EDUCATION
The South Orange County Community College District said Interim Chancellor Debra Fitzsimons will retire on Dec. 30. She’s served in the role since July 2016, when the board of trustees appointed her following the retirement of Gary Poertner. Fitzsimons was previously vice chancellor of business services. The district’s trustees will select an acting chancellor to step in following her retirement.
— Deirdre Newman
FINANCE
Irvine-based bank and wealth manager First Foundation Inc. promoted Lindsay Lawrence to the new position of chief operating officer of its banking unit. Lawrence, who was chief banking officer, joined the bank in 2015 after serving as commercial deposits executive at Umpqua Bank and chief banking officer at Opus Bank. She earned an MBA from the University of California-Irvine and a bachelor’s in communications from Northwestern University.
— Peter Brennan
MEDIA
Irvine-based Ubiquity Inc. said Robert Fernander joined its board as chairman in April. Chris Carmichael, founder and interim chief executive, resigned from the board following the appointment, the company said. Fernander has experience in “connecting new technologies to high growth markets,” according to a press release. In August, the Securities and Exchange Commission revoked Ubiquity’s stock based on a pattern of reporting requirement violations.
— Deirdre Newman
NONPROFIT
The Braille Institute broke ground on a $10 million center scheduled to open next fall at 527 N. Dale Ave. in Anaheim. The approximately 14,700-square-foot building will replace an aging collection of homes not originally intended to be an educational institution, according to the institute. The new building will provide services for children, teens, adults and seniors.
— Deirdre Newman
RESTAURANTS
Golden State Warrior Kevin Durant and business partner Rich Kleiman invested an undisclosed amount in Rancho Santa Margarita-based pizza chain Pieology Pizzeria, and will own several of its franchises, according to news reports. Pieology is No. 14 on the Business Journal’s list of OC-based restaurant chains, with $150 million in 2016 systemwide sales and about 150 locations. It announced this summer that it will open two of a planned 47 locations in Mexico this year. Its focus is build-your-own pizza.
— Hannah Mitchell
RETAIL
The Anaheim-based Northgate González Market LLC grocery store chain sold its stake in seven Los Altos Ranch Market stores in Arizona to Cardenas Market, a fellow Latino retailer, according to the Orange County Register. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.
— Hannah Mitchell
SERVICES
J.D. Power Chief Executive Finbarr O’Neill will retire in March. He plans to remain with the company during the search for his replacement, and after the transition will serve as senior adviser to the company. O’Neill, prior to joining the Costa Mesa-based consumer data and analytics firm in 2008, was president and chief executive of Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America from 1998 to 2003 and served in a similar role at Cypress-based Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. from 2003 to 2005. During his tenure at J.D. Power, it “expanded globally and increased its sector expertise,” according to Joseph Pacini, Chief Executive Officer of J.D. Power’s parent company, XIO Group in London.
— Mediha DiMartino
