econowatch/dy/11″/mike1st/mark2nd After years of steady growth, passenger traffic at Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport has developed a slight down-draft in recent months. But air cargo volume continues to soar, according to this month’s Econowatch. Some 398,768 passengers flew into and out of Burbank Airport in March, down nearly 4.5 percent from the 417,260 that used the airport in March 1996, according to the Airport Authority. The drop in March traffic marked the 11th consecutive month that passenger volume was off from the year-ago period. Prior to that, passenger traffic had been growing steadily on a year-to-year basis. (The fact that March passenger volume was 15 percent above the February volume is not considered relevant because passenger volume is highly seasonal.) Airport Authority spokesman Victor Gill said some of the drop in traffic may owe to United Airlines’ decision in January 1996 to stop flying its Oakland shuttle out of Burbank. Another factor is the uncertain status of a planned new terminal at the airport, said Gill. The Airport Authority would like to build a facility on land adjacent to the existing terminal, a move the City of Burbank opposes and is trying to stop through legal action. “Most of the airlines are currently in a status-quo mode. I think there’s an element of wait-and-see,” Gill said. “(The airlines) don’t want to make an investment in a market where the attitude is somewhat in doubt.” Gill added that passenger volume will suffer another minor blow this month, when SkyWest discontinues its non-stop service from Burbank to Salt Lake City. That route accounts for 5,000 passengers per month. While passenger traffic is in a down-draft, air cargo volume at Burbank has continued to grow by a healthy margin over each of the last several months. The total air cargo volume for March stood at 6.6 million pounds, up 5.4 percent over the like period a year earlier. Much of the recent rise in cargo volume is due to increased usage by a single customer the United States Postal Service. The volume of U.S. mail at Burbank stood at 625,903 pounds in March, up 131.9 percent from the 269,941 pounds entering and leaving the airport in the like month a year earlier. Gill said the rapid growth in mail volume is part of a test program begun by the Postal Service a few years ago. Under the program, use of Burbank airport has allowed the Postal Service to accept overnight delivery packages later in the day for Valley customers than in the past, he said. “The Post Office historically has not used Burbank as a shipping point, but they’re trying it out now,” Gill said. Douglas Young

golf/25 inches/1stjc/mark2nd By DANIEL TAUB Staff Reporter A proposed public golf course in the Tujunga Wash is pitting area businesses against environmentalists, who say the course will destroy a rare wildlife habitat within Los Angeles city limits. Business groups, including the United Chambers of the San Fernando Valley and the Sunland-Tujunga Chamber of Commerce, say the 18-hole public golf course will give the northeast Valley area a much-needed economic shot-in-the-arm. Kathy Anthony, president of the Sunland-Tujunga Chamber of Commerce and owner of a local dressmaking shop, ticks off the benefits she sees for the business community, like merchants selling more gas and sundries to visitors, and new home construction. “Do you know in this town we don’t have one place where an organization can hold a meeting and have lunch?” she added. “They’re going to have a banquet room for the organizations. It cannot hurt the community, it can only help it.” Developers also say that golf courses are in high demand in the San Fernando Valley, and that the Valley’s six existing public golf courses are often crowded. But opponents say the course will threaten a delicate ecosystem in Big Tujunga Canyon that includes the endangered slender-horned spineflower, as well as rare birds, reptiles and fish. “It is the taking away of a unique, irreplaceable ecosystem,” said Dick Hingson, conservation coordinator for the Angeles chapter of Sierra Club. The course was approved last year by the Los Angeles city Planning Commission, but was appealed by a coalition of seven organizations including the California Department of Fish and Game, the local Sierra Club chapter and the Shadow Hills Property Owners Association. As a result of that appeal, the issue will go to the City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee this month. City Councilman Joel Wachs, who represents Sunland-Tujunga, has yet to take a position on the project by Foothills Golf Development Group, which is leasing the property from Cosmo World Corp. “This is a very difficult issue for the councilman,” said Arline DeSanctis, Wachs’ chief field deputy. “At his heart, he’s always been an environmentalist and a preservationist.” But DeSanctis added that Wachs is aware that the project will generate at least 50 new jobs, encourage new home construction in the area and cut down on trash dumping in the wash, thus beautifying the community. “The reason people are supporting it is because they feel it would provide an economic boost to the area,” DeSanctis said. “They feel that once people are drawn in by this course, there will be extra revenue generated for existing businesses.” But golf course opponents say the land it is planned for is part of a natural flood plain, and could be seriously damaged during a heavy rain. “It’s just an inappropriate place to put anything because it will wash away,” said Bill Eick, a volunteer attorney for Small Wilderness Area Preservation, one of the groups appealing the Planning Commission’s approval. Added Hingson: “When the big flood comes, then everyone is going to be running to the government. They’re going to want taxpayers to bail them out.” But Foothills Golf representatives say that the new, scaled-back plan for the course as well as requirements from the city address those problems. Nearly 200 of the 352 acres owned by Cosmo World Corp. and leased by Foothills Golf will be set aside as a nature preserve, according to Foothills Golf spokesman Andrew Baldonado. That area will be fenced off and maintained by the company, Baldonado said. Baldonado also said that Foothill Golf has agreed not to ask the city for financial aid in the event of the flood, and will be required to take out insurance to protect nearby homeowners if any flooding problems can be linked to the course. The golf course and accompanying facilities originally was proposed in the late 1980s as a $50-million, 350-acre-plus project, designed to be a potential home to the U.S. Open. The clubhouse alone was expected to encompass 50,000 square feet. But after a nearly six-year-long review of the plan by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it was turned down because it would have involved re-channeling the Tujunga Wash. Development of the site, located on Foothill Boulevard near Wentworth Street, was taken over in August of last year by David Hueber, president of Foothills Golf and former president and chief executive officer of both National Golf Foundation and Ben Hogan Co. The current plan for the course recently dubbed Red Tail Golf & Equestrian will encompass 160 acres and will cost between $12 million and $15 million. The two-story clubhouse expected to include a restaurant, banquet facilities and a pro shop will only be 8,100 square feet. Also added to the project are two miles of equestrian trails that lead up to the clubhouse, so that riders can hitch their horses and eat lunch at the restaurant there. “The equestrian use was another added incentive that we thought certainly would go a long way and it has in getting people to view it as a recreational place for the whole community,” Baldonado said. But Mary Meyer, plan ecologist with the state’s Department of Fish and Game, said that no amount of incentives would make a golf course an easier sale for her department. “This is really the last site in the L.A. basin where we have a viable example left of something that was fairly common,” Meyer said, adding that any development over the size of about 40 acres would harm the canyon’s. But those arguments aren’t enough to sway supporters like Arnold with the Sunland-Tujunga chamber. “I believe that people will come up here, buy a gallon of gas and play golf. It will only enhance the community. “These people fighting it,” she added, “do not buy a loaf of bread up here, or a gallon of gas.”

alarcon/1stjc/mark2nd By DANIEL TAUB Staff Reporter In a move that has broad implications for the future of San Fernando Valley politics, Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon is preparing to enter the Democratic primary for the 20th District Senate race next year putting him in a head-to-head contest against an old friend, former state Assemblyman Richard Katz. If successful in the primary and general elections, Alarcon would become the first Latino elected to the state Senate from the San Fernando Valley and would represent the latest sign of growing Valley Latino political clout. But first, Alarcon would have to get past Katz a long-time Valley lawmaker who was the Assembly’s minority leader before being forced to leave office in 1996 under term limits. Alarcon also may have to face the incumbent, Sen. Herschel Rosenthal, D-Van Nuys. Under term limits, Rosenthal would be forced to leave office next year. However, a federal appellate court is reviewing whether the state’s term limits law is constitutional. “If the courts ruled term limits to be unconstitutional, and if it opens up in time, I will run again,” Rosenthal said. Alarcon said no matter what the court’s decision, he is committed to running for Rosenthal’s seat. But he is not expecting Rosenthal to be able to run next year. “I’m not running from the perspective that Rosenthal is going to run. I’m running from the perspective that he’s not going to run,” Alarcon, 43, said. Alarcon said it was a difficult decision to run for the Democratic nomination, especially since Katz had already announced his intention to run. “We’re going to make an earnest effort. My wife and I decided that we’re in this for real,” Alarcon said. Because the district is largely Democratic, the winner of the Democratic primary is favored to win the general election for the Van Nuys-based district. Alarcon could garner the support of the district’s large Latino population a population that has exhibited growing political clout, particularly in the April citywide election, when it helped pass schools bond measure Proposition BB. Voters in the area also last year elected the first Latino member of the Assembly from the San Fernando Valley Sylmar real estate agent Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City. The election of Cardenas reflected growing Latino numbers in the Valley, and political analysts have long speculated that the seats of Rosenthal and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Panorama City, would ultimately be won by Latino politicians. Katz, a member of the California Medical Assistance Commission, said that he does not mind running against Alarcon. “We’ve been friends for a long time, and that’s something he’s got a right to do,” Katz said. Katz, who announced his own candidacy early last month, said he will run on a long record of passing legislation including laws to curb gang violence and help victims of sexual assault that has benefited San Fernando Valley residents. Alarcon said that, despite his friendship with Katz, he feels that he offers a break from the past that Katz represents. “The compelling reason for me to run is to improve access of the people of the San Fernando Valley to government. And I believe I’m the one to draw those people.” Alarcon, who lives in Sylmar, was elected to the L.A. City Council in 1993. His Northeast Valley district encompasses Pacoima and sections of Mission Hills, Sylmar, North Hills, Panorama City and North Hollywood. Alarcon said his decision to run for state Senate also puts an end to speculation at least for the time being that he might run for mayor in 2001, when Richard Riordan is termed out as mayor and Alarcon is termed out of the City Council. “I’m running for Senate, and I’m not looking beyond that,” he said.

hertzberg/43inches/1stjc/mark2nd By DANIEL TAUB Staff Reporter Once upon a time, freshman lawmakers had to wait their turn to get prestigious committee chairmanships and to play significant roles in legislation. But term limits has changed all that, says Assemblyman Robert M. Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, who was elected last year to the seat formerly held by Democrat Barbara Friedman. Although still a novice, Hertzberg is chairing the Public Safety Committee (which handles law-and-order legislation) and is co-author of a high-profile bill with Assemblyman Tom McClintock, R-Granada Hills, to eliminate the power of the Los Angeles City Council to quash San Fernando Valley secession. As of late last month, the bill had passed the Assembly, but was facing a tough battle in the Senate. Hertzberg recently spoke with San Fernando Valley Business Journal editors and reporters about his first several months in office: Question: Do people really want secession, or is it simply more that they want a right to vote on it? Answer: My sense of it is that there’s not a huge groundswell for secession. I think it’s a respect issue. “We want the right. Don’t tell us we shouldn’t have the right. Don’t tell us that you’re going to control our destiny.” It’s almost visceral in that sense, you know, kind of the Valley “us vs. them.” That’s the underlying sentiment in terms of eliminating the City Council’s veto power. I’m not a secessionist. My view of it, personally, is this: One, I don’t have the data to make a determination. But two, if you’re really going to secede, break it up into a ton of little cities like San Fernando. Break it up into smaller communities. The people of Granada Hills vs. Pacoima have very different interests. So if you’re going to break it up, break it up smaller. Those kind of local needs can be addressed in charter reform. I’m certainly going to work toward that. Q: In the few months since you’ve begun, any general observations about the job, about life in Sacramento? A: No. 1 is that it’s absolutely unbelievable. It is extraordinary, the whole devolution of power from the federal government, and the passing of power to the state. We’re seeing it with welfare reform, and we’re going to see it with a number of other levels over the next number of years. At the same time, because of Proposition 13 and all of its prodigy, we’re seeing this tremendous reliance on the state and it affects everything. My own sense of the larger picture is that we’re going to devolve to an even less centralized state government and stronger regional governments. I think you’re seeing a struggle now, and I think in the next 10 years you’re going to see a significant change in the role of counties. We have 58 counties in California that were largely instruments of history, that were artificial boundaries created for judicial and law enforcement reasons. I ultimately think it’s going to devolve to the old days of the city-states, where you have economic synergies in regions. Q: Willie Brown was a big promoter of regional government, but a lot of people questioned his motives. A: I questioned his motives too, but I think he’s right, if he was sincere. I clearly think that that’s where we’re looking to. I’m on the International Trade Committee, and in international trade, we’re really talking about this regional concept … in transportation plans, in terms of promoting overseas and the like. Q: But at the same time, you have people pushing for more local government, such as in the San Fernando Valley. A: I think you’re going to see this synergy that exists where you have this regionalism in larger sense of government, and much smaller units of government whether it’s going to be through boroughs or neighborhood councils or smaller units of cities or whatever. So that at the local level, people are going to feel much more comfortable. And then there will be larger regions that will have shared interests that is going to be based somewhat by geography, but more on economic concerns. Q: You’ve talked about eliminating layers of government. But if you have boroughs or town councils, and then you have regional government on top of that, that’s two new layers of governments. Is that what people want? A: No, absolutely not. But it’s the transition, it’s what you’ve got to do. It’s part of the process. It’s what happens in revolution. If you look throughout history, anytime you have major change, you always have these kind of overlapping factors that occur. Then I think you’ll see a changing role. There clearly is a movement in this direction, in the local elected officials, the county officials, the city council a lot of county supervisors are seeing this. It kind of emanates from the difficulty of the roles that counties play, and the fact that we’re trying to supplement them, and the fact that they can’t really perform their services very well. Q: They’re kind of the odd man out, aren’t they? Are we going to see the end of county government? A: I think the role of county government is going to substantially change. And I think the fact that we have a lot of county officials in Sacramento is going to help that. I’m seeing evidence of it. I’m telling you this is down the line. Q: What has been the impact of term limits in Sacramento? A: In the old days, a lot of what happened in Sacramento came from the relationships (among lawmakers). Term limits created a sea change, and the new people don’t have those historical relationships. They don’t have those prejudices and those biases. And so the consequence of this, and a number of factors, creates tremendous fluidity. And it’s really broken the back, I think, at least in the short run of a lot of the interest groups. The lobbyists who were there, who knew everybody, who were tough and had reputations, and threw around a lot of money, are scrambling just like the brand new person, because everybody’s new to everybody. So it’s really leveled the playing field in many respects, I think. Q: You say the power of special interests has diminished. Opponents of term limits always claimed that term limits would increase the power of special interests, because lawmakers would have less institutional knowledge and would rely more on lobbyists for their expertise. Has that come to pass, or was that a red herring? A: It hasn’t happened because there’s not opportunities for lobbyists to sit there and (talk to) legislators. My interface with lobbyists is very limited very limited. I don’t have time. I’m rushing from meeting to meeting, I’m preparing, I’m working with the staff. And I know a lot of my friends are in the same boat. Q: What are you hearing from businesses in the Valley? A: You’re hearing regulation issues. What you hear is this: If they have specific interest in a specific regulatory agency, you’ll hear complaints about that agency that deal with their business. But you hear kind of the larger sense of less government regulation, less tax type stuff. Even from the Democrats, you’re hearing get-government-off our-back and make-it-simpler-and-more-customer-friendly kind of stuff. Q: How much is business driving the agenda of the Legislature? A: I think they’re extremely effective. I think that there’s a more moderate mood in the air, generally. I think that the political winds have shifted a bit. I think they’re very effective in terms of their presentations. And I think that you have a situation where with the closeness of the respective caucus numbers, there’s a new mentality around. Because of that, you’re finding a lot more moderate people taking positions that are more consistent with business. Business is looking for the more moderate Democrats to build coalitions with. I don’t know how effective they are in lobbying, but I think they are effective in results. Q: Tell us about your schedule, your lifestyle and how it’s changed since you’ve been in Sacramento. A: I’ve never said the Pledge of Allegiance so much in my life. (laughs) I go up Monday morning on the seven o’clock flight, I’m there all day on Monday, I work until one o’clock or two o’clock on Monday night. I only know the road from the Capitol to my apartment in the little government car that they give you. I fall asleep. I get up early in the morning on Tuesday, I come back, we have committees all day, sometimes until three or four in the morning. I come down on Tuesday night, go home so I can spend time with my family and be here usually I don’t go to functions. I get up at five o’clock in the morning on Wednesday, get back on the airplane, go up on the seven o’clock flight. I’m there Wednesday, I stay overnight Wednesday night, and come back on the 12 o’clock or the two o’clock flight or whatever. And I’ve never worked less than to midnight any night since I’ve been there when I’m up there. I leave on Thursday, get to my (district) office at three, sometimes four or five, in the afternoon, and have meetings with staff on Thursday, go out to functions on Thursday night. Friday, all day long it’s activities. Friday, it’s family night. Saturday’s family day, Saturday night is my wife night, then Sunday is back on the trail.

newsmaker/add/jas/mike1st/mark2nd High-Tech/Aerospace 3D Systems Corp., a Valencia-based developer, marketer and manufacturer of solid-imaging systems, has appointed Richard Balanson to the positions of president and chief operating officer. The company’s founder, Charles W. Hull, will assume the posts of vice chairman and chief technology officer. Prior to joining 3D Systems, Balanson was executive vice president of Maxtor Corp., a supplier of computer disk drives, where he headed engineering, manufacturing, materials, sales and marketing activities.

fstrak/sfvbj/35″/mike1st/mark2nd By BOB HOWARD Contributing Reporter Elliott Balbert says he’s living proof that you can do everything wrong in business and still succeed. Balbert is the founder, president and chief executive of Natrol Inc., a Chatsworth-based company that manufactures natural vitamins and dietary supplements sold under the Natrol brand name in drug store chains and health food stores. By all accounts, Natrol is in great shape. Sales have more than doubled to $40 million in the past year, the company is putting the finishing touches on a new $4 million headquarters and manufacturing plant, a venture capital firm has taken a minority stake and an investment banker is tracking the company with hopes of taking it public some day. But Natrol’s success hasn’t come easy. It has had to cope with a series of setbacks, ranging from Balbert’s ill-planned launch of the company to an explosion that destroyed the factory where 95 percent of Natrol’s products were manufactured. Along the way, it watched sales nearly grind to a halt on one occasion and plummet 90 percent within 90 days on another. Natrol was hanging by such a thin financial thread at one point that Balbert took on a part-time job as a bartender to pay the bills. But Balbert says those setbacks have all taught him lessons. Both he and the business are stronger for having weathered hard times, and because of them, Natrol is prepared to continue its rapid growth in a mushrooming but fiercely competitive industry, he says. After a career in the cosmetics industry in the 1970s, Balbert launched Natrol in 1981 as a cosmetics firm marketing shampoo, conditioner, facial cleanser and facial moisturizer. Recalled Balbert: “I was under-capitalized, had no distribution network, had an ill-designed package, was selling the product at the wrong price and had no marketing plan to speak of. It was a formula for disaster.” After a year of nearly no sales but plenty of sleepless nights, Balbert said, “it was a real struggle just to keep going and pay the rent. I started bartending on the weekends to make ends meet and tried to sell during the week.” Natrol was still going nowhere when Balbert agreed, with little enthusiasm, to help his father market a then-new dietary supplement called a starch blocker. “I agreed to slap a label on it for him and put it under our corporate name,” said Balbert, who was still thinking more about cosmetics. Sales of starch blockers rocketed, and it looked like Natrol would go along for the ride. But about five weeks after Natrol introduced its starch blockers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned all sales of the new dietary supplement. Sales ground to a near standstill again, and Natrol limped along for another year and a half. “We still had no focus,” Balbert said. But then, in early 1984, came a series of successes and setbacks that finally set Natrol on its course. Following a consulting stint with a company marketing an energy supplement, Balbert introduced his own energy formula called Natrol High. It was an instant success. “It was the right product at the right time with the right packaging and the right price,” Balbert said. He followed it with a grapefruit diet supplement in August 1984, and that took off too as did everything else Natrol introduced. “There was a period of about 18 months when we could do no wrong. Every product we introduced became an instant hit,” Balbert said. Then in 1985 came another setback that Balbert says was “probably the biggest single event that set the stage for our success.” At the height of the herbal diet craze, just as Natrol’s sales were booming, the U.S. Senate launched an investigation of herbal weight loss programs. “Our sales melted down in 90 days,” Balbert recalled. “In May of 1985, we hit a new monthly high of $250,000 in sales. Ninety days later, sales were down to $25,000.” Natrol had shipped hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of herbal diet products that distributors and retailers couldn’t sell. It stood to suffer huge losses if it took them back. The company told all of its distributors and customers that, if they couldn’t sell the product or didn’t want it, they could return it and get repaid. That experience taught Balbert two of the most important business lessons he has learned at Natrol. First, repaying the distributors bought him immense loyalty that remains to this day. “I can call any of the distributors we do business with and they will take a product from Natrol, sight unseen, because they know we guarantee it and support it,” he said. Second, he realized that depending so heavily on one product was far too risky. “I look at it now like a funnel with sand going in the top and coming out the bottom. You’ve got to keep pouring more sand in the top than is coming out of the bottom,” he said. The sand in this case is new products. The Natrol line now includes 300 products vitamins, minerals, herbs, hormones and other diet aids and supplements. Balbert said this wide array of products, and Natrol’s strong distribution channels, have kept it on a smooth path for about the past 10 years except for the explosion. A New York contract manufacturer was making 95 percent of Natrol’s products until an explosion destroyed the manufacturer’s factory about five years ago. “Suddenly we found ourselves scrambling around the country to find other manufacturers,” Balbert said. “We couldn’t come up with a company that could provide the quality we wanted and the timeliness we needed, at prices that were competitive. So we decided to do our own manufacturing.” Natrol now makes its products at its Chatsworth headquarters. The company’s solid position in the industry has attracted the interest of the financial community, even though Natrol remains privately owned. Andy McLane, managing director of TA Associates Inc. in Boston, said his company bought a minority stake in Natrol in the fall of 1996 because it sees big potential for growth. “Natrol is one of the leading branded suppliers and has had particularly good success in selling through the mass market and national chain drug stores,” McLane said. He explained that dietary supplements for years were sold primarily through specialty outlets, such as General Nutrition Centers, but supplements have become more of a mainstream product in recent years and are now being sold through national drug chains and mass merchandisers. Russ Landon, senior vice president at the investment banking firm of Adams, Harkness & Hill, said Natrol is a good candidate to go public in the next few years. Landon, who says dietary supplements are a $6 billion industry and growing quickly, says Natrol sells its products under the same brand name in health food specialty stores and mass merchandisers without alienating either. “Normally, companies have a hard time doing that without getting the specialty stores ticked off at them for moving into the mass channels,” Landon said. Landon, McLane and Marie Griffin, editor-in-chief of New York City-based Drug Store News, all see a big future for the dietary supplement industry. “It’s just beginning,” said Griffin, who added that supplements are becoming more and more of a mainstream product because of an aging population that is concerned with health, along with a younger generation of consumers who are interested in a healthy lifestyle. Balbert is betting on the industry’s growth by investing in the new manufacturing plant, where a grand opening is scheduled for June 20.

newsmakers/jas/mike1st/mark2nd Banking & Finance Harold C. Rose has been promoted from senior vice president of West Coast production to executive vice president of loan production for ARCS Mortgage Co. L.P. His duties include companywide production and marketing. Other appointments at the Calabasas-based firm include Kevin Kleen as senior vice president and chief underwriting officer of ARCS Commerical Mortgage Co. L.P. and Laura Maynard as vice president in Kleen’s department. Peter Steinmann has been named senior vice president of the Sherman Oaks-based American Pacific State Bank. Prior to joining America Pacific, Steinmann oversaw the business banking group of TransWorldBank. Elaine R. Hineman has been promoted to vice president of investments at Smith Barney in Glendale. Hineman’s responsibilities include client asset allocation, retirement planning, education funding analysis, mutual fund evaluation and trust plan services. Entertainment MTM Enterprises Inc. has named Renee Madrigal as vice president of worldwide marketing. She will be responsible for initiating worldwide marketing strategies and coordinating the advertising, publicity, media and promotion campaigns for the company’s entertainment signature properties. Madrigal will also serve as the central marketing coordinator for cross-divisional activities involving consumer products, music, interactive products and home video. Universal Studios has appointed Jay E. Shecter vice president of strategic sourcing. Shecter joined Universal Studios from Seagram, where he served as senior vice president and chief financial officer of the Chivas & Glenliver Group in London. Adam Kriger has been appointed vice president of strategic planning for Burbank-based Walt Disney Co. Kriger had been director of strategic planning. He will be responsible for strategy and new business development for Disney’s theme parks, resorts and regional entertainment activities. Kerry Carr has been named vice president of the management audit department of Walt Disney Co. Carr will oversee the execution of financial, operational and informational systems control audits for all of Disney’s business units. Prior to joining Disney, Carr was vice president of internal audits at ABC and an audit manager with Deloitte and Touche LLP. Richard W. Taylor, executive vice president of Hill and Knowlton Inc., has been named chairman and chief executive officer of Showcase Placements Inc., a Burbank-based product placement agency which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hill and Knowlton. Taylor has been serving as Hill and Knowlton’s president of business development and as global account director for two of the firm’s clients: the Government of Puerto Rico and the Tournament of Roses. Health Care Dr. Armen Duman has been named medical director of the acute rehabilitation unit at Valley Presbyterian Hospital. Duman, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist, plans to develop programs in specialty areas, such as stroke, brain injury, orthopedics, arthritis and rheumatology treatments. Michael Higgins has been appointed general manager of special and national accounts for Blue Cross of California. He will be responsible for all services provided to a large group of commercial customers and labor accounts. Blue Cross is located in Woodland Hills. Real Estate The Voit Cos. has appointed Ricard B. Kern as senior vice president in charge of the asset services division. Kern will be responsible for strategic planning and consulting services for real estate assets and overseeing fee development, acquisition, disposition, build-to-suit and other real estate assignments at the Woodland Hills-based firm. Prior to joining Voit, Kern was a vice president of Davis Partners Inc.

valley forum6-2hm/mike1st/mark2nd Plans to build an 18-hole golf course at Big Tujunga Wash near Sunland have been a source of contention between opponents who want to preserve the ecologically sensitive wash and supporters who wish to see more public golf courses in the area. There are currently six public golf courses in the San Fernando Valley. Los Angeles City Council members will decide by June 10 whether to accept the proposed 350-acre project. The Business Journal Forum asks: Does the Valley need another golf course? Benjamin Reznik Senior Partner Law Firm of Reznik & Reznik Yes. I think the Valley needs a more inexpensive public golf course. A lot of people would like to play golf, and it’s difficult to get on a public course. The people who can’t afford to play Monday through Friday are dependent on public courses. There’s a competing demand for them. Dr. Adrian Ortega Assistant Professor of Surgery University of Southern California We don’t need another golf course. There’s plenty of them around. We already have a golf course near Sunland, about a mile away from my home. Mark Murphy General Manager Braemar Country Club On the public side, it could use another one. I know some of the public courses right now do an extreme amount of rounds. On our side, the private, it’s probably fine. There’s not a great urgency for another private. But the golfers are really the ones who need to answer that question. Lynne Plambeck Member The Sierra Club, Angeles Chapter I think it’s time that the Valley and L.A. County in general begin considering where its water resources come from. Golf courses are big consumers of water; they may not be the best use of that resource. If you’re going to weigh that against jobs, you may create more jobs by using it (water) in industry. It’s time for the region to weigh the costs of water and decide where the more-efficient use may lie and it may not lie with golf courses. Kathy Anthony President Tujunga-Sunland Chamber of Commerce Absolutely. Our community needs upgrading. And what better way can you upgrade except for a new golf course? It would be like our front yard, just a mile away. I think it will only enhance the community. (Golfing) is not a big business. It fits our town with mom-and-pop shops. Walter N. Prince Chairman Planning and Land Use Committee PRIDE I really have mixed emotions. My own feelings are that it should be left up to the residents. They’re the ones that have to put up with the traffic, look at the lights. I think that that is really a neighborhood issue. It really should be surveyed.

smallbiz/19″/mike1st/mark2nd By BRUCE DOBB Randy Allen’s dry cleaning business had been in Canoga Park for 15 years and had built a strong clientele of regulars over the years. When the Environmental Protection Agency reclassified the PERC fluid his dry cleaning machine used from a “hazardous” substance to a “toxic,” he wasn’t sure how that affected him. He only found out when he went to renew his permit with the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The AQMD is the air pollution control agency for the four-county region including Los Angeles, Orange and parts of San Bernardino and Riverside. This area represents about half the population of the state of California. In the past decade, the AQMD reduced the number of Stage I smog alerts by 70 percent. This is despite a huge increase in the number of cars and people. (AQMD only regulates stationary sources of pollution.) Allen’s old machine no longer qualified for a permit. That was the bad news. The good news was the special financing he was offered so he could affordably buy a new machine with the “best available technology” that would save him enough money in operating costs to pay the debt service on the loan for five years. It increased his efficiency. He could now handle up to six loads per day; before, his daily capacity was less than half that. His productivity increase meant more sales at lower costs, and that benefit would be there after the machine was paid for. This was made possible through a little-known guarantee program sponsored by the AQMD, called the Air Quality Assistance Fund. The AQAF is one of the region’s best-kept secrets. Of the 30,000-plus businesses that operate with AQMD permits in Southern California, few know about this program. While other loan guarantee efforts, such as that of the Small Business Administration or the U.S. Commerce Department, boast an average of one job per every $20,000 of government sponsorship, the AQAF has saved or created one job for every $2,700 of AQMD exposure. The AQMD has done this while carrying out the dual mission of not just promoting local employment, but also helping to control emissions from stationary sources of air pollution. The costs of this highly effective program are not substantial. The loss rate has been under 1 percent in the three years of operations, and the delinquency rate is under 4 percent. That’s respectable by any banking standard for a program intended by statute to assist businesses unable to obtain credit elsewhere. The success story of the AQAF loan guarantee program is best measured not by just the numbers but by actual case stories of those participants who have benefited. For example: Paradise Textile. Started three years ago as a textile-dying plant in Pomona, this company treats some 35 percent of all fibrous cloth used in the apparel industry in Southern California. While receiving more than $1 million in financing for major equipment purchases, the company was unable to finance a unique drying filtration system which was required to control particular emissions. The special character of this equipment limited its resale value. The credit enhancement provided by the AQAF was sufficient to solve the problem. The company has added 15 new jobs to its existing 140 job base from the time of its loan origination one year ago. Milt and Michael’s Dry Cleaners. Employing over 67 low-to moderate-skilled workers in the Toluca Lake section of the city of Los Angeles, Milt and Michael’s is one the nation’s most successful dry cleaning operations. The firm services 43,000 active clients a month through a highly automated card I.D. system that reduces customers’ pick-up wait. The company’s use of the AQAF enabled it to triple capacity by buying a dry cleaning machine that could handle 10 loads per shift, as opposed to three, and did not require the removal of PERC-saturated clothing from one machine to another during processing. By lowering PERC usage from 55 gallons a month to five gallons, they also experienced dramatic savings in haul-away costs. The AQAF guarantee program can be used by any company that needs to obtain a permit from the AQMD to operate a machine. Industries as diverse as bakeries, manufacturers of soap and furniture, and photographic studios are impacted. The AQMD rules affect over 19 major Standard Industrial Codes groups, such as “printing and publishers” and “automotive Repair.” The AQMD reaches out in other ways to small companies through its Small Business Assistance Office (800) 388-2121 by offering engineering and technical assistance, loan information, permit counseling, and input into formulating the rules that impact their industries. Bruce Dobb is the chief credit officer for the Valley Economic Development Center’s revolving loan fund and a regular contributor to the San Fernando Valley Business Journal.

VALLEY/LETTER/1stjc/mark2nd Alliance for Progress We read with much amazement your April editorial, “Too Many Voices,” criticizing the business community of the San Fernando Valley for forming “too many organizations all doing pretty much the same thing,” and then questioning the need for the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley. Each of the Valley’s business support organizations which you cited has a well-defined, well-established and unique focus. They are not, as you suggest, “all doing pretty much the same thing.” The United Chambers of Commerce is a forum for the 22 local chambers which represent the businesses within each of our individual Valley communities. VICA is a regional advocacy organization serving to articulate business’ agenda to elected officials. VEDC provides management and technical assistance, training and financing to small businesses. The Small Manufacturers Association is a broad-based industrial coalition representing more than 1,000 small manufacturers. These organizations make up the Economic Alliance. Because each organization does distinctly different things, we felt the need to create our Alliance, to collectively join together to promote and build economic activity throughout the Valley. The Alliance provides us with the best forum for collaborative strategic planning and the development of consensus for the greater Valley’s economic future. Of all of L.A.’s publications, it is perplexing that the San Fernando Valley Business Journal, which suggests a specific understanding of and working relationship with the Valley, apparently does not grasp this reality. The Economic Alliance is not just another member of the chorus another voice in a crowded cacophony of voices, as your editorial would imply. It is rather the choir director, engaged in harmonizing all of the existing voices into one chorus to sing our Valley’s praises and improve our overall business climate so that the Valley can lake its rightful place as a leading player in our global economy. As its name implies, the Alliance was created to coalesce these business organizations and the five vibrant cities that make up our trade area into a true partnership for progress. BILL ALLEN President Economic Alliance GARY THOMAS United Chambers BONNIE HERMAN President Valley Industry and Commerce Association JOHN ROONEY Valley Economic Development Center DAVID GOODREAU President Small Manufacturers Association