Other items of interest Orange County Business Journal
LAW
Daniel Burke is set to leave Irvine-based women’s clothing maker John Knits International Inc. for Irvine-based Pacific Dental Services Inc. in September. Pacific Dental is also based in Irvine. It builds and manages dentists’ offices. Burke is credited with helping St. John trim its legal expenditures and ramp up loss prevention efforts while overseeing the company’s legal, human resources, loss prevention and risk management departments. He was honored at the Orange County Business Journal’s General Counsel Awards in June. St. John is expected to rely on the heads of the various departments Burke oversaw to fill his duties, with no plans to hire a new general counsel.
REAL ESTATE
Anaheim-based Southern California Multiple Listing Service said it plans to combine with San Dimas-based Regional Multiple Listing Service to form what the companies billed as the largest real estate listing service in the nation.
RESTAURANTS
Chief Marketing Officer David Ovens resigned from Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. for personal reasons.
Ovens had been with Taco Bell, part of Louisville, Ky.-based Yum Brands Inc., since 2007. He is expected to return to Australia with his family. Chief Executive Greg Creed will oversee the company’s marketing department until a replacement for Ovens is found. Ovens is credited with overseeing recent Taco Bell campaigns, including its Why Pay More? menu that focused on price and Drive-Thru Diet offerings that highlighted healthier fare.
Irvine-based In-N-Out Burger Inc. sued the Grab-N-Go fast-food chain in Maryland for trademark infringement. In-N-Out claims Grab-N-Go’s use of a red-and-white logo with a yellow streak in the design copies its own marque.
RETAIL
Newport Beach-based developer Irvine Company will stop leasing space to retailers of cats and dogs. It will “honor its existing contractual commitments” to Russo’s Pet Experience, a longtime tenant at its Fashion Island shopping center. The move to end leases for new pet retailers at Irvine Co.’s many retail centers comes amid a public campaign by some opposed to the sale of animals and talk of an ordinance prohibiting such business in Irvine.
TECHNOLOGY
San Jose-based Cisco Systems Inc. cut 27 jobs at its Irvine operations on top of 60 layoffs announced in July. The first cuts stemmed from Cisco’s decision to close its Flip video camera business. Cisco didn’t comment on the additional layoffs, which were expected as part of a separate companywide cost-cutting plan.
Irvine-based Kofax PLC, which makes scanning software used by businesses to reduce use of paper and speed up productivity, replaced a $16 million line of credit with a $40 million line with Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The new line can be extended by $10 million under certain conditions, according to the company, which said the deal allows flexibility on working capital and growth plans.
Aliso Viejo-based Evolver, a maker of tools that allow designers to create avatars without software, was acquired by Autodesk, a software company in San Rafael. Terms were not disclosed.
SPORTS
A second labor union that represents workers of the main concessionaire at Angel Stadium in Anaheim voted to authorize a strike. Members of Unite Here Local 11 joined SEUI United Service Workers West in the authorization, which followed talk by Philadelphia-based food-and-beverage company Aramark about a wage freeze and cuts in healthcare benefits. Representatives of both unions said they intend to continue negotiations with Aramark and have no immediate plans for a strike.
TOURISM
Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park held a grand opening for its WindSeeker, a 301-foot-high attraction that wheels riders through the air.
Disneyland Park in Anaheim plans to rebuild its Carnation Plaza Gardens Stage into a storybook village called Fantasy Faire. The project will change Carnation Plaza from a venue where high school bands, orchestras and choruses perform into a fairytale village that will be an extension of the park’s Fantasyland. A Fantasy Faire Stage will host live performances featuring various Disney characters.
OTHER NEWS
Surfboard maker Robert “Russell” Brown, owner of Russell Surfboards in Newport Beach, died of an undetermined cause Aug. 20. He started Russell Surfboard in 1967, and his products became synonymous with Newport Beach in surfing and the industry.
ECONOMIC INDICATOR
UP: The housing affordability rate in Orange County in the second quarter, when 40.5% of households could afford to buy based on prices, mortgage rates and data on the median income that’s figured into an index from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo Bank. It was the fourth consecutive quarter above 40%. The index reached a low of 2% in 2006.
