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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Around the Valleys

ANTELOPE VALLEY LANCASTER Kaiser Permanente Inc. physicians will continue treating patients at the Antelope Valley Hospital for at least another decade. The health care system and the 420-bed hospital in Lancaster announced Nov. 6 they have extended their long-term partnership for 10 more years. “We are pleased that (Kaiser) agreed that Antelope Valley Hospital can meet the hospital services needs of their members … by building on the relationship we’ve forged together rather than building a new hospital,” Michael Wall, chief executive of the Antelope Valley Hospital, said in a statement. The deal allows local residents who have Kaiser health insurance to receive treatment at the Antelope Valley Hospital under their insurance plans. Antelope Valley Hospital includes a trauma center as well as facilities for mental health services, surgery and cancer treatment. Its health care providers see about 213,000 patients annually, according to the hospital. Kaiser has six care facilities in the Antelope Valley, including its contract with the Antelope Valley Hospital. Between them, it treats approximately 128,000 patients every year. CONEJO VALLEY AGOURA HILLS Majestic Asset Management Inc. in Van Nuys has sold two of four buildings in the Agoura Hills creative office campus it remodeled after buying the park last year. The real estate firm shed 5137 and 5155 Clareton Drive within its Tech Park @ Canwood for nearly $10.3 million. The buyer was an undisclosed private investor, according to Ron Feder, managing director of KW Commercial Calabasas, who represented the investor. The two properties were 100 percent occupied at the time of the sale, according to Feder. They total about 42,000 square feet, which is barely a third of the overall park at 120,000 square feet. Majestic bought the office/industrial campus last year for $21 million when it was named Canwood Business Park. The company remodeled it with modern drought tolerant landscaping and an outdoor gathering area, and rebranded it Tech Park @ Canwood to attract companies that prefer modern working environments. THOUSAND OAKS Amgen Inc. has entered an agreement to buy Kirin-Amgen, its joint venture with Japan-based Kirin Holdings Co., for $780 million, the company announced. “Our historic partnership with Kirin played a pivotal role in the growth of Amgen from a small, venture-backed startup to one of the world’s largest biotechnology companies,” Robert Bradway, chief executive of Amgen, said in a statement. Amgen and Kyowa Hakko Kirin, the biopharmaceutical arm of Kirin, formed the 50-50 partnership in 1984 to develop Epogen, a drug used to promote the growth of red blood cells in patients with anemia. The joint venture also holds the intellectual property rights to Neulasta and Neupogen, which stimulate white blood cell growth; Aranesp, another drug to treat anemia; Nplate, a platelet booster; and brodalumab, an anti-inflammatory medication that was approved in February by the Food and Drug Aministration for the treatment of severe plaque psoriasis. Kirin-Amgen will pay $780 million in cash to Kirin to become a wholly owned subsidiary of Amgen, according to the company. Amgen will pay up to $30 million more to Kirin upon completion of certain sales. Licensing agreements between Kyowa Hakko Kirin and Amgen in some Asian countries will remain in place, Amgen said. SAN FERNANDO VALLEY CANOGA PARK U.S. Nuclear Corp. has signed a cooperation and marketing agreement with a Tennessee company to promote their complimentary nuclear safety products. The agreement between U.S. Nuclear in Canoga Park and Nucsafe Inc., in Oak Ridge, Tenn. will result in combined sales of $20 million, a work force of 75 employees and manufacturing and warehouse space of 65,000 square feet. The companies said the goal of the alliance is to promote, build, sell and service radiation detection devices globally. Benefits include the companies cross-selling each other’s products; a bigger footprint to qualify and bid for large contracts; and cooperating on joint development projects. U.S. Nuclear has three subsidiaries – Technical Associates in Canoga Park, which makes radiation detection equipment; Overhoff Technologies in Milford, Ohio, which specializes in tritium detection equipment; and Electronic Control Concepts, also in Milford, which makes voltmeters to check industrial and medical x-ray machines. CHATSWORTH More than 600 business and property owners have signed a petition asking for the city of L.A.’s help in dealing with increasing homelessness in Chatsworth and Northridge. According to Scott Caswell, principal of commercial real estate brokerage firm Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura, clients including tenants and property owners have complained to him about homeless people in recreational vehicles who are parking for extended periods of time in business parks. The homeless are creating encampments that are causing hardships to businesses operating there. As a result, Caswell launched a petition drive and gathered 600-plus signatures that he sent to Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander, who represents the area. “Clients started telling me that if something wasn’t done, my next job would be to move them out of Los Angeles,” Caswell said in a statement. The problems increased, according to Caswell, after the City Council voted in January to allow 24/7 vehicle dwellings in industrial areas. Englander voted against the measure, according to his office. NORTH HOLLYWOOD The Lankershim Media Center office building has traded hands for $23.5 million, according to CBRE Group Inc. The nearly 74,000-square-foot structure at 4640 Lankershim Blvd. sold to San Francisco-headquartered Swift Real Estate Partners. The property, built in 1984, sold after a renovation by owner Curo Enterprises of New York City, and was 100 percent leased at the time of the sale, according to CBRE. CBRE’s Todd Tydlaska, Mike Longo, Sean Sullivan, Matt Heyn and Troy Pollet brokered the deal on behalf of Curo. SAN FERNANDO BAK Industries is closing its two San Fernando Valley locations resulting in the elimination of 261 employees. In a letter to the state’s Employment Development Department, Mark Hickey, executive vice president of operations, said the employees will be terminated as of Dec. 10 from the locations at 720 Jessie St. in San Fernando and 21200 Lassen St. in Chatsworth. “This will result in the elimination of 62 positions at the San Fernando plant and the elimination of 191 positions at the Chatsworth plant, and these terminations are expected to be permanent,” Hickey stated in his letter. BAK manufactures truck bed covers and accessories. It is a division of Truck Hero Inc., in Ann Arbor, Mich. SANTA CLARITA VALLEY SANTA CLARITA The Santa Clarita location of Walmart will host the mega-retailer’s first employee training academy in Los Angeles County, the company has announced. Walmart officials held a grand opening ceremony Nov. 2 featuring 66 recent graduates of its retail training program to honor the occasion. “Skills training increases productivity, confidence and knowledge, which leads to greater job satisfaction, personal and professional growth,” Chad Donath, Walmart regional general manager, said in a statement. “(It) reinforces why working at Walmart is a smart career choice.” Walmart training academies are located in dedicated facilities on the site of the company’s “Supercenter” retail stores. Store employees from every level of operations, from entry-level associates to regional general managers, take part in a two-week training program called Pathways, which emphasizes customer service skills, merchandising and leadership. Like all Walmart training academies, employees from as many as 25 surrounding store locations will take part in the programs at the Santa Clarita site. The Bentonville, Ark.-based company anticipates building 200 training academies in the U.S. by the end of the year. Jo Anne Darcy, a four-time mayor of Santa Clarita and former executive director of the chamber, died Oct. 29. She was 86, according to media reports. Darcy and her husband Curtis ran the Acton ‘49er Saloon in the late 1960s, until she took a position at the Saugus-Newhall-Valencia Chamber of Commerce. She later became executive director of the organization, now called the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce. She left the chamber to work as a field representative for L.A. County Supervisor Mike Antonovich. She served on the Santa Clarita City Council or as mayor from the city’s formation in 1987 until 2002. Darcy also served on the chamber’s legislative committee, the Small Business Development Center Business Survival Committee and the College of the Canyons Special Task Force on Small Business. A library in Canyon Country is named in her honor.

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