Long Beach Business Journal, March 31-April 13

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FOCUS ON WOMEN IN BUSINESS SPECIAL REPORT – THE NONPROFIT SECTOR

Nonprofits Face ChallengesIn Attracting And RetainingMembers, Boardmembers

Heather Peterson is president and CEO of Long Beach-based Girl CharleeSee Story on Pages 16-17

Angela AlmaguerSalud Juice

Loise “Mumbi” KahenyaMumbi’s Designs

Laura KimKBQ Korean BBQ

� By SAMANTHA MEHLINGER

Senior Writer

I t’s no secret that during eco-nomic downturns people start

pinching their pennies, reducingor even totally halting discre-tionary spending like making do-nations to nonprofit organizations. Similarly, in these times it’s

not uncommon for work to takepriority over volunteering be-cause, as the old adage goes,“time is money.” While the recession is now be-

hind us, nonprofit groups arestill faced with challenges in at-tracting and retaining membersand boardmembers – challengesnonprofit experts and leaders sayis linked to a slow recovery fromrecession-related issues.“Associations feel like member-

ship is getting better, but it is get-ting better slowly rather than morequickly,” Jim Anderson, presidentand CEO of the California Society

of Association Executives, told theBusiness Journal. Associations areprofessional, trade-related andmember-driven nonprofit organi-zations. Nonprofit service organ-izations, such as RotaryInternational, also rely heavily onmaintaining a healthy member-ship base, both for membershipfees and volunteer hours.Jeffrey Wilcox, founder and

CEO of the Third Sector Com-pany, which provides interim ex-ecutive management andsuccession planning for nonprof-its – and author of the Third Sec-tor Report that has appeared in theBusiness Journal for the past fiveyears – said nonprofit member-ship figures have suffered since

APRIL 14 SPECIAL ELECTION

Despite Supernaw’s SuperiorCredentials, Many Of City’sElected Officials Back Chico

Net Neutrality: Allowing For Equal AccessAnd Innovation, Or Is It A ‘Radical Step?’

Gail DesiletsMarriage & Family Therapist

� By GEORGE ECONOMIDES

Publisher’s Perspective

I n case you haven’t been pay-

ing attention, nearly every

Long Beach elected official – the

mayor, seven of eight coun-

cilmembers, the state senator and

state assemblyman – has endorsed

Herlinda Chico in the April 14

special election for the 4th City

Council District. So have the

city’s top two unions – police and

fire – which usually spend the

most on independent expenditures

for candidates they support.

Fourth District voters have to

ask themselves, “What is going

on?” It appears these officials

have based their decision on polit-

ical motives rather than who has

given the most to the community.

Chico, after all, cannot stand in

Daryl Supernaw’s shadow when it

comes to being involved in the 4th

District. Supernaw has a lengthy

list covering decades of involve-

ment in the district; Chico has

done zip, nada, nothing within the

district prior to her election run.

For example, read this malarky

from former district councilman,

now assemblymember, Patrick

O’Donnell in his support for

Chico: “Fourth District residents

need somebody who is willing to

stand up and protect us from the

threat of unncessary airport ex-

pansion and attempted attacks on

our noise ordinance.”

There is no threat of airport ex-

pansion, and O’Donnell knows it.

There is no attempt to attack the

Colombian-born Juan Pablo Montoya returned to IndyCar racing in 2014, follow-ing six years with Formula One and seven seasons with NASCAR. He first beganwith IndyCar in 1999, becoming the youngest driver ever at 24 to win the cham-pionship. He is profiled in this edition of the Business Journal. (Jack Fleming photo)

See Story Pages 24-25

(Please Continue To 8)


Senior Writer

M aking up 30 percent of all businesses in the United States, women-owned businesses are asignificant contributor to the national economy. According to the results of a recent survey of

289 U.S. metropolitan areas by NerdWallet, an online resource providing financial and consumer re-search, California stands out among other states for its high concentration of women-owned businesses.The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metropolitan area mirrors national trends for women-owned

businesses, with 29.8 percent of all businesses owned by women, according to NerdWallet. Of thesebusinesses, 11.4 percent retain employees. In this region, the unemployment

Local Women-Owned Firms Contribute To Economy, Community

(Please Continue To Page 14)

� By DAVE WIELENGA

Contributing Writer

T he Federal Communica-tions Commission’s (FCC)

recent decision on so-called netneutrality was going to be a land-mark no matter where it camedown, but a seismic event thatcould have turned Long Beach’sburgeoning colony of e-ntrepre-

neurs into an e-ndangered specieshas instead preserved everyone’spotential in a peaceable kingdom.Essentially, the February 26

ruling enshrined equal opportu-nity as the central tenet of onlineAmerican life. The Internet willhenceforth be regulated as a pub-lic utility. Broadband has beenreclassified as a Title II telecom-munications service under the

1934 Communications Act,meaning it will be governed bythe same rules that apply to tele-


Long Beach Community FoundationA One-Stop Shop For Giving

See Story Page 20Long Beach-based Archstone

Foundation HonoredSee Story Page 22


1_LBBJ_MARCH31_2015_PortAnniversary 3/28/15 5:14 PM Page 1

March

Inside This Issue3 Newswatch

• Net Neutrality, Continued From Pg 1• ‘Reliability, Predictability, Stability:’ How The Port

Of Long Beach Is Retaining And Attracting Business• Long Beach College Promise Earns $5 Million Award• City’s Medical Cannabis Task Force To Meet April 1• 4th District City Council Race And Outside Money

12 Real Estate Industry• The Olson Company #1 In Customer Service Experience• City To Sell Former Redevelopment Properties

14 Focus On Women In Business• Mini Profiles On Four Small Business Women• Girl Charlee On City’s West Side Goes From

A Home-Based Operation To Successful Enterprise

18 Special Report – The Nonprofit Sector• The Long Beach Community Foundation • The Archstone Foundation

24 Countdown To 2015 Grand Prix Race• Juan Pablo Montoya: Still Racy After All These Years

26 In The News• Tim Meyer New GM For Local Hyatt Hotels• Greg Guthrie New GM For Doubletree Hilton Carson

• Neena Strichart Named District’s Woman Of The Year

• Ukleja Centers Honors The Late Louis Zamperini

28 PerspectiveRealty Views By Terry RossSmall Business Dollars & Sense By Ben AlvaradoHealthWise By Jocelyn Craig, M.D.Third Sector Report By Jeffrey WilcoxEffective Leadership By Mick Ukleja

30 Art MattersPresented By The Arts Council For Long Beach

31 The Nonprofit PagePresented By The Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership

2 Long Beach Business Journal March 31-April 13, 2015

Free: Long Beach Business Journal Digital Edition, Monday Morning Coffee, NewsFlash

Sign up at: www.lbbusinessjournal.com • Follow us on Twitter: @LBBizJourn

1_LBBJ_MARCH31_2015_PortAnniversary 3/28/15 5:14 PM

phone service – most notably, the rule thatpromises everybody the same access tothe network.“Open Internet rules say it is against the

law to prioritize some traffic over other,”said Gwen Shaffer, an assistant professorof journalism at California State Univer-sity, Long Beach, who sits on the new LongBeach Technology and Innovation Com-mission formed by Long Beach MayorRobert Garcia. “The FCC’s decision makesit unlawful for Internet service providers tomake fast lanes of distribution available tocontent providers who are willing and ableto pay a higher price.”And since service providers are increas-

ingly becoming providers of content, too,the FCC ruling likewise prohibits themfrom giving priority to their own content orthrottling content from others.But this isn’t all about corporate ac-

counting.“It’s a huge victory for consumers,”

Shaffer said. “First of all, any higher costsincurred by the big content providerseventually would have been paid by theircustomers.“But although the service providers defi-

nitely would have been going for the bigguys, such as Netflix and Google, being ableto charge content providers to send contentwould eventually impact anybody with awebsite – including anybody with a blog.”The cable operators, wireless providers

and phone companies that constitute the

March 31-April 13, 2015 3 2015


Net Neutrality(Continued From Page 1)


March


big service providers have invalidated twoprevious incarnations of FCC net neutralityrules with successful court challenges.They were even more opposed to the pro-posal to apply Title II to broadband, fre-quently describing it as a “nuclear option”whose fallout was sure to be full of unin-tended toxic consequences.But, in the aftermath of the latest FCC

decision, their response has been minimaland mostly prepackaged.When Shaffer organized a forum at

CSULB to discuss the consequences of theFCC decision, she intended to create apanel of experts that represented a com-plete range of viewpoints. She got all butone. “I tried,” she said. “I probably called 40

telecom industry people. I called the bigcompanies – Time Warner, AT&T, Com-cast, Verizon – and I called the little ones.I tried every lawyer I could find in the L.A.area who had a telecom company as aclient. I tried everyone. I couldn’t get anyof them to come.”Mike Murray, Verizon’s director of gov-

ernment and external affairs in the LongBeach area, was pleasant when the Busi-ness Journal contacted him for an interviewbut suggested contacting Jarryd Gonzalesin media relations. Gonzales could not bereached for comment, but a couple of dayslater an e-mail arrived from Rich Young,also in media relations, but in a differentVerizon office. It read: “I work in Verizon’s Washington,

D.C., policy organization. You reached outto our colleagues regarding a statement onNet Neutrality. There’s a link to our mostrecent statement below. Beyond that, we’vehad no further comment.”The link retrieved a Verizon news re-

lease that was dated February 26, 1934 –the month and day of the recent FCC de-cision but the year of the 1934 Commu-nications Act.The headline: Title II Regulations a ‘Net’

Loss for Innovation and Consumers; FCC’s‘Throwback Thursday’ Move Imposes1930s Rules on the Internet.The lead: “WASHINGTON – Today

(Feb. 26) the Federal CommunicationsCommission approved an order urged byPresident Obama that imposes rules onbroadband Internet services that were writ-ten in the era of the steam locomotive andthe telegraph.”

March 31-April 13, 2015 Long Beach Business Journal 5NEWSWATCH

“Most people fail to realize the significance

of net neutrality principles, although they rely

on them every time they stream a video,

surf the web and download music.”

Gwen Shaffer, Assistant Professor of Journalism

California State University, Long Beach,

Member, Long Beach Technology and Innovation Commission



(Photograph by the Business Journal’s Evan Patrick Kelly)


March

The remainder of the release was a mis-sive from Michael E. Glover, Verizon’s sen-ior vice president, public policy andgovernment affairs. Glover characterizedthe FCC decision as a “radical step thatpresages a time of uncertainty for con-sumers, innovators and investors.” He saidif it were truly necessary to “change the waythe commercial Internet has operated sinceits creation,” such a change should have re-sulted from a process of “policy analysis,

full transparency, and by the legislature,which is constitutionally charged with de-termining policy.” He concluded by pledg-ing “Verizon’s commitment to an openInternet that provides consumers with com-petitive broadband choices and Internet ac-cess when, where, and how they want.”Together, the silence and the statement

seem to translate into another trip to court.It was Verizon’s legal challenge that con-vinced the United States Court of Appealsto overturn the FCC’s 2010 Open InternetRules on January 14, 2014.But those rules were not very popular

with anybody. Consumer groups, entrepre-neurs and members of congress said theywere weak for permitting the higher-speedand higher-priced fast lanes and the poten-tial for slowing down or blocking variousInternet traffic.The rules that the FCC just imposed are

much more comprehensive.What’s the takeaway for Long Beach’s

dream of becoming a hot zone for digitaltechnology and Internet entrepreneurism?That it could still happen.Net neutrality precludes the appearance

of any number of obstacles to grassroots in-

novation, said D.W. Ferrell, another mem-ber of the Long Beach Technology and In-novation Commission. “Think about start-up costs,” said Ferrell,

whose resume – CEO of a start-up calledLocalism, Inc., executive director of thenon-profit LB Tech and member of theLong Beach Technology and InnovationCommission – suggests he thinks aboutthem a lot. “Certainly if there was an Inter-net fast lane and an Internet slow lane andyou had to pay extra for the higher speedor to use certain services – that would cer-tainly stifle innovation.”Although there has been no boom or

breakthrough in Long Beach-area Internetactivities, the drumroll of publicity preced-ing the FCC decision appears to have raisedawareness of elements of online business –philosophies, models, plans, practices,profits and dilemmas both legal and ethical– and revealed a segment of the city’s busi-ness community that may be stronger thanhad been commonly thought.Among the current components of the

Long Beach e-ntrepreneurial scene: • WE Labs (Work Evolution Laborato-

ries), which occupies the entire eighth floorof the Pacific Tower building, offeringmembers work space (private and shared)and the opportunity to network with othermembers in fields that include graphic de-sign, marketing, mobile app programming,web development, film direction, musicproduction, fashion design and copywrit-ing.• Schwag, which connects small busi-

nesses to customers with advertisementsand coupons that are accessed with a mo-bile phone app.• The Innovation Fund at Long Beach

City College, which funds and mentors en-trepreneurs who are leading start-ups thatare innovation-led and that have high-growth potential.• LB Tech (LBTech.org), a non-profit

dedicated to advancing Long Beach as acenter for tech innovation.Oh, and all the rest of us.“Most people fail to realize the signifi-

cance of net neutrality principles,” saidShaffer, “although they rely on them everytime they stream a video, surf the web anddownload music.” �

6 Long Beach Business Journal March 31-April 13, 2015NEWSWATCH

“Certainly if there was an

Internet fast lane and

an Internet slow lane and

you had to pay extra for the

higher speed or to use

certain services – that would

certainly stifle innovation.”

D. W. Ferrell, CEO

Localism, Inc.,

Executive Director Long Beach Tech,

Member, Long Beach Technology

and Innovation Commission





Senior Writer

As the ports of Long Beach and LosAngeles continue working to clearcrowded docks and a backlog of morethan two dozen ships at anchor – rem-nants of months long labor contract ne-gotiations and other supply chain issues– both are experiencing significantlosses in cargo traff ic. Dr. Noel Hace-gaba, chief commercial officer for thePort of Long Beach (POLB), assured theBusiness Journal that the port is workingdiligently to retain and attract businessas it digs out from under the backlog.

In February, the Port of Los Angeles(POLA) saw a 10.2 percent year-over-year decline in cargo traffic, while thePOLB’s decrease was twice that at 20.1percent. “There is a lot of cargo that wasdestined to come and because of the back-log that we’re in the middle of clearingout, it continues to back up,” Hacegabasaid. While he attributed the main causeof the decrease in cargo traffic to conges-tion, he acknowledged some cargo haslikely been rerouted to other ports. “Thefact is that some of the cargo was divertedbecause of the congestion that we just ex-perienced,” he said.

“We have heard cargo owners tell usthat they would prefer to send their cargothrough Long Beach, but because of thecongestion they are looking for alterna-tives,” Hacegaba said. “But we have alsoheard that the alternatives are more costly.We take that to mean that any diversionplans that they implement will be tempo-rary.” Another factor at play in stuntedcargo traffic was the Chinese New Year inmid-February, during which time cargotraffic usually decreases, he pointed out.

“If you look at the number of vessels atanchor . . . we see a steady decline in thatnumber, which is a good sign because itmeans that we’re digging ourselves out of

the backlog,” Hacegaba said. “We antici-pate that it will be 90 days before we areback to normal operations.”

A confluence of factors led to the in-tense congestion, including a shortage ofchassis (the equipment truckers use tohaul containers) and vessels with massiveloads of cargo visiting the port more fre-quently. Exacerbating the issue was that,as the International Longshore And Ware-house Union and the Pacific MaritimeAssociation (the group representing theemployers of longshore workers) negoti-ated a new contract, fewer workers thannecessary to perform normal operationswere deployed to docks to move cargo.

Port staff has been in frequent contactwith beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) –the companies that own the cargo passingthrough the port – since these issuesbegan. “What I can tell you is we have in-tensified our outreach to the beneficialcargo owners,” Hacegaba said. “We havealways had a good relationship with theBCOs and have cultivated the lines ofcommunication with them over the years,but we have intensified that ever since westarted seeing the diversion [of cargo],”he noted.

“The question on everyone’s mind is,‘How soon before you return to normal

March 31-April 13, 2015 Long Beach Business Journal 7NEWSWATCH 2015

Long Beach CollegePromise Earns

$5 Million AwardThe Long Beach College Promise pro-

gram initiated in 2008 is a proven success

with statistics to back it up.

That success has now resulted in a $5

million prize announced March 20 as part

of Gov. Jerry Brown’s Awards for Innova-

tion in Higher Education initiative.

The College Promise – which had the

highest score among the 58 applicants for

the prize – provides a free semester at Long

Beach City Collge (LBCC) for Long Beach

Unified School District (LBUSD) high

school graduates, and California State Uni-

versity, Long Beach (CSULB) guarantees

admission to all Promise students who

complete admission requirements.

The numbers show that more than 9,800

students have taken advantage of a free se-

mester at LBCC, and LBUSD grads en-

rolling at CSULB has increased by 43

percent. Last year, at the urging of Mayor

Robert Garcia, the City of Long Beach

joined the effort, with a focus on early ed-

ucation and internships. No word yet on

how the prize money will be utilized.

In addition to CSULB, seven other cam-

puses in the CSU system are receiving

monetary awards, ranging from $2.5 mil-

lion to $5 million each. Locally, CSU

Dominguez Hills is to receive $3 million

for its “National Laboratory and Model for

Student Academic Success” initiative that

has, according to a statement, “engaged in

testing, expanding and implementing inno-

vative and proven strategies for improving

student retention and graduation rates.” �

– George Economides

‘Reliability, Predictability, Stability:’ How The Port Of Long Beach Is Retaining And Attracting Business



March

operations?’ . . . We have a lot of shipperswho are wanting to know where theircargo is and how soon they can get it,”Hacegaba said. “They are also very inter-ested in the long term, because they aregetting ready to make decisions aboutnext year’s shipments, and they need toknow that they can have confidence inour gateway,” he explained. “That’s whywe have intensified our outreach by com-municating to them what we’re doing inthe short run and what our plans are . . .to ensure that some of these operationalissues that we’ve experienced in recentmonths don’t occur again.”Last month, Mayor Robert Garcia

joined POLB Chief Executive JonSlangerup and members of the LongBeach Board of Harbor Commissionerson a business development trip to Europe.“We spent a week visiting the world’s topthree ocean carriers. We had very produc-tive meetings,” Hacegaba said. “I thinkthat we were successful in conveying ourefforts in the short run and for the longrun, and instilling confidence in themabout our port.”Hacegaba is the principal liaison be-

tween the port and its customers. Whenasked what he emphasizes to the BCOsand ocean carrier line representatives tokeep their business, he summarized:“We’re the shortest distance from Asia.We have the best rail access. We havethe best infrastructure and we’re

8 Long Beach Business Journal March 31-April 13, 2015NEWSWATCH

“We’re working closely with our partners – the terminal operators,

the ocean carriers – to improve efficiency, improve productivity and to

increase velocity. That’s very important to us: not just to clear the backlog,

but also to improve velocity in our gateway over the long haul.”

Noel Hacegaba, Chief Commercial OfficerPort of Long Beach

Port Of Long Beach(Continued From Page 7)


strengthening that. We’re big ship ready,and we’re the biggest gateway in thecountry. And we continue our [$4 bil-lion] capital improvement program.”Hacegaba compared the attractive in-

frastructure and location of the port tocomputer hardware. “It would make nosense if we spent $4 billion on the bestcomputer and we were still operating onWindows 95,” he said. By that he means,regardless of whether the port has an at-tractive infrastructure and location, if itssupporting supply chain elements aren’tfunctioning optimally, the port loses itsfunctionality and, therefore, its appeal.“We’re working closely with our part-

ners – the terminal operators, the oceancarriers – to improve efficiency, improveproductivity and to increase velocity.That’s very important to us: not just toclear the backlog, but also to improve ve-locity in our gateway over the long haul,”Hacegaba said.In the short term, the port has desig-

nated space on Pier S to store chassis,empty containers and loaded containerson chassis. The temporary storage yard isopen for use for the next six months tohelp keep cargo flowing on busy docks.Additionally, the port has capped dockagefees at four days so as not to penalizeships forced to wait for long periods oftime to unload and receive cargo. One of the key ways the port is working

to improve velocity in the long term is byaddressing the shortage of chassis. “Late last year, when we noticed the

surge in congestion, what we identified asa key factor was chassis shortage. Essen-tially you had three different companiesproviding chassis, and they were not inter-operable. They just created an imbalanceand an artificial shortage,” Hacegaba ex-plained. “It was a very inefficient system. . . So both ports came together with thethree different chassis companies and weurged them to fix the problem, which theydid.” On March 1, the three companiescontrolling chassis in the San Pedro BayPorts area launched a new gray chassisfleet model, allowing truckers to drop offand pick up chassis owned by any com-pany at any of their locations.“In order to make that a certainty for

our shippers, because we want to regaintheir confidence, the Port of Long Beachis going to be investing in our own peakrelief fleet [of chassis],” Hacegaba said.“The idea is just to augment the gray fleetand provide that additional assurance toour shippers that chassis will no longer bean issue come peak season.”Through a discussion agreement author-

ized by the Federal Maritime Commis-sion, executives from the POLB andPOLA began meetings in late March todiscuss other supply chain issues and de-velop joint strategies to address them. Al-ready, the commission has identified aneed for a shared platform through whichall parties in the supply chain would beable to track shipments. “One of the thingsthat we intend to achieve . . . is to bringthe supply chain together and develop acommon platform where the necessary in-formation is shared,” Hacegaba said.“We’re confident that something like thatwill not just give confidence to the BCOsabout our gateway, but will make our sup-ply chain much more efficient.”Outside of the port’s realm of control are

longshore labor contract negotiations, a fac-tor that those trying to take business awayfrom West Coast ports are quick to empha-size. Last month, Florida Governor RickScott sent a letter to shipping industry pro-fessionals informing them he would becoming to California on April 12 to try towin their business. “According to media re-ports, a nine-month long labor dispute thatended in late February involving ports alongthe west coast of the United States hascaused major delays and uncertainties inunloading ships and delivering goods whichcould affect normal operations for up to sixmonths,” Scott wrote. “Florida ports are un-doubtedly a solution to this problem.”But overtures like Scott’s don’t worry

Hacegaba. “When you look at the Port ofLong Beach and the Florida ports onpaper, there is just not even a comparisonin terms of scale, in terms of big ship

readiness, in terms of resources and interms of investments,” he said. “All of ourinvestments and efforts are focused onproviding to the ocean carriers and theshippers what they want: reliability, pre-dictability, and stability.” �

First Meeting Of City’sMedical CannabisTask Force Set ForApril 1 – No FoolingThe 17-member City of Long Beach

Medical Cannabis Task Force is set tomeet for the first time tomorrow, April 1,6 p.m., at the Long Beach Oil and GasDepartment (Spring Street at JuniperoAvenue). The first meeting’s agenda in-cludes a review of the Ralph M. Brown

Act, reommendations to elect a chair andvice chair, and a presentation by city staffon the city’s draft ordinance, legislativehistory and related items.Task force members are: • 1st City Council District – Larry Bott

and Tony Rivera; • 2nd District – Adam Hjazi and Jack

Smith; • 3rd District – Sarah Sangmeister and

Denise Mester;• 4th District – Joe Sopo and Jan Ward; • 5th District – Marc Greenberg and

Floyd Curry; • 6th District – Nick Morrow and Greg

Leflan; • 7th District – Larry King and Aaron

Herzberg; 8th District – Marc Rothenberg and

Charlyn Bender; and the 9th District – Kasia McDermott. �

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March 31-April 13, 2015 Long Beach Business Journal 9NEWSWATCH 2015


March


noise ordinance, and O’Donnell knows it. The only way the noise ordinance is in jeop-

ardy is if the current city council does something stupid, inviting FAA involvement (if

you don’t believe me, ask the city attorney’s office). O’Donnell should be ashamed

for using scare tactics.

Interestingly, O’Donnell has a long history of working with Supernaw while serving as

councilmember, and, in fact, nominated Supernaw to serve on four city commissions. O’-

Donnell also awarded Supernaw the district’s “Helping Hands Award” in 2007.

O’Donnell has previously misled 4th District constituents. In the 2012 race, he told the Busi-

ness Journal in a tape-recorded interview that if he won another term for the city council seat,

he would serve the full four-year term. Less than two years later he ran for assembly and won –

resulting in this special election and a roughly $175,000 cost to Long Beach taxpayers.

No, this isn’t about O’Donnell, but it’s a trend among local union-backed candidates

that they don’t give a hoot about taxpayers.

So why the rush to Chico?

Answer: It all comes down to money. Chico is another automatic vote to raise salaries

for police, firefighters and other union members, increases that – whether deserved or

not – cannot be sustained by the city budget. Once the pro-union councilmembers vote

for higher salaries (and accompanying higher pension costs also passed on to taxpayers),

then they have to find a way to pay for them. How is that going to happen?

There are only two ways: shift money that pays for non-public safety services for res-

idents and businesses; or RAISE TAXES on everyone.

Chico is on record with the Business Journal supporting an increase in the city’s utility

users tax – already a third higher than the average in the state and the county – and is an

automatic vote to place a union-backed measure on the ballot. This group of Chico sup-

porters – especially the unions – will spend whatever dollars are needed to convince

(scare) voters into supporting a tax increase, claiming crime will increase and fire stations

will close if voters do not vote for higher taxes.

The predominantly pro-union, pro-tax elected officials representing Long Beach recog-

nize little stands in their way of pushing their agenda. Certainly not the business community,

which has been weak, leaderless and silent for years. The complete lack of input from the

business community is the primary reason unions have a stranglehold on Long Beach.

We hope 4th District voters support Daryl Supernaw – an independent voice who is not

and will not be beholden to anyone other than to his constituents. Now think about this . . .

Is Outside Money For Chico Buying This Election?As of March 27 filings posted by the Long Beach City Clerk’s office, Chico had raised

about four times as much in contributions as had Supernaw – roughly $40,000 to $11,000.

However, take a look at the following list of donations made to Chico’s campaign and

ask yourself, why is so much money from groups outside Long Beach being given to her? Date Recieved From AmountMarch 24 [Ricardo] Lara for Senate 2016, Los Angeles $2,000

March 17 UFCW Local 324 PAC, Buena Park $2,500

March 12 Southern California Pipe Trades DistrictCouncil #16, Los Angeles $2,500

March 12 UA Journeymen & Apprentices Local 250, Gardena $2,500

March 11 International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union 11, Pasadena $1,000

Feb. 28 D.R.I.V.E. PAC, Washington, D.C. $2,500

Feb. 27 Marsha Naify, Los Angeles $1,000

Feb. 25 Honor PAC, Santa Monica $350

Feb. 22 Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters Political Action Fund, Los Angeles $1,000

Feb. 16 American Federation of State, County & Municipal

Employees CA District Council 36 PAC, Los Angeles $500

Feb. 2 Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 1309 PAC, Lakewood $1,000

Feb. 2 Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 1309 PAC, Lakewood $1,500

Feb. 2 Laborers’ Local 300 Small Contributor Committee, Los Angeles $500

Jan. 27 Angel Gonzalez, political consultant, Los Angeles $1,000

Jan. 27 International Longshore Warehouse Union Local 13, San Pedro $1,000

Jan. 27 Olivo & Associates Attorneys, City of Industry $500

Jan. 27 District Council of Iron Workers Political Action League, Pinole, CA $2,000

Jan. 27 Calderon Graphics, Inglewood $500

Jan. 27 Yvette Silva, Graphic Designer, Bell Gardens $1,000

Dec. 31 Morley Justman, Justman Packaging & Display, City of Commerce $1,000

Dec. 31 Cathy Justman, Homemaker, City of Commerce $1,000

Dec. 27 David C. Newell, Retired, Los Angeles $1,000

March 31-April 13, 2015 Long Beach Business Journal 11

4th District City Council Race(Continued From Page 1)


March

Eliant, the largest consumer researchcompany in the country, has ranked TheOlson Company #1 among major U.S.builders in homeowner satisfaction. The re-

sults, gleaned from more than 60,000 newhomeowner satisfaction surveys, showedthat The Olson Company received a scoreof 98.4 percent for its customer service ex-

perience at 5 months and 10 months aftermove-in. According to the firm, the averagecustomer satisfaction ratings of the 125-plushomebuilders are typically in the 86 to 88

percent range. “We are honored and proudof our team’s collective efforts,” said ScottLaurie, CEO of The Olson Company.“Achieving the number #1 ranking fromEliant is a reflection of our ongoing commit-ment to provide industry leading home-owner satisfaction to our homebuyers.”Eliant CEO Bob Mirman added, “The OlsonCompany has won continuous awards fromthe Eliant Homebuyers’ Choice Awardscompetition for the past 4 years. This con-sistent dedication to customer satisfactionmakes The Olson Company a leader withinthe national homebuilder community.”Founded in 1988 by Steve Olson, the SealBeach-based company has completed scoresof communities and has several others underconstruction, nearing completion orplanned. Pictured at the company’s PlazaWalk project in Cerritos are, from left, BillHolford, president Olson Communities;Matt Savio, vice president of homeownersatisfaction; and Scott Laurie, CEO of TheOlson Company. Plaza Walk, located at18810 Pioneer Blvd., includes 25 town-homes ranging in size from 1,266 squarefeet to 1,821 square feet. The units are pricedin the mid-$400,000s and offer up to fourbedrooms and three bathrooms. The salesoffice is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.mFor more information, call 562/370-9501. �

– George Economides

12 Long Beach Business Journal March 31-April 13, 2015REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY


The Olson Company Achieves #1 Rank In Customer Service Experience

Presenting Sponsor:



Senior Writer

Now that the California De-partment of Finance has ap-proved the City of LongBeach’s Long Range PropertyManagement Plan, the city istaking steps to sell 31 parcelsformerly owned by the LongBeach RedevelopmentAgency (RDA). Most of theparcels, many of which areconsidered blighted, are lo-cated in North Long Beach.Others are concentrated in thecentral and downtown areas ofthe city.

After California redevelop-ment agencies were dissolvedin 2012, the city was taskedwith submitting a plan for fu-ture use of its former RDAproperties to the state. Withinthat plan, 31 parcels were sug-gested to be sold, 61 parcels tobe used by the city, 161 properties to beretained for development and 10 to be re-tained to fulfill enforceable obligations.

Until the plan was approved lastmonth, these properties were in limbo,unable to be developed or improvedupon. Most of the properties to be sold

are commercial buildings concentratedalong Atlantic Avenue and Long BeachBoulevard. Several vacant plots of landand parking lots, plus two public build-ings, are also going to be sold. “Pro-ceeds from their sale will bedistributed as property tax to taxing

entities,” with the city receiving 22percent of that money, according to acity press release.

Of several companies that responded tothe city’s request for proposals for real es-tate broker services to sell the properties,Long Beach-based firms ColdwellBanker Commercial BLAIR WESTMAC,Lee & Associates and Cushman & Wake-field were selected, as was Los Angeles-based Cresa Partners.

“This is an extremely important stepforward for economic development inLong Beach, and I’m grateful to Gov-ernor Brown, his staff and our repre-sentatives in Sacramento for helping uscomplete this process,” Mayor RobertGarcia said in a statement on March12. “This plan will improve neighbor-hoods throughout the city, eliminateblight, and generate vital revenue forthe city.” �

March 31-April 13, 2015 Long Beach Business Journal 13 2015

Central Long Beach325 Daisy Avenue ..........................3,750605 W. 4th Street............................1,308825 E. 7th Street ............................8,750339 Pacific Avenue ........................7,5004th Street & Elm Avenue ...............3,8751934 Atlantic Avenue.....................6,0001900 Atlantic Avenue...................24,000Downtown Long Beach140 W. 7th Street............................7,500650-56 Pacific Avenue ...................3,750107, lll and 155 N.

Long Beach Boulevard ...............1,800243 E. 1st Street/

101 N. Long Beach Boulevard....6,450North Long Beach5372 Long Beach Boulevard .........2,7305368 Long Beach Boulevard .........2,7305365 Long Beach Boulevard .........4,3205371 Long Beach Boulevard .........5,750

5301 Long Beach Boulevard .......11,4305564 Atlantic Avenue

(commercial)...............................4,4005564 Atlantic Avenue (lot/land) .....4,4005641 Atlantic Avenue.....................4,1005645 Atlantic Avenue.....................4,1005649 Atlantic Avenue.....................4,1005661 Atlantic Avenue.....................4,1005701 Atlantic Avenue.....................4,1005616 Atlantic Avenue.....................4,1005640 Atlantic Avenue.....................2,0505644 Atlantic Avenue.....................2,0505648 Atlantic Avenue.....................4,1005708 Atlantic Avenue.....................4,100306 E. Home Street........................6,750635 E. South Street ........................4,400West Long Beach1478 Cota Avenue ..........................3,252Source: Successor Agency, City of Long BeachCounty of Los AngelesMarch 24, 2015

City To Sell Former Redevelopment Agency Properties Through Local Real Estate Firms

This 3,875-square-foot property at the southeast corner of 4th Street and Elm Avenue in Downtown Long Beach, which was once home to the store Acres of Books,was formerly owned by the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency. Now that the State of California has approved the city’s Long Range Property Management Plan forits former RDA properties, the parcel is going to be listed for sale. City documents indicate local firm Coldwell Banker Commercial BLAIR WESTMAC will handle thelisting. The site has often been discussed as a possible “connector” between the core downtown area and the East Village Arts District that stretches east to AlamitosAvenue. The site is also adjacent to the rail system that connects Long Beach to Downtown Los Angeles. (Photograph by the Business Journal’s Evan Kelly)

List Of Former RDA Properties To Be Sold

REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY


March

rate for women is 6.7 percent, about one percent below the overall average rate. About aone-third of women in this area have a bachelors degree or higher.

Not only do the women business owners interviewed in this edition of the Long BeachBusiness Journal contribute to the local economy, they are all also driven by a desire toinfluence their communities through their work, whether it be by providing fresh andhealthy food, supporting diverse cultures or improving individuals’ quality of life. Thesewomen are at varying stages in their careers, some running new ventures and others, es-tablished businesses. All hope to continue growing their businesses by hiring new em-ployees, taking on more clients or even opening new locations.

14 Long Beach Business Journal March 31-April 13, 2015FOCUS ON WOMEN IN BUSINESS

Women In Business Profiles(Continued From Page 1)

Gail DesiletsMarriage & Family Therapist

3780 Kilroy Airport Way, Suite 200, Long Beach • 562/477-2530 • www.gaildesilets.com

Inspired by her father, a physician with his own practice, Gail Desilets always knewshe wanted to go into business for herself. After working as a counselor in an adult

learning disability program at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) in the1990s, she found her calling as a therapist.

At the time, Desilets was in CSULB’s graduate program in psychology research, whichhad put her on a course towards working in academia. “I did counseling with a graduatestudent, and then I realized I was in the wrong program,” she recalled. “It was back thenin the early ’90s that I realized doing this kind of work was something that touched mevery deeply.” After working for several years at Whittier College, she obtained a secondmaster’s degree in marriage and family therapy in order to pursue her true calling.

After earning her second degree, Desilets completed her internship hours to qualify fora marriage and family therapist license at Jewish Family & Children’s Service in LongBeach, and then at a private counseling practice. “There are 3,000 hours of work to doworking with clients before you can sit for the licensing exam,” she explained.

Desilets opened her own practice in the summer of 2010. “I always knew I wanted to workfor myself,” she said. “I grew up with a father who was a physician in private practice, so thatmodel always appealed to me more than working at an agency.” As a private practice owner,Desilets is able to be available seven days a week for her clients, at their convenience. “I thinkof therapy as a sort of spa treatment for the mind, so I created a private practice that offers clientsa more luxurious experience as we work on their path to a more peaceful place,” she said.

Desilets specializes in working with adult individuals and couples. She treats clientscontending with issues related to separation, divorce, stress, anxiety, depression, loss, self-esteem, communication skills and more. When a client needs services outside of thoseDesilets offers – psychiatric care and medication, for example – she is able to make quickreferrals to colleagues. “I have a whole team of people who I refer to who have the samephilosophy of practice that I do,” she said.

“My biggest challenge moving my business forward is getting the word out about myconcierge practice,” she reflected. “My challenge is to get to the people who my practiceis designed for,” she explained, adding that her clientele focus is on professionals, businessowners and executives. To address that challenge, Desilets advertises and attends localmeetings of professional and business groups.

Desilets looks forward to continuing to expand her practice and add new clients. �

Angela AlmaguerSalud Juice

1944 E. 4th St., Suite 6, Long Beach • 562/528-8444 • www.saludjuice.com

Angela Almaguer’s cold-pressed juice business arose from a desire to promotehealthier eating practices within her family after two relatives suffered cardiac

problems, one with fatal results. “My father had just recently gone through open heart surgery. He had a quadruple

bypass. When he was recovering, I started making juice for him and kind of revampingour refrigerator . . . and trying to make sure that he was eating as well as possible,” Al-maguer recalled. Two weeks before her father had heart surgery, her uncle had passedaway from cardiac arrest. “The two most important men in my life having insane heartissues made me start thinking about the way the men in my family eat and how it wasaffecting their health.”

A recent graduate of a history program, Almaguer used her research skills to lookinto the process of cold-pressed juice making, and began making juices for her father.Every time they’d drink one together they would exchange the phrase “salud,” a Spanishsentiment meaning “cheers to your health.” She drew on this experience for the nameof her business: Salud Juice.

“Cold pressed juice is a two-step process. The first process is grinding all of the pro-duce into just a fine pulp,” Almaguer explained. After that, the pulp is put into a porousbag and then placed between two hydraulic plates, which presses the juice out of thepulp. The result is raw, unpasteurized juice that must be refrigerated and consumedwithin a few days of pressing. All Salud Juice products are organic and sourced fromlocally grown fruits and vegetables.

Almaguer informally started up Salud Juice when former coworkers began asking ifshe could make them juices like the ones she brought to work for herself. She thenbegan making juices for The Attic, a restaurant on Broadway, and then selling whole-sale to coffee shops and other restaurants. But she hit a roadblock when the city healthdepartment informed her she couldn’t sell raw, unpasteurized juices wholesale. “It isa liability issue,” she said.

After getting the green light to sell her products straight to consumers, Almaguer openeda storefront location off 4th Street’s Retro Row in March. She has six employees, and ispartnered with one of the co-owners of The Attic. “It’s nice having a retail location becauseit’s a community feel. You get to really know who your neighbors are, who is drinkingyour juice and how it is affecting them day to day,” she said.

Almaguer’s biggest challenge moving forward will be ensuring that, if she opens morelocations, the quality of her product is maintained. “I never ever want to lose the qualityof our product and the relationship that we have with our customers,” she said.

“I think my goal besides just making juice is trying to get as many people on boardwith taking care of themselves,” she reflected. �

Loise “Mumbi” KahenyaMumbi’s Designs

214 Atlantic Ave., Suite 101, Long Beach • 562/901-0308 • www.mumbisdesigns.com

A Kenyan native, Loise “Mumbi” Kahenya wanted to bring the handcrafted goods ofher homeland to Long Beach not only because she saw a market for the products but

also because she wanted to help Kenyan artisans. So, in 2006, she opened Mumbi’s Designs– a shop selling African clothing, jewelry and artifacts – in the East Village Arts District.


Kahenya stocks her shop with goods she collects during yearly trips to Kenya. “WhenI go to buy the products in Kenya, I am helping the women and the families there,” shesaid. “They are creative and talented, but they sometimes don’t have a way of selling theproducts.” Without a means to sell their goods, some artisans face challenges in payingfor their children to attend school or simply surviving, she explained. “That is mainly whyI started the business and that is what I continue to do,” she said.

“I was born in Kenya, so I have an understanding of the kinds of products that Kenyansmake. They are very well known for beaded jewelry and sandals and things like that, whichare very high quality,” Kahenya said. “I just thought that the products were good and wellmade, and I thought there was a market for that. I was proven right, because people reallyenjoy wearing the clothes . . . that we import from Africa.”

Clothing sold at Mumbi’s Designs is made from cotton African fabrics. “It’s a breathablematerial and it is also eco-friendly,” Kahenya said, adding that she hopes to focus moreon eco-friendly goods in the future. Mumbi’s Designs also sells African artwork and arti-facts, as well as all-natural lotions crafted by Kahenya. In the future, she hopes to sell herline of lotions to larger retailers, such as department stores.

As a small business owner, Kahenya said her biggest challenge moving forward is operatingwith a tight budget. “Our budget is small. That makes it very hard for us to increase sales, be-cause the little money we make goes towards paying bills and just keeping everything going.So that would be the challenge I see: to secure more funding so that we can do more,” she said.

Kahenya hopes to expand her operations by hiring permanent staff. “The way we wereable to survive the recession was by keeping the business lean and by keeping our overheadlow,” she said. Now that business has picked up in the past year or so, she expects to beable to hire a permanent staff member to assist her. “I have seen a little bit of increase inmy sales, which makes me think that the future is going to be bright.” �

March 31-April 13, 2015 Long Beach Business Journal 15 2015

(562) 421-93613840 Woodruff Ave. #208

Long Beach, CA 90808

mery

meryEE&General Dentistry

Laura KimKBQ Korean BBQ

1009 E. Artesia Blvd. Long Beach • 562/256-1337 • www.eatkbq.com

After experimenting in various food-centered business ventures, including a fishand chips restaurant and a grocery store, Laura Kim found her niche when she

opened KBQ Korean BBQ in North Long Beach.In past years, appreciation for Korean food mostly remained within the boundaries of

the Korea Towns of Southern California metropolitan areas. But Kim said in recent yearsshe has noticed the food grow in popularity. “Nowadays Korean food is a bit popular . . .like Japanese or Chinese food,” she said. While there are Korean restaurants in quite afew areas of Long Beach – such as East Long Beach and downtown – Kim noticed a voidof Korean restaurants in the northern part of the city.

“Near my area there are many restaurants and fast food [establishments], but no Koreanrestaurants,” she said, explaining that, while she doesn’t live in Long Beach, she owns propertythere. She pointed out that Korean immigrants aren’t a significant part of North Long Beach’sdemographics, a fact that had some people questioning if there was really a market for Koreanfood in the area. “They asked me, ‘If there are no Korean people, why are you opening a Ko-rean restaurant over here?’ I wanted to introduce good food to good neighbors,” Kim said.

Although Kim has cooked Korean food all her life, she worked diligently to improveupon her own recipes before opening KBQ Korean BBQ last July. Kim said she “practicedand practiced” in order to find the best formulas for various sauces, galbi (beef short ribs),bulgogi (thin-sliced beef rib eye), spicy pork and chicken. So far, the reaction to her cuisinehas been positive. “Some people said they never had good spicy pork before, but peoplereally liked it,” she said. In addition to those dishes, KBQ offers sides including rice, kim-chi (a Korean staple made from fermented vegetables), macaroni salad and green salad.Although the restaurant is quick-serve style, Kim noted that, because food is made freshupon each order, cooking time is about 15 minutes.

“We are always thinking how can we improve our food more and more for other people,”Kim said. Since opening, she has altered the menu a bit to meet customer demand. “[Orig-inally] we had only regular barbecue chicken but people asked for spicy chicken,” she re-called. So Kim went back to her culinary drawing board and came up with a recipe forspicy chicken. “People really liked it,” she said.

Kim’s biggest challenge moving her business forward is finding ways to spread the word aboutit so she can grow a larger regular customer base, she said. She intends to continue on her missionto bring tasty, authentic and fresh Korean food to the North Long Beach area she serves. �


Girl Charlee Fabrics: How A Home-Based Business Grew � By SAMANTHA MEHLINGER, Senior Writer

What started as a hobby for Heather Peterson sewing children’s clothes at

home has evolved into a 25,000-square-foot operation in Westside Long

Beach called Girl Charlee Fabrics – an online retailer and wholesaler sell-

ing uniquely printed fabrics and sewing patterns.

When Peterson’s daughter was born in 2004, she had trouble finding good quality chil-

dren’s clothing with the vintage modern aesthetic she preferred. “I just had a lot of frus-

tration because I couldn’t find it out there, and I knew that there was a need for it,” she

recalled. So she taught herself how to sew and began making her own children’s clothes –

a hobby that quickly turned into a home-based business.

Peterson took a brief hiatus from Girl Charlee after her son was born in 2007. In 2010,

after having moved to Long Beach with her family a couple years earlier, she started the

business back up, this time as a knit fabric supplier rather than a clothing line. “When we

[originally] launched, we would try to source fabrics from designers and [buy] overstock

fabrics . . . but we really found a need for more volume of those types of prints,” she said,

referring to the vintage modern aesthetic she loved. “So then we started printing our own

line.” It was this concept that ultimately caused the company to take off.

Girl Charlee began printing knit fabrics with original designs in 2012. “That’s when we

really started to hit our stride, and really started getting . . . a lot of the market share and

making a name for ourselves with our own prints,” Peterson said.

Peterson designs patterns with assistance from her marketing designer and general man-

ager. Prints range from colorful florals to classic chevrons and more whimsical designs

like foxes, pineapples and wiener dogs. After a design is finalized, it is sent to a Los An-

geles-based operation for printing. “Everything is printed and knitted here in L.A. We like

to support that whole Made in L.A. and Made in the USA [movement] as much as we

can,” Peterson said. “It has just always been really important for me to support the local

economy here.” Girl Charlee fabrics are sold for about $6 to $7 per yard, which is consid-

ered economical for knit fabrics, Peterson said.

Peterson is determined to keep all aspects of her business based in the U.S. rather than

outsourcing to somewhere like China, even though that would save her money in the long

run. “It’s a personal preference for me . . . I have also seen the downfalls of going overseas,

where you get an order in that you’ve been waiting 30 days for and it’s completely messed

up. And for how our model works, I can’t really promise my customer something and then

be like, ‘Oops, sorry – it got here and it’s totally destroyed and there is nothing we can do

about it.’ I don’t think my business would last very long like that.”

(Photographs by the Business Journal’s Evan Patrick Kelly)


s Grew Into A Successful Enterprise In West Long BeachGirl Charlee Fabrics also supports entrepreneurs and businesses by selling downloadable

PDF sewing patterns from local independent designers. “We work with them and sell their

patterns on our website . . . And then we also work and kind of collaborate with them to

give them exposure as well.”

When Peterson first moved the business out of her home and into a 1,000-square-foot

space, she had just one part-time employee. “Sometimes she would just cut two orders

and go home. And then if we had six orders, we were like, ‘Yeah it’s a good day,’” Peterson

said. The business later moved to a 4,000-square-foot facility, and then to its current

25,000-square-foot industrial building in the California State University, Long Beach Tech-

nology Park in February 2014. “Now we generally do over 100 orders a day and thousands

of orders a month. So we have definitely grown,” Peterson said. Girl Charlee Fabrics now

employs 16 people; most of them are from Long Beach, including Peterson and her hus-

band, who manages finances and payroll.

As the company grew, Peterson added a wider variety of textiles to her stock. “We started

with a very small number of fabrics, but now we offer a much wider selection of knits,”

she said. Girl Charlee continues to add new fabrics based on customer demand. “We really

try to listen to what our customers are looking for and provide that.” Recently added items

include stretch denim and vegan leather, which are customer favorites.

One of Girl Charlee’s latest ventures is a monthly offer called Knit Fix, in which cus-

tomers receive a tote bag stuffed with six different knit fabrics measuring two yards

each – and what’s inside is a surprise for customers. “It started off a little slow, but I

think this last month we sold more than we had ever made before in three hours. We

were completely sold out,” Peterson said.

About 70 percent of Girl Charlee’s business is retail, with the remaining goods sold

wholesale to businesses and designers. “Our customer is the home sewer up to small-scale

designers,” she noted. The popularity of Etsy, a website where artisans are able to sell

goods without starting up a full-blown enterprise, has lent itself to Girl Charlee’s growth,

and vice versa. “It [Girl Charlee] has enabled so many people to start their own businesses

and keep their businesses running. So it’s really exciting,” she said.

The majority of Girl Charlee’s customers are based in the U.S., although the company

does sell its products worldwide. Most international sales are to Canada, Australia and the

United Kingdom. International shipping costs are quite prohibitive; sometimes, the cost

to ship fabric to another country might be as much as the product itself, Peterson said. To

help meet overseas demand at a lower cost, Peterson is working to open a Girl Charlee lo-

cation in the United Kingdom. “That has been a lot of work, but we’re pretty excited about

getting that off the ground,” she said, adding that the tentative open date is in May.

“My goals for the future are to continue to grow

Girl Charlee. I want to keep it in Long Beach;

that’s very important to me. I want to make sure

we are hiring within the Long Beach employment

area so we hire people who live and work here.”

Heather PetersonPresident &CEO

Girl Charleewww.girlcharlee.com


the recession. “One of the first things thathad to go in that economic decline wasmemberships,” he said. “Over the lastseven to eight years, many associationshave not been able to recover the numberof members that they lost as a result ofsome economic decisions that had to bemade rather quickly.”Many nonprofit organizations face chal-

lenges in trying to grow membership be-cause of the time commitment they requireof their members. “You see a doublewhammy where it is harder to compete forpeople’s time and attention,” Anderson said. For example, while the Assistance

League of Long Beach (ALLB) has thelargest membership base out of all 122 na-tional Assistance Leagues, with about 926members, the organization still faces somechallenges in attracting new members whohave busy schedules. “From my perspective, over the past sev-

eral years, because of the recession, moreand more people have gone back into theworkforce,” Annette Kashiwabara, ALLBdirector of development, told the BusinessJournal. It is also more of a challenge to at-tract younger members who have growingfamilies, she noted. For these reasons, mostof the league’s members tend to be retiredor working part-time. According to Linda Alexander, executive

director of the Long Beach Nonprofit Part-nership (LBNP), membership requirements– such as fitting a certain demographic and

being able to attend specific meeting times– are sometimes a deterrent. LBNP is anorganization providing training, network-ing, consulting and other services to localnonprofits.ALLB requires all voting members to

work one day per month in the league’sthrift shop in Long Beach’s Retro Row. Theorganization has four auxiliary groups andprovides numerous volunteer-driven serv-ices to the community. “Assistance Leagueis a volunteer organization where we have

several philanthropic programs that are ac-tually run and managed by the volunteers.So it’s a big commitment when somebodytakes on that responsibility,” Kashiwabarareflected. “I think sometimes the require-ments make it a little bit tough for peopleand so they have to figure out some otherway to go about it.”While time and monetary commitments

seem to be the main challenges to member-ship growth for nonprofits, other factors areat play as well. According to Wilcox, indus-

try-specific associations have more difficultygaining and retaining members than in yearspast because more people are now enteringmultiple career fields in their lifetime. As aresult, “you don’t see the loyalty to [specific]industries like you used to,” he said. Another challenge for growing and re-

taining association membership is that it’sbecoming more difficult to provide the net-working opportunities members seek, dueto cost, Wilcox said. “People are lookingfor more networking opportunities andways to build business, and it’s very diffi-cult for associations sometimes to meettheir business development needs,” he said.Anderson pointed out that, while non-

profit organizations and associations facecertain challenges in attracting new mem-bers, overall, membership rates are increas-ing – a trend reflected by ALLB, whichgains about 30 members a year, accordingto Linda Drummond, president. “I thinkour membership growth has been prettyconsistent,” she said. When it comes to recruiting and attract-

ing boardmembers, nonprofits also facechallenges – some of which are similar tothe challenges of growing a membershipbase. According to a study released in Jan-uary by BoardSource (which provides non-profits with research, consulting andgovernance resources related to boards),the average size of nonprofit boards hasbeen steadily decreasing for about adecade. Since 1994, the average board sizehas declined from 19 members to about 15members.As with attracting new members, a chal-

18 Long Beach Business Journal March 31-April 13, 2015SPECIAL REPORT – THE NONPROFIT SECTOR

Robert Probst is the executive director of the Long Beach Rescue Mission, which was founded in1972. The mission provides the homeless with shelter, food, rehabilitation programs, counseling,and educational and jobs skills classes. According to Probst, while the organization has been aroundfor quite some time, it can still be challenging to find new boardmembers. (Photograph by the Busi-ness Journal’s Evan Patrick Kelly)

Nonprofit Membership

And Board Issues(Continued From Page 1)



2015

Page 20)


lenge in recruiting boardmembers is thatmany potential boardmembers are busyprofessionals who already have significanttime commitments. “I’m working with a re-searcher who has gone back hundreds ofyears studying associations, and time pres-sures have always been there for peopleserving in a larger capacity [on boards],”Anderson said.Robert Probst, executive director of the

Long Beach Rescue Mission, also pointedout that busy schedules often make it moredifficult for nonprofit organizations to findboardmembers. “People these days are re-ally busy, especially somebody who . . .brings a lot to the table,” he said. “Therehave been a few people I have met in thecommunity and I would love for them to beon our board, but of course most of the timewhen you meet somebody like that, they’realready committed.”In Alexander’s view, growing and main-

taining nonprofit boards has been “an ongo-ing challenge” for decades. While in some

cases pursuing a boardmember for that per-son’s name or stance in the communitymight be beneficial, in the long run, ensur-ing that boardmembers’ goals match up withthose of the organization’s mission statementis more important, Alexander said. The ideabehind that theory is, if a person’s heart is init, he or she is probably more likely to stickaround and make some significant contribu-tions to the organization. Wilcox said that most potential board-

members lose interest in staying involvedif they are not being directly engaged intheir organization’s work in some way. “A

lot of people want to serve on boards todayto really make a contribution. They don’twant to sit in a closed room and just talk,”he observed. This represents a shift inthinking from what boardmembers of pastdecades wanted, he noted. “The key thing is, when somebody is in-

volved [on a board], that they feel their in-volvement is contributing and ismeaningful,” Anderson said. “If you canprovide that, you don’t have challenges re-cruiting people. But if it is like a rubberstamp board . . . then it’s probably harderto recruit,” he explained. �



Senior Writer

Since it was founded in 1996, the LongBeach Community Foundation (LBCF)has served as a key community resourcefor charitable giving, benefiting nearly 60local nonprofit organizations in just under20 years. Last year alone, the organizationdistributed $1.9 million in charitablegrants. As Marcelle Epley, president andCEO of LBCF, put it: “The foundation isa one-stop shop for all charitable giving inLong Beach.” As explained on the foundation’s web-

site, a community foundation “is a tax-ex-empt charitable organization comprised ofa group of funds established by individu-als, organizations and businesses, andmanaged as an endowed pool of assets.Earnings on these assets are distributed inthe form of grants to nonprofits in thelocal community.” As of February 2015, LBCF’s assets to-

taled about $26 million. “We are growingrapidly, and it is an exciting time for thecommunity foundation,” Epley said.LBCF is primarily known in the Long

Beach community as an outlet for creatingdonor advised funds, in which an individ-ual gives a sum of money to LBCF and di-rects the foundation on how to dispersethat money. “For the donor, it’s an imme-diate tax benefit,” Epley said. Essentially,this option serves as a simple alternativeto creating a private foundation, she noted.If a donor doesn’t have a specific organ-

ization in mind, funds may also be estab-lished to benefit a field of interest – forinstance, a fund could be set up to benefitcharities focused on a specific cause, suchas sexual assault prevention. Which or-ganizations benefit from such a fundwould be at the foundation’s discretion.According to Epley, part of LBCF’s rolein these instances is to constantly stay ontop of what organizations are doing withinthe community so that the foundation canmake educated decisions about allocatingmoney from these funds.LBCF is quite flexible in the types of

charitable giving it is able to facilitate. “That’s something we do struggle with

a little bit as we continue to grow, is to getthe word out about how flexible we can beand what the options are that can suit al-most every need and lifestyle that’s outthere,” Epley said. “Basically, we haveprograms that make giving easy. And it’swhatever: if you want to set up a scholar-ship fund, if you are a nonprofit and youwant to set up a fund that benefits you, orif you are an individual and you don’twant to go through the headache of setting

up your own private foundation and youwant something easy.”An example of a scholarship fund

through LBCF is one set up by Los Ange-les County Supervisor Don Knabe to ben-efit children who were safely abandonedat regional fire stations through thecounty’s Safe Surrender program. “Wehave a scholarship fund set up so that ina few years, those kids are going to havescholarships made available throughLong Beach Community Foundation,”Epley noted. LBCF is even able to set up funds to

support rewards related to solving crimes.“Another way the community foundationcan be utilized is to get the bad guys,”Epley said. “So let’s say there is a murderand the police have a warrant for some-one’s arrest. What we could do is havepeople give to a fund that is set up specif-ically for that, and people could donateand then that reward could be given towhoever helps the police,” she explained.“Not a lot of people know about that.”

There are also options through LBCFfor those who wish to continue making animpact or contributing to a cause afterthey die. According to Colleen Bragalone,LBCF vice president, it’s as simple as de-noting that you would like to contribute toa specific fund or endowment throughLBCF in your will or trust. LBCF keepscorresponding documentation outliningany specific directions.Endowments, which are assets invested

over a long period of time to create in-come for a charity or cause, are also facil-itated by LBCF. For example, “You could set up an en-

dowment where you have a chunk of moneyand you want a 5 percent payout to be takenoff the top and go to Ronald McDonaldHouse every year for the rest of time. Wecan do that,” Bragalone explained. Nonprofit organizations, such as the

Arts Council for Long Beach, are alsoable to create endowments through LBCFto diversify their assets. “The only restric-tion is that it has to be a 501-c3, govern-

ment or education institution,” Epleynoted. These endowments, known asagency funds, may be used for anythingranging from charitable services to payingstaff salaries. “They are granting back tothemselves and it is creating a revenuestream for them,” she said. LBCF cur-rently manages 22 of these funds.The foundation itself directly works to

assist local nonprofits not only through itsown discretionary grants to local organi-zations, but also by providing reducedcost services. LBCF provides affordablefacilities and meeting space to local non-profits at its Nonprofit Center, an officebuilding located in Bixby Knolls. Localnonprofits rent office space there forbelow-market lease rates. Organizationsseeking a temporary meeting space areable to rent out a room equipped with pro-jectors, screens and audio-visual equip-ment for a $50 flat rate. Epley reflected, “If there is one take-

away, it is that we make charitable givingvery easy, accessible and cost effective.” �

The Long Beach Community Foundation’s (LBCF) mission is to “initiate positive change for Long Beach through charitable giving, stewardship andstrategic grant-making.” One of the ways the foundation supports the local nonprofit community is by providing organizations with reduced-rent officesat its Nonprofit Center in Bixby Knolls. While currently fully occupied, the center also rents a meeting room, equipped with projectors and audio-visualequipment, for a $50 flat rate to local nonprofit groups. Pictured in front of the Nonprofit Center at 3515 Linden Ave., are, from left: Tara Sievers, LBCFoffice coordinator; Marcelle Epley, president and CEO; and Colleen Bragalone, vice president. (Photograph by the Business Journal’s Evan Patrick Kelly)

The Long Beach Community Foundation: A One-Stop Shop For Charitable Giving

Nonprofit Membership

And Board Issues(Continued From Page 18)

SPECIAL REPORT – THE NONPROFIT SECTOR


2015


ArchstoneFoundationRecognized

For Its Support By Alzheimer’sFamily Service

Center� By DAVE WIELENGA

Contributing Writer

The Archstone Foundation, cre-ated in 1985 to satisfy the legaland bookkeeping requirements ofa Long Beach-based HMO thatwas transforming from a non-profit organization to a for-profitcorporation, has become a lead-ing light for a national commit-ment to meet the needs ofAmerica’s aging population.During 30 years as CEO, Joseph

F. Prevratil has defined Archstone’smission to seniors through morethan 900 individual grants totalingmore than $90 million. “We’ve kinda found our niche,”

Prevratil said with light, happy un-derstatement during a recent inter-view with the Long Beach BusinessJournal. “We are a comparatively smallfoundation, not equipped to tackle the bigproblems of general health. But there aren’tvery many foundations that put their entirefocus on the issues of aging. It’s since wecommitted ourselves there that we’ve hadour greatest success.”Prevratil’s point may be epitomized by

Archstone’s relationship with Alzheimer’sFamily Service Center (AFSC), a non-profit located in Huntington Beach. Since1999, Archstone has made 11 grants to-taling more than $450,000 to AFSC,funding an array of programs intended toimprove the lives of people withAlzheimer’s disease.The impact has been so significant that

Archstone is being celebrated as the 2015Distinguished Friend Honoree at AFSC’sannual fundraising gala May 2 at the Wa-terfront Beach Resort in Huntington Beach.“Archstone’s philanthropy is notable for

a couple of reasons,” said Lucy Takahashi,director of fund development for the or-ganization. “First, it is focused on causesthat impact older adults, the age group forwhich it is hardest to raise charitable con-tributions. Second, the programs thatArchstone has funded and the amountsthey’ve given have allowed us to test new,innovative approaches.”Monica Ponce, director of programs at

AFSC, cited the organization’s NewConnections Club, an intervention pro-gram aimed at people in the earlieststages of Alzheimer’s or with very mildcognitive impairment.“Research shows that early intervention

can really delay the progression of the dis-ease,” Ponce said. “The components of ourprogram range from exercise – walking amile, independently, which is crucial for

people with memory loss because it oxy-genates the brain – to support groups,memory exercises, and social services. It isvery well rounded.”The program has received two grants –

one to start it, another to expand it – and,as with most of Archstone’s philanthropy,both have been delivered with little fanfare.“Archstone is a private foundation, so

it’s not in the press very much,” observedRyan Kadowaki, who handles public re-lations for AFSC. “Mr. Prevratil kindaflies under the radar, but the things hedoes, the things that organization is doingfor these seniors, are unparalleled.”Flying under the radar may be a first for

Prevratil, whose 77 years of life have beencharacterized by over-the-rainbow experi-ences. Among the entries on his resume:executive director of the Port of LongBeach; president and CEO of the QueenMary; project manager for the Conventionand Entertainment Center’s $100 millionexpansion; president of Wrather Port Prop-erties, Ltd., which owned the QueenMary/Spruce Goose; vice president withSix Flags, Inc.; and president of his ownconsulting firm. Notwithstanding all those titles, Prevratil

is clearly touched by his impending desig-nation as 2015 Distinguished Friend atAFSC’s “Gathering of Friends” gala, al-though his reaction is measured.“We are always pleased to be honored,

but the fact of the matter is we don’t dothis kind of work to be honored,” Prevratilsaid. “Obviously, it is good work. Weenjoy doing good work. And to be per-fectly frank, we are always pleased whenour grantees are happy with what we givethem – that’s not always the case. So wefeel very gratified by the fact they appre-ciate Archstone’s efforts.”

The fact is, said Prevratil, that Archstoneis pretty impressed with the efforts of theAlzheimer’s Family Services Center, too. “This is such an outstanding group,” he

said with evident admiration. “It has a greatboard, a great staff. We are very, very, sat-isfied with the grantee.”Prevratil acknowledged that 16 years is

an unusually long time for Archstone to beinvolved with an organization. “It is,” he said. “We don’t normally

give grants more than three years on thesame subject. But if the subject matterchanges . . .”Change has become a constant with

AFSC, and the continuing innovation of itsprograms has accounted for the continuingsupport from Archstone.“We’ve worked with them on a number

of programs,” Prevratil said, and he citedsome examples. “We’ve worked with themas a caregiver-education collaborative –we’re always very interested in the caregiv-ing these patients require. We’ve workedwith them regarding dementia education.They’ve worked with us in preventing fallsamong the elderly. We’ve worked togetheron the subject of depression, both amongpatients, as well as screening for it and pro-viding counseling for their families. Andthey have provided a lot of the informationthat has helped us form a new initiative thatwill be coming out very shortly – some-thing I’m not quite ready to talk about yet.”Archstone’s granting process begins with

the establishment of so-called initiatives,followed by the selection of programs thatapply to those categories. In the early 2000s, Archstone’s initiatives

were the areas of elder abuse and neglect,fall prevention and end-of-life care. In2012, after undertaking a reassessment ofCalifornia’s older population, Archstone

determined that people’s needs hadchanged and that the foundation wouldhave to steer its philanthropy toward newareas to remain relevant. Archstone’s new initiatives:• Enabling older adults to remain in

their homes and communities.• Improving the quality of life for older

adults suffering from depression.• Developing innovative responses to

the family caregiving needs of elders.• Expanding the workforce needed to

care for and serve the rapidly growingaging population. Ironically, the difficulty in attracting at-

tention and donations to these areas isthat old age is a new issue.“People haven’t historically lived this

long,” Prevratil said. “Most existing foun-dations are much older than Archstone and[had] established their specific areas of in-terest before aging became an issue. Butthese [aging] issues are going to continueto come to the forefront based on the factthat we are all living longer.”Prevratil f inds his work with Arch-

stone provides some relevant perspec-tive to his own life.“When I was young it was very exciting

to do the things I did with the Queen Mary,with the Port of Long Beach, the conven-tion center expansion . . .” he said. “I’vebeen blessed with many honors from thecity and other organizations.“But in kind of the twilight of my career,

I think being lucky enough to be workingn an organization like this and be its CEOand direct where we’re going is very grati-fying for me, personally. And I’m luckyenough that I’ve had some pretty excitingprojects to work on in each part of my life.Look at it this way: I’m 77 years old, and Ireally believe in aging in place.” �


“People haven’t historically lived this

long. Most existing foundations are

much older than Archstone and [had]

established their specific areas of

interest before aging became an

issue. But these [aging] issues are

going to continue to come to the

forefront based on the fact that

we are all living longer.”

Joseph F. Prevratil, CEOArchstone Foundation

SPECIAL REPORT – THE NONPROFIT SECTOR

(Photograph by theBusiness Journal’s

Evan Patrick Kelly)


2015


March Juan PabloMontoya: Still RacyAfter AllThese Years� By MICHAEL GOUGIS

Contributing Writer


You’ve got to figure that it would take a lot to keep Juan Pablo Montoyaexcited about racing. Since he burst onto the international racing scenein 1997, he has won the Indy 500, the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix,Formula 3000 and Champ Car titles, and the Daytona 24 Hours. He’sdriven for the top teams in the sport: Penske, Ganassi, Williams,

McLaren. It’s hard to imagine what could still drive him.But the 39-year-old Colombian-born driver is still fit, ready to race, and excited about the

changes and new opportunities for the upcoming 2015 Verizon IndyCar series, which roars intotown on April 19 as the headlining race for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.In particular, Montoya is excited about the introduction of new “aero kits” for the car bodies

that mean, for the first time in several seasons, that the cars powered by Chevrolet engines willlook and perform dramatically differently than the ones powered by Honda engines. Each carcan be tailored with a variety of pieces from the kit, allowing each team to configure the car forindividual courses and even drivers.“I think it’s exciting. I think it’s a big question mark. It’s the first time for a lot of years that

you have two different cars. Yes, you have the same chassis, same gearbox, same suspension –that I think is good because it keeps it close. But I think it’s exciting because it brings the man-ufacturers more into the sport. And before, there were different engines, but the fans reallycouldn’t tell. Now you can look at the cars and see that they’re different. I think that’s a plus,”Montoya said at a recent Los Angeles media availability session in advance of the Grand Prix.“If you’re really good on the short ovals, it means you probably don’t have enough downforce

for the streets or road courses. So I think it will balance out. The weekend the Hondas are better,there will be a lot of Hondas up front, not just a couple of teams. The weekends you are down, Ithink it’s going to suck. The weekends you are up, I think you’re going to love it.”The aero kits will make the cars quicker but, because so much of the downforce is generated

by the front wing, drivers will be cautious about damaging it through contact with a wall or withanother car. At a place like Long Beach, damage to the incredibly complex front wing can windup costing you dearly for the rest of the race, Montoya said.“I think you’re going to have to be a lot smarter, because right now we don’t know what the

penalty will be for damaging the wing,” he said.Montoya’s long career has taken him from his home in Colombia to Europe to the United

States, back to Europe and back to North America, first in NASCAR and then back in IndyCar.He’s had the chance to race and win in Formula One on some of the most famous, classic tracksin racing history – Monza, Monaco, Silverstone. But he doesn’t see the courses through the look-ing glass of nostalgia, nor does he view Formula One that way, either.“It has changed in that a lot of the people are paying for their drives instead of being hired.

And the electronics have changed things a lot. I think to drive the cars is very similar, but to en-gineer them is very difficult,” Montoya said.“In America, there’s COTA (Circuit of The Americas in Texas) that drivers think is one of the

best tracks in the world right now. And I’ll tell you, NOLA [Raceway Park, near New Orleans],for fun, is – I haven’t had that much fun driving a car in a long time. It’s amazing. The ‘wow’factor comes out. It’s really, really fast, and it takes a lot of commitment.”Real race drivers like speed, and Montoya said he likes tracks with high-speed corners that test the

driver’s skill and courage. But he said the tracks that generate the best racing have a particular layout.“Long straights make for better racing, because you can use the draft,” Montoya said. “That’s

why Road America was so good, because the straights were so long. You go halfway down thestraight, three or four car-lengths behind and, by the end of the straight, you were right there.And [you need] corners that aren’t hairpins leading on to them so you can follow them closely.”Montoya’s raw speed has always impressed. The first time he saw Indy, he walked away from

the field after making some of the best drivers in the world look slow. And, at this point in his ca-reer, he has added patience and strategy to his arsenal. They are indeed strengths – speed, patienceand strategy have earned Montoya three wins in the most famous endurance race in the UnitedStates, the 24 Hours of Daytona – but they can be liabilities as well.“They are more strengths than weaknesses. The only downside – and I think I do a good job

of managing this – is that you learn how far you can go. But sometimes knowing how far youcan go, you go 90 percent or 95 percent instead of 100 percent or 105 percent, know what I mean?It’s a really fine balance,” Montoya said. “The day you think you’re going quick enough, theystart going quicker than you.”“When you’re young, you’re just desperate for success. Because I was a Formula One test

driver, I was a little more mature. There’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity. You have tobe able to balance that. The other thing is that there’s a difference between going over that lineon a road course or a street course, where you’re going to go out, and doing it on an oval, whereyou’re going to get hurt."Montoya’s son, Sebastian, is following in his father’s footsteps, racing – and winning – in the

incredibly competitive world of karting. Being a racing dad, and a coach for kids other than hisson, has been an interesting experience for Montoya, as well as sometimes being utterly surreal.“If they (the kids) are not paying attention, I’m going to be kind of hard on them – and I kind

of ask the parents for permission to be hard on them,” Montoya said. “For a mom, you want todefend your kid. Even my wife gets mad at me when I’m hard on [my son] – ‘Oh, but he’s notgoing to enjoy it,’ she’ll say. I tell her, ‘I guarantee you, [if] he’s winning, he’ll be happier.’“Sometimes I’ll get a mom telling me what I need to be telling her kid, and I’m thinking, is

this really happening? I want to ask her, what do you do for a living?” �

March 31-April 13, 2015 Long Beach Business Journal 25COUNTDOWN TO THE 41ST GRAND PRIX

“When you’re young, you’re just desperate for success.

Because I was a Formula One test driver, I was a little

more mature. There’s a fine line between bravery and

stupidity. You have to be able to balance that.”

Juan Pablo Montoya

Pictured above with Jim Michaelian

President/CEO, Grand Prix Association of Long Beach

For Tickets And Information About The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach visit:

www.gplb.com

Photographs by Doug Gifford


March

Tatum Appointed Long BeachPlanning Bureau Manager

Linda F. Tatum was recently appointed asthe city’s planning bureau manager byLong Beach Development Services Direc-tor Amy Bodek. “As the newly appointedplanning bureau manager, I am honoredand excited to have the opportunity to con-tribute to the growth and development of

Long Beach,” Tatum said in a city-releasedstatement. Tatum formerly served as theCity of Inglewood’s acting director of eco-nomic and community development de-partment. In that role, she oversaw thecity’s safety, building, planning and codeenforcement divisions. Prior to her workfor Inglewood, she served as planning man-ager for Culver City and as senior plannerfor the City of Santa Ana. “Linda has a

proven leadershiprecord in municipalplanning and deci-sion making, and willbe highly valuable tothe department and tothe city,” Bodek saidin a statement. “Herwealth of knowledgeand over 20 years ofexperience will help move forward long-range planning efforts, including the updateto the Land Use Element, preparation forspecific plans and historic preservation,”Bodek stated.

Local Architects JoinU.S.S. Kitty Hawk Board

Two Long Beach architects have beennamed to the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk Board ofDirectors “in preparation for the aircraftcarrier being put on donation hold byNavsea” sometime during the next year.Alan Burks, president and director of archi-tecture at Environ Inc. of Long Beach, andMichael Shanahan, senior design managerhealthcare at LWI Consulting, will workwith the Kitty Hawk Veterans Associationand others in an effort to establish the car-rier as a museum and “economic power-house in the Port of Long Beach,”according to a statement. The Kitty Hawk,which is being maintained in Bremerton,Washington, is currently in what is knownas reserve status until the U.S.S. Gerald R.Ford is put into service.

Laserfiche Founder WackerHonored Posthumously

The Association for Information and ImageManagement (AIIM) has posthumouslyelected Nien-Ling Wacker, founder ofLong Beach-based Laserfiche, to its Com-pany of Fellows. The AIIM Company ofFellows honors individuals who “meritrecognition and distinction for their out-standing contributions to the enterprise

content management (ECM) industry.”John Mancini, president of AIIM Interna-tional, said, “Nien-Ling was truly a pioneerin the ECM industry. She focused on excel-lence and thrived on making software thatpeople love to use. Thanks to her tremen-dous dedication, Laserfiche has grown intoa powerhouse with thousands of customersand millions of users around the world.”Wacker becomes the 208th individual in-ducted to the AIIM Company of Fellowssince it was established in 1963. During aMarch 19 ceremony in San Diego, her hus-band, Laserfiche CEO Chris Wacker, andson, Peter Wayman, Laserfiche vice presi-dent of asset management, accepted theaward on her behalf. The company has of-fices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Toronto,Mexico, London, Washington, D.C., andFt. Lauderdale.

Testa Named Rookie Of YearAndrea Testa recently received the “Rookieof the Year” award at Keller Williams Pa-cific Estates. The award honors the agentwith the most closed volume during thefirst 12 months of receiving their real estatelicense. “Andrea is truly an amazing agent,”said Stacy Morel, chief financial officer atKeller Williams Pacific Estates. “She goesabove and beyond for her clients and herpeers. Even when her business hits a fewbumps she still has a smile on her face andkeeps the wheels turning.”

Councilman Uranga NamedTo State Coastal CommissionLong Beach City Councilman RobertoUranga, who represents the 7th District,has been appointed by the State SenateRules Committee as a voting member ofthe California Coastal Commission. Themission of the commission is “to protect,conserve, restore, and enhance environ-mental and human-based resources of theCalifornia coast and ocean for environmen-tally sustainable and prudent use by currentand future generations.” In a statement is-sued by the city, Uranga said: “I cannot ex-press the full extent of gratitude to mycolleagues for having placed their trust andconfidence in me,” Uranga remarked. “LongBeach is extremely fortunate to have suchgreat leadership at all levels of governmentand I am honored to complement the workof all those looking to improve the GreatState of California for all its residents.”

Michael Jensen To KeynoteYMCA’s Prayer Breakfast

Michael C. Jensen, the sole survivor of a2011 plane crash at Long Beach Airport,will share his story at the 47th Annual GoodFriday Breakfast, April 3, presented by theYMCA of Greater Long Beach. The eventis at the Long Beach Convention Center’sGrand Ballroom, beginning at 7 a.m. Formore information or to register, visitwww.lbymca.org or call 562/279-1700.

Community HospitalEarns Gold Seal Of Appoval

Community Hospital of Long Beach, partof the MemorialCare Health System, re-cently earned The Joint Commissions’Gold Seal of Approval® for Hospital Ac-creditation “by demonstrating continuouscompliance with its performace standards,”according to a hospital statement. The GoldSeal of Approval is a symbol of quality thatreflects an organization’s commitment toproviding safe and effective patient care.

26 Long Beach Business Journal March 31-April 13, 2015IN THE NEWS

Guthrie Named GM For Doubletree Hilton CarsonAfter spending the past four years as hotel manager at the Hotel Maya – a Doubletree byHilton along the Queensway Bay of Long Beach, Greg Guthrie is the new general managerat the Doubletree by Hilton Carson, located adjacent to the 405 freeway within the CarsonCivic Center, and just five miles from the Long Beach Airport and 12 miles for Los An-geles International Airport. Both properties are owned by Ensemble Hotel Partners, a di-vision of Ensemble Real Estate. Prior to joining the Hotel Maya, Guthrie served as directorof food and beverage at the Kyoto Grand Hotel in Los Angeles and at the Sheraton Cerritosin th City of Cerritos. He’s held other hospitality positions in cities such as Chicago,Columbus, San Diego and San Francisco. The 225-room Hilton Carson offers 5,600 squarefeet of meeting and event space, and is adjacent to the Carson Community Center, whichprovides 20 meeting rooms and 40,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotel featuresThe Refinery and Scoreboard restaurant and lounge, an outdoor pool and whirlpool, anda business center. For more information about the hotel, call 310/830-9200. (Photographby the Business Journal’s Evan Patrick Kelly)

Neena Strichart Named 70th Assembly District’s Woman Of The YearNeena Strichart, publisher of the weekly Signal Hill Tribune, has been named by As-semblymember Patrick O’Donnell as the 70th District’s “Woman of the Year.” for her“tireless dedication to community service.” She was honored in early March on theAssembly Floor. In addition to being the publisher of the Signal Tribune, she is a“dedicated volunteer working with organizations such as the Friends of Long BeachAnimals, the Long Beach/Bellflower Elks Club, the Susan B. Anthony chapter ofDaughters of the American Revolution, and Fast Friends,” according to a statementfrom the assemblymember’s office. In a statement, Strichart said, “I am both extraor-dinarily happy and humbled to be named Woman of the Year. As my 95 year-oldmother Marjorie Gromme likes to say, ‘There is a big difference between being inyour community and being of your community.’ I am proud to be of my community.I want to thank Assemblymember O’Donnell for this recognition.” (Photograph pro-vided by 70th Assembly District office)

Tracy AmesPaula BarrowMary Alice BralyTerry BraunsteinRose Mary CallahanInge CristianoRita DeverMichele DobsonAmy EriksenCindy GoodfellowMarquita

Grenot-ScheyerPhyllis

Hayes-ReamsChan HopsonJan HowerKathy HughesLois IrvingChristina KreachbaumElizabeth Lambe

Denise LikarKristy Mandigo

KinkorMausami MomayaLisa PavlovichSara Pol-LimRose RichardJane RoederTerry RogersLori RossDebbie RouserPhyllis SchmidtShannon ShoenbergCorinne SierzantMary SophieaVirgia WadeJan WardCrystal WestMary ZendejasKris Zentgraf

Women of DistinctionAssemblymember Patrick O’Donnell, repre-senting the 70th Assembly District, recognizedwomen who “go above and beyond for theircommunity” who were nominated by their col-leagues in one of five categories: arts, busi-ness, community service, education and healthservices. “Those being honored as one of my2015 Women of Distinction exemplify leader-ship and have shown a dedicated commitmentto helping others,” said Assemblymember O’-Donnell. “I’m grateful for the opportunity torecognize each woman with this honor.”Women of Distinction are:


Diana Hendel Steps Down As CEO Of MemorialCare’s

Three Long Beach HospitalsAs previously reported by the Business

Journal in a March 5 Newsflash, DianaHendel, who had served as chief executiveofficer of Long Beach Memorial MedicalCenter (LBMMC), Miller Children’s &Women’s Hospital Long Beach and Com-munity Hospital Long Beach since Janu-ary 2009, resigned due to unspecifiedhealth reasons. Hendel had been on med-ical leave since late last year. The hospitalsare part of the MemorialCare Health Sys-tem based in Orange County.“Over the past four months, since she

informed us of her decision to go on leave,the health system has been in discussionswith Diana Hendel about her futureplans,” according to a statement sent to theBusiness Journal by Richele Steele, vicepresident of marketing and public rela-tions for the three Long Beach hospitals.“Diana, sadly, has chosen not to return toMemorialCare, and to focus on her healthand family for the immediate future.” Thestatement also said that, “Diana has ex-pressed how difficult it is to need to leavea job that was her calling and an organi-zation, team and community that sheloves. She will be greatly missed by herMemorialCare family.”MemorialCare President and CEO

Barry Arbuckle announced that he andTammie McMann Brailsford, who servesas executive vice president (EVP) andchief operating officer for the six-hospitalsystem, two medical groups and a healthplan, will begin succession planning forLBMMC. “In the meantime, Tammie willcontinue to work directly with the LongBeach Operating Group, to ensure ourquality, growth and operational strategiesadvance with the same sense of purpose

that Diana expected during her years asCEO of the Long Beach campuses,” thestatement read.According to the hospital website, “Hen-

del began her career at Long Beach Memo-rial as a clinical pharmacy resident, where

she stayed for 10 years before undertakingleadership roles throughout the Memorial-Care Health System, including vice presi-dent of Anaheim Memorial, executivedirector for MemorialCare and the Physi-cian Society, and administrator for the San

Clemente campus of Saddleback Memo-rial.” In 2006, she was promoted to chiefoperating officer of Long Beach Memorial.Hendel earned her bachelors in biologyfrom UC Irvine and her doctorate in phar-macy from UC San Franciscos.

March 31-April 13, 2015 Long Beach Business Journal 27IN THE NEWS 2015

Ukleja Center Honors Leadership Legacy Of Louis ZamperiniThe 2015 Nell and John Wooden Ethics in Leadership Award was presented to the son of the late Louis Zamperini, whose story hasbecome known worldwide through the recent release of the movie, Unbroken. Inaugurated in 2009, the annual award is presented by TheUkleja Center for Ethical Leadership at California State University, Long Beach. It celebrates the leadership of the Woodens who, ac-cording to a statement, “embody the Ukleja Center’s core values of integrity, excellence, empowerment and servant leadership. It is de-signed to honor a person or organization whose contribution is built on ethical behavior and visionary leadership.” Dean Solt, director ofthe Ukleja Center and dean of the CSULB’s College of Business Administration, said, “Louie’s story, as eloquently told by his son Luke,is about perseverance, redemption and forgiveness. Luke spoke from the heart about his father and everyone in the room was spellbound.This was truly a memorable event.” Louis Zamperini’s story is one of a young trouble maker who went on to be the youngest distancerunner on the 1936 USA Olympic team to a captured WWII pilot who was tortured for two years. He came home a hero who could notshake the memories of captivity. According to a Ukleja Center statement: “Heading in a downward spiral, he turned his life around afterhearing a talk by Billy Graham. From then until his passing at the age of 97 in 2014, Louie inspired millions by sharing his story abouttransformational power of forgiveness.” Pictured at the Nell and John Wooden Ethics in Leadership Award seminar are, from left: GregWooden, Luke Zamperini, Louise Ukleja, Michael Solt and Lindora CEO Cynthia Graff. (Photograph by Carlos Delgado)

Tim Meyer Is The New General Manager For The Two Long Beach HyattsLong Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau President/CEO Steve Goodling, right, welcomes Tim Meyer as the new general manager of the Hyatt Long Beach and the Hyatt

at the Pike. Meyer, a 17-year veteran of Hyatt Hotels, began his new position on March 19. His most recent assignment was as general manager of the Hyatt Regency Cleveland,serving there for more than three years. The New Orleans native began his career with Hyatt as director of sales and marketing at the Hyatt San Antonio and held a similar post forthree years at the nearby Hyatt Hill Country. He was then promoted to regional vice president of sales, working from the corporate office. Meyer – an avid sports fan who enjoyscooking, biking and running – and his wife, Molly, have two grown daughters. The Hyatt Long Beach, at 200 S. Pine Ave., is the city’s largest hotel with 528 recently renovated gue-strooms all with water views, and the Hyatt at the Pike, 285 Bay St., has 138 rooms and suites.


March 28 Long Beach Business Journal March 31-April 13, 2015PERSPECTIVES

When your normal isn’t normal

Women of all ages can suffer from pelvic floor conditions that af-fect bowel and bladder function, female reproductive organs and

the muscles of the pelvic floor. The pelvic floor can be weakened by acombination of factors, such as childbirth, heavy lifting, the effects ofmenopause and aging, and other chronic medical and neurologic con-ditions. For some women, a family history of pelvic floor issues in-creases the risk of developing a future pelvic floor condition.Although problems are more common with advancing age, even

young women can be affected. Pelvic floor disorders significantly compromise the qual-ity of women’s lives, which may result in depression, social isolation and avoidance ofphysical and sexual activity due to discomfort and embarrassment. Women often sufferin silence because they are unaware that many of these conditions can be treated. The following are common pelvic floor conditions, and can affect women at any age. Urinary Incontinence is the loss of bladder control. Common symptoms include a

loss of urine with coughing, sneezing, laughing or with physical activity. Women alsomay lose urine with a strong urge to urinate while trying to reach the restroom. Somewomen experience occasional leakage while others wet their clothing on a daily basis. Ifbladder control affects your daily life, call your doctor to see how you can re-gain control.

Fecal Incontinence is losing control of bowel movements. The severity can rangefrom leakage when passing gas or complete loss of control. Some adults can experience this occasionally, but others experience daily loss of stool.

If you can’t control bowel movements or cannot make it to the restroom in time, it is im-portant to share this information with your doctor help determine a treatment plan.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse is when the connective tissue supporting the walls of thevagina and the pelvic organs weakens. This weakening can cause the pelvic organs to“drop” out of place. Common symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse include a feeling ofpressure in the vaginal opening as if something is “falling out” of your vagina. Some women may not feel any symptoms. Other women feel a lot of discomfort and

need to seek medical attention. Overactive Bladder is the frequent need to urinate along with a feeling that the urge

to urinate cannot be delayed. Women with overactive bladder may be waking up at nightmultiple times to urinate. Overactive bladder can lead to urinary incontinence. Even though overactive bladder is common in older adults, it is not part of the aging

process. If your symptoms put a strain on your everyday life, reach out to your doctor tosee what treatment options are available. Pelvic Health Conditions are TreatableAny woman challenged with a pelvic health condition knows that these issues can eas-

ily affect quality of life. What many women may not know is that these issues are treat-able. New therapies, medications and minimally invasive procedures offer hope towomen currently coping with their pelvic health issues alone. Schedule an appointment with your physician if you wish to re-gain control of your

pelvic health condition. (Jocelyn Craig, M.D. is a urogynecologist at the Center for Women’s Pelvic Health at Long Beach Memorial.)

The Workforce And

Workplace Are changing

The Millennial generation (1983-2001), is entering organizations at an

amazing rate, while at the same timeBaby Boomers (1946-1964), are retiring.In our research we identified nine per-ceived orientations that drive the behav-iors of Millennials. For one, they put ahigh value on being autonomous. One of

the complaints was “they seem to disregard tradition andignore the way things have always been done.”One of the unintended consequences of this is a shift in

the corporate mindset which consisted of: A a 9 to 5 job;sitting at a cubicle; in a particular building; using devicesprovided by the employer.The shift in corporate culture just happens to be in par-

allel with the shift in the workforce.Some are uncomfortable with this new generation of

workers, in part because of their desire for a more flexibleworkplace. Yet upon further investigation, a focus on what

gets done rather than how and where it gets done is turningout to be a good thing.There are also studies showing that in some professions

working from home increases, not only a sense of well-being, but also personal productivity.One study involved 13,000 employees of a large Chinese

multinational – China’s largest travel agency. Those work-ing from home (randomly picked) were compared to theiroffice-working counterparts. The homeworkers had a 13%increase in performance. The top executives of the com-pany were surprised because they assumed there would bea negative impact on performance.These executives were also concerned about the 50%

annual turnover of their workers. Through this experi-ment the company’s attrition rate was cut in half, whichresulted in reducing new employee training costs. Officecosts were also reduced in the areas of leased space andenergy consumption.In the past, working 9 to 5 at a dedicated location with

dedicated equipment was a way of assuring people wouldget their work done. It provided accountability, especiallywith the lack of technology available. Just think of the in-creased agility of an organization when people can do theirvery best work when, where, and how they want!It’s no coincidence that work locations are increasing at

the same time workspace costs are decreasing. Accordingto a survey of 1900 companies, allowing people to work atmore optimal times and locations is having a positive im-pact both in cost-savings and personal productivity. By the

year 2020 there will be: 20% decrease in dedicated work-space; 7 desks for every 10 office employees worldwide(6 desks for every 10 workers in the U.S); 3 out of 10 whowill work remotely; access to corporate IT networks froman average of 6 different devicesThe office spaces of the future will foster creativity and

encourage collaboration. This includes the ability to workfrom anywhere – the corporate workplace, the customer’sworkplace, the employee’s home, on the go, and with noparticular eight-hour time frame.Leaders and managers need to look at their organiza-

tion’s needs while at the same time playing to the strengthsof this new workforce. They are comfortable working fromcoffee shops, hotels, airports, home, and of course, the of-fice. This will increase employee productivity and reducethe organization’s costs – including their carbon footprint.This will also leverage a company’s ability to recruit,

train, and retain their top employees, no matter what theirage and regardless of where they live.Promoting mutual understanding between generations in

the workplace is, and will continue to be, a game-changer.Work is rapidly becoming something people do, and

not just a place people go.(Mick Ukleja keynotes across the country on topics re-

lated to leadership. He is president of LeadershipTraq andauthor of several books, including co-author of Managingthe Millennials. His clients have included Fortune 500 cor-porations and non-profit organizations. Check his weeklyblog at www.leadershiptraq.com.)

HealthWise

By jocelyn

crAig, M.d.

Effective Leadership

By Mick

UklejA

leadership lessons

From Women entrepreneurs

One of the themes this March is women, who represent one of thefastest growing segments of entrepreneurs in this country and are

integral to the future of small business. In fact, according to the U.S.Small Business Administration, about 30 percent of small businessesin the U.S. are owned by women. These leaders, who have blazed thetrail for future women business owners, offer great lessons on what ittakes run a successful enterprise.In our business, we have the opportunity to work with and serve ex-

traordinary women business owners across the country on a daily basis.To help the next generation of business owners, here’s what we have learned from threeof our customers about their journey in becoming leaders of thriving businesses:• Build relationships: Spend time networking with other women and other entrepreneurs,

developing and marketing your business properly. By attending conferences and eventsthat pertain to your business, volunteering for speaking engagements related to your in-dustry, marketing your firm’s expertise and creating thought-leadership material you areestablishing a broad network and building relationships that can help your business grow. • Maintain your values: To attain business success you need to always strive to excel

in your industry – be the best at what you do – and consistently maintain high qualitywork. Stick with your core values.• Change can be good: Don’t be afraid to change your business model, or reinvent

yourself to adjust to shifts in the marketplace. • Act on your dreams: Keep at it no matter the challenges. Keep believing in yourself and

what you are capable of achieving. Dream big. If you have an idea, just do it and go for it!• Never exclude an opportunity: Don’t rule out your options just because they might

not be what you originally envisioned. • Surround yourself with experts: The ability to leverage and build on expertise can

only elevate you and your business, making it much easier to grow and take things tothe next level. Keep seeking out the assistance and insight of people who bring new skillsand knowledge to your business.• See the bigger picture: Being a good leader means you need to take all perspectives

into account before making decisions that will ultimately impact the entire organization.It also means going out of your way to forge strong relationships within your community,as well as your industry.Often times, one idea can open a door to something else that you may not have imag-

ined, especially in business. Today there’s a growing list of government, non-profit andprivate organizations, including the U.S. Small Business Administration and the NationalAssociation of Women Business Owners, that provide resources for women in business.Take advantage of these resources as well as other local peer groups that can offer adviceand support, and help you build your business network. By learning from women whohave attained their business goals, you can put yourself in the best position to turn yourbusiness dreams into reality. (Ben Alvarado, a 23-year veteran of Wells Fargo, is the president of the bank’s Southern Cal-

ifornia Region, which stretches from Long Beach to Orange, Imperial and San Diego counties.)

Small Business Dollars & Sense

By Ben

AlvArAdo

PERSPECTIVES


March 31-April 13, 2015 Long Beach Business Journal 29PERSPECTIVES 2015

retirees Predicted

To spur Housing Market

The popular theory in today’s youth-centriceconomy is that the millennial generation –

those born after 1980 and ranging into the 2000s– is the driver of economic growth today, and isthe barometer when it comes to real estate in par-ticular.Not only is this the popular sweet spot for most

advertisers today, but much has been made of thisage group when it comes to discussing the growth

of the housing market in the post-Great Recession era.But in a new study recently conducted by Bank of America/Mer-

rill Lynch Global Wealth Management in partnership with AgeWave, it appears that the real engine for housing in the comingyears is actually the older baby boomer generation of retirees ornear-retirees.According to the report, “Home in Retirement: More Freedom,

New Choices,” during the next decade, the number of age 65+households in the U.S. will increase by nearly 11 million, whilegrowth in the number of households across all other age groupswill be less than 2 million. It also found that 64 percent of retireesare likely to move at least once during retirement, with 37 percenthaving already moved and 27 percent anticipating doing so. Theso-called silent generation – those 69 or older – are also predictedto account for more growth in housing than all other generationscombined.“How and where our nation’s aging population chooses to live

will have widespread implications on the way homes are designed,the resources people will need, and how communities and busi-nesses nationwide should prepare,” said Andy Sieg, head of GlobalWealth and Retirement Solutions for Bank of America/MerrillLynch. “For most retirees, their home is more than just a financialconsideration – it’s a place where family and community come to-gether, and can represent treasured memories or independence.”The survey was based on a nationally representative poll of

more than 3,600 respondents and discovered many other interest-

ing trends about this forgotten generation. It noted that, as peopleenter their late 50s and 60s, they approach and begin to cross whatthis study reveals as the “Freedom Threshold,” with retirement rep-resenting a gateway to unprecedented freedom to choose where tolive. By age 61, the majority of people feel free to choose wherethey most want to live and retirees are more than twice as likelyto say they are free to choose where they want to live when com-pared to pre-retirees (67 percent vs. 30 percent). Four out of five(81 percent) Americans age 65+ are homeowners and, amongthem, 72 percent have fully paid off their mortgage.With new freedom to decide where they want to live, many re-

tirees move to a different home, community or part of the country– with an estimated 4.2 million retirees moving into new homeslast year alone. Retirees’ top motivations for moving include beingcloser to family (29 percent), reducing home expenses (26 percent)and changes in health (17 percent) or marital status (12 percent). Many people assume they’ll downsize once retired. However,

the study found that half (49 percent) of retirees didn’t downsizein their last move – and, in fact, 30 percent moved into largerhomes.Retirees’ top reasons for upsizing were to have a home large

and comfortable enough for family members to visit (33 percent)or even live with them (20 percent). According to this study, oneout of six retirees (16 percent) has a “boomerang” child who hasmoved back in with them. Retirees who did downsize (51 percent)cite greater freedom from the financial (64 percent) and mainte-nance (44 percent) burdens of a larger home among their top rea-sons.Among retirees who have not and do not plan to move during

retirement, the top reasons include their deep emotional connec-tion with their home (54 percent), close proximity to family (48percent) and friends (31 percent), wanting to remain independent(44 percent), or because they simply can’t afford to move (28 per-cent). Prior to age 55, more homeowners say the financial valueof their home outweighs its emotional value.Given this information, it might well be time for real estate de-

velopers, marketers and anyone else looking to tap into where theeconomic engine is going to be over the next few years to look nofurther than this group that has been a robust part of the economyfor many decades already.(Terry Ross, the broker-owner of TR Properties, will answer any

questions about today’s real estate market. E-mail questions to Re-alty Views at [email protected] or call 949/457-4922.)

By Terry

ross

Realty Views

Thinking of An

encore . . . it’s A

Winning Proposition

For nonprofits

There’s one word thatcan stir the hearts and

minds of leaders no matterwhether their interests areprivate enterprise, publicentities or nonprofit or-ganizations. The word is“capital.”For most nonprofit or-

ganizations, grants form the largest andmost recognizable form of working capitalto grow programs, bridge strategies fromthe past to the future, or seed a new ideathat has all the potential for changing theworld. Many nonprofits, however, aresobered by the reality that the capital dol-lars are a short-term funding source andmust be compensated for through earnedincome or charitable contributions.The most important source of capital is

the one most often overlooked: HumanCapital. Virtually every great nonprofitwas started by a group of people who

said, “Yes We Can” long before a presi-dential candidate made those three wordsinto a trademarked slogan. People cametogether leveraging their time, talents and,in most cases, meager means to see thatsomething that adds quality of life to acommunity gets done.As 75 million baby boomers have been

contemplating their futures, it’s clear thatthe idea of an “encore performance” hasbecome an attractive, personally fulfill-ing and potentially lucrative proposition.For the last10 years, an estimated ninemillion Boomers have chosen alterna-tives to traditional retirement through anencore professional experience aimed atoffering their expertise developed over alifetime and using it to change the worldthrough service to the nonprofit and so-cial enterprise sectors.According to Marci Alboher, author of

The Encore Career Handbook, another 31million are interested in taking the leap.And, today, there is what is called “the en-core movement.” A movement that, ac-cording to Forbes, has redefinedretirement and financial planning.Unfortunately, the nonprofit sector has

been slow to seize forms of capital that ex-perienced leadership, technical expertise,and political savvy in complicated organi-zations can offer. A bank of dollars and a

bank of other resources are hard to recon-cile when payroll is in jeopardy.In our community, there are at least

two sources of encore talent ripe for theharvesting and each offers very uniqueskills and talents to nonprofit organiza-tions if the nonprofit’s leadership isready to demonstrate the power of lever-aging monetary and human resources tobuild their cause.The first is Social Venture Partners and

their Encore Fellows Program. An EncoreFellow can be placed in a nonprofit organ-ization for a stipend of $25,000 to perform1,000 hours of a defined scope of work ei-ther full-time over a six-month period orpart-time for an entire year. Any nonprofitwould find it difficult to find expert con-sultation coupled with a hands-on deckpresence at that price.This year, the board chair of Social Ven-

ture Partners Los Angeles is StephenGroner, founder and president of LongBeach-based S. Groner and Associates, anational Who’s Who among social market-ing firms that designs issues-oriented com-munication strategies.The second is Executive Service Corps

of Southern California which providestraining and support to encore profession-als seeking a volunteer opportunity as con-sultants, trainers and coaches to nonprofitorganizations. Last year alone, encore vol-unteers provided 13,000 hours of profes-sional services to 141 nonprofitorganizations in 155 capacity-building

projects under the well-established andaward-winning ESC brand.Additionally, ESC provides its trained

volunteer consultants as personal coachesto participants in ESC’s highly-acclaimedDeveloping Development Program and Ex-ecutive Directors Leadership Institute.In order for these rich sources of human

capital to work their magic, however, a shiftmust take place in conventional thinking to-wards retirement and retirees. It’s no longerour father’s definition. The encore move-ment is rightfully forcing nonprofit leadersto get with it to eliminate the roadblocks thatstand in the way of unleashing generationaldiversity to advance their organizations.If capital is what’s needed to further

ground a nonprofit in its service to others,reframing what that means might reframethe perception of just how much is readilyavailable.For additional information about how

these two organizations can benefit yournonprofit or expand your own encores op-tions, Social Venture Partners can bereached at 310/305-1761 or www.social-venturepartners.org/los-angeles; and Ex-ecutive Service Corps of SouthernCalifornia can be found at www.escsc.orgor 213/613-9103.(Jeffrey R. Wilcox, CFRE, is president

and chief executive officer of The ThirdSector Company, Inc. Join in on the con-versation about this article at the LongBeach Business Journal website, www.lb-businessjournal.com)

Third Sector Report

By jeFFrey

Wilcox

EDITOR & PUBLISHERGeorge Economides

SALES & MARKETING EXECUTIVEHeather Dann

OFFICE ASSISTANTLarry Duncan

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

SENIOR WRITER

Samantha Mehlinger STAFF WRITER

Sean BelkCONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Michael Gougis, Dave WielengaPHOTOJOURNALIST

Evan KellyCOPY EDITORPat Flynn

The Long Beach Business Journal is a publication ofSouth Coast Publishing, Inc., incorporated in the Stateof California in July 1985. It is published every otherTuesday (except between Christmas and mid-January)– 25 copies annually. The Business Journal premieredMarch 1987 as the Long Beach Airport Business Jour-nal. Reproduction in whole or in part without writtenpermission is strictly prohibited unless otherwisestated. Opinions expressed by perspective writers andguest columnists are their views and not necessarilythose of the Business Journal. Press releases shouldbe sent to the address shown below.

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Vol. XXVIII No. 6March 31-April 13, 2015

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ART MATTERSBrought To You By The Arts Council For Long Beach

Long Beach Business Journal 30March 31-April 13, 2015

Gallery Corner What do augmented reality and the Long Beach Museum of Art have in common?

Quite a lot these days due to LBMA’s integration of the Aurasma app throughout the

museum’s galleries. Aurasma, a marketing tool that allows users to access additional

content like videos, photo opportunities, and behind the scenes information, comes

to life after a user focuses their smart device on a predetermined image. LBMA, the

first museum in the country to use this technology, has integrated Aurasma as part of

the museum experience to enhance visitors’ interaction with the exhibitions. Once a

visitor downloads the free application and focuses their smart device onto set pieces

of artwork, the Aurasma appears on the screen and offers a behind-the-scenes tour

with insight from the curator. Jason Stabile, Technology and Education Coordinator at

LBMA, describes the surprise and enjoyment that museum visitors experience when

seeing pieces of work transform into an interactive tour for the first time. After the

successful inclusion of the Aurasma technology into previous exhibits, LBMA is a true

early adapter of this technol-

ogy in the museum world and

is in contact with the Aurasma

team to find additional ways to

augment and enrich museum

experiences. To check out the

Aurasma experience, visit the

Long Beach Museum of Art

Thursday through Sunday and

ask one of the Museum Experi-

ence Facilitators for help down-

loading the free application.

Hours and admission informa-

tion for the museum can be

found at www.lbma.org.

� By VICTORIA BRYAN

Executive Director

From the world’s longest run-

ning musical, Les Misérables, at

Musical Theatre West to Jes-

sica Rath’s multisensory exploration of

bumblebees’ experience at the Uni-

versity Arts Museum to the powerful

drama Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad

Zoo at the Long Beach Playhouse Stu-

dio Theatre, plus many other innova-

tive and intriguing arts events, Long

Beach audiences have a lot of choices

during April and May. These great op-

tions come with added rewards of ex-

panded dining experiences for

attendees of two or more participating

events, thanks to the ARTS+ Card.

ARTS+ encourages patrons to explore

arts organizations beyond those that

they already know well. Carpenter Per-

forming Arts Center, International City

Theatre, Long Beach Museum of Art,

Long Beach Opera, Long Beach Play-

house, Long Beach Symphony, Museum

of Latin American Art, Musical Theatre

West, and University Art Museum are

all participating in this first collaborative

marketing venture, coordinated by the

Arts Council for Long Beach.

“The idea that so many venerated

arts institutions are willing and enthu-

siastic about collaborative efforts is

not only invigorating, but hopeful. It is

hopeful for our future arts landscape

and hopeful for the arts enthusiast,”

remarked Andrew Vondersmitt, Exec-

utive and Producing Artistic Director,

Long Beach Playhouse. “If even one

person uses the ARTS+ Card to visit a

new-to-them arts establishment, we

all win in every sense of the word.”

As research shows in the recent

Americans for the Arts Report (Arts

and Economic Prosperity IV), atten-

dance at arts events generates income

for local businesses - restaurants, park-

ing garages, hotels, and retail stores.

An average arts attendee spends

$24.60 per event, not including the

cost of admission. Studies such as

these increase the incentive for busi-

ness and arts to collaborate; the ARTS+

card would not be possible without

business partners’ support, including

restaurants: Utopia, Thai District, La

Strada, and Berlin Bistro/Portfolio Cof-

fee House, as well as the Queen Mary

and The Aquarium of the Pacific.

“Dinner and a show go hand-in-

hand,” said Kamran Assadi, one of the

owners of Utopia, situated in Long

Beach’s East Village. “We’re delighted

to explore the possibilities and bene-

fits of working together with Long

Beach’s major arts organizations. The

more synergy we can create between

arts and business, the better it is for

everyone - especially the customer.”

Information for ARTS+ is available

using the free app Aurasma, found

using the QR code. Download the app,

search for the “Arts Council for Long

Beach” channel, hit “Follow.” Next,

snap the ARTS+

logo for links to all

event details. �

CollaborationMatters

Women Arts Leaders� By SARAH BENNETT

Arts Council for Long Beach Contributor

The lively performances and whimsical exhibitions presented by Long Beach's many

arts organizations might feel light years away from the pencil-pushing ” There are

many industries in which woman struggle for representation, but thankfully for Long

Beach, the arts are not one of them. Many of our city's top visual, performing and commu-

nity arts organizations are run by women, a tradition that can be traced back decades, when

Long Beach's reputation as an early-adopting, open-minded arts community attracted na-

tional female talent.

In the '90s, the Long Beach Symphony was one of the first regional orchestras to have

women as both its executive director and music directors, the latter being internationally

renowned East Coast conductor JoAnn Falletta, who started with the Symphony in 1990.

For the last two years, executive director Kelly Ruggirello has followed in those footsteps,

leading the 80-year-old orchestra and re-invigorating its various classical, pops and educa-

tional programs.

“Symphony leadership stems from a long, hierarchical, primarily

male-dominated tradition,” Ruggirello says. “However California and

more specifically, Long Beach, has been at the forefront of diversity

in leadership.”

Though Ruggirello moved to Long Beach 27 years ago, the Symphony

is her first position within the city. Previously, she held top jobs in Orange

County – both at the Pacific Chorale and the Orange County High School

of the Arts – all the while organizing concert series at her church and

volunteering as executive director of the Long Beach Mozart Festival.

“When the position of executive director became available [at the

Long Beach Symphony], I knew it was time to come home and apply

all that I have learned for the Long Beach Symphony,” she says. “To

me, it’s a calling.”

Long Beach's resident professional theatre company is also a

female-led organization. caryn desai (who prefers the all-lower-

case spelling of her name) has been with the International City

Theatre since its founding in 1985, working as general manager

until 2011 when the board appointed her as the new artistic di-

rector and producer.

“It is good for every industry in every country to encourage lead-

ership from many segments of society -- otherwise we have a limited

view of things,” desai says, noting that most major cities today are

not lacking in female arts leaders. “Everyone who studies, prepares,

is capable, and works hard deserves an opportunity.”

Desai is originally from New Jersey, but has an MFA in directing

from the University of California, Irvine and has been professionally

directing stage plays for the last 25 years. With awards from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Cir-

cle, the NAACP, L.A. Weekly and more, desai produces ICT's five main stage productions, which

this year includes Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's Abigail/1702 and the L.A. premiere of Sondheim

on Sondheim.

“We have a very adventurous intelligent audience. We support new works and new writers

who speak to the issues and concerns of our society,” desai says.

Across town, at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center, executive

director Michele Roberge runs a multi-faceted organization that

serves not only the residents of Long Beach, but also the students

at Cal State Long Beach, on whose campus the Carpenter is located.

Since 2008, Roberge has balanced the various needs of her pa-

trons by creating engaging programs, like the two-year-old Arts for

Life initiative, which goes outside the traditional theatre space to

connect performing arts to the community, the classroom and the

CSULB campus through free performances and activities.

“As I often say to our staff, what we do here is a luxury: no one

needs to attend a jazz concert or a dance performance, or to see

a film,” Roberge says. “We don’t fulfill physical needs, but we do

enrich lives. I’m honored that we get to do that each day through our performances and

educational activities.”

It's not hard to find many other women leading top organizations and furthering the arts

in Long Beach. Kimberly Hocking co-founded and directs Greenly Art Space in Signal Hill. Niko

Galvez is the CEO of ArtExchange, or ArtX, in downtown. Karen Reside helped establish the

Cultural Alliance of Long Beach, a group that helps area artists and operates a community art

center on Pine Avenue. Krista Leaders and Tokotah Ashcraft work with the Bixby Knolls Busi-

ness Improvement Association to organize the neighborhood's famous First Fridays art walk.

And Arts and Services for the Disabled founder and CEO Helen Dolas turned her passion for

music therapy into a one-of-a-kind nonprofit that brings creative arts therapies to individuals

with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“I don’t think it’s about male vs. female,” says the Carpenter's Roberge. “I think it’s more

about open-mindedness and eagerness to think outside the box, to embrace and try new

ways of doing things, reaching new audiences without sacrificing traditional audiences.” �

Visitors use the Aurasma app to enhance the viewingexperience for LBMA’s current exhibition.

Kelly Ruggirello

caryn desai

Michele Roberge


Every organiza-tion is undergoingchange all thetime. Even if wedon’t recognize it,we are impactedpositively or nega-tively. GREAT or-ganizations knowhow to initiate andreact to changeeffectively. What’sthe framework?It’s a high level ofawareness andcommitment to

ongoing capacity building activities.Capacity building is a process de-

signed to improve the manage-ment/business practices of anorganization. Capacity does not nec-essarily equate to bigger, it meansbetter. It gives strength, purpose, in-tegrity, and optimism to all thestakeholders championing for thelongevity and health of each organi-zation that is an integral part of ourvibrant communities.

Capacity building has been sup-ported by funders (government, foun-dations, corporations, individuals) formany years and interest in this area isgrowing. However, many of the funda-mental challenges remain the same.Most nonprofits still do not pay enoughattention to management/infrastruc-ture concerns. Many funders still be-lieve that funding core organizationalinfrastructure diverts money fromthose who directly benefit from pro-gram services. In addition, a funder-driven capacity building activity maynot be what the organization wants norneeds at this point in time (importanceof understanding different stages). Ca-pacity building also takes time, so it isimportant to support and honor thecorrect “dosage” of activity so thatgroups are not negatively impacted.

Where we have matured is frommostly remedial-based interventions

to systems change approaches, skillstransference, and continuous learn-ing. This has led to better self-de-signed, self-paced capacity buildingexperiences. Importantly, a core ofthe work became more people-cen-tered and relationship oriented. Oftentimes due to the eagerness to impactcommunities, organizations do notfocus internally. It is not enough to becommitted to a mission – processes,systems and people matter.

Within its overall mission of sup-porting organizations serving under-served children and youth the DwightStuart Youth Fund (a private familyfoundation) has elected to support aset of activities aimed at strengthen-ing youth-serving nonprofits in LosAngeles County. The Fund’s Capacity-

Building Initiative is intended (1) toenable the Fund to have a more directand measurable impact, and (2) tohelp its grantees respond to the in-creasingly intense cycles of changefacing nonprofits.

In addition, to supporting direct ca-pacity building activities identified byeach individual grantee, The DwightStuart Youth Fund partners with ca-pacity-building providers (such as theLong Beach Nonprofit Partnership,Cause Communications, Taproot),participates in several funders collab-oratives (LA Partnership for EarlyChildhood Investments, Arts for All,Alchemy Plus), and invests in place-based initiatives (South LA Child Wel-fare Initiative and HollywoodHomeless Youth Partnership). Funda-mentally, we believe the best out-comes are arrived when peerlearning, one-on-one coaching, andpartnerships are part of the endeavor.

While there can be power dynamics

at play for funder supported capacitybuilding efforts, supporting improvedcapacities/operations is the flexibilityneeded and the very purpose for whichmany foundations were created. “Walkthe Talk” by providing resources, refer-rals, and joining in funding partner-ships to respond to emerging needsand changing environments.

All change is ultimately a humanenterprise thus individual develop-ment, flexibility, and support (whenmistakes and setbacks eventuallyhappen) are strategies that make adifference. What we hope and dreamfor our communities are manifestedby the opportunities and the innova-

tive practices created.

THE NONPROFIT PAGECurated By The Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership

The area’s regional capacity builder, serving local organizations to strengthenand grow through leadership, education and collaboration. Offering:

Professional Development & TrainingNetworking & Collaboration

Custom Training & Consulting ServicesInformation Resources

To learn more, visit us at www.lbnp.org.4900 East Conant St., Building O-2, Suite 225, Long Beach, CA 90808

562.888-6530

Capacity Corner: Upcoming Calendar of EventsFrom the Nonprofit PartnershipABC’s of High Functioning Boards, April 15, 2015, 2-5 PMSuccessful nonprofits have boards that share a commitment to the organization's mission andknow how to fulfill their roles and responsibilities. This program will deepen your organization’sunderstanding of the role of board members in your organization’s success and to provide atoolkit for you to use in developing a committed, mission driven board of directors.Grantwriting Certificate Program, April 15, 22, & 29, 2015, 9:30-4 PMThis three-day certificate program will expand your knowledge and develop the skills needed toprepare a winning grant proposal. Filled with “how-to” instruction, proposal samples, and exercises,you can improve your skills at all levels. It is offered at the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce.

Introduction to Program Evaluation, April 21, 2015, 9 AM-4 PM This program is designed to demystify evaluation, answer those burning questions, and pro-vide tips and tools to help your organization get started on evaluation including: understand-ing the concept of evaluation, preparing for evaluation, and conducting a quality evaluation.For all LBNP workshops visit: lbnp.org.From our PartnersHow to Start a Nonprofit in California, April 2, 2015, Noon, webinarThinking about starting a nonprofit? California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits) offersa jam-packed, fast paced webinar designed to help you with step-by-step legal instructionsand answer frequently asked questions. For more info, visit: calnonprofits.org.

How to Empower Staff to be the Voice of the Org through Social MediaApril 15, 2015, 11 AM, webinar You will learn to use the blurring lines between personal and professional brands to marketyour nonprofit, and how to train staff through social media guidelines and internal communi-cations tools. For more info, visit: nten.org.

What We Hope and Dream – Building Organizational Capacity

Wendy Chang,Director

Dwight Stuart Youth Fund

Capacity does not

necessarily equate to

bigger, it means better.

What Grantmakers are Funding

in the Area of Capacity BuildingGrantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) defines capacity building as funding

and technical assistance to help nonprofits increase specific capacities to deliver

stronger programs, take risks, build connections, innovate and iterate.

All foundations have areas which they philosophically & financially support.They are passionate about an issue that they want their dollars to address.Some foundations support organizations working in the arts, others supportthe eradication of deadly diseases in third world countries while others ad-dress violence against women. The foundations which offer resources for ca-pacity building are looking to leverage their dollars to ensure that theorganizations they support are strong partners in creating change.

A 2014 survey from Grantmakers for Effective Organizations found thefollowing:

• 77% of staffed US foundations provide capacity building support tograntees

• 91% of these foundations support governance or leadership development• 81% support developing financial capacity & infrastructure• 77% support the use of evaluation for organizational learning and

improvement“We recognize that the only way we can achieve our mission and vision is if

we have strong grantee partners. Because the work we are collectively doingmay take many years, and our grantees need to be resilient and effective overtime, long-term capacity investments are a key part of our outcome map.”

– Paul Beaudet, Associate Director, Wilburforce Foundation

Long Beach Business Journal 31March 31-April 13, 2015

Capacity Building in Action

Moving Toward Sustainability (MTS), piloted by the Dwight Stuart YouthFund and implemented by the LBNP, is a specially designed sustainability pro-gram that allows nonprofit leaders to engage in a facilitated, customized,step-by-step course of organizational assessment and the development of astrategy for achieving greater financial strength and sustainability. MTS allowsnonprofit organizations the opportunity to participate in a robust sustainabilityplanning process which engages board of directors and key staff to allow fora greater likelihood of success.

To ensure that these carefully thought out plans aren’t forgotten, the im-plementation phase takes the plan “off the shelf” and moves the organizationsfrom planning into action. With the funder offering matching support to im-plement a portion of the plan, organizations were able to begin to work to-wards sustainability immediately.

Over the course of nine months, MTS helps organizations focus and takeaction in seven key areas of sustainability: Leadership, Fund Development,Financial Management, Programs and Services, Strategic Planning and Eval-uation, Constituency Development, and Marketing and Communications. Italso provides the opportunity to work with colleagues from other organizationsin a peer learning environment which fosters collaboration, more expansive

thinking, and strengthens collaborative relationships.


Long Beach Business Journal, March 31-April 13

Documents

Transcript of Long Beach Business Journal, March 31-April 13