Finally—the good news we have been waiting for—for the first time since April 2008, more Californians were working in October than in the previous month! Even though the unemployment rate actually increased, in the opinion of OC180NEWS.com, the increase in employment is more important. The California Employment Development Department reported the October data late last week and that data shows a statewide employment increase of 25,700 people compared to the number who had jobs during September. In Orange County the number of employed workers increased by 8,200 and for Los Angeles, it went up by 36,600. Below are some interesting updates on West Orange County businesses.
The Boeing Company
With major operations in Seal Beach, Long Beach, El Segundo, Huntington Beach, and Anaheim, The Boeing Company is probably the largest employer in the area. As such, there is almost always something newsworthy happening at Boeing.
Boeing employs about 5,000 workers at its C-17 assembly plant in Long Beach. The C-17 is a 4 engine heavy airlifter used by the U.S. Air Force to move tanks, armored vehicles, troops and supplies in and around the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. The work at the plant has been under a threatening cloud because the Obama Administration has said it does not need any more of the expensive jets.
Boeing has been trying to expand the customer base for the planes to include other countries, but if more such orders don’t materialize into firm contracts, the plant will be in jeopardy. Although it is widely expected that the U.S. government will order more planes in the current fiscal year, that is also not a done deal.
Boeing has been working on a contract to provide C-17s to the Indian Air Force, but has not yet announced a firm deal. Nevertheless, last week several sources reported that India’s defense ministry had approved in principle the purchase of 10 C-17s. Hopefully this will turn into a firm contract soon.
Affliction Clothing
Calling themselves “the premier lifestyle brand for men and women who live life on the edge”, Affliction, Seal Beach, markets clothing and accessories as “a mainstay for the most elite athletes, best rock bands, A-list celebrities and the fashion conscious”.
In addition to presenting several “now available” new items in their lines, Affliction announced that it will hold a benefit rock concert to be held on Saturday, December 19th at the Long Beach Arena. The concert will feature heavy metal band Danzig, the popular punk band from Hermosa Beach, Pennywise, and O.C. based punk band, T.S.O.L.
As a tribute to its customers, all tickets to the event will be $5 with all proceeds benefitting Amnesty International. Tickets are now on sale at all Ticketmaster locations. Doors open at 6:00 P.M. and the show will continue until midnight.
“This is a great way for us to thank our customers for their support and to contribute to Amnesty International’s great cause,” said Eric Foss, owner and Creative Director of Affliction Clothing. “Affliction knows how to throw a party, and we expect the Long Beach Arena to be the epicenter of seismic disturbance on December 19th.”
Affliction also announced free shipping on orders over $100 through December 2009, U.S. domestic orders only. Some exclusions may apply.
Clean Energy Fuels Corp.
Although according to Reuters, it reported a “wider than expected quarterly loss” This Seal Beach company sold 58% more of its clean burning fuel than one year ago. They continue their strategy of developing the infrastructure needed to support natural gas as a vehicle fuel. In our last biweekly report, we covered their new contract for a fueling station at Ontario airport, now they have announced another similar contract.
The company was recently awarded a 10 year contract by the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA), a southern New Jersey-based services authority providing waste management and recycling services in Atlantic County, to design, build, and maintain a new public access compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel station. The facility will operate 24/7 to support ACUA’s growing fleet of CNG refuse trucks, as well as municipal and private CNG fleet vehicles in the area.
Amonix
Seal Beach based manufacturer Amonix is “the world leading designer and proprietary producer of patented high-performance High Concentration Photovoltaic power generation systems for utility scale applications.”
This local company is ramping up from a research and development phase to full automated production at their Seal Beach plant. Even though the company recently announced the completion of a major expansion of their production capacity, the Seal Beach City council recently passed a motion to move forward with a plan to issue $10 million private activity bonds to fund further expansion.
According to Terrence L. Belanger, Interim Director of Public Works, there are many steps and details to be worked through before any bonds are actually issued. The significance of the action by the City Council is to establish a date after which expenditures could be eligible for reimbursement if and when a bond is issued. Since the city council passed the measure on November 9, that date has now been set.
Dobie Associates
This Seal Beach company considers themselves “a hands-on marketing strategy, business planning, and consulting firm.”
They recently were engaged by another local firm, Huntington Beach based seating manufacturer Highmark, to “drive strategic planning, expansion of distribution channels, and develop and execute on an eight month product launch blitz.”
“As we continue to invest in the business and aggressively position Highmark as the seating-made-simple leader, it’s imperative we align ourselves with partners who have a proven track record of scaling businesses and building global brands,” said Chuck Loeb, President and Founder of Highmark.
“Highmark is in a unique position to capture market share and establish a dominant position in the seating industry,” commented Doug Dobie, President of Dobie Associates.
Frieda’s Inc.,
This Los Alamitos based specialty produce company will be honored tomorrow for contributions of surplus produce to Second Harvest food bank.
This article is part of a regular biweekly survey of significant business and job developments of interest to West Orange County communities. This biweekly series appears every other Monday, alternating with our Orange County residential real estate Updates. In the context of national, statewide, and Orange County/Los Angeles County trends, this series will focus on, for the most part, local companies which are moving forward, even in these difficult economic times. Whether you are a senior level executive, an artist, salesperson, a contractor, or a customer service representative, your business opportunities will more likely be successful with companies which are ahead of the curve. If you are looking for a job, have a professional service to offer, or business-to-business products for sale, the progressive companies referenced in this series could be good places to start.
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About Dolores Barr, Publisher
Dolores Barr has lived in Rossmoor since 1992 and has created this site to provide local news for the people of Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Leisure World, Sunset Beach, and Surfside, California. My husband and I have had two students graduate from the Los Alamitos Unified School District and currently our Grandson, Ricky Apodaca, grade 3 at Weaver Elementary, is actively involved in youth baseball through LAYB and youth football through FNL.
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