It’s been a quiet few months inside the facilities of Christ Our Redeemer AME Church in Irvine, as the coronavirus halted in-person services for the largest African Methodist Episcopal church in OC.
Outside the Spectrum-area church (a 900-seat facility that’s a few doors down from the HQ of Vizio), it’s been anything but quiet. A June 13 Unity March and Rally starting at the church drew over 2,000 people.
Pastor Ralph Williamson said the event’s goals were “to stand in solidarity against racism, injustice, and division,” while also emphasizing voter registration and participation.
“The goal is not to stop at voter registration, but we must educate voters on the candidates that support the policies that matter to our community such as changes to our criminal justice system, policing standards and more,” he said.
See our page 1 feature on UCI Law Dean L. Song Richardson, one of the country’s top legal minds on implicit bias, for more thoughts on potential changes to the criminal justice system.
Attendees at the Unity March included several area pastors, as well as many from law enforcement, including OC Sheriff Don Barnes and Irvine Police Chief Mike Hamel. Irvine Councilwoman Farrah Khan, who recently announced plans to run for mayor, also attended.
The Unity March was co-sponsored by COR Community Development Corp., the economic development arm of the church which aims to empower underrepresented and underserved communities by forming partnerships with the public and private sectors.
The Business Journal is honored to work with the group, and has provided advertising space to highlight its work; see page 9 to learn more about their business development programs, young entrepreneur academy and STEM programs, as well as ways to volunteer.
Millennials might not have all the money yet, but they know what a buying opportunity looks like.
Acorns, the Irvine-based micro-investing fintech, which rounds up users’ spare change and invests it on their behalf, said it saw its biggest surge of new customers in a day on March 18, when the S&P 500 dropped 5%.
It now counts some 7.7 million users and $2.3 billion of assets under management; it was recently featured in Forbes as one of the country’s next billion-dollar startups; it’s already raised nearly $260 million in equity.
“Every downturn has ended in an upturn,” notes Chief Executive Noah Kerner.
News of the planned closure of the mammoth 24 Hour Fitness facility at the Lakeshore Towers office complex in Irvine, one of seven spots in OC the chain plans to shutter following the company’s bankruptcy, might have members looking to find some extra space in their garages for makeshift gyms.
Have room for a high-tech rowing machine to go alongside your Peloton bike? Newport Beach’s RX3 Ventures hopes so; the investment fund (partners include Roth Capital’s Byron Roth, Nate Raabe and Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers; Alex Bhathal is also an investment partner) are backing Hydrow, whose indoor rowing machines (running $2,199) connect users to athletes streaming live. The Cambridge, Mass.-based firm said it raised $25M last week.
