocks!” The group is the city’s destination marketing organization, which is funded by a self-imposed assessment on hotels and run as part of the Irvine Chamber of Commerce. The float celebrates the innovations in technology and life sciences” by its companies and schools in the city, said Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Tallia Hart.
