Musco’s Next Mark; Standing Room Only For Sunwest Forum

Paul Musco is a self-made man who has shown the Midas touch on everything from catalytic converters to big data to Texas oil. Musco is best known for his Santa Ana-based Gemini Industries—or maybe it’s the lead role that he and his wife, Marybelle, have taken on the $78 million performing arts center at Chapman University. Perhaps he’ll add a new calling card now that another one of his companies—SKITS, a maker of luxury fashion tech bags and cases—has landed a couple of products in the annual “Oprah’s Favorite Things” edition of O magazine … Chris Thornberg of Beacon Economics was having a tough day before he met the SRO crowd of more than 200 at Big Canyon Country Club for Sunwest Bank’s sixth annual Economic Forum last week. “I’ve got a pregnant significant other, a sick cat and a missing wallet—it’s one of those days.” Things got better as Thornberg—who called the mortgage meltdown and Great Recession, and has the clips to prove it—described the current economy as solid and growing faster than most statistics indicate, with not much to fear from global markets … Thornberg found a worthy fencing partner and affable foil in Sunwest Chairman Eric Hovde, who was more cautious, citing a lack of transparency on economic data from China and what he called a recent historical trend of recessions taking root at the tail-end of the second term of two-term presidents, among other concerns. … An early prediction for 2016 from our Mediha DiMartino, who covers retail and everything that comes with being a mom: expect American Girl to open a permanent store at a South OC mall. DiMartino made the call after dropping by the debut of a pop-up location of the brand at the Shops at Mission Viejo, where more than 800 began lining up at 5:30 a.m. on a recent Sunday … Jimmy Hodson is big stuff in the world of voice actors—he’s had plenty of Hollywood gigs and has served as the voice of In-N-Out for 26 years. The Newport Coast resident needed plenty of voice at the Orange County Community Foundation’s annual meeting and luncheon last week, when he joined a table hosted by his pal Doug Holte, who heads up Irvine Company’s office division and is the incoming chair of the umbrella group for local philanthropy. The friends got a vocal workout courtesy of OCCF President Shelley Hoss, who somehow got everyone in the ballroom at the Hotel Irvine on their feet and shouting “jambo”—an East African welcome that rings unique—and then back in their seats for a thoughtful address by Jessica Jackley, co-founder of nonprofit online microlender Kiva. Visit oc-cf.org for the latest on the foundation and kiva.org to get some sense of how Jackley and her colleagues have made a difference with a sustainable microlending program that allows entrepreneurs around the world to borrow as little as $25 … OC restaurants that have made sustainability a part of their business—with everything from raised-bed gardens on site to carry-out containers made of recyclable materials—can count one of the market’s leading suppliers as part of the trend. Ingardia Brothers Produce is nearly done with a solar installation at its headquarters and warehouse in Santa Ana. Sam Ingardia says it’s the right thing to do—and the savings help. He expects his electricity bill to drop by about a third, and gets a federal tax credit to boot.