Business in the San Fernando Valley ground to a halt last Tuesday following the news that hijacked planes had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. People who were at work that day talked to the Business Journal about what happened to them and the people around them. Bruce Ackerman President and CEO, Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley (On the morning of Sept. 11, the Economic Alliance expected a crowd of about 200 at a previously scheduled “2020 Vision” event at the Airtel Plaza Hotel. Eventually, 170 people attended the meeting.) (Civic Center Group director) Bob Scott called me at home early that morning and I had heard nothing about (the attack). At first, I thought he was just trying to get my attention. When it finally sunk in, I thought, “Am I dreaming? Maybe I’m going to wake up.” I said, we’ve got to go ahead. There was no question in my mind. First, so many people were planning to be there. We had worked so long and so hard and it seemed like the right thing to do was to go ahead. Second, people in crisis like to be together. What would we have done if we’d canceled? Ten minutes later everyone would have been in front of a TV. That would have been informative, but it’s not the best use of time. Everybody appreciated having an opportunity to be together. It was the right thing to do and I think people enjoyed being there. Jo Anne Brosi General manager, Glendale Galleria In support of our major retailers who chose to open to accommodate customers’ needs, the Glendale Galleria operated during shortened business hours on Tuesday. However, we fully supported the decisions of a number of retailers within the center who chose not to operate their businesses on that day. The shopping center is now fully open and operational. We anticipate that it will be some time before we have a clear understanding of the impact this tragic occurrence will have on our business. David Gershwin Communications deputy for City Councilman Alex Padilla My family lives in Washington D.C., so the first thing I did was call them and see how they were doing. Then we had to go straight to the emergency operations center, where I spent the entire day. It was like being in an underground bunker, where you certainly felt safe, although one disadvantage was you were unable to see daylight. My pager was blinking off my belt and we were burning down phone lines all day. Martin M. Cooper President, Cooper Communications Inc. A friend and former employee of mine has or should I say, had his office in the World Trade Center. I cannot reach him, as many cannot reach those they know, love and care about. On a day like that, it is easy, and normal, to give into feelings of fear, anger, frustration, helplessness and hatred. For the first time, we have been attacked by an enemy we cannot clearly identify, adding to those feelings. On this terrible day, it seemed appropriate to revisit some of Winston Churchill’s thoughts, some of them during the height of the German attacks on London during World War II: “For myself, I am an optimist it does not seem to be much use being anything else.” “The first victory we have to win is to avoid a battle; the second, if we cannot avoid it, is to win it.” Joe McClure Owner, Montrose Travel It was a very sad, difficult and hectic day for us. We had hundreds of customers literally stranded around the country that we just couldn’t get home because of the flight restrictions. Mel Kohn Partner, Kirsch Kohn & Bridge I felt (last Tuesday) was a national day of tragedy and everybody on our staff should have the opportunity to deal with it the way they would want. It was early and we tried to contact as many people as we could so they could stay home. We had a staff meeting with those who stayed and had a moment of silence and then we closed early. We wanted to let everyone deal with it in their own way. I’m supposed to be in Redwood City today, but that’s canceled. That just means we’ll have another meeting another time. It just pales in comparison to this human tragedy. We’re an accounting firm and corporate returns are due (today), so we’re busy, but it’s difficult to work after this tragedy. Sharrin Summers Public relations manager, Hollywood Records We were all in a state of shock wondering what to do. It hit people hard, especially the ones who have family in New York. Fortunately, all their family members were accounted for. Disney (Hollywood’s parent company) told everyone that if they felt they needed to go home they could, and that helped a lot of people to cope. Not many people were left, but there’s not much to do when something like that happens. We have some artists on the road that have to fly to different markets and how are they going to get back? It’s one of those questions that we had to resolve since there were no flights. A lot of events and concerts had to be canceled and only today (last Wednesday) are we working on getting things rescheduled and finding transportation for these artists. As PR people, we have to be sensitive to this. It’s inappropriate to call the New York media to pitch them about interviewing one of our bands. So, as far as we’re concerned, it’s definitely not business as usual. Tyree Wieder President, Los Angeles Valley College We did have a few issues on Tuesday. In the morning, my staff usually comes in between 7 and 8 a.m. By 8, they had already been getting phone calls from faculty and students asking if we were holding classes that day. My response was yes. We didn’t see any reason why we should stop everything. I was on my way downtown to a meeting and I thought, “No, I’d better go back to campus, just walk around and answer questions.” We asked our college sheriff’s department to put on additional officers, just for the extra visibility. There were initially a lot of rumors and concerns, like a plane had been hijacked and was headed to L.A. I said the reality is most likely the San Fernando Valley would not be the target. It was more of a day for myself and the rest of the staff to reassure people. The biggest thing is that people were rattled. This was something that’s just not supposed to happen Phil Lichtenberger Vice president, Holl Technologies Everybody was upset. People were walking around dazed, it seemed. I think we all knew that we wouldn’t be conducting very much business. We had one person who needed to go home and shore things up there with the family, but otherwise everyone was able to stay and work. Most of the meetings scheduled for the day didn’t happen, so my time was spent catching up on other work. When something like this happens, people need to talk and we encouraged that. We take the approach that we hire human beings and, when a national crisis like that hits, there has to be a grieving process and we have to support our employees, so it’s important to let them have that time. I have a feeling that this will be etched in everyone’s mind like the Kennedy assassination. Young people today don’t have anything like that, so this will be the important event that they’ll never forget. Robert “Bud” Ovrom Burbank city manager I have made a point of walking through the mall and other stores in town and there are certainly far fewer people, and a distinct somberness on the faces of those who are shopping. However, I am confident consumer confidence and overall morale will soon improve. It might not be the politically correct thing to say, but I fully expect there will be a great burst of patriotic zeal when we start to strike back at the terrorists who were responsible and the nations who harbor them. Americans always rally together when faced with a common enemy. Jose Garcia Owner, Tacos Real Restaurant Everyone was quiet all day listening to the television (after the attacks). I knew business would be bad. The lunch crowd was really small and even they were quiet, watching the news reports. When they saw the replays of the crash, it was hard. You could see how everyone was affected. There were a lot of sad people. I just told everyone to go home afterward. There was not going to be any business. It was no use to stay open with no customers. Business is still bad today (Wednesday). You just want to go home and be with your family. Steve Schultz Senior vice president, MiniMed Inc. We closed our facility at 9 o’clock (in the morning) out of respect for the events that were occurring and for our employees who were understandably upset. We also shut down our Florida facility early and sent our employees there home. People here were understandably concerned about what was happening, they were listening to news and following it very closely. We felt this terrible tragedy and its impact on people was more important than keeping our employees here. It’s an unspeakable tragedy. I could not compare this to anything. We’re certainly serving our patients as best we can, but I don’t see how any of us could return to normal after such a tragedy. Claire Smith Communications manager, Sunkist Growers Inc. The word surreal was used a lot and it was appropriate. But we tried to do some business. People listened to the news and tried to do some work, but it’s hard not to feel a deep shock and sadness about it. People were talking and you had a very sad feeling. We kept normal hours and tried to do some work despite everything. A lot of the people I needed to speak to, I couldn’t get on the phone, so in that sense, it was a very difficult day. People are still in shock and still wondering about what’s going to happen next and nobody really knows. You try to reassure people and you try to talk to them, but there are no answers. Everyone here was impacted. Gina Guarino Leasing agent, Douglas Emmett Co. We didn’t close any of our buildings. We stayed open. A lot of the tenants wanted to talk about it and come in and chat and have coffee and basically pour their hearts out. We have a lot of New Yorkers here, especially me being one, and I did have family members who were in the World Trade Center, my aunt and my cousin, who are in the hospital and fine. So we’re kind of dealing with people and their emotions. I’m glad we were open to service the clients and help them out in time of crisis and tragedy. You have to put forward a smile and be there for everyone else. People were scared. There was a lot of handholding. You try to find out where your family is. Manhattan had no phone service, so I didn’t find out until the next day. My aunt worked on the seventh floor. There was a day care center on the third floor. My heart goes out to every person.