$70 Million in VC Funds for Valley Six firms in the Conejo and San Fernando valleys were recipients of venture capital funding totaling more than $70.1 million in the second quarter of the year, according to a study just released by Los Angeles consultancy Growthink. Celetron International Ltd., an electronics and optical manufacturing services provider in Simi Valley, received the lion’s share of the funding that went to the area, $48 million, from a group that included New Enterprise Associates, Golden Gate Capital, Baring Asia Private Equity Fund II and Alta Partners. The other companies to receive a round of financing were: Accumux Technologies Inc. in Camarillo, Aprisa Inc. and Jones & Associates Inc. in Westlake Village, Car Rental Direct in Van Nuys and SigmaOne Communications in Woodland Hills. Accumux is an optical components supplier, Sigma One is a networking company; Aprisa is a web-based engineering services provider; and Car Rental Direct is a Web-based service headed by Ramy El-Batrawi, the controversial Genesis International CEO. Valley companies received only a small portion of the more than $884 million in funding that flowed into Southern California during the second quarter, according to the Growthink report. Power-One to Cut 1,000 More Jobs Power-One Inc. will fire 1,000 employees after the Camarillo-based maker of parts that convert electrical currents for telecommunications equipment reported a wider-than-expected second-quarter loss. The cuts will occur this year, mostly at plants in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Power-One had 7,500 employees before firing 2,400 in the second quarter. Customers such as Cisco Systems Inc., Nortel Networks Corp. and Lucent Technologies Inc. canceled orders in the first quarter and slowed purchases in the second quarter. Power-One had previously moved production to plants in the Dominican Republic, Slovakia and Mexico from facilities in Boston, Irvine, and Uster, Switzerland. LAFCO Moves to Glendale The Local Agency Formation Commission has approved plans to move its offices to Glendale this fall because it needs to expand its operations. LAFCO currently has a small office for four staff members in the county’s Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration on West Temple Street in downtown Los Angeles. But under a new state law passed last year, the agency has expanded duties and needs to hire three more staff members. The commission will rent space at 700 N. Central Ave. in Glendale, at a base rent of $55,632 a year, after also considering two other downtown Los Angeles locations. The commission itself will continue to meet on the second and fourth Wednesdays in the Board of Supervisors hearing room in the Hahn building in downtown L.A. Amwest Files for Bankruptcy Amwest Insurance Group Inc. of Calabasas has commenced Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The company will be a debtor in possession and will file a plan for the reorganization of its debts. The filing arose as a result of the June 8 takeover by the Nebraska state director of insurance of the company’s principal operating subsidiary, Amwest Surety Insurance Co. The state of Nebraska has placed Amwest Surety in liquidation. CSUN Receives Grant Money The Asian Business Association, through its small business members and corporate sponsors, will provide grant and scholarship funds totaling $6,000 to the Asian American Studies department at Cal State Northridge. The grants are earmarked for a study to identify opportunities and challenges facing the next generation of Asian-American entrepreneurs and for seed money to develop an Asian-American Center for Entrepreneurial Development, said David Honda, president of the Asian Business Association. The financing was raised through a number of association members, including Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Southern California Edison and American Honda Motor Co. Syncor Acquires Inovision Syncor International Corp. has agreed to acquire Inovision Radiation Measurements LLC and its affiliate Victoreen LLC. The companies manufacture radiation measurement equipment and related accessories used in medical diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy.