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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Stars Will Shine at Valley Gala

By Rossana Woo Contributing Reporter Studio City The Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley will host its 10th annual “Stars of the Valley” gala in Studio City on July 14. This black tie event will honor those who have brought positive recognition and made outstanding contributions to the region in the fields of arts and entertainment, business and education. Actress Betty White, Los Angeles Valley College and The Westfield Group are this year’s award recipients. Located at CBS Studio Center in Studio City, this multi-location event will take place in three different venues over the evening. The reception, which will begin at 6 p.m., will be at one location in the studio, the awards ceremony will be in a sound stage and dinner will be in another location. “You get a different feel for the evening because you move three different times,” said Bruce Ackerman, president and CEO of the Economic Alliance. Ackerman, who has attended every gala and helped organize the last eight, has high expectations for this year’s event. “We have amazing honorees this year,” he said. A selection committee and gala steering committee considers people and organizations that have made substantial contributions in their fields for the awards, according to Karen Pearson, Economic Alliance director of investor relations. White, best known as Rose Nylund on “The Golden Girls,” will receive the Entertainment Award. She has been a longtime advocate for education excellence and has been at the forefront of forward-looking learning and innovation. Valley College, one of the top community colleges in transfers to four-year institutions, will receive the Education Award for enhancing the economic viability of the valley through its commitment to education and training. Westfield Group, which will have invested more than $350 million in the Westfield Topanga mall revitalization project, will receive the Business Award. Westfield. Last year’s event had a turnout of about 625 people, an attendance number that should be repeated this year. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is sure to be visible, as are other selected officials. This is the first time the event will be hosted at CBS Studio. Previous locations included Disneyland, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. and, last year, the Ronald Reagan Library. SAN FERNANDO VALLEY Granada Hills Neighbors: The Granada Hills Chamber of Commerce has given the green light to a proposal to redevelop the Granada Village Shopping Center with a Kohl’s store as the anchor tenant. The chamber’s action comes after the area’s neighborhood council opposed the plan, saying, among other things, that it would bring too much traffic to the neighborhood and could jeopardize the small business owners in the area. The chamber’s board of directors considered the plan at its board meeting last month and voted to support the application made by the developer, Regency Centers, on behalf of Kohl’s. Although Kohl’s has not confirmed any plans to locate in the center, Regency Centers, which is redeveloping the entire shopping center, has applied on the retailer’s behalf for the required permits. North Hollywood Award: Disney-ABC Television will be awarded the President’s Award by the Imagen Foundation at the 22nd Annual Imagen Awards on July 28. Accepting the award will be Anne Sweeney, co-chairman at Disney Media Networks and president at Disney-ABC Television Group. The Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Walter Ulloa, chairman and CEO of Entravision, the Creative Achievement Award will go to America Ferrara star of ABC’s Ugly Betty and the Norman Lear Writer’s Award will go to Cynthia Cidre writer of an upcoming CBS Latino-cast series Cane. This year’s award ceremony will be located at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, more than doubling the size of last year’s gala and reinforcing “the bridge between the Latino and entertainment communities,” said Helen Hernandez, founder of The Imagen Foundation and creator of the Imagen Awards. Exhibition: MusicBox Co-founder/composer Daniel Stein will show his first solo exhibition “Through the Lens” at the Judith Kaufman Gallery located at the historic El Portal Theater in North Hollywood. The exhibition will comprise of 25 works, encompassing abstract, landscape and cityscape, showing Stein’s wide palette of photographic imagery. “Through the Lens” will open with a reception on Wednesday July 18 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and will run through September. Panorama City Opening: D’New Aristocrat, a new Filipino Bakery and Caf & #233;, celebrated its grand opening in Panorama City, marking the second location for the bakery, the first in Historic Filipinotown. The caf & #233; is a client of The Valley Economic Development Center’s Panorama City Business Assistance Program. D’New was able to receive a $35,000 Small Business Microloan under this program as well as assistance with retail training and lease issues. CONEJO VALLEY Thousand Oaks Retirement: University Village Thousand Oaks, the new continuing care retirement community, will open its doors in August for the 550 seniors scheduled to move in. To help residents meet with their new neighbors and introduce them to the active lifestyle at University Village, residents will enjoy a full schedule of activities when they arrive. Located on a 65-acre campus near California Lutheran University, this facility will offer a complete staff of food and beverage personnel, including an executive chef and food and beverage manager. Fine dining in the new Clubhouse, Villas, apartment homes and “Garden Terrace” homes, as well as OakView, the community’s on-site health center, are still under construction. Warren Spieker, vice president of Continuing Life Communities Thousand Oaks LLC, said that a grand opening celebration is being planned for October. Westlake Village Website: Starnet Data’s newly refreshed website, www.startnetdata.com, has scored points for the company on three goals: communicating customer benefits, the launch of a new tagline and giving back to education. For customers, the refreshed website emphasizes Increased Operational Efficiency, Competitive Advantage, Improved Collaboration and Enhanced Customer Service. Featured on the new website is the company’s new corporate tagline, “simple. technology solutions.” which expresses the goal of the company to take the complexity out of the equation and provide advanced technology solutions that are simple to own, simple to manage and simple to maintain. In education, Starnet Data decided to allow a multimedia student at Cal Lutheran University create the website. The reason was to give back to the education sector by providing opportunities to students. Law: Andrew Goodman, veteran bankruptcy and insolvency attorney, opened his own law firm in Westlake Village. Goodman will continue to focus his practice on bankruptcy and insolvency cases, litigation matters and workouts. Prior to this, Goodman was a partner with Encino-based Greenberg & Bass LLP where he led the firm’s bankruptcy practice group. Health: Dr. Ronald Moy will be one of the first physicians to offer services in the new state-of-the-art California Wellbeing Institute (CWI) in Westlake Village. As part of one of CWI’s “Ultimate Health Packages” cosmetic treatments will be offered by Dr. Moy, which will include DNA skin repair, laser resurfacing, skin tightening and other procedure. “I believe that patients will benefit from cosmetic procedures coupled with total health and wellness programs to promote a lifestyle of balanced health and beauty,” Dr. Moy said. ANTELOPE VALLEY Palmdale Housing: AMCAL Multi-Housing Inc. broke ground on Cielo Azul, an 81-unit senior housing development, on July 3 in Palmdale. Present at the groundbreaking was James C. Ledford, Jr. mayor of the City of Palmdale as well as representatives from AMCAL. Scheduled to complete in 2008, Cielo Azul will be financed with more than $9.97 million in nine percent low-income housing tax credits allocated in 2006. This senior development will deliver highly desirable, affordable apartments to the surrounding senior community. SANTA CLARITA VALLEY Santa Clarita Launch: The City of Santa Clarita’s Enterprise Zone has been approved. As of July 1, all of the businesses within the zone are eligible to receive incentives to promote business investment and job creation. Tax advantages include hiring tax credits, sales or use tax credits, business expense deductions, net interest deductions and net operating loss carryover deductions. The zone, about 13.5 square miles, includes 97 percent of all commercial, business and industrial-zoned land in Santa Clarita.

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