This past week’s news from www.ocbj.com and other sources
TOP STORIES
Seasonal hiring in education and private sector gains helped push the county’s unemployment rate in October to its lowest level since May 2009. Employers here added 13,200 jobs for the month, putting unemployment at 9.1%, down from a revised 9.6% in September and 9.8% a year earlier. The total number of non-farm jobs rose 1.5% from a month earlier to 1.37 million. Local government led the gain, adding 7,200 jobs as teachers returned to school after summer. Job gains also were recorded in manufacturing, health services, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, trade, transportation and utilities and financial services. Corporate hiring reversed a September loss (see related frontpage story).
Laguna Niguel-based chip startup Symwave Inc. was acquired by one of its backers for undisclosed terms. Hauppauge, N.Y.-based Standard Microsystems Corp. is buying the company nearly a year after making a $5 million investment in Symwave, which launched in 2008. Symwave makes chips for the next generation of universal serial bus ports, the most popular way of connecting consumer electronics to a PC. Publicly traded Standard Microsystems sees about $370 million in yearly sales and had a recent market value of $600 million. The future of Symwave’s local office, where it has 30 employees, remains unclear.
Irvine-based music and video wholesaler Super D acquired the assets of Hoffman Estate, Ill.-based Infinity Resources Inc., including its product catalogs and DeepDiscount.com website. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but Super D said it will assume at least $11 million in liabilities. Super D has about $150 million in annual revenue and employs 200 people. Infinity Resources had about $80 million in revenue and had been struggling.
REAL ESTATE
San Juan Capistrano’s City Council gave final approval for 130 houses, 500 horse stables and some commercial space at the proposed Distrito La Novia/San Juan Meadows. A group called Citizens for Sensible Development plans to force a referendum on the development and has until early December to gather 2,000 qualified signatures to put it on an upcoming ballot.
San Juan Capistrano also is in negotiations to sell a 16.4-acre parcel of land for $9 million to Home Depot Inc. The city plans to use proceeds to pay down debt and fund development projects. It’s likely Home Depot or another buyer would have to pay an additional $10 million on development of the site, which includes a portion of wetlands.
HEALTHCARE
Irvine-based Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc. said the Food and Drug Administration granted it a three-year exclusivity period on a new formulation of its flagship BromDay, which is used to treat pain after cataract surgery. The move means it will be another three years before generic versions can go on the market. The announcement sent Ista shares up 12% to a market value of about $150 million.
FINANCE
Irvine-based online mortgage exchange LendingTree agreed to buy SurePoint Lending in Louisville, Ky., for $6 million in cash with as much as $17 million in additional payments based on performance. LendingTree is part of Charlotte, N.C.-based Tree.com. Inc. SurePoint operates as First Residential Mortgage Network Inc. and employs about 500 in Kentucky, Nashville, Tenn., Indianapolis and Tampa, Fla. LendingTree recently added 150 employees at its Irvine operations.
RETAIL
Pleasanton-based Ross Stores Inc. signed a 10-year lease for a 21,000-square-foot Dds Discounts store in Anaheim. The store is part of a new chain for the retailer, with smaller stores focused on customers with less money than typical shoppers at its main Ross stores. Dds Discounts will offer different brands than Ross, and the Anaheim store will be the only one in OC upon opening. The new chain has grown to 52 stores in six years.
New York-based Loehmann’s Holdings Inc. closed a Loehmann’s Men’s Store at the Market Place in Tustin after filing for bankruptcy reorganization. The discount retail chain closed eight stores altogether, and said it could shutter another 15 in the next year. Loehmann’s has another four stores in OC.
Seattle-based Nordstrom Inc. will open a 35,000 Nordstrom Rack discount store at The Block at Orange in 2012.
OTHER NEWS
Clean technology manufacturing is a strongpoint of the county’s economy, with 20,000 jobs and annual gains of 5% expected in coming years, according to a recent report by the Orange County Business Council. Trade group Clean Tech OC estimates 300 companies in the sector.
An Arizona campus of Santa Ana-based vocational school operator Corinthian Colleges Inc. was taken off probation but must show education officials why its accreditation shouldn’t be revoked. Corinthian warned of a hit to its financial results if Everest College Phoenix loses accreditation. Corinthian runs more than 100 schools in the U.S. and Canada. Corinthian and other for-profit school operators face the threat of potentially crippling federal regulation. They are under fire for students who took on more debt than they could afford and for defaults on federally backed student loans.
Anaheim will raise power rates by 5% on Dec. 1 with another 5% hike expected a year later. Officials said the increases are necessary to meet state laws requiring cleaner power-generating resources. The average power bill for large businesses in Anaheim will increase by about $12,000 to $276,000 a month with the first increase.
