Thousand Oaks-based independent fuel retailer USA Petroleum Corp. plans to sell 122 of its California gas stations to the oil industry giant Chevron USA Inc. for an undisclosed sum. The majority of the stations on the selling block are USA brand discount gas stations, with a small number operating under the Shell and Chevron nameplates. Under the terms of the deal, which awaits Federal Trade Commission approval, those stations will be upgraded and turned into either Chevron or possibly Texaco brands. Chevron USA, a subsidiary of San Ramon-based Chevron Corp., operates 1,500 Chevron or Texaco gas stations in California.

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The Cheesecake Factory has become the latest company to review how its stock options are awarded to executives. The Calabasas Hills-based restaurant company said the review, to be conducted by the audit committee of its board of directors, was initiated in response to recent news reports regarding practices at numerous publicly traded companies. Cheesecake is among some 65 companies that have come under regulatory review or have initiated their own investigations. The company said that its full financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2006 would be released on completion of the audit committee’s work. On a preliminary basis, Cheesecake Factory said its revenues increased about 12 percent to $322.2 million in the second quarter ended July 4, 2006. Same store sales, however, decreased 8 percent.

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Santa Clarita city officials are taking a new approach in their bid to keep Six Flags from closing Magic Mountain they are asking to meet face-to-face with the park’s corporate owners to present plans to annex the county-owned land. “We want to sit down and talk with them about their future plans to see whether they intend to sell the park or close the park,” said Santa Clarita Assistant City Manager Ken Striplin. Striplin said the city has prepared one scenario where Santa Clarita buys the entire 250-acre Valencia parcel upon which Magic Mountain sits. The unincorporated land is owned by Los Angeles County, but could be annexed to Santa Clarita, Striplin said. Stripin said the city has a stake in keeping the 35-acre park open because it is one the most significant economic generators in the Santa Clarita Valley, generating huge amounts for gas stations, hotels and small businesses. “Our interest is keeping Magic Mountain open,” he said. New York-based Six Flags is considering closing the park as part of a plan to re-brand itself as a family-friendly chain. Magic Mountain, which has 17 roller coasters and a lineup of other thrill rides, does not fit into the new image, the company has said. While Six Flags has not announced any specifics about the park’s fate, company officials have said it could be sold to another operator or the land could be dismantled and used for residential housing. So far, though, Santa Clarita officials are in the dark. “We have not heard from them yet,” Stripin said. But if they do, “we will be out there as soon as possible,” he said.

The Valley Industry & Commerce Association Board of Directors opposes a pending state Assembly bill to reform Los Angeles schools. A main objection by the organization was the absence of a provision to allow parents and voters a say on the future of the district, said a letter sent July 18 to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed by VICA Board Chairman Bob Scott, State Issues Committee Chairman Greg Lippe, and Education Committee Chairman Greg Weinberg. “Many of us in the business community were optimistic that the tack you were taking on mayoral control (or increased influence through participation on the school board) was the tack we would ultimately support,” the letter said. “We find it unfortunate that the reluctance of enough legislators to support such changes and the influence of the teachers’ union in Sacramento to bend made it impossible for any inclusion in AB 1381 of meaningful reforms such as a significantly increased role by the mayor and/or a path toward a local vote on breakup.” Another issue in the assembly bill VICA could not agree to is decision making by a council of mayors. The organization also said direct mayoral control over underperforming clusters of schools does not necessarily require an act of legislation. VICA says nothing is preventing a mayor from running any campuses as charter schools if the parents and school board agreed to it. VICA, however, was in agreement with the bill’s provisions on removing school board members from certain decisions related to construction and contract negotiations; giving the mayor a seat on the superintendent selection committee; and allowing teachers, parents and stakeholders to have a say in some but not all decisions related to curriculum and text books.

The NoHo Lofts holds its grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday. The complex, redeveloped from the former Adolph’s Meat Tenderizer Co., is the first of its kind in the San Fernando Valley, featuring 68 single- and two-story units. It is the first development by Studio City-based real estate company, The DT Group. The event will feature art work from the NoHo Gallery LA and live performances from the musicals Lizard and Hansel and Gretel by the NoHo Arts Center and El Dorado Opera respectively.

The Los Angeles World Airports Board of Commissioners directed staff to conduct a study related to banning certain jet aircraft from Van Nuys Airport. The decision came during a lengthy meeting July 17 during which the commissioners heard impassioned pleas on why a ban should or should not be implemented. The study would include an analysis of the economic impacts of phasing out the use of Stage 2 aircrafts, a move some businesspeople said would harm their livelihood. Van Nuys Airport is the world’s busiest general aviation airport and home to more than 100 companies that serve the aviation industry. In 1990, the commission adopted a resolution to phase out Stage 2 aircrafts over a seven-year period but the action was never implemented. Residents in the area of the airport have pressed for the ban saying the loud jets disturb their quality of life. There are currently 34 Stage 2 aircrafts at the airport. Clay Lacy Aviation, the oldest aircraft management firm at the airport, owns 10 of the Stage 2 aircrafts, said Duke Tonry, director of air medical operations. Replacing those aircrafts would be financially impractical, Tonry said. “When we look at our future, our staff and our employees, if these rules are adopted 60 middle class people who work for us will be unemployed,” Tonry told the commissioners. Stage 2 is a designation by the Federal Aviation Administration for aircrafts with a certain noise level when operating. Stage 1 aircrafts are banned in the United States while Stage 3 aircrafts are the quietest. Manufacturers stopped making Stage 2 aircrafts in 1986.

By BOB SCOTT Guest Columnist If there’s one thing about which everyone in the Valley can agree, it’s that we all support clean air. Formerly the smog capital of the nation, we’ve come a long way in cleaning up the air we all breathe, and we need to take additional steps to continue in that direction. However, a November ballot measure to increase oil taxes is the wrong way to accomplish this agreeable goal. The Valley Industry & Commerce Association opposes this ballot measure along with a coalition that includes the California Chamber of Commerce and the Automobile Club of Southern California. At a time when gasoline prices already are high, this initiative would add billions more in taxes on oil production leading to higher gasoline prices. This tax will certainly lead to increases in travel costs for consumer goods, and will make it even more difficult for Californians in both public and private sectors truckers, school bus operators, airlines, commuters, and soccer moms. That just doesn’t make much sense. Furthermore, because higher taxes would discourage instate oil production, it would also increase our dependence on foreign oil. Moreover, the measure would create a whole new bureaucracy with the power to spend unlimited tax dollars without accountability or results. This new state agency would be run by more than 50 political appointees outside the normal state budget review process and outside the normal checks and balances that govern other agencies. VICA strongly believes that cleaner energy usage is the way of the future, but this initiative will merely siphon dollars out of consumers’ pockets and reduce our ability to compete in the world marketplace. We must find positive incentives to decrease our dependence on foreign oil and clean up our air. VICA believes that our state legislators can accomplish these priorities without creating a punitive and regressive tax burden for California businesses and residents. VICA is eager to participate in what will surely be a spirited debate on this important topic. Let’s work together to clean up our air and cut fuel consumption without punishing California consumers in the process.

For years, Hutchinson and Bloodgood LLP cultivated a big business in IT consulting. The firm provided everything from customized software to network integration. The Glendale-based CPA firm still does a pretty big business in some of those areas. But lately, officials at Hutchinson and Bloodgood are finding that they are getting calls with a somewhat different slant consulting assignments that are more closely related to the accounting tasks that are the core of their business. “The shift is really back to more core services,” said Jerry Slowey, director of marketing at Hutchinson and Bloodgood, “a lot of audit compliance as opposed to network integration. What we’re really seeing is a big growth within our technology consulting practice with a more traditional blend of accounting.” The firm is not alone. While accounting firms that wanted to expand once looked outside their core business to do so, often focusing on information technology or human resources, today’s heightened regulatory environment and shifting business needs are, in a sense, sending them back to, well, accounting, for expansion opportunities. Consider these examples. >Grant Thornton LLP recently launched a recovery and reorganization services division to provide professional services to underperforming and financially troubled businesses. >Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co. LLP, which has long specialized in multi-employer benefit plans, has been doing a lot of work auditing single employer benefit plans. >White Zuckerman Warsavsky Luna Wolf & Hunt LLP has seen a recent uptick in its forensic practice, particularly with respect to looking out for fraud. >Hutchinson & Bloodgood has beefed up its cost segregation group, hiring two engineers to help refine depreciation schedules and, ultimately, improve cash flow for investors and business owners. Some of the new opportunities have come about simply as a result of what’s become a fundamental change at the Big Four accounting firms. The passage of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), legislation that sets new standards for auditing, has also brought new, stricter conflict of interest rules, and corporations can no longer call on their primary accounting firms for many auxiliary services. That work has flowed to accounting firms that, for the most part, never worked with public companies before. “The accounting profession is still swamped due to SOX,” said Bill Wolf, senior partner at White Zuckerman Warsavsky Luna Wolf & Hunt in Sherman Oaks. “The bigger firms are actually turning away work, and that provides an opportunity assuming I can find the manpower.” At the same time, the events leading up to the passage of SOX, corporate fraud and other irregularities, have also heightened awareness of potential improper or dishonest accounting tactics, and accounting firms are picking up assignments from companies who want to be sure they don’t become victims of such behavior. Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co., for example, has seen a big boost in its assignments to audit royalty arrangements. “Just last month, we exhibited at the LIMA (Licensing Industry Merchandiser Association) show in New York,” said George Nadel Rivin, a partner at Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co. “And we have been taking on a great many engagements throughout the world.” The increase is partly due to the sheer growth in licensed products,” Rivin said. But heightened awareness brought on by such high profile prosecutions as those at Enron and Homestore have also contributed to the growth. “I don’t think there’s any question that all the publicity that came out of these companies has brought this into a more top of mind issue for licensors,” said Rivin. The same dynamic is at least in part fueling the growth in demand for forensic accounting at White Zuckerman Warsavksy Luna Wolf & Hunt. “What I’m personally seeing is litigation,” said Wolf. “We’re engaged by a law firm to come in and look for fraud. It’s typically one owner against another. I can think of five times I’ve been engaged that way in the last 12 months.” Much of the work that accounting firms are currently engaged in stems from what has been a robust economy. Greater merger and acquisition activity has required more business valuation consulting. Growing businesses are offering more complex compensation packages to attract and retain executives. Increased interest in real estate investment has put more focus on how partnerships are formed and the way in which proceeds are distributed. But at least one accounting firm is also hedging its bets, believing that the up-cycle will, inevitably shift. “Clearly we believe there’s a cyclical component and, after all these years of expansion, we believe there’s a heightened level for these types of services,” said Harris Smith, managing partner for the West region at Grant Thornton of the firm’s newly formed Recovery and Reorganization Services group. The division will focus on companies that have hit financial bad times and are seeking to reorganize, but Smith also sees an opportunity to help companies that may have made poor acquisition choices during the boom times. The firm expects that Southern California, along with Northern California will be strong markets for its new services, and there are plans to hire about 20 people for the two regions, including two partners in Southern California during the current fiscal year. “We think the market is there,” Smith said. “And not all the accounting firms have gotten back into this because they haven’t been able to figure out the conflict rules.”