Simon Hire Points to Larger OC Strength

The silliness of an election season abounds, the stock market has dropped into “correction territory”—and business continues strong in Orange County. Why? The reasons are numerous and ever changing, although some point simply to the heart of what business is all about—ideas and talent. Example: Ron Simon, a cabinet maker whose ideas about precision and talent for manufacturing have carried him into homebuilding, just hired Todd Palmaer as CEO of RSI Communities LLC. Palmaer brings 30 years of experience, including leadership positions at Lennar Homes and Greystone Homes, as well as his most recent post as a regional president of Standard Pacific Homes, which recently merged with Ryland to form CalAtlantic in a deal that split the two companies’ executive teams about down the middle. Enter Simon, whose eye for talent ranges from high schoolers selected for his Simon Scholars to high-level execs such as Palmaer, whose talent will remain in OC … Speaking of talent, ideas and high schoolers: Consider this turn from the recent Teen Entrepreneur Academy hosted by the Concordia U. School of Business. Karina Gonzalez, a junior at Century High School in Santa Ana, didn’t take home 1st prize for her business plan, which was one of 25 worked up by youngsters. Yet Gonzalez found residual value when she submitted her plan to a competition sponsored by the OC Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which got her a nomination for a U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce BizFest Business Plan Competition, where she won 1st place and a $5,000 college scholarship … Speaking of the stock market and corrections: Turn to page 43 for some keen insight from Chapman U.’s Jim Doti on how the Fed’s moves on interest rates stand to affect equities … Speaking of election-year silliness: Don’t expect any when former President Bill Clinton takes the stage to once again deliver the keynote address for the World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit, set for January 22-23 at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Point. The annual event is produced by the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, brainchild of Joe Kiani, founder of Irvine-based medical device maker Masimo Inc. Don’t know what sort of press retinue will trail Clinton into OC, given the status of his wife, Hillary, as frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Can say that his talks in years past have stuck tightly to the Patient Safety Movement’s mission of eliminating preventable deaths in hospitals and other healthcare settings by 2020 … Goodwill of OC wasted little time living up to the new benchmark it set on fundraising with a $1 million gift from Thomas and Elizabeth C. Tierney to support programs for local military veterans. That was about a year ago, and the Insider hears the organization is in line for another $1 million—this one from an anonymous donor who wants to honor Rogers Severson and support both the Goodwill Fitness Center and Assistive Technology Exchange Center. The Fitness Center will be christened the Rogers A. Severson Fitness & Technology Center in honor of the late real estate exec, who sustained a severe spinal cord injury in 1986 and went on to play a key role in building the center that will bear his name … The Rams will head back to L.A., but OC can also claim to have drawn the interest of an NFL owner. Our Mark Mueller reports on page 1 that the San Diego apartment developer that’s in a deal for the six-building Colton Plaza office campus near JWA is owned by the family of Zygi Wilf, owner of the Minnesota Vikings.