John Anderson walks through a hangar at The Air Group Inc., stooping to get beneath the wings of the Gulfstream II jet that the company manages and maintains. The white cover to one of the engines has been slid away revealing the complicated inner workings of one of the jet’s two engines, “There are a lot of things going on with an airplane when they are flying,” said Anderson, a senior vice president and director of maintenance for The Air Group. “That is where the training and work experience comes in.” Operations and maintenance of general aviation aircraft contributed $88 billion to the U.S. economy in 2005, according to a recent report from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. Maintenance and repair companies in turn create jobs for the technicians who do required inspections, the avionics experts installing and repairing navigation systems, and the skilled laborers who create the personalized space for a private aircraft owner. With Van Nuys Airport being the world’s largest general aviation airport, the aircraft maintenance business makes a huge contribution to the local economy Syncro Aircraft Interiors, Inc., one of the many companies serving corporate aviation based at Van Nuys Airport, serves as repair shop for heavily used charter planes and where private owners can have their aircraft personalized as an office in the sky or a place to entertain. The charter operator needs to keep the fleet looking top notch because if they didn’t they would fall behind and their customers will go to their competition, said Syncro owner Barbara Cesar. “Having a beautiful aircraft is a large consideration when someone charters an airplane,” Cesar said. “They want to make sure they are getting the best bang for their buck.” Syncro’s work can take as short as a month for a refurbishment of soft goods such as seats and carpeting to the three to six months it takes to completely rebuild a plane’s interior to match specifications from the owner. Entertainment systems are not uncommon in a private jet, and other modifications include infrared vision or trading in for all digital equipment from analog equipment to create what is known in the industry as the “glass cockpit.” “Some guys will say, ‘I want to be extra safe and get to where I am going,'” said Tony Russo, avionics manager at Duncan Aviation’s satellite location in Van Nuys. Mechanics shortage When it comes to the nuts and bolts of aircraft maintenance, the mechanical systems that get a plane aloft, keep it in the air and return it to the ground safely, the industry is facing a shortage of qualified mechanics. Maintenance training facilities are shrinking in number as enrollments decline. With major air carriers in financial trouble, there is no longer the guarantee for students that aircraft maintenance will be a stable career. Also, other industries, such as automotive or theme parks, find graduates of those schools to be prime candidates for openings because of the training they receive in 45 different subjects, including pneumatics, hydraulics and welding, “There is a broad spectrum of training and that is what they are looking for,” said Larry Evans, an aviation maintenance technology instructor at the North Valley Occupational Center. Glendale Community College graduated the last class from its Airframe and Power Plant program in February. The program was dropped due to low enrollment that couldn’t justify the four full-time instructors, a general decline in the student population and a need for additional classroom space. “We were a victim of dollars and cents,” said Scott Rubke, chairman of the Technology and Aviation Division at the college. “It wasn’t anything personal. It was a business decision.” The shuttering of the GCC program is not uncommon. Evans said there are about 160 schools remaining with aviation maintenance programs. Rubke put the number closer to 140 schools. The lack of well-trained aviation technicians is the biggest issue facing the profession, said Mick Broderick, president of the Southern California chapter of the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association. Responsibilities With fewer schools churning out mechanics, there are far fewer replacements for those who are at or near retirement age. Plus, the pay scale and the responsibility of working on airplanes don’t make such a career all that attractive. North Valley’s program consists of 2,400 hours that can be completed in two years for a full-time student or four years for one going part time. Certification requires passing three tests and a 10-hour oral and practical exam. In corporate aviation, mechanics receive additional training in the specific type of aircraft they will work on. Other industries want aircraft mechanics because they recognize how intensely they have been trained and the scrutiny they go under to be certified, said Broderick, who works in the Van Nuys office of AcroHelipro Global Services and a graduate of the GCC program. “A good (mechanic) will always find a job,” Broderick said, “but they are not going to land one like the kid coming out of the automotive school who goes to work for Ford or Chevy or Porsche or one of those places.”

A couple of local real estate industry veterans are planning to start an online service later this year that aggregates commercial property listings of all types. Fred Simanek, who is a real estate broker turned self-storage developer, and Christopher Itule, a broker at Sperry Van Ness, expect the Web site to offer one-stop shopping for those seeking to buy properties. There are currently several Web sites that provide aggregated commercial real estate listings, but the developers of MyNextDeal, headquartered in Thousand Oaks, say that the site will provide a more comprehensive listing than is currently available. “It just grew out of my dissatisfaction looking for particular properties like industrial land,” said Simanek. “I’d have to go to four different Web sites to make sure I was always keeping track. I figured why not aggregate those results?” MyNextDeal, will include not only the listings from larger aggregators of commercial real estate, including Co-Star and LoopNet, but it will also include listings culled from the Web sites of each of the real estate brokerage houses, which publicize their own listings on their sites. The service would be free to users, with revenues coming from advertisers, who, Simanek expects, will want to take advantage of what he projects will be a far greater number of viewers than any of the individual sites can attract. MyNextDeal will also give users the option of registering to receive e-mail updates when properties meeting specific criteria come on the market. “Since we gather listings from virtually every data source known for commercial real estate listings, our users will be able to find deals they may have otherwise overlooked,” Simanek said. MyNextDeal will operate using individual servers dedicated to scanning each of the different Web sites that currently post real estate listings. The cost of the startup is estimated at about $175,000. “We’d like to launch Sept. 1, but we’ll see,” said Simanek. “Based on the response we’ve gotten, we’ve been flooded with positive response and a ton of feedback on some of the features they’d like to see.” Old, Shmold After working for several years to develop a residence concept that would enable seniors to transition from active retirees living independently to homes where various levels of skilled care would be available to them, PCS Development has scrapped its plans. The company has listed its Bella Vita site in Sherman Oaks for sale after finding that there is little interest among Southern Californians in planning for their golden years. “Southern Californians don’t want to think about getting old and they sure don’t want to invest their money into senior housing,” said Paul Jennings, CEO of PCS. “The reality is Southern Californians only want senior housing on an as-needed basis.” Jennings had begun marketing condominium units within a larger community that would provide “continuing care” to the seniors who chose to live in the community several years ago. No building had begun on the site. The concept has been very successful on the East Coast, but is still rarely used in the West. PCS had acquired a second site in Calabasas intending to build a second continuing care community there and has placed that site on the block as well. Gregory Harris at Marcus & Millichap is marketing the two properties. Industrial Condos Sold Low Archibald Real Estate Group has just about sold out of its Rye Canyon Business Park industrial condominium units in Valencia. The company finished construction on the 141,000-square-foot building about a month ago, and all but one of the 43 units has been sold. The units range from 2,400 square feet to 5,800 square feet and were offered at over $166 per square foot. Brent Weirick, who, with John Erickson, brokers with Colliers International, is marketing the property, said that the rise in interest rates recently does not seem to have affected demand for these condo units, which allow small businesses to own their own facilities. “On the whole, the market seems to be moving along nicely,” Weirick said. Woodland Hills Deal The Woodcourt office building in Woodland Hills has sold for $13 million. The building, at 20251-20301 Ventura Blvd., sits on 3.2 acres. Bruce Frasco at NAI Capital represented the buyer, a limited partnership. NAI’s John Westerhof with Bill Palmer of the Palmer Group represented the seller, Holualoa W-M Joint Venture LLC. NAI Reps Japanese Client With offices for its one-year-old Pacific Rim division set to open shortly in Westminster, NAI Capital Commercial has picked up a Japanese client seeking retail locations in the U.S. Encino-based NAI is working with Curry House Restaurants to find locations for its chain of eateries. “They currently have about seven locations in Southern California, and they’d like to spread out,” said Bennard Gillison, senior vice president and director of NAI’s corporate services division, which is assisting the Pacific Rim division in the effort. Gillison said the San Fernando Valley would be included in the search, but the primary target markets for the restaurant operator are those with heavy Asian populations. NAI last August announced plans to open a Pacific Rim division designed to work with companies from Asia and the Middle East who are interested in investments and locations in the U.S. The real estate brokerage is set to open headquarters for the division in Westminster in Orange County where one of the oldest Little Saigon neighborhoods in the U.S. is located. Valencia Deal A 8,652-square-foot retail center in Valencia has sold for $5,925,000. The center, at 24133 Baywood Lane, is fully leased. Bert Abel and John Cserkuti of NAI Capital and Jeff Hanson and Ryan Gallagher at Grubb & Ellis represented the seller, Baywood Retail LLC, and the buyer, Sarkis & Swedlang Mikailian.

The cost to fill up the tank may be near the low point for the year, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. The price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in L.A. stood at $3.18 in the week before the long July 4th holiday weekend. While that amount is $0.74 higher than one year ago, the increase is actually muted compared to recent jumps in the cost of fuel in the L.A. area, which hit a high on May 30 at $3.40 a gallon. It is also $0.33 lower than that during last week in June and $0.18 less than last month. “Demand for gas has been building through June and that’s slowed the downward trend in pump prices,” said Auto Club spokesman Paul Gonzales, in a statement. “Currently, there are sufficient supplies of oil and gas to meet our needs. But investors are bidding up prices because the margin between supply and demand is very thin. Any interruptions caused by hurricanes, rolling brownouts or pipeline problems could impact prices.” It is the seventh straight week of decreases for fuel in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area. Nationally, a regular gallon of gas came in at $2.87 last week, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Valley Cultural Center, 4th of July Extravaganza 6:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m. Warner Center Park, 5800 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Woodland Hills Contact (818) 704-1358

By Chris Coates Staff Writer Nurses and management of West Hills Hospital and Medical Center and Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks have agreed to extend a bargaining agreement over the conditions of a new contract through July. Nurses at the facilities, owned by Nashville-based Hospital Corporation of America, had threatened to walk off the job after their contract ended June 30. The new agreement extends the contract through the end of July, said Jill Dolan, a spokeswoman for West Hills Hospital. She said a strike is not “in the picture” and hospital officials are hopeful of reaching an agreement. “We’re still bargaining . We still have another month,” she said, adding that patient care has not been affected. The union representing the medical staffers contend that HCA has under-staffed its hospitals, forcing nurses to work too many hours and putting patients at risk. HCA, which operates six facilities in Southern California, denies the charges.

CHAD Therapeutics Inc., a Chatsworth developer of respiratory care devices, has reported a net earnings loss of $673,000 or $0.07 per diluted share on revenues $22.4 million for the fiscal year 2006. The numbers are far below the CHAD’s net earnings for 2005, which tallied $1.8 million or $0.17 per diluted share on revenues of $24.3 million. During the fourth quarter, which ended March 31, earnings sank to $460,000, or $0.05 per diluted share, compared to the $589,000 profit for 2005. Revenue dropped to $5.2 million from $5.4 million a year prior. Revenue from the sale of oxygen and therapeutic devices were especially affected during fiscal year 2006, dropping 11 percent from a year prior. In a statement to investors, President and CEO Earl Yager said company growth was partially impacted by new Medicare reimbursement procedures that changes when patients receive the title for the devices. “This new policy has intensified pressure on homecare providers to reduce operating and equipment costs,” he said.

Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. common stock is now being traded in the Pink Sheets following its delisting from the Nasdaq National Market, the company has announced. But the Camarillo-based manufacturer cannot guarantee that the stock will continue to be listed in the Pink Sheets. The Pink Sheets is not regulated by the National Association of Securities Dealers or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Nasdaq National Market delisted Vitesses common stock because the company failed to file financial reports for the quarter ending March 31. Vitessse President and Chief Executive Officer Chris Gardner said the company is undertaking measures to ensure the accuracy of the financial reports and filing them as soon as possible. “We are committed to regaining compliance with all Nasdaq listing requirements and obtaining a relisting of our stock in a timely manner,” Gardner said. Vitesse failed to meet the May 10 deadline to file financial statements for the quarter ending March 31 due to an ongoing investigation by the Special Committee of the Board of Directors. Vitesse is under investigation by federal prosecutors in New York State and by the Securities and Exchange Commission over the granting of stock options.

Woodland Hills-based SPO Medical Inc. has launched its PulseOx 7500 a new wrist-mounted device that measures the vital signs of people experiencing sleep disorders. The FDA- and CE-approved device measures oxygen saturation and heart rate, which typically reflect conditions of sleep problems such as sleep apnea. A sensor is attached to the wearer’s finger, which then relays the data to a wrist watch-like device, where it is stored. The information can then be downloaded and sent to a physician for analysis.

North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce, Home Improvement/Real Estate Cluster 7:00 a.m. Marie Callender’s Restaurant, 19310 Business Center Drive, Northridge Contact (818) 349-5676

JetBlue Airways came out ahead in a survey of passengers on the best low-cost airline, J..D. Power & Associates announced Thursday. JetBlue placed best in overall performance, check-in, aircraft interior, flight crew, in-flight amenities, and flight reservations and scheduling in the survey of 9,300 passengers who flew on a major North American airline between January and May. JetBlue serves Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. Power, based in Westlake Village, did the survey in conjunction with Aviation Week magazine. “All of the airlines are struggling operationally, but that doesn’t mean that passengers have to suffer too,” said Linda Hirneise, executive director of the travel practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “The airlines that have high passenger satisfaction have two things in common: They have processes in place to ensure a consistent, positive travel experience, and they have the right people working for them, who make the flying experience a pleasurable one for their passengers.” Southwest Airlines, which also serves Bob Hope Airport, came in second for low-cost carriers, while Delta Airlines scored highest of the traditional full-service airlines operating out of the Burbank airport. American Airlines and United Air Lines placed third and sixth respectively for the full-service airlines with flights from Bob Hope.