September 2008 Archives
Dameron Communications, a San Bernardino-based advertising-public relations firm, has moved to a new suite within the offices of 255 N. D St.
The company more than doubled its office space, from 1,000 to 2,200 square feet.
"The move from Suite 210 to Suite 303 became necessary when Luxor Properties Inc., the new owner of the... building, leased most of the second floor to the San Bernardino County Public Defenders' Office," a news release states. "This required all but a few tenants on the floor to relocate their offices."
"Luxor Properties Inc. was able to offer Dameron Communications great incentives on another suite within the same building," the release said. "This not only allowed Dameron Communications a much easier move than if it had to relocate to another office building, it also gave the agency the added benefit of more space."
Dill Bowerman is dean of Cal State San Bernardino's College of Business and Public Administration, and Carney is president and CEO of Riverside-based Inland Empire Economic Partnership.
Enterprise Funding provides SBA 504 loans for Inland Empire retail, industrial, and service industry businesses that are expanding or relocating. Since its formation in 1983, the organization has approved more than $500 million in projects and helped to create or
retain more than 8,500 jobs in the Inland Empire.
For information, visit www.efc504.com
Stock shares of badly-bruised recreational vehicle manufacturer Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. were moved by the New York Stock Exchange from its main exchange to the Arca electronic market on Monday.
The move happened when shares dropped below $1. The company is reeling from several quarters of losses amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.
Shares are expected to be moved back to the New York Stock Exchange's main trading exchange when they rise above $1.10.
Shares were priced at $1 by 8:30 a.m. pacific standard time on Tuesday morning.
Sheila Donovan, financial consultant with Inland Empire Wealth Management, will give two financial awareness presentations on Oct. 7 at the Highland Public Library.
The first, "Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT," will start at 6 p.m., and the second, "Covering the Basics of Life Insurance," will start at 7 p.m.
The library is located at 7863 Central Ave, Highland CA. Please call 909-425-5398 or e-mail sheila.donovan@lpl.com for reservations.
Fitch Upgrades San Bernardino County, California 1995 COPs to 'A+'
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--During the course of routine surveillance, Fitch Ratings has upgraded San Bernardino County, California's (the county) approximately $102 million of outstanding certificates of participation (COPs), series 1995 (Medical Center Financing Project) to 'A+' from 'A.' The Rating Outlook is Stable.
The 'A+' rating on the COPs reflects the county's consistently strong financial management, high fund balance levels, and a moderately low debt burden. The rating also incorporates slowed economic growth attributable to the significant weakness in the residential and commercial real estate sectors.
Shares of Hansen Natural Corp. (Nasdaq: HANS) closed more than 17 percent higher on Thursday after a research note by investment analysis firm Stifel Nicolaus said the Corona-based soda-energy drink company is discussing a distribution deal with Coca-Cola Co.
Hansen executives didn't return phone calls. The stock closed at $27.14.
The report backs up its claim by citing an article on Beverage Business Insights, an online newsletter.
"It is unclear to us what a potential distribution agreement with Coke would mean to Hansen's relationship with Anheuser-Busch," the research note says. "That said... we believe it is more likely the company utilizes both distribution systems."
On Wednesday evening, New York-based Scott + Scott LLP filed a class action law suit against Hansen on behalf of investors who bought shares between May 23 to Nov. 23 of last year. The suit claims the company lied and mislead investors regarding operations, which inflated stock shares.
The claim comes on the heels of another law suit filed on Sept. 11 by New York-based Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman and Robbins LLP on behalf of investors who bought Hansen stock between May 23 and Nov. 8 of last year. It, too, alleges the company issued "false and misleading" statements about Hansen's operations.
Aerospace-electronics industry manufacturer Emrise Corp. said on Thursday that it received $2 million in orders for radio frequency devices used in systems designed to prevent roadside bombs from detonating in Iraq and elsewhere.
Deliveries will most likely start this month, the Rancho Cucamonga company said.
"One of the reasons we purchased (Advanced Control Components) was because of its presence in the U.S. military market and its focus on RF devices for the high-volume business in RCIED-jamming systems," said Carmine Oliva, president and CEO, in a news release.
Emrise recently sold its Sunnyvale-based printed circuit board business, Sierra Circuits, to help pay off debt incurred for buying Eatontown, N.J.-based Advanced Control Components.
The company is looking to sell other non-core business divisions or product lines so it can pay down debt.
If Emrise's proposed stock split is approved by shareholders, shares would jump in value so the company can stay listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Shares peaked at more than $11 in 1992 but are now facing a delisting on the exchange. The stock has been hovering between 50 - 90 cents.
Emrise earned $4 million from 2003 to 2005, but reported $5.5 million in losses over 2006 and 2007, mostly because of slower sales.
Thad Balkman, vice president of external relations for Ontario-based Phoenix Motorcars, testified on Tuesday to the U.S. Senate Energy Committee during a hearing on the "state of electric vehicles and the prospects for wider deployment in the near future," a news release states.
"It helps with public awareness, showing that there are alternatives to hybrid vehicles," said Julia Winter, director of regulatory affairs at the electric car manufacturer, during a phone interview.
With an energy bill being debated in Congress, part of the legislation would give incentives to people who buy electric vehicles.
Some electric vehicles, like Phoenix's cars, can get up to 135 miles per gallon, with its battery being charged within 10 minutes.
Balkman is a former U.S. House of Representatives Congressman from Oklahoma.
Phoenix has 25 employees and moved to Ontario in 2006. The company's top customers right now include San Bernardino County, Santa Monica, San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Co., NASA, and several other companies and government entities.
Phoenix also has a waiting list of 23,000 individuals interested in their products, plus countries like Sweden, Norway and Israel.
Inland Empire technology companies interested in staying competitive and utilizing green technologies might want to consider attending the Innovation and Globalization in Green conference on Oct. 1 and 2 in Irvine.
AeA -- the nation's largest high-tech trade association -- is inviting businesses throughout the two-county region to attend the event.
That's on top of local companies who already plan on going. The AeA's Inland Empire-Orange County chapter represents 140 companies across San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties with a collective revenue of more than $8 billion and more than 160,000 employees.
Like other regions, our two-county area is still in its green-technology infancy.
But significant strides are being made.
Southern California Edison, for instance, is currently installing a $7 million, 2-megawatt solar panel project on top of a huge warehouse in Fontana.
To register for the conference, visit www.ocinnovation2008.com. Attendees who sign up by Saturday will get a 20-percent discount.
For information on AeA's local chapter, visit www.aeanet.org/orangecounty.
Speakers at the conference include Deborah Wince-Smith, president of the Council on Competitiveness, a group of CEOs, university presidents and labor leaders committed to driving U.S. competitiveness; Andrew Winston, co-author of "Green to Gold" and expert on what works, and what doesn't, when companies go green; and Reynolds Bish, CEO and director of Kofax, a provider of Intelligent Capture and Exchange solutions in 31 countries.
In its ever-widening scope of becoming more "green" friendly, San Bernardino County government is instituting a new program aimed at helping developers and architects cut down on using paper, ink, gas and vehicle emissions.
Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Avolve Software announced Tuesday that the county will be using the company's ProjectDox software, which "enables jurisdictions nationwide to offer web-based electronic file submission and review to citizens, architects and developers who work with their building, planning and public works departments in the review process of building and engineering plans," a news release states.
The goal is to reduce paper, printing costs, storage costs, drive time, fuel consumption and car emissions and streamline the process.
Review and approval times for businesses and people using ProjectDox have been decreased up to 80 percent, depending on the project, the statement says.
"With San Bernardino County being so large, some of our citizens were having to drive well over an hour each way to drop off and pick up paper plans," said Julie Rynerson Rock, director of land use services. "ProjectDox will save our citizens drive-time, gasoline, paper and printing costs by allowing them to submit plans electronically for review. Using ProjectDox will contribute very positively to our Green County SB and Green Builder goals of reducing greenhouse gases and promoting environmental responsibility in the county."
--matthew.wrye@inlandnewspapers.com
Attendees will learn how to tackle sustainable development from Southern California's wine country
WHAT:
The Urban Land Institute Inland Empire and Orange County councils will host, "Best Practices in Sustainable Development: How Southern California's Wine Country is Leading the Way." The program will be an in-depth discussion on how builders and developers can implement cost-effective sustainable development practices to build successful master-planned communities, resorts and wineries in Southern California's wine country.
Bank of America Corp. shareholders are licking their wounds from Monday's losses, but some experts say they shouldn't worry too much.
The banking giant's stock dropped 21 percent to close at $26.55 after it announced it is buying investment brokerage firm Merrill Lynch & Co. for $50 billion.
Merrill Lynch has locations in Ontario, San Bernardino and Riverside.
Bank of America recently bought Countrywide Financial Corp., which made loans to Inland Empire subprime borrowers who lost their homes, and it's still holding the bag on thousands of mortgages that local homeowners might default on over the next year.
"It's not a question of the price, but the value of a company," said Harlan Platt, professor of finance and corporate turnaround expert at Northeastern University's College of Business Administration. "The stock is down quite a bit, but that always happens with a merger."
Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old investment bank hit hard by the crashing real-estate market, filed for Chapter 11 protection on Monday.
"Everyone was focused this weekend on Lehman Brothers, and (Bank of America and Merrill Lynch) just snuck around it," Platt said. "It was a gutsy move. Buying assets at a time when others are selling them is always painful and difficult."
Executives at three Merrill Lynch & Co. locations in the Inland Empire are answering to a new boss this morning following Bank of America Corp.'s $50 billion acquisition on Monday.
But some local professionals are questioning whether it was a smart move.
Still, the bigger issue is whether Merrill Lynch's small business customers will jump ship because of its new behemoth parent company.
You'd think most predatory lenders - if not all of them - walked away from scamming people as the recent housing boom and the financial industry it fueled came crashing down.
Over the past few years, the real-estate fraud unit of the San Bernardino County District Attorney's Office has seen a 40percent year-over-year increase in residents claiming to be fraud victims.
The Inland Empire Network Partners, a Chino Hills-area business networking organization, is looking for new members. Anyone looking to join this networking group is urged to contact Christine Ritoli at 909-606-5825. IENP is exclusive and only one type of business is allowed to join. The group meets twice a month in Chino Hills.
1 man's treasure
While most masterminds of the online marketplace get rid of old junk to make a quick buck, Uribe is betting his entire career on the Web site full of used goods.
For a 30 percent commission, the owner of Rancho Cucamonga-based Let Us Sell It is finding buyers for stuff lying around the house that sellers just don't want anymore.
"I've sold everything from 1969 (Chevrolet) Z28 Camaros to sports memorabilia," Uribe said. "We've even got Thomas Kinkade paintings. At this point, the people who wanna sell them basically need money."
International Silver Inc. (OTCBB: ISLV) -- a Tucson, Ariz.-based exploration and mine development company -- announced that its escrow on the Langtry property in the Calico Mining District near Barstow is being extended for three months, and that it renegociated the purchase terms.
The terms previously pegged payment at $8 million, with 100-percent undivided interest.
But now, International Silver will pay $2 million by Dec. 5, and the other $6 million will be financed and payed over a 15-year period.
Langtry comprises about 400 acres, and it's estimated to have 72 million ounces of silver and almost 3 million tons of barite.
The company also wants to start drilling by year's end on the Laviathan Property, a 1,300-acre piece of land owned by the Bureau of Land Management and also located in the Calico Mining District.
The company estimates there's about 1 million tons of barite-silver ore entrenched throughout 60 mining claims on Laviathan. Barite is a heavy material used in manufacturing oil drills.
Local banks aren't the only ones benefitting from nervous customers who are moving their money between financial institutions -- credit unions are, too.
When banks like Pasadena-based IndyMac -- now IndyMac Federal Bank -- are on the verge of failing, and customers withdraw millions of dollars in deposits, they need somewhere else to put their money, whether its another bank or a credit union.
"What we've seen more than anything else right now is people who are nervous and moving their money," said Larry Sharp, CEO of San Bernardino-based Arrowhead Credit Union.
Arrowhead has branches all over San Bernardino County.
With home prices sliding, Arrowhead is also seeing an up-tick in home loans, Sharp said.
But borrower delinquencies have almost quadrupled compared to what they normally are, Sharp said.
"We normally run a delinquency rate of about 0.6 percent (of our loan portfolio), but we have about 2 percent," he said. "Most of what we're seeing right now is related to the downturn in the economy... the longer-term effects."
Arrowhead never made subprime loans to customers.
Some credit unions, however, are still feeling the sting of delinquent loans to developers and builders.
--matthew.wrye@inlandnewspapers.com
In August, the San Bernardino-Ontario-Riverside region ranked No. 5 on a list of 230 metropolitan areas suffering foreclosure activity on the housing market, according to a report released today by Irvine-based real-estate data company RealtyTrac.
The filings include bank repossessions, default notices and auctions.
The Inland Empire might look like a hot spot, but Stockton is ground zero. The Stockton area ranked No. 1 in August, with one in every 50 households receiving a foreclosure filing.
California saw more than 101,000 foreclosure filings on properties during the month -- one-third of the nation's total.
"The state's foreclosure activity increased more than 40 percent from the previous month and more than 75 percent from August 2007," the report said. "California, Florida and Arizona together accounted for more than half of the nation's foreclosure activity."
Nationally, foreclosure filings were reported on almost 304,000 properties during the month -- a 12 percent jump from July, and a 27 percent increase from August 2007.
The number of Hollywood feature-film movies being shot in the Inland Empire is dwindling, but the Riverside-based Inland Empire Film Commission is determined to do something about that.
"It's called run-away production," said Dan Taylor, deputy director of the commission. "We've seen a decrease in the amount of feature films being shot throughout the state."
That's a big loss for the local economy. When the film industry shoots movies, a small army of workers -- caterers, assistants, make-up artists -- is needed on site, which puts money into the community.
California, Taylor says, doesn't have a movie tax incentive like other states do. Even foreign countries like Canada and Mexico are luring movie productions away from our state.
"(Film producers) can go to Mexico and get a 25-percent tax rebate," he said. "On a $100 million film, that's a lot of money."
The commission is working with organizations like Film Liaisons in California Statewide and California Film Commission to get an incentives package passed in the state legislature.
Between 2000 and 2002, almost 40 big-time films were shot in the Inland Empire. Less than half that amount were produced locally between 2003 and 2005. Nine were shot in 2006, the most-recent number the commission has on record.
"It shows they're leaving the state," Taylor said. "We get calls from station managers saying they know we have the look in our area for their film, but they've been instructed by producers to not scout in California because it's too expensive."
Some business owners across the Inland Empire are no doubt up in arms about a proposed 1-percent sales tax across the state to help plug holes in California's $15 billion budget deficit.
The Board of Equalization, the state's publicly-elected tax-collecting entity, said on Tuesday that more than 500,000 retailers will be receiving information about the possible tax hike.
It also said retailers might have to file a supplemental sales-and-use tax return. And if the tax increase is passed by the legislature, several businesses will need to reprogram their cash registers and computers to adjust for the new tax rate.
On the heels of the La Verne Chamber of Commerce's Valley Area Chamber Executives event on Monday -- which brought together small business owners from San Dimas, La Verne and the San Gabriel Valley -- the La Verne chamber's leader said retailers aren't handling the proposed tax jump very well.
"It's a very difficult time to ask for sales tax increases," said the chamber's president and CEO, Brian McNerney. "(Businesses) are upset. A lot of them have to cut their profits and margins to be competitive."
For more information about reporting sales tax, visit: http://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/onepercent.htm
--matthew.wrye@inlandnewspapers.com
The housing slump put thousands of local residential construction workers out of work over the last year, but there's hope of new construction employment for some.
Over the next two weeks, the San Bernardino County Workforce Investment Board is hosting orientation classes for these former home-building laborers in San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga and Hesperia.
The board recently received a $281,000 mini-grant to retrain and place laid-off workers into commercial construction jobs. It's part of a larger $4.5 million state government Construction Talent Transfer Grant disseminated to organizations and cities that offer training and employment services.
Classes are being held on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 8:30 a.m. at the San Bernardino Employment Resource Center at 646 N. Sierra Way in San Bernardino; and at the Hesperia Employment Resource Center on Sept. 19 at 9 a.m. at 15555 Main St., Ste. G-4 in Hesperia; and the Rancho Cucamonga Employment Resource Center on Sept. 11 at 1 p.m. at 9650 Ninth St. in Rancho Cucamonga.
For more information about the classes, call 760-949-8526 (Hesperia), or 909-386-0884 (San Bernardino), or 909-941-6500 (Rancho Cucamonga).
Or you can call 1-800-451-5627, or visit www.co.san-bernardino.ca.us/EDA/wdd
LA/Ontario International Airport has been losing large commercial flights left and right, but it announced on Friday that four new flights are on their way.
Starting Monday, four Beechcraft 1900D planes operated by Great Lakes Airlines will each make a daily stop at the airport, offering trips to Visalia and Merced, and Prescott, Ariz. and Phoenix.
Beechcraft are small planes and carry hardly any passengers compared to huge commercial airline jet.
Still, it's a small victory for an airport that makes revenue off of landing fees, concessions and by leasing space to airline companies.
Great Lakes currently flies out of 50 airports across 14 states with its Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias and Raytheon/Beechcraft 1900D airliners.
The hard-hit, revenue-losing Southern California newspaper industry has a new victim: The Press-Enterprise newspaper.
A.H. Belo Inc., the Riverside publication's parent, announced on Friday that 120 employees are leaving on voluntary buy-outs, and 30 other workers will get booted between now and the end of October.
Nationwide the industry is experiencing one of its worse downturns in history. Newspapers have laid off thousands of reporters, editors, designers, production specialists, advertising sales representatives and other employees over the last few years because advertising revenue keeps falling.
Dallas-based Belo Corp. (NYSE: BLC) -- the head corporation of The Press-Enterprise, numerous TV stations, radio stations and a variety of publications -- saw its non-political advertising revenue drop $22.5 million, or 6.5 percent, from January to June of this year compared to 2007.
The Sun and Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, both sister newspapers owned by Denver-based MediaNews Group Inc., have also cut dozens of jobs over the last year, and Los Angeles Times slashed more than 150 last month.
Despite the Times' cuts, other large newspapers are fairing better. From 2000 to 2007, advertising revenue at USA Today, The New York Times and Washington Post pretty much held its own, according to the August issue of Conde Nast Portfolio magazine.
But The Wall Street Journal's ad revenue dropped about $500 million over the same period -- a 30-percent drop.
Delinquent and foreclosed homeowners will most likely continue dragging down the Inland Empire's economy for at least another 18 months, according to a report published on Thursday.
The Ontario-Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area ranks No. 1 in every economic-risk category analyzed by First American CoreLogic Inc. in a mortgage risk report. The company is a subsidiary of Santa Ana-based First American Corp. (NYSE: FAF).
Categories include home value depreciation, fraud, foreclosure and an economic-health index.
"The two riskiest (areas) are Riverside and Los Angeles, where (home) prices have declined roughly 25 percent from a year ago and the economy is struggling," the report says, "particularly the labor market, with an unemployment rate that has increased by roughly two percentage points during the past year."
"The combination of rapidly declining prices and increasing unemployment significantly increases the likelihood of poor mortgage performance," it states.
Eight of the top 10 metro areas are in California, including Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Stockton and Bakersfield.
The report analyzes the performance of about 30 million loans in more than 7,500 ZIP codes across the country.
The Inland Empire's manufacturing industry continued to struggle in August, according to a report released Monday afternoon.
Last month, researchers with Cal State San Bernardino's Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis said weakness in the local manufacturing sector was becoming a trend.
Not much has changed.
The August purchasing manager's index came in at 47.7. A number below 50 equals contraction, and above 50 means growth. July's index was 41.2.
Since October, the local reading has been below 50 more often than above it -- a phenomenon unseen since mid- to late-2006 and mid-2000 to late 2001.
Managers at 50 companies throughout San Bernardino and Riverside counties were surveyed by the institute.
Only 4 percent said they think the local economy will strengthen in the near future. The rest said the economy will remain weak or get even weaker.
June's report had stated that oil and raw material prices were eating away profit from local companies' bottom lines at a record rate.
--matthew.wrye@inlandnewspapers.com
Vineyard Bank's parent company was thrown yet another lifeline last week, according to financial documents filed on Tuesday.
Vineyard National Bancorp's deadline to repay a severely-overdue $48 million loan to First Tennessee Bank National Association is being extended to Oct. 28. This is the company's fifth waiver on the loan.
Since the proxy battle ended between Vineyard and ousted CEO Norman Morales last month, Vineyard is taking baby steps as federal regulators closely monitor the company's financial decisions.
Vineyard reported more than $130 million in losses over the last few quarters, and customers collectively withdrew almost $230 million in deposits from April to June.
At least Vineyard's banks are seeing some deposit inflows, according to financial statements, which helps replace the huge outflows.
The bank is balancing incoming credit and revenue lines against its breathtaking losses to stay liquid.
Shareholders elected five of Morales's candidates to Vineyard's board of directors, but one of them, Cynthia Harriss, recently resigned. Board chairman Perry Hansen was elected to take Harriss's place, pending regulatory approval.
When it comes to the future of the Inland Empire's job growth, it's all about nurses and truck drivers.
Last week, California's Employment Development Department released a "top jobs" report for specific regions throughout the state, including the Ontario-San Bernardino-Riverside metropolitan area.
The positions are based on listings on the department's CalJOBS web site and estimated future openings.
Between 2004 and 2014, about 8,600 registered nursing jobs and 11,300 heavy-truck-driver positions are estimated to pop up. Locally, the median annual salary is about $73,000 for nurses and $42,000 for truck drivers.
Accountants and auditors, which require at least a bachelor's degree, and bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks -- which require two years of post high school education -- are next on the list.
More than 8,500 of these jobs will be created between the 10-year period. The local accountant or auditor median annual wage is about $57,000, and the clerks supporting them rake in almost $35,000 a year.
The two highest-paying jobs are engineering manager -- making a median yearly salary of $103,000 -- and probation officer/correctional treatment specialist, which makes about $82,000 a year.
Next on the list, from top to bottom: child-family-school social workers, police-sheriff patrol officers, licenses vocational nurses, plumber-pipefitter-steamfitter specialists, police-fire-ambulance dispatchers, and eligibility interviewers for government programs.
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