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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

On the Front Page: It was a Year of Changes for Valley Firms

January The Howard A. Anderson Company, an effects business in North Hollywood, closed down after 78 years. The company’s struggles were shared by its peers, it owed close to $1 million and had assets of about $1.1 million when it declared bankruptcy. Los Angeles Valley College launched a course in nanotechnology in collaboration with the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of California at Santa Barbara. Alfred Publishing made a deal to purchase Warner Bros. Publications, one of the world’s largest publishers of printed music from Warner Music Group, giving it the right to publish and distribute artists such as Led Zeppelin and George Gershwin. Valley businesses like Amgen, the Walt Disney Company, Health Net and others donated millions of dollars to victims of the tsunami in South Asia. February The Valley Economic Development Center received a federal charter to open a credit union in Pacoima. The focus of the new institution would be to provide financing and services to assist with economic development. A number of new restaurants started to bring more nightlife to Ventura Boulevard, including Octopus Japanese Fusion Resturant, Red Square, Rio Lounge and Grill, Moulin Rouge and Alexandria Gourmet Mediterranean Tapas. Mayor James Hahn announced that he was tripling the budget of every neighborhood council in the city. Boeing Co. announced that it had sold Canoga Park-based Rocketdyne to United Technologies Corp. for $700 million in cash. March Valley companies, like TVN Entertainment and GoTV Networks ramped up their offerings in the video on demand segment. A heavy rain season and a shortage of raw materials forced Providence Holy Cross to delay the opening of its Health Center in Santa Clarita until the fall. April Galpin Motors opened its new Aston Martin showroom, hoping to lure customers with a posh living room and bar setup. Woodland Hills-based ISWest purchased DCN Internet, further consolidating the local business-to-business Internet Service Provider market Telecommunications gear manufacturer Tekelec announced it was shutting down its Valley operations and moving its 45 remaining Calabasas employees to Morrisville, N.C. L.A. Inc., the Convention and Visitors Bureau announced it was marketing plan to lure business specifically to Valley hotels. May Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. announced it was dropping 12 percent of its work force. The company laid off 90 people, the cuts were distributed evenly through its headquarters in Camarillo and its design centers in New Jersey, Colorado and Texas. Earl Scheib Inc. announced that a decision to withdraw from the American Stock Exchange was bringing it closer to a return to profitability. The operator of auto paint and collision shops could not afford to comply with Sarbanes Oxley regulations. The Valley Economic Forecast showed that the Valley added 10,600 new jobs in the previous year, and that we could likely expect a 1.7 percent in jobs in 2005 and 2006. June GigaPix Studios set up shop in Chatsworth to compete with such animation heavyweights as Dreamworks Animation, The Walt Disney Co. and Nickelodeon Animation. The company said it will alternate between developing original content and forming strategic partnerships with local studios. PriceWaterhouseCoopers reported that first quarter venture funding saw 20 deals in the Los Angeles area, down slightly from the previous quarter. Investors lost interest in biotech companies, funding of which fell 69 percent in the quarter, the first loss in several quarters. July Northridge-based Gamma Medical Corporation purchases Ideas ASA of Oslo, Norway. The company hopes that the purchase will carry it to the forefront of the medical imaging industry. The Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision against Streamcast Networks and its software program Morpheus. Court case seen as being monumental for the future of Internet downloading. CB Richard Ellis decides to combine its Glendale and Sherman Oaks offices into a San Fernando Valley headquarters in Universal City. The move will double the size of the office and its revenues. (Pic, July 18, Pg. 1) PCC Network Solutions beats out 14 competitors to win a contract to install a pilot Wi-Fi program for the city of West Hollywood. August Study comes out saying the Valley continues to have sky-high office occupancy rents and rents. Few vacancies left in the area. (Picture/chart, page 3, August 1 issue) Congress Approves $130 million to construct a carpool lane for the northbound Interstate 405. Funds are hoped to ease congestion on the second most crowded freeway in the nation. Encino-based NAI Capital launches a Pacific Rim division designed to help investors from across Asia and the Middle East navigate the U.S. real estate market. September The 15 largest public companies in the Valley report average net income increases of 15 percent on revenue increases of 7 percent for the second quarter of 2005. Despite being four months after its scheduled opening date and eight months after receiving its charter, the Business Journal reports that the Pacoima Development Federal Credit Union still has not found a home. (Picture, September 12, page 1) The Studio City-based Hallmark Channel goes up for bid. Several firms vie to purchase the company, but as of year’s end, there remains no sale. Federated Department Stores Inc. makes the decision to close many of the Robinsons-May units it acquired when it purchased May Department Stores Co., leaving four of the Valley’s major shopping malls with big empty spaces where the anchor used to be. Woodland Hills-based Youbet.com, Inc. ranks as the fastest growing technology company based in the Valley, according to Deloitte & Touche LLP’s 2005, “Los Angeles Technology Fast 50.” Youbet ranks fifth overall. October M. David Paul & Associates emerges victorious in its big to acquire a large land parcel that had been previously been part of NBC Studios in Burbank. The deal is estimated at costing them $55 million for 875,000 square feet of office space. The Orange Line debuts, running from North Hollywood to Woodland Hills’ Warner Center. The Line has a successful debut and better-than-expected ridership figures. Infospectrum Inc., is named The Valley’s fastest growing private company on the Business Journal’s annual list. (Picture pages 1 and 16, October 24 issue) Rents on Valley multifamily properties continue to rise in the third quarter with some of the highest increases in Canoga Park and Sherman Oaks. November Westlake Village officials receive a controversial and long-awaited environmental report for a retail center project that Lowe’s and Rotkin Real Estate are proposing to build. The project is seen a major factor in what the future of the city will look like. Wildcat Communications makes a major expansion with the purchase of Arizona-based K & B; Electronics. Wildcat picks up major clients included the United States Army, the United States Air Force and Amazon.com. Valencia-based 3D Systems becomes the latest Valley firm to leave the area, opting to move to North Carolina. Firm cites the high cost of doing business in California as a major factor. Disney purchases European wireless video game company Living Mobile. The move shows Disney’s increasing interest in the multimedia arena. (picture November 21 issue, page 3) December Dreamworks sold to Paramount in a deal worth $1.6 billion in cash and debt. United Online rolls out VoIP service, this sort of diversification seen as key to its future viability. (December 5 issue, Picture on page 1)

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