OC-LB Ties Displayed at ‘State of Port;’ CFOs & Shakespeare

Score a hit for the Port of Long Beach and a tally of ties to OC at the State of the Port last week, a first-class affair from the decor of the hall at the city’s convention center to the impressive talks by Harbor Commission President Lori Ann Guzmán and CEO John Slangerup … Guzmán’s day job is finance director for the City of Huntington Beach, by the way, and she looked very much like a woman with potential for electoral politics as she welcomed the crowd of 900. Slangerup reminded everyone about the “very public and painful meltdown of our supply chain” that came with a labor dispute that had the port paralyzed just 12 months ago. The facility got back on track so fast that it handled a record 2 million containers of cargo by last year’s third quarter … Other ties between the Long Beach port and OC could be spotted on the seating chart, which included two members of the Huntington Beach City Council— Billy O’Connell and Barbara Delgleize—along with Dwight Robinson of the Lake Forest City Council, who also has a seat on the South Coast AQMD … Slangerup gave his OC neighbors something to look forward to on the new Gerald Desmond Bridge. The replacement span will eventually rise 515 feet, with a roadway about 200 feet above water level and variable LEDs able to put on a light show visible for miles around on clear nights … The bridge has brought something more tangible to OC, too, thanks to Shimmick Construction Co.’s role as a prime contractor on the $1.5 billion project—a priority for the firm’s Irvine office. Oakland-based Shimmick is one of three joint venture partners that share in a $650 million chunk of the work … It was a week for top-shelf events, including the Business Journal’s own CFO Awards. Travis Trask of Barney & Barney got the night off to a humorous start at Hotel Irvine by welcoming “ladies, gentlemen … CFOs.” It ended on a poignant note, thanks to Lifetime Achievement honoree Madhu Vijay of Aviation Capital Group, who held the crowd of about 600 rapt with his sincerity, seamlessly weaving Shakespeare into a night of number crunchers. See page 11 for a news item on this year’s winners, and check next week’s Business Journal for profiles on each of them … The Irvine Chamber of Commerce also put on a good show for its Business Outlook 2016 at the Irvine Marriott, with fascinating looks at money from a couple of distinct perspectives. Bill Maurer, dean of UC-Irvine’s School of Social Sciences, gave some perspective on work he did as one of 15 members of a panel the U.S. Treasury has brought together to advise on new faces and designs for U.S. currency … Fox Business show host Stuart Varney offered a big chunk of context on our current socioeconomic situation, a concise primer on how much the effects of the Great Recession continue to shape our lives … Pacific Life set up a tent next to its Newport Center HQ for its foundation’s annual grants reception, where the line of the night came from some obvious Will Ferrell fan in the crowd who called for “more cowbell” after Tennyson Oyler used just such an aid to gather everyone around for CEO Jim Morris’ remarks. Morris also talked about more—as in more giving in 2016, when the Pac Life Foundation is slated to provide $6.25 million in grants—up from $6 million last year—to a roster of organizations that includes 168 in Southern California.