august 19-september 1, 2014 section a

August 19-September 1, 2014 lbbusinessjournal.com

HealthWiseConcussionsAnd ACL Injuries– A Duo That IsOn The Rise InYouth Sports See 8

The College

Of Business

Administration

At CSULB

Understanding Root

Causes Of Student

Learning Failure

See Page 4

� By BRANDON FERGUSON

Staff Writer

A group of panelists fromthe Urban Land Institute

(ULI) gathered August 1 at theOcean Theater at the Aquariumof the Pacific to present prelimi-nary recommendations forimproved pedestrian access in thedowntown waterfront area.Referred to as the TechnicalAssistance Panel (TAP), thegroup of seven consultants andone chairman represented the

hotel, urban planning, real estateand transportation industries. The TAP convened at the

request of the Downtown LongBeach Associates (DLBA),which paid roughly $25,000 forthe ULI study. DLBA is a non-profit group that oversees thedowntown business improve-ment district (BID) and isfunded by an assessment fee fordowntown area business andproperty owners. The groupseeks to improve the economichealth of the area. Sean Warner, DLBA’s place-

making manager, said visitors andresidents of Long Beach experi-ence a general disconnectbetween the downtown area andthe ocean. “Either people godown to the waterfront area and

Civic CenterCity Council To Hold StudySession On September 16


Staff Writer

T he Long Beach CityCouncil is holding a study

session on September 16 to dis-cuss two proposals for a new civiccenter complex, according to CityManager Patrick West. “We’ll talk about rehabilitation,

we’ll talk about where this allstarted, we’ll talk about the twodevelopers we have,” West said.Last month, the Business

Journal reported that city staffwas expected to give a report onthe two proposals, one by PlenaryEdmore Civic Partners and theother by CivicCore Alliance, but

(Please Continue To Page 6)

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Legislation‘Job Killer’ BillsAdvance ToSenate Floor

� By SAMANTHA MEHLINGER

Senior Writer

O n August 14, the CaliforniaSenate Appropriations

Committee passed five billslabeled “job killers” by theCalifornia Chamber of Commerceto the Senate floor, where all butone (Assembly Bill 1897) awaitedreview by the entire Senate onAugust 18, after the BusinessJournal went to press.

Mandated Sick LeaveOpposed by the Long Beach

Area Chamber of Commerce,many other California city cham-bers and CalChamber, AssemblyBill (AB) 1522 passed the SenateAppropriations Committee unani-mously. Authored byAssemblymember LorenaGonzalez of San Diego, the billwould require employers to givesick days accrued “at a rate of noless than one hour for every 30


Coming In The September 2 Issue:Q&A With Mayor Robert Garcia

And The Business Journal’s

Annual, In-depth Review Of

City Salaries – “$100,000 Club”

This empty space at the southeast corner of Pine Avenue and Ocean Boulevardmay be converted into a public gathering area, according to Sean Warner,pictured, placemaking manager for the Downtown Long Beach Associates.(Photograph by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville)

DowntownUrban Land Institute RecommendationsFor Improved Access To Waterfront

Health Care Quarterly


Staff Writer

A ccording to Long BeachFire Chief Michael

DuRee, a two-year pilot programknown as Rapid MedicDeployment (RMD) appears to beworking well despite continuedcriticism from the FirefightersLocal 372. The program, which reconfig-

ured how the city delivers para-medic services, was implementedon July 10, following a two-yearreview by the Los AngelesCounty Emergency MedicalServices Commission and theLong Beach City Council. Based on department dispatch

data for 5,000 calls, DuRee toldthe Business Journal that sincethe program’s launch, the time ittakes for a paramedic to arrive onan emergency scene dropped on

average by more than a minuteand a half. Between July 10 andAugust 6 of this year the averageparamedic response time was 6minutes and 12 seconds, while in2013, the average response was 7minutes and 57 seconds, DuReesaid.When asked how the data was

calculated, DuRee said, “It’s CAD[Computer Aided Dispatch] data.We’re not making it up.”“The medical data shows the

faster you can deliver the highestlevel of medical care to the scene

of somebody having a medicalproblem, the greater chance for asuccessful outcome,” DuReeexplained.Prior to implementing the

RMD model, all eight of the city’sparamedic rescue ambulanceswere staffed with two firefighterparamedics. Meanwhile, nine ofthe city’s 17 engines had one fire-fighter paramedic. Under the newmodel, one firefighter paramedicfrom each ambulance has sincebeen placed on an engine, staffing

ParamedicsFire Chief Mike DuRee On RMD Program: ‘ParamedicResponse Times Are Faster,’ But Union Still Has Issues


Women In Business Profiles

These Long Beach women entrepreneurs include an attorney, retailstore owner, interior designer and travel company owner. Also, arti-cles about bank programs targeting women entrepreneurs and resultsof a recent study about women business owners.

See stories on Pages 14-17

• Organ Transplants• The ACA And Emergency Rooms• Improvements To Pediatric Services

See Section B

1_LBBJ_August19_SectionA_LBBJ MASTER LAYOUT 8/18/14 9:33 AM Page 1

INSIDE THIS ISSUE2 Long Beach Business Journal August 19-September 1, 2014

3 Newswatch3-Next Phase Of Alamitos Bay Project3-Long Beach City Hall News In Brief4-Airport Director Search Underway4-Rancho Los Cerritos Opens New California Native Garden6-Long Beach Budget Discussions Continue8-BNSF Lawsuit Update10-Federal Reserve Survey Finds Many Americans Struggling12-International Trade News In Brief13-People In The News

14 Women In Business14-U.S. Chamber Study: Female Entrepreneurs Optimistic14-Women Attract The Attention Financial Institutions14-Women In Business Profile: Denise Kuper16-Women In Business Profile: Christina Lincicum16-Women In Business Profile: Alisa Moffett17-Women In Business Profile: Janet Moore

18 PerspectiveRealty Views REO Volume Increasing By Terry RossEffective Leadership Lead Change. Manage Transitions. By Mick UklejaHealthWise Concussions And ACL Injuries – A Duo ThatIs On The Rise In Youth Sports By Dr. Kenneth HuhTrade And Transportation Pursuing IntelligentTransportation Systems By Tom O’Brien and Steve LantzEarthTalk Antarctica’s Melting And Its Impact OnSouthern California By Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss

Section BHealth Care Quarterly2-B-With Long Organ Transplant Wait Times Statewide,Organizations Seek To Boost Donations5-B-After Affordable Care Act Implementation, LocalHospital Reps Reflect On Emergency Room Impacts7-B-Local Pediatric Patients Benefit From Better Access To,And Quality Care From, Advanced Technologies

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New Business Journal Employee . . . CoriLambert, a Long Beach resident for the past 14years, has joined the Business Journal as a salesand marketing assistant. She reports to HeatherDann, sales and marketing executive.Long Beach Corporate Presence

A Look At The City’s Growing Corporate LandscapeBe Part Of This Special Report By PlacingAn Advertisement About Your Company

1/4 Page (5 x 6-7/8) . . . $775Half Page (10 x 6-7/8) . . . $1,400Full Page (10 x 14) . . . $2,500

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Corporate Presence Includes A Q&A With Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia

Reserve Your Space By Calling Heather at 562/988-1222Publication Date: September 2 • Space Reservation: August 27

1_LBBJ_August19_SectionA_LBBJ MASTER LAYOUT 8/17/14 3:34 PM

NEWSWATCHAugust 19-September 1, 2014 Long Beach Business Journal 3


Staff Writer

Tonight (August 19), the city councilconsiders an agenda item amending a con-tract with Bellingham Marine IndustriesInc. to embark on Phase 5 of the AlamitosBay Marina project. If approved, the itemauthorizes an increase of $9,575,610 for arevised amount not to exceed $51,006,617. Work was first authorized on the marina,

originally built in the 1950s and 1960s, inFebruary of 2010. The multi-phase plancalls for a total rebuild of seven of themarina’s eight basins. Thus far, work hasbeen finished on the project’s first threephases, which include Basins 1, 4 and 5. Phase 5 was approved in April and

involves upgrades to the electrical infra-structure of Basins 2 and 3. According toa city memo, Phase 4 is scheduled forcompletion in October. Phase 5 will include reconstruction of

Docks 11 through 14, which are located inBasin 2. The existing docks are slated to bedemolished and the surrounding areadredged, followed by the construction ofnew concrete docks. The estimated cost forthe phase is $10.9 million.

In March the Business Journal reportedthat the project had experienced delays dueto questions about whether or not there weresufficient funds to continue. During an April15 city council meeting, City ManagerPatrick West explained that $10.9 millionhad been transferred from the Marina Fundto the Tidelands Fund at some point in the1990s. A June ruling by the State LandsCommission, which oversees the TidelandsFund, approved the transfer of $10.9 millionto be used in the Alamitos Bay rebuild. “There’s $10.9 million right now coming

from the Tidelands Fund,” said GeorgeChapjian, director of parks, recreation andmarine. “That’s going to continue this proj-ect, this next phase.” He explained that work would likely begin

in October and last for nine months. AfterPhase 5 is completed, Chapjian explainedthat work on two smaller basins remains.“The city’s looking at financing some

bonds to pay for the remainder of therebuild. Hopefully by that time the bondswill have been sold and it will be a seam-less process,” Chapjian said.A city memo indicates that a $34 million

to $40 million bond issue in 2015, fundedfrom slip fees, as well as a likely additional$15 million in funding from Tidelands, isexpected to be sufficient to cover theremainder of the project. �

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City Council To Consider Next Phase Of Alamitos Bay Project

Long Beach City HallNews In Brief


Staff Writer

Budget Oversight CommitteeMeetings – The City Council BudgetOversight Committee meets August 19,September 2 and September 9 at 4 p.m. inthe council chamber. Chaired by ViceMayor Suja Lowenthal, the public is wel-come to attend. The three-member commit-tee, which includes 4th DistrictCouncilmember Patrick O’Donnell andCouncilmember Mungo, deliberates overfacts, figures and projections associatedwith the FY15 budget. According to thevice mayor, who invited residents to attendvia e-mail, the committee is a “watchdogfor city council, responsible for reviewingthe budget in depth and developing fiscalpolicies for recommendation to the citycouncil.”

FY15 Budget – Tonight (August 19), thecity council holds its third hearing on theproposed FY15 budget. The discussion willfocus on an overview of health and humanservices, public works and the waterdepartment. The city council votes on thefinal budget in mid-September, which goesinto effect on October 1. The followingcouncil districts have scheduled budgetmeetings:August 18: 1st District Councilmember

Lena Gonzalez hosts a budget meeting at 6p.m. at Drake Park, 951 Marina Ave.August 20: Gonzalez hosts a budget

meeting for Spanish speakers at the LongBeach Rescue Mission, 1430 Pacific Ave.August 25: 5th District Councilmember

Stacy Mungo hosts a budget meeting at 6(Please Continue To Page 4)


NEWSWATCH4 Long Beach Business Journal August 19-September 1, 2014

p.m. at Tracy’s Grill, 5511 Spring St.August 26: 6th District Councilmember Dee Andrews hosts

a budget meeting at 6 p.m. at Ernest McBride Park, 1550Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave.Reprographic Services – By a vote of 9-0, the council

awarded a contract to C2 Reprographics of Costa Mesa to pro-vide as-needed blueprinting and reprographic services. Theannual contract is not to exceed $580,000 over a two-yearperiod. The vote also authorizes City Manager West to renewthe contract at his discretion for two additional one-year peri-ods.City Ordinance On Controlled Substances – The council

voted 9-0 to approve a new city ordinance aimed at curbingpublic nuisances associated with the manufacture and sale ofcontrolled substances. The ordinance gives the city attorney’soffice the power to file unlawful detainer actions and evicttenants who sell or manufacture narcotics from rental units.The city attorney’s office has participated in a statewide pilotprogram for 10 years allowing the unlawful detainer actions;however, the program recently sunset. A 2013 study by thecity attorney’s office concluded the Long Beach program wasthe most efficient and intensive use of the pilot programstatewide. A handful of residents took to the podium duringpublic comments to oppose the ordinance saying that it couldviolate state law, which allows authorized individuals to usemedical marijuana. One resident was concerned by the broadlanguage of the ordinance and its definition of the term “con-trolled substance.” “[It] may apply to medical marijuana in theCity of Long Beach. If that’s the case, this action is not incompliance with federal or state law,” he said. Prior to castinghis vote, 8th District Councilmember Al Austin asked CityAttorney Charles Parkin whether or not the intent of the lawwas to prosecute people using medical marijuana. Parkinanswered that was not the law’s intent.EKG Units – The city council voted unanimously to

authorize the city manager to execute a contract with ZollMedical Corporation of Chelmsfor, Massachusetts, for thepurchase of 17, 12-lead electro cardiogram (EKG) units, bat-teries and accessories. The amount of the purchase is not toexceed $557,919 for a one-year period. The council’s vote

authorized the renewal of the contract for three additionalone-year periods at the discretion of the city manager. Theunits are to be used by the city fire department. Park Grant – The council is considering authorizing City

Manager Patrick West to accept $553,050 in housing-relatedparks program grant funds. The money, awarded by theCalifornia Department of Housing and CommunityDevelopment, will be used to replace the playground and pro-vide for the rehabilitation of park amenities at MacArthurPark.Belmont Pool – The council is considering whether or not

to approve an amendment to an existing agreement withPsomas Corporation, which is providing inspection and con-struction management services for the demolition of theBelmont Pool. In early 2013 the pool was deemed unsafe inthe event of a moderate earthquake and was closed perma-nently. In April of this year, the city authorized City Manager

Understanding RootCauses Of StudentLearning Failure

According to theNational Center forEducational Statistics,roughly 360,000 out of 1.6million bachelor’s degreesin the U.S. in 2009-2010were conferred to businessmajors. Business is thelargest group of all majorsand is more than twice thesize of Social Sciences andHistory (170,000 degrees),

three times larger than Health Sciences (130,000degrees), and 3.5 times larger than Education(100,000 degrees). The Business Statistics course experiences a

higher student attrition rate and lower successrate than any other undergraduate businesscourse and is an ongoing concern to faculty,administration, and students themselves. Manysuggestions on how to improve the student suc-cess rate and lower attrition rate are offered.Academic advising, tutoring services, and one-unit supplemental instruction courses are oftenprovided. However, little attention is paid to stu-dent learning from the student perspective,which can help us understand the underlyingreasons of low passing rates. Last semester we introduced a different

approach to analyze the problem, adapted fromGeorge Kelly’s Personal Construct Theory andRepertory Grid technique. We conducted twosurvey/interviews to elicit and evaluate studentlearning and find the root causes of the lowpassing rates. The first survey was conducted onthe first day of class and provided an initialassessment of student’s ability. The second wasgiven after mid-term exams to identify students’difficulties in learning. Students identified a number of elements

which they considered were most problematicto their learning process (e.g. work, social life,etc.). They selected three elements at a time(triad), two of them with a commonality, calledemerging construct, both different from thethird element, called the implicit construct.Each triad was evaluated according to Kelly’stheory where students examined the reasonswhy and how each element was similar or dif-ferent in terms of learning difficulty. Studentsthen rated all constructs of elements on a 1-5scale. This process created a grid, which has

assisted both faculty and students in under-standing the factors affecting their learning.Through this process, students reported theyobtained an initial understanding of why theywere failing and started their own remedy orimprovement for the remaining of the semester.This has proven useful not only in business sta-tistics, but also other business courses. (The College of Business Administration at Cal

State Long Beach is an AACSB accredited busi-ness school that provides undergraduates andMBAs with the knowledge and skills necessary tobe successful in their careers and to propel theeconomic development of our region.) �

By Thang N. Nguyen,Ph.D., Associate

Professor, Departmentof Information Systems

City Hall News In Brief(Continued From Page 3)

Rancho LosCerritos Opens New CaliforniaNative GardenA multi-year, multi-agencyeffort to prepare a CaliforniaNative Garden at the RanchoLos Cerritos Historic Site inBixby Knolls has finally come tofruition. A ribbon cutting cere-mony was held August 13 forthe garden, which, accordingto a Rancho statement,“extends from the newly con-structed visitor’s center to thenorthern perimeter of the prop-erty, and adds more than30,000 square feet of rehabili-tated landscape to the site.Combined with native plant-ings around the visitor centerand along the western perimeter of the property, as wellas the recently rehabilitated arroyo, well over 1.5 con-tiguous acres of land have been planted with Californianatives.” Funding was provided by the Port of LongBeach Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Mitigationgrant. Pictured at the ceremony are, from left: HeatherTomley, the port’s director of environmental planning;William Lorbeer, president of the Rancho Los CerritosFoundation Board of Directors; Linda Forde, principalwith NUVIS Landscape Architecture & Planning; DaleHills, construction manager; Ellen Calomiris, executivedirector of the Rancho; Dennis Aldridge, owner of DMAGreencare Contracting; and Robert Doucette, green-care specialist with DMA. The Rancho’s currentMonterrey-style adobe was built in 1844. The City ofLong Beach acquired Rancho Los Cerritos in 1955 andopened it to the public as a museum. (Photographs bythe Business Journal’s Thomas McConville)

Airport Director Search Underway� By BRANDON FERGUSONStaff Writer

A search is underway to find a new director for the LongBeach Airport (LGB). The previous director, Mario Rodriguez, who served in

the position since 2009, announced his plans to take a jobas the executive director of the Indianapolis AirportAuthority in April. Since May, Deputy City Manager Reginald Harris has

served as interim director. City Manager Patrick West toldthe Business Journal last week that Los Angeles-basedAviation Career Services has been charged with findingRodriguez’s replacement.“They’re initiating a coast-to-coast survey job attraction

to replace Mr. Rodriguez,” West said.West added that he’d like to have someone hired by

November. “We hope someone’s sitting in the chair for theNew Year,” West said.Aviation Career Services assists airports and aviation

businesses with recruitment, leadership development andcareer services. �



West to proceed with the design and bid-ding phase for the proposed demolition ofthe pool. City staff is recommending thatPsomas provide management servicesbased on other work they have conductedwithin the city. Approval of this agendaitem by the council will provide an addi-tional $206,400 to the existing contract fora total not to exceed $831,400. The citycouncil also considers another agenda itemto amend a contract with Job OrderContracting (JOC) contractor ExbonDevelopment to perform the demolition ofthe pool. If approved, the amendmentincreases the contract amount by$2,850,000 to an amount not to exceed$12,850,000. Finally, the city is also con-sidering an amendment to a contract with

Gordian Group for access to their propri-etary software, which is necessary to man-age the JOC program. If approved, the con-tract amount increases by $55,575 for anamount not to exceed $623,075.Police Helicopter Parts – The Long

Beach Financial Management Departmentis recommending the city council award acontract to Rotorcraft Support Inc. of VanNuys for the purchase of parts and serviceto maintain two police department helicop-ters. The amount of the contract is not toexceed $396,270 for a period of two years.If approved, the city manager has theoption of renewing the contract for twoadditional one-year periods. Artesia Boulevard Improvements –An

August 15 press release issued by the city

said work is set to begin on street improve-ments on Artesia Boulevard from ButlerAvenue to the city’s western boundary. Theproject, partly situated within the city ofCompton, includes street resurfacing,replacement of damaged driveways, instal-lation of bus pads and traffic striping. “Theuptown renaissance continues with this sig-nificant project,” said 9th DistrictCouncilmember Rex Richardson. “We’vebeen doing a great deal of work alongAtlantic Avenue and are now turning thecorner and making needed improvementsalong Artesia. Businesses and residentswill both benefit from this investment inour infrastructure.” Businesses are toremain open during construction, which isexpected to be completed in two months.

Motorists are encouraged to use alternateroutes. The project is estimated to cost $1.2million and was financed with PropositionC funds. The City of Compton will pay aprorated portion of $130,000.Storefront Improvements – At its

August 12 meeting, the city council voted8-0 to adopt a plan to improve 14 commer-cial storefronts on Long Beach Boulevardat Anaheim Street. The work is slated to bedone by Corral Construction andDevelopment of Commerce, California,which was awarded a contract in theamount of $394,400 with a contingency of$59,160, bringing the total amount to$453,560. The city is required by the U.S.Department of Housing and Urban




Development (HUD) to expend commu-nity development block grant funds as partof a five-year consolidated plan. The actionplan for FY13-FY14 identified commer-cial corridor revitalization as a primaryfocus. The Long Beach Department ofDevelopment Services (DDS) identifiedthe southeast corner of Long BeachBoulevard and Anaheim Street as one ofthe areas that meets program criteria. Fouroccupied commercial buildings locatedadjacent to the MTA Blue Line AnaheimStreet Station are scheduled to be reno-vated. Participating property owners haveexecuted owner participation agreementsand have provided assurances to the citythat they will maintain the improvements.Prior to voting, Councilmember Gonzalezthanked DDS for its work on the project.“This has been a long time coming and it’sgoing to be a great beautification projectfor the area,” Gonzalez said. Council mem-ber O’Donnell was absent for the vote.

Taser Equipment – By a vote of 8-0, thecouncil authorized City Manager West toexecute contracts with ProForce MarketingInc. of Prescott, Arizona, TASERInternational of Scottsdale, Arizona, andleasing partner Municipal AssetManagement of Golden, Colorado, for thepurchase of Taser equipment. The amountof the contracts is not to exceed $1,500,000for a period of five years. The vote alsoauthorized the city manager to enter into arelated contract with TASER and its leas-ing partner for a total amount not to exceed$1,047,721. According to a police memo,the department’s current Taser equipmentand accessories were purchased in 2004and are in need of replacement.

After School Program – At its July 5meeting the council voted 9-0 to authorizethe city manager to enter into agreementswith the Long Beach Unified SchoolDistrict (LBUSD) for the operation of theAfter School Education and SafetyProgram. The program, which takes placeat eight of the district’s K-8 schools, pro-vides afterschool literacy, tutoring andartistic activities. LBUSD allocated$1,386,192 in grant funding to the city,which is used to provide staffing, supervi-sion and supplies for the program. Thegrant agreement requires a 15 percent “in-kind” match funding totaling $207,929. Aportion of this ($102,902) comes fromcommunity development block grant fund-ing; the remainder ($105,027) comes fromthe department of parks, recreation andmarine’s general fund. �

Long Beach BudgetDiscussions

Continue� By BRANDON FERGUSON

Staff Writer

As the mid-September deadline toapprove the fiscal year 2015 (FY15)budget approaches, the city council contin-ues to hear presentations from variousdepartment heads sharing details of nextyear’s proposed expenditures. Last week, both the city’s police and

fire chiefs gave breakdowns of their pro-posed budgets and discussed officerstaffing levels as well as the fire depart-ment’s controversial Rapid MedicDeployment (RMD) program. On August5, the council heard from library services,code enforcement, and the department ofparks, recreation and marine. The proposed price tag for next year’s

police services is $208,935,992, whichincludes funding for 806 sworn personnel –three more than the previous year. The budget called for $181,500 for heli-

copter fuel and vehicle replacement.Funding from Proposition H is expected toincrease the number of police academyrecruits as well as provide a one-time$400,000 investment to refurbishSchroeder Hall, a former Army reservebase that will serve as the headquarters forthe department’s east division. CityManager Pat West also proposed allotting$2.2 million for police overtime and highpriority needs.Police Chief Jim McDonnell explained

that next year, the department plans torestructure its investigations bureau by trans-ferring juvenile investigators to increase thecapabilities of homicide, burglary, computercrime and vice investigations. During the commenting period, Vice

Mayor Suja Lowenthal asked West how hearrived at the figure of $2.2 million.“That was more empirical data,” West

said. “What has worked in the departmentover the past few years.” Seventh District Councilmember

Roberto Uranga expressed concerns aboutgang activity in his district and wonderedhow the department, which is currentlystaffed with 736 sworn officers (and isexpected to lose officers through retire-ment), will increase its staffing level.“I don’t see you making advancements in

personnel to reach that fully funded 806

City Hall News In Brief(Continued From Page 5)

Deputy City Manager Tom Modica saidmore consideration was required and thereport had been postponed.“Both submittals are incredibly com-

plex,” he said at the time. “Staff is review-ing each administrative and financial com-ponent in detail.”A seismic study conducted in 2006 con-

cluded that a large earthquake could lead tothe collapse of the current 14-story city hallbuilding, which was built in the mid-1970s.In February, then 5th DistrictCouncilmember Gerrie Schipske criticizedcity staff for not issuing a request for qualifi-

cations to see if retrofitting the center wouldbe a viable option. At the time, a staff reportsaid that, even with a retrofit, the buildingcould become uninhabitable in the event of amedium- to large-sized earthquake. On September 23, the two developers are

expected to give presentations to the citycouncil on their individual proposals. “They’ll have their models that will be

available as well,” West said.Before a final vote on the project, there

will also be time for public comment on thematter, West explained.“We want to make sure that when we

take this to the council and the community,all our ducks are in a row,” he said. �

Civic Center Proposal(Continued From Page 5)

(Please Continue To Next Page)

1_LBBJ_August19_SectionA_LBBJ MASTER LAYOUT 8/18/14 9:34 AM


officers unless you hold two academies.What’s the plan?” Uranga asked.While McDonnell responded that the

department is moving forward with theselection process for its third academy inthree years, he offered an open-endedanswer to the councilmember’s question. “Hopefully the city gets healthier eco-

nomically,” he said, adding that he wouldlike to grow the department.The city’s fire department proposed

spending $97,542,076, which would fund388 sworn positions as well as 27 life-guards. Seventy percent of the budgetwould come from the general fund. Calling for an additional nine sworn per-

sonnel to operate two new fireboats,expected to be put into service next year,the budget also proposed the transfer of$2.3 million in Ground EmergencyMedical Transportation (GEMT) funds toreplace four fire engines. An increase inProp H funding was suggested to cover the$175,000 cost of extending the fire acad-emy by two weeks, as well as $400,000 forone-time equipment replacement.During public comments, several coun-

cilmembers asked about the status of thetwo-year pilot program known as RapidMedic Deployment, or RMD. Implementedon July 10, the program has reconfiguredhow paramedic services are delivered inthe city (see story on Page 1). Based on early data taken from the

department’s dispatch records, Chief MikeDuRee said the program is working welland paramedic response times are down.Eighth District Councilmember Al

Austin, a vocal critic of the program, said hewas glad to hear the data was positive so far.“I think it’s very risky to experiment

with a city this size, but I’m glad to hearfrom early reports that it’s working out,”Austin said.Third District Councilmember Suzie Price

wanted to know whether there is a backupplan if future data shows the program isn’tworking well and RMD is abandoned.“We would immediately come back and

either revert back to the system we had inplace prior and try to realize the financialefficiencies in a different way, or I’m surewe would come up with a number of alter-natives so as to restore the level of servicethat would have potentially beendegraded,” DuRee said.A week earlier, the city council had

heard presentations from library services,the department of parks, recreation andmarine, as well as code enforcement.Together, the proposed budgets added up to$73,289,688: the lion’s share of thatamount, $54,122,709, was for parks andrecreation. Among the key areas of focus during the

evening’s discussion was a $2.1 millioninvestment to complete construction of thelong-awaited north library, in addition to$2 million to replace what city officialscalled an antiquated irrigation system atHeartwell Park. Parks, Recreation andMarine Director George Chapjianexplained to the council that the largewatering system currently in place requiresworkers to engage in a daily ritual ofinstalling and removing a sprinkler headand watering the more-than-one-mile-longpark one section at a time. The process,Chapjian said, takes a week to complete.

“This investment will allow us to mod-ernize our infrastructure by moving to anelectronically controlled irrigation system,which will allow us to remotely manage thesystem and will significantly reduce stafftime expended,” Chapjian said During the council’s questioning, 4th

District Councilmember Patrick O’Donnelltold Chapjian that he’d like the parksdepartment to reach out to the Long BeachWater Department to help shoulder someof the costs of installing the new system.“There’s a nexus between the water

department and the expenses that would gointo this system. I’d think they’d want toparticipate because this helps them as well.I wouldn’t want this to all fall on the city,”O’Donnell said.Ninth District Councilmember Rex

Richardson asked Chapjian about thefuture of the Be S.A.F.E. program, whichhas offered youth programs and extendedpark hours for the past two summers.According to Chapjian, the funds weren’tavailable in the structural budget to con-tinue the program.Councilmember Austin, one of the pro-

gram’s early supporters, said he’d considerfinding a way to fund the program beforethe final budget is approved.“I certainly would entertain more discus-

sion as we move forward with the citybudget to carve out money to ensure wecan at least continue to do that [program],”Austin said.Vice Mayor Lowenthal mentioned that

she and Councilmember Price havereceived requests from neighborhood lead-

ers to re-establish a citywide park rangerprogram. She asked City Manager West toexamine the potential “loaded costs” ofsuch a program, including recruitment,training, equipment and pension, andreport back to the budget oversight com-mittee, which will hold its first meetingAugust 19.Price also asked Library Services

Director Glenda Williams, to some applausefrom the audience, about the costs associ-ated with opening the city’s libraries onSundays. Williams said she would look intoboth the cost of opening the library addi-tional hours as well as shuffling existinghours to accommodate Sunday operation.The council will continue to hold meet-

ings on next year’s budget into September.The new budget year begins October 1. �

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BNSF Lawsuit:Carson Is Out,State AttorneyGeneral Is In

� By BRANDON FERGUSONStaff Writer

On August 6, a superior court judgeruled that the City of Carson is not eligi-ble to join Long Beach and several otherentities that are suing the City of LosAngeles and Burlington Northern SantaFe Railway Co. (BNSF), over the latter’sproposed Southern CaliforniaInternational Gateway (SCIG) rail yardproject. The judge found that Carson’sineligibility resulted from its failure tofile its petition to join the suit within thetimely statutory period. Last August, the Business Journal

reported that Long Beach, as well asLong Beach Unified School District,South Coast Air Quality ManagementDistrict and the Coalition for a SafeEnvironment had consolidated individuallawsuits against BNSF over concerns thatpollution from the proposed rail yard, tobe built in Wilmington near the TerminalIsland Freeway and adjacent to WestLong Beach schools and neighborhoods. Carson City Manager Nelson

Hernandez told the Business Journal thathis city is concerned with the increasedtraffic, noise and pollution that can stemfrom the proposed rail yard. He saidCarson plans to discuss the issue furtherwith the city’s attorney to decide whetheror not to appeal the judge’s decision.“We’re going to talk to our attorney,

and we’ll probably go into closed sessionand talk about that because it’s litigation.Then we’ll review our legal options atthat time,” Hernandez said, adding, “Justbecause the judge ruled as he did doesn’tchange our concerns.”As Carson mulls over its next move, the

lawsuit’s current participants have agreedto allow the State Attorney General’s(AG) office to join the suit on the side ofthe petitioners. According to Long BeachAssistant City Attorney Michael Mais,unlike Carson, the AG is allowed to jointhe suit late because it operates under dif-ferent procedural rules than otherCalifornia petitioners. “Under procedural rules of the state, the

attorney general has a right to intervene inimportant environmental issues,” Maissaid. “The City of LA and BNSF railroadas well as all the other petitioners saw thewriting on the wall that the AG was goingto be able to come into the case. It wouldhave been very unusual legally and proce-durally to keep the AG out, so the parties,all of them, stipulated to allow the AG tocome into the case.”A case management conference is sched-

uled for September 17. Mais said he expectsa trial date to be set for next spring. �

hours worked” to all employees who workmore than 30 days per year, according tothe legislation. Employers would be ableto limit paid sick days to three per year.Unused sick days would be carried overto the next year, which CalChambercalled a “significant change in existinglaw.” The bill also would allow sick daysto be used to care for family members.In a statement released after the

Assembly Committee on Labor andEmployment approved AB 1522 inMarch, Gonzalez indicated the bill wasintended to take into account the needs ofworking families. “Our economy hasmoved to a place where families cannotrely on a stay-at-home parent in times ofillness. As a state, California must adaptto the reality facing today’s working fam-ilies,” she stated. She also argued passingAB 1522 would be beneficial for employ-ers in that their employees would notattempt to work while ill.A letter of opposition from

CalChamber, cosigned by many otherbusiness organizations, stated not onlywould the bill increase costs for employ-ers but it would also cause the state toincur costs by requiring the CaliforniaDepartment of Labor StandardsEnforcement to “enforce and investigatecomplaints associated with paid sickleave.” In its letter, CalChamber argued,“Given the cumulative costs and existing

protected leaves of absences Californiaemployers are already struggling with,California should refrain from imple-menting new mandates such as AB 1522.Rather, California should incentivizeemployers to offer these additional bene-fits by reducing costs in other areas.”Liens Against Employer’s PropertyAnother CalChamber-labeled job killer

bill on the Senate’s agenda on August 18was Assembly Bill 2416, which wouldenable an employee or any entity “autho-rized by the employee to act on theemployee’s behalf ” to file liens against anemployer’s property, or any property wherethe employee performed work, for allegedwage violations. Under AB 2416, a judge or labor com-

missioner’s ruling determining that theemployer has violated wage laws would beunnecessary for the employee to file a lien,which is one of CalChamber’s points ofcontention with the bill. “Employeesshould not be allowed to interfere with anemployer’s business or property, or some-one else’s real property where work wasperformed . . . without first proving themerit of their allegations,” argued a letterof opposition by CalChamber, cosigned byentities such as the National Federation ofIndependent Businesses. The letter alsostated the bill holds “an innocent thirdparty liable for the alleged, unproven actsof another” by allowing employees to fileliens on third party properties where theyperformed work.

Job Killer Bills Advance(Continued From Page 1)




According to a statement on authorAssemblymember Mark Stone’s website,AB 2416 aims to “provide workers whoare victims of wage theft with an opportu-nity to receive the wages they are owed . .. prior to a business closing.” Long BeachAssemblymember Bonnie Lowenthalcoauthored the bill.Also scheduled for a vote on August 18

was AB 52, which would expand theCalifornia Environmental Quality Act(CEQA), which is legislation requiringagencies seeking approval of develop-ment projects to complete environmentalimpact reports to determine how theirprojects would affect the surroundingenvironment. AB 52 would require theseagencies to consult with Native Americantribes in their development’s region todetermine if their project would impactany tribal cultural resources. The legisla-tion states that any project causing “asubstantial adverse change” to such aresource would be considered to have a“significant effect on the environment”under CEQA.After the bill passed the state Assembly

in July 2013 with a 56-0 vote, authorAssemblymember Mike Gatto released astatement explaining that the bill wouldincrease protections for sacred NativeAmerican sites. “By including tribes inthe decision-making process, we willbuild better relations between culturesand can protect and preserve California’sunique cultural heritage,” he stated.In a letter of opposition cosigned by

entities such as the California BusinessRoundtable and California RetailersAssociation, CalChamber stated it wasnot against protecting sacred tribal placesbut took issue with the bill because itincludes “no definition of what consti-tutes a tribal resource.” In CalChamber’sview, AB 52 would grant tribes “broad,irrefutable authority to determine any-thing is a tribal cultural resource entitledto CEQA protection.”Assembly Bill 2617, another bill

opposed by CalChamber, would prohibitanyone from requiring someone, as a pro-vision of obtaining goods or services, tosign a contract waiving the right to pursuelitigation based upon civil rights viola-tions. Such a contract is typically referredto as an arbitration agreement, meant toprevent employers from being sued. AB2617 would allow such contracts only ifthey were signed voluntarily and in writ-ing, and not as a requirement of enteringinto a contract. “Nobody should be allowed to force

their workers to sign away their legalrights as a condition of employment,” thebill’s author, Assemblymember ShirleyWeber, said in a statement in earlyAugust. The bill had the support of theNational Association for theAdvancement of Colored People, theAmerican Civil Liberties Union andEquality California.CalChamber argued the bill would

interfere with existing legislation includ-ing the Federal Arbitration and CaliforniaArbitration Act, which allow for arbitra-tion agreements and restrict their enforce-ment. “Despite consistent authority fromboth the United States Supreme Courtand California Supreme Court regarding

the inclination to promote arbitration andlimit any statues or common law thatinterfere with arbitration, AB 2617 seeksto do just that,” a CalChamber letterstated. AB 2617 was also scheduled foran August 18 state Senate vote.Also approved by the Senate

Appropriations Committee on August 14but not included on the Senate floor ses-sion agenda for August 18 was AB 1897,which would require businesses “to sharewith a labor contractor all civil legalresponsibility and civil liability for thepayment of wages, the obligation to pro-vide a safe work environment, as speci-fied, and the failure to obtain valid work-ers’ compensation coverage,” accordingto the legislation. Authored by Assemblymember Roger

Hernandez, the bill would make busi-nesses liable for wage and hour viola-tions caused by contractors under theiremploy. Not impacted by the bill aremotion picture payroll services, hiringhalls, nonprofit community organiza-tions and small businesses with fewerthan 25 employees, including contractedemployees.In June, Hernandez stated that busi-

nesses and contractors are often able toavoid responsibility for labor violationsfor contracted employees, and that the billwould help hold those entities account-able to the affected worker.In a recent letter, CalChamber argued

AB 1897 would discourage businessesfrom hiring contractors and their employ-ees. The organization also opposed thebill because it would hold businessesaccountable “for the employment obliga-tions of another employer.”Audio of California State Senate sessions

is available online at www.senate.ca.gov/lis-tentorooms. Information about actions onlegislation is available at www.leginfo.legis-lature.ca.gov. �

Extension OfPre-Affordable CareAct Coverage ForSmall Businesses

California Senate Bill (SB) 1446, legis-lation allowing small businesses to keeptheir pre-Affordable Care Act (ACA)health care coverage through December31, 2015, was signed by Gov. Jerry Brownin July. Only small businesses that renewed their

plans in 2013 are eligible for the extension.According to the California Chamber ofCommerce (CalChamber), the bill allowsthese businesses to take advantage of thefirst year of a federal extension of pre-ACA health care coverage for small busi-nesses, which runs through the fall of 2017.President Barack Obama announced thefederal policy in March. “The extended transitional period will

give small employers more time to prepareto bear the costs associated with plans thatfully comply with the ACA, minimizingpotentially negative impacts this new bur-den could have on continuing economyrecovery,” according to a statement fromCalChamber. �

– Senior Writer Samantha Mehlinger

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kind of stay in that area, or they’ll come tothe downtown core and go to the prome-nade and Pine Avenue restaurants but don’tventure down to the water,” he said.According to Warner, a large city like

Long Beach should increase its oceanfrontconnectivity. “That lack of connection,that’s a big opportunity that we’re missingout on,” he said. “The reason we broughtULI in is [the waterfront] is an importantarea, and it’s a complicated area. But wereally wanted some outside experts tocome in and give us that advice,” heexplained.Los Angeles County Director of

Regional Planning Richard Bruckner,who chaired the TAP panel, explained tothe Business Journal that after severalweeks of discussion between ULI and theDLBA, the TAP team gathered in LongBeach on July 31. The group broke intosmaller teams to interview local businessowners and residents as well as membersof the convention and visitors bureau(CVB). Panelists also spoke with

Councilmember Lena Gonzalez, ViceMayor Suja Lowenthal and Mayor RobertGarcia.Afterward, the group reconvened to dis-

cuss its findings. “We sort of came backtogether and began brainstorming andsorting out all the comments we got,”Bruckner said.The following evening, the TAP team

presented preliminary recommendationsthat focused largely on extending existingbusiness corridors south of OceanBoulevard. “So the east side arts district,bring it all the way down and bring somevibrancy and connectivity for folks wholive in that east portion and provide someopen space and park areas for them,”Bruckner said.Suggestions for Pine Avenue included

examining the retail potential of the con-vention center parking structure, whichfaces Pine near the intersection of Ocean.“There may be an opportunity to intro-duce retail at that frontage along Pine,”Bruckner said, with Warner adding,“Extending the street character of PineAvenue south to Shoreline Drive couldenhance the pedestrian experience andpromote connections between upper andlower Pine Avenue.”Specific actions the panel suggested

could happen soon along Pine included

removing the construction wall at thesoutheast corner of Pine and Ocean, aswell as turning the adjacent parking lotinto a public gathering area.While the presentation said extending

the business corridors could be worked onin the near term, other suggestions, suchas introducing a trolley along Pine Avenuewould take longer to implement. “Theidea of a trolley on Pine is something thattakes a fair amount of capital and a longterm look I think,” Bruckner said.First District Councilmember Gonzales

told the Business Journal that during herconversation with ULI panelists, she dis-cussed some of her constituents’ ideas,such as better ways to attract business tothe area, as well as better signage andrecreational opportunities along thewaterfront.“I’m just really excited that we’re going

to be talking about this,” Gonzalez said.“I think the time is now to start discussingour waterfront and how things are devel-oping there and what the potential is.” The ULI team is expected to release an

in-depth report of its findings to theDLBA. According to Bruckner, the reportshould take about eight weeks to complete.For more information on the TAP study,visit downtownlongbeach.org/downtown-waterfront-study. �

Federal ReserveSurvey Finds ManyAmericans Continue

To Struggle� By BRANDON FERGUSONStaff Writer

A recent report by the Federal Reservesuggests that many Americans aren’t feel-ing a pleasant afterglow in the post-reces-sion recovery. In fact, 34 percent say theyare doing worse, or even much worse, thanthey were before the recession. Issued in July, the Report on the Economic

Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2013sought to capture a “snapshot of the financialand economic well-being of U.S. householdsand the issues they face, as well as to monitortheir recovery from the Great Recession.” The report’s findings came from a survey

conducted on behalf of the Fed’s Divisionof Consumer and Community Affairs byonline research firm GfK. The survey wasgiven to 6,912 people over the age of 18and yielded 4,134 complete responses.Data was collected between September 17,2013, and October 4, 2013. Among the

Sean Warner, placemaking manager with the Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA), standsnear an under-utilized space at the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and Pine Avenue. A recentstudy conducted by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) at the request of the DLBA recommendedextending the downtown business corridors to the waterfront to increase pedestrian access tothe area. Among the ULI’s suggestions, which included putting a trolley on Pine, was that the lotshown in the photograph be turned into a public gathering area in the hope that it wouldincrease foot traffic between north and south Pine Avenue. An artist’s rendering at left of thearea shows the construction wall at the north (Ocean Boulevard) end of the lot removed andretail kiosks in place. The ULI interviewed several area businesses and residents seeking inputon how to proceed with a revitalization of the area. An in-depth report on the ULI’s findings isexpected to be released in several weeks. (Photograph by the Business Journal’s ThomasMcConville and image courtesy of the Urban Land Institute)

Urban Land Institute

Recommendations

For The Waterfront(Continued From Page 1)




questions asked in the survey was howrespondents’ incomes compared to 2008,the height of the economic crisis. The factthat so many respondents continue to strug-gle, noted the report’s summary, “high-lights the uneven nature of the recovery.”While the report concluded that the

majority of the population is makingprogress as the economy recovers, it addedthat challenges remain. Nearly half the respondents said they

had given little to no thought to retirementsavings and many said they plan to con-tinue working into retirement to coverexpenses. Many reported they had noretirement savings at all.“These challenges were exacerbated by

the recession, which resulted in manyrespondents delaying their planned retire-ment,” the report stated.Further complicating matters, as well as

making more vulnerable “a sizeable frac-tion of respondents,” were concerns overthe ever-increasing costs of health care.One-third of the survey’s respondents saidthey had skipped some form of medicaltreatment over concerns of the costs of therecommended procedure.“Not surprisingly,” the summary stated,

“the decision not to seek treatment wasmore common for those without savings,those indicating they were struggling withtheir finances, or those without insurance.”While the report’s findings weren’t all

doom and gloom – more than 60 percent ofthose surveyed said they were “doingokay” or “living comfortably” – 25 percentsaid they were “just getting by” and 13 per-

cent said they were struggling to get by.On the issue of home ownership, the sum-

mary reflected a more positive outlook –nearly 60 percent of those surveyed reportedowning a home, and most expected thevalue of the homes in their neighborhood toincrease in the next 12 months. Kimberly Ritter, an economist with the

Los Angeles Economic DevelopmentCorporation, said there weren’t any big sur-prises in the Fed’s report.“It pretty much corresponds with what

we’ve seen going on in the economy forquite some time now,” Ritter said. “Overall,households appear to be doing better, butthere are some currents running beneaththe surface that are leaving some peoplefeeling uneasy, even if they’re doing okay.”Ritter said that she was particularly inter-

ested in the numbers accounting for lowsavings cushions and a lack of retirementfunds, as well as low-income growth. Shealso pointed to the report’s findings on stu-dent loan debt, which pegged the percent ofrespondents claiming to have debt obliga-tions either for themselves, someone else,or both, at 24 percent.“The fact that there was a fairly signifi-

cant number [of people] who are having tocurtail their spending in other areas in orderto service their student loan debt, that’ssomething we’ve been tracking,” Ritter said.The report concluded that U.S. house-

holds for the most part appear to be stablebut added that there was variation amongrespondents “along many indicators of eco-nomic well-being.”“Five years after the start of the Great

Recession,” the report stated, “A small butsignificant, core of respondents continueto experience economic hardship on mul-tiple dimensions.” �

New Study: EngineeringFirms Bullish On EconomyThe American Council of Engineering

Companies based in Washington, D.C.,reports that 68 percent of engineering com-pany leaders say the current business cli-mate is better than last year at this time, and60.5 percent say their backlogs are largernow compared to last year. The results arepart of the council’s quarterly EngineeringBusiness Index (EBI) released August 13.

According to the council, the EBI resultsrepresent responses from 340 engineeringfirm chairmen, CEOs and presidents.The results also show, “that engineering

firm leaders are more optimistic aboutprospects in private sector markets thanthose in the public sector. At least halfbelieve that opportunities in buildings/com-mercial (53.3 percent), landdevelopment/surveying (54 percent), andindustrial/manufacturing (50 percent) willimprove over the next 12 months.Expectations for major public sector mar-kets were markedly lower. Only 41.5 percentof respondents anticipate improvement inthe transportation sector, and only 40.9 per-cent for the water/wastewater sector.” �



all 17. The vacant paramedic positions onambulances have been filled by less expen-sive emergency medical technicians(EMTs).DuRee said in addition to potentially

saving a projected $1.4 million annually,the program increases paramedic responsetimes because engines typically arrive onscene first.But Rex Pritchard, president of Local

372, said the program is inefficient. “Thechief puts medics on every apparatus, soyes, you’re getting more paramedics on

scene quicker, but you don’t always need aparamedic,” Prichard said. “Our issue withthis program is that it’s just not an efficientuse of taxpayer dollars and resources.”Pritchard also noted that due to high call

volumes, the department recently put twoadditional basic life support (BLS) ambu-lances into service, cutting into the depart-ment’s projected savings. “This wholething came forward to save $1.4 million,and that’s no longer happening,” Pritchardsaid.In response, DuRee explained that the

decision to deploy two more BLS ambu-lances around the downtown area wasbased on high call volumes from peoplewith non-life threatening issues. While headmitted that the additional units would cut

into the program’s projected savings,they’re still less expensive than advancedlife support (ALS) paramedic rescueambulances. “The reality is basic life support ambu-

lances cost me $45,000 a year versus aparamedic rescue ambulance with two fire-fighter paramedics on it [which] is $1.1million a year. While yes that $45,000 iscoming out of the savings, it’s still a veryeffective way to manage the non-emergentpatients,” DuRee said.While he acknowledged that data fluctu-

ations may still occur in the next two yearsof the pilot program, DuRee noted that nomajor anomalies have occurred yet. This issignificant he said, because right now isone of the busiest times of the year for thedepartment. At the moment, he’s happywith the results.“It’s good that we’re getting there fast,

and we’ve been getting there fast for a longtime. But now we’re getting there fast withthe person who can actually make a differ-ence,” he said. �

International TradeNews In Brief

� By SAMANTHA MEHLINGER

Senior Writer

Port Of Long Beach Cargo TrafficIncreases Mostly Due To EmptyContainer Shipments –While total cargocontainer traffic through the Port of LongBeach increased by 3.7 percent in July,imports remained relatively flat, increasingby just 0.9 percent from the same monthlast year. Total imported twenty-foot equiv-alent units (TEUs), the unit of measure-ment of shipping containers, were 583,060in July. Exported container trafficdecreased by 6.2 percent to 124,126 TEUsfrom July of 2013 to the same month thisyear. Shipment of empty containers, sentback overseas for reuse, increased by 19.5

percent to 161,319 TEUs. The port attrib-uted flat import growth to “a surge” of con-tainer traffic in June “when retailers werestocking up for back-to-school shopping.”Overall, cargo traffic increased 2.7 percentin the first seven months of this year com-pared with the same period in 2013.Port Of Los Angeles Cargo Traffic

Remains Flat Year Over Year –Compared with July of 2013, last monthcontainer traffic through the Port of LosAngeles increased by just 0.25 percent.Imported container traffic decreased by1.98 percent from July 2013 to the samemonth this year, totaling 363,393.50 TEUs.Exported traffic increased by 3.62 percentto 163,294.50 TEUs from last July to thesame month this year. Empty container vol-umes increased 1.82 percent in July fromthe same month in 2013. Total containertraffic through the POLA increased 7.75percent in the first seven months of theyear compared to the same time period lastyear, according to the port.Retail And Trade Experts Expect

Record Increase In Imports – Despiteflat import growth at the POLB and declin-ing imported traffic at the POLA in July, areport issued on August 11 by the NationalRetail Federation (NRF) and internationaltrade consultant group Hackett Associatesindicated imported cargo traffic at majorU.S. ports would “hit an all-time highrecord in August.” The report suggestedthat lengthy contract negotiations for WestCoast port longshoreman workers betweenthe International Longshore andWarehouse Union (ILWU), which repre-sents the longshoreman, and the PacificMaritime Association, the negotiatingparty for businesses employing ILWUworkers, might be the cause of a projectedincrease in imports. The previous laborcontract for those workers expired July 1.The joint NRF and Hackett Associatesreport predicted retailers would “rush tobring holiday season merchandise” to the

Members of the Long Beach Fire Department command staff are pictured outside department headquarters on the Long Beach Airport. On July 10, the department implemented a two-year pilot study knownas Rapid Medic Deployment (RMD). Expected to reduce department costs, the program staffs all 17 of the city’s engines with a paramedic-firefighter. Ambulances meanwhile are staffed with one paramedicfire fighter and one less expensive emergency medical technician (EMT). Fire Chief Michael DuRee says the program has increased response times for paramedics. Pictured from left are: Marine SafetyChief Randy Foster; Deputy Chief Mike Sarjeant; Chief DuRee; Deputy Chief David Segura; Assistant Chief David Kean; EMS Coordinator Capt. Dwayne Preston; and Assistant Chief Chris Rowe(Photograph by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville)

American Gold Star MothersThe American Gold Star Manor located in West Long Beach welcomed National President JenniferJackman and First Vice President Cindy Krueger to the facilities on August 14. Situated on a 23-acre sitenear Spring Street and Santa Fe Avenue, American Gold Star Manor includes nine three-story buildingsand one two-story building providing 348 apartments, and house women whose son or daughter madethe ultimate sacrifice during service to the United States. Pictured from left ared Terry Geiling,president/CEO, American Gold Star Manor Long Beach; Kruger; Jackman; and Gail Schwander, boardchair, Gold Star Manor Long Beach. (Photograph by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville)

Rapid Medic

Deployment Program(Continued From Page 1)




U.S. ahead of time due to concerns aboutthe contract negotiations. About 1.54 mil-lion imported containers should arrive atmajor U.S. ports in August, the reportstated. This would be the highest importedcontainer traffic to the U.S. ever, toppingthe previous record of 1.53 million. Former Port Of Long Beach Acting

Executive Director And Chief HarborEngineer To Retire – Al Moro, whorecently served as acting executive directorof the Port of Long Beach, is overseeingthe port’s $4 billion capital improvementproject until the end of the year, at whichtime he plans to retire from the port,according to a POLB spokesperson. Morotook on the role of acting executive directorin June of 2013 after then ExecutiveDirector Chris Lytle left the port for a sim-ilar position at the Port of Oakland. Morostepped down from the interim positionafter the Long Beach Board of HarborCommissioners found a permanentreplacement for Lytle in June, naming JonSlangerup, a former FedEx executive, aschief executive of the port. Prior to his roleas acting executive director, Moro hadserved as the port’s chief harbor engineersince 2007, a role in which he oversaw theengineering department. He first joined theport in 1997 as a senior civil engineer, andhis engineering career spans 25 years. Heholds a bachelor’s degree in engineeringfrom UCLA, and an MBA from CaliforniaState University, Los Angeles. Harbor Commission Honors

Contractors For Employing Long BeachResidents – On August 11, the LongBeach Board of Harbor Commissionershonored 10 construction contractors withCommunity Partner Awards for hiring themost Long Beach residents to work on theport’s $1.3 billion Middle HarborRedevelopment Project. POLB ChiefExecutive Slangerup and 1st DistrictCouncilmember Lena Gonzalez were alsopresent to honor the employers. Accordingto the Port of Long Beach, more than 300Long Beach residents worked on projectswithin Middle Harbor since constructionbegan in April 2011. Those constructionworkers have worked more than 130,000hours. “I’d like to thank our contractors formaking the decision to give back to thecommunity by hiring from the Long Beachcommunity,” Harbor CommissionPresident Doug Drummond said in a state-ment. The recipients of the Community

Partner Awards were American Plumbers,B&I Equipment Rentals, Cal Steel,Connolly Pacific, Dynalectric, HerzogReyes Joint Venture Company, MansonConstruction, Manson/Connolly PacificJoint Venture, Neubauer Electric andParker Diving. �

People In The NewsSchipske To Seek Water Board Seat –

Former Long Beach CityCouncilwoman GerrieSchipske announced hercandidacy for the WaterReplenishment District(WRD) of SouthernCalifornia – Division #3.The election is November4. The WRD consists of

five divisions representing 43 SouthernCalifornia cities, with Division #3 encom-passing seven cities. “The critical issues surrounding our

ongoing water crisis demand elected offi-cials who are ethical, open and transpar-ent,” Schipske said in a statement.Schipske was termed out as councilmem-ber after serving eight years representingNortheast Long Beach. She also served afour-year term on the Long BeachCommunity College Board of Trustees.Schipske, who is known for urging moretransparency in government, is calling forthe Water Replenishment District to enactthe following reforms:• Limit the dollar amount of political

contributions candidates for WRD canreceive during a campaign. Currently, thereare no limits.• Place campaign reports online so that

the public can see who gave what to whom.Currently, the reports are not available.• Prohibit the receipt of campaign contri-

butions from contractors and those seekingto do business with WRD. Stop the “pay toplay” that is rampant.• Require that all contracts valued at more

than $25,000 be posted on the WRD’s web-site in a searchable format. For each con-tract, the number of bidders shall be shownand for any sole source contract, writtenjustification shall be posted as to why it is asole source contract. Additionally, requireall contracts for consultants, goods andservices and all vendors of goods or serv-ices exceeding $25,000 be posted.

• Post all Statements of EconomicInterest Form 700s on WRD’s website tofully disclose where candidates and electedmembers receive their income.• Require the general manager and the

boardmembers to post on the WRD’s web-site their monthly calendars.• Require the boardmembers to post

monthly on the WRD’s website their claimsfor per diem and reimbursement amounts.Terri Long Named VP At LBCC –

Terri Long is the new vicepresident of academicaffairs for Long Beach CityCollege. For the past 25years, Long has worked atMt. San Antonio College inWalnut, California, mostrecently serving as the

dean of instructional services. Long wasalso a professor, teaching in the earth sci-ence, photographics and astronomydepartment at Mt. SAC. She began work atLBCC on August 5.

New Director Of Development AtLong Beach Opera – Following a national

search, Elizabeth Kurilahas been named the newdirector of development forthe Long Beach Opera. Shepreviously served as thedirector of development forboth the Nine Network ofPublic Media and the

University of Missouri-St. Louis Collegeof Fine Arts and Communications. She alsoserved as chief operating officer for SuttleMindlin, an international architecturaldesign studio specializing in urban plan-ning and development projects.New Exec Director For Seafarers

Center – Capt. Dick McKenna has beennamed executive director of theInternational Seafarers Center – LongBeach and Los Angeles. He is former chiefof staff for U.S. Navy operations in SouthernCalifornia and former executive director ofthe Marine Exchange of So. California. �

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Long Beach International City BankMarathon Official Program . . .

Inserted Into The September 30 Edition Of TheBusiness Journal And 22,000 Copies Of TheProgram Given To Each Marathon Participant

For Media Kit, Call 562/988-1222

Ad Space Deadline: September 24


WOMEN IN BUSINESS14 Long Beach Business Journal August 19-September 1, 2014

U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Study: Female Entrepreneurs Optimistic About The Future� By BRANDON FERGUSON

Staff Writer

For decades female entrepreneurs have cut out a significant slice of the business marketpie. As the economy improves, studies indicate that the slice is set to widen. According toa March report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, in the last 15 years small,women-owned businesses have grown one-and-a-half times faster than other small busi-nesses and now account for 30 percent of all new businesses nationwide. Citing numbers released by the Small Business Administration, the Chamber report

stated that women’s ownership of business remained “sizeable and stable” between 2007and 2012, adding that growth is expected. A recent study conducted by the Guardian LifeSmall Business Research Institute projected that women-owned companies could createas many as 5.5 million new jobs for the nation by 2018. Reflecting these studies’ positive numbers, women entrepreneurs are increasingly optimistic

about the future. The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) surveyedmore than 600 women business owners across the country and found that 87 percent are con-fident about their businesses’ outlooks for 2014, a 12 percent increase from the previous year. Mina Trujillo, executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of NAWBO, said that

based on discussions with her chapter’s members, she believes Los Angeles-area women-owned businesses are growing. “[Women] are leaving corporate America to start their own businesses. We’ve had

tremendous influx of women joining NAWBO just because of the support system.Obviously when you start your own business you always look for a network,” Trujillo toldthe Business Journal. Trujillo explained that as the economy improves, women are willing to take on more risk,

and this is what she thinks is driving women to the entrepreneurial side of the labor market“I think that as the signs started to get better, the employment numbers got better, man-

ufacturing started to get better . . . I think women started to kind of take that leap intoentrepreneurship,” Trujillo said. �

Women Continue To Attract The Attention Of Financial Institutions


Staff Writer

As the number of women-owned businesses continues to grow, banks are increasinglymindful of the opportunities this growth represents. Wells Fargo began courting female entrepreneurs in 1995 when it pledged $1 billion

over a three-year period to women business owners. Last year, Wells Fargo updated thisgoal and aimed to lend $55 billion to women by 2020. According to Ben Alvarado,regional president Wells Fargo Orange County and Long Beach, the bank has lent $44 bil-lion to women entrepreneurs since 1995.“Wells Fargo is very aware of the growth in female-owned businesses and the needs of

those businesses,” Alvarado said. He explained that although as many as 68 percent offemale-owned businesses generate less than $25,000 worth of revenue, the opportunitiesare great. According to Alvarado, these lower numbers provide “an opportunity to dofinancial planning with those businesses – provide a lot of outreach and services to ensurewe’ve got the right bankers in front of our small business owners to help them with theirbusiness plans and make sure we provide them with strong financial advice.” Citing the example of Zoey Van Jones, owner of Brow Studio in the City of Pasadena,

Alvarado explained Van Jones used the Wells Fargo Works Program, an online resourceoffering financial guidance to help small business owners with issues such as buildingcredit and sustaining growth. The bank provided Van Jones with a Small BusinessAdministration express loan, allowing her to expand her operation and sell her productsnationally.“[She’s] a great example of some of the work we’re doing,” Alvarado said. “Wells Fargo

got in, provided some financial services, some lending, and really just helped her getestablished.”In an e-mail to the Business Journal, JP Morgan Chase spokesperson Suzanne Ryan

said her bank is currently conducting a national series of women’s business symposia. InApril, entrepreneur Lori Greiner hosted one Chase event in Universal City, which featureda group of female business leaders who discussed subjects ranging from the evolvingworkplace to work-life balance. According to Ryan, more than 500 women from thegreater Los Angeles area attended.“The idea is to engage local female entrepreneurs at a networking event where ideas can

be exchanged, and hopefully guests can leave inspired,” Ryan’s said.According to Gwen Miller, City National Bank executive vice president of private

client services in Los Angeles, her company’s recent efforts to provide financial advice towomen, including women entrepreneurs, is shaped in large part by a study the bank con-ducted with UCLA in 2012 – a study geared toward understanding women in the emerg-ing and high-net worth categories.

“[The study] was to inform us how we want to work with women as clients or womenacross various partners in the business world,” Miller said. She explained that one of thestudy’s key findings was that 95 percent of women are the primary financial decisionmakers. “What that told us was we had a whole bulk of clients, prospects and other busi-ness partners that needed to be educated. Ninety-five percent of them were going to haveto make the decisions eventually,” Miller said.But more than just controlling finances, Miller said women are extremely active in the

business world. “Clearly, women control a ton of small businesses as well. It’s increasing.It’s a super important market,” Miller said.One of the ways City National keeps up with women’s financial needs is through net-

working events. “We focus a lot more on women’s events. Not always big events – theytend to be small business events. Women love to meet other women in the business,”Miller said. She added, “We do special breakfasts [where we] talk about very specific top-ics [women] should be caring about,” such as the technicalities of hiring children to workat a family-run business. Through its research, Miller said, City National has learned that women have different

approaches to finances than men, specifically on the issue of value. “Women care aboutprice,” Miller said. “They’re less worried about the dollar sign of that price, than the valuethey’re going to get for that price.”And when it comes to the things women increasingly value, statistics show that higher edu-

cation tops the list. According to a Pew Research Center survey, women outpace men in col-lege enrollment by 10 percent – perhaps one underlying reason for the growth in women-owned businesses. It’s one of the reasons, Miller said, that outreach to women is so important.“If you’re not connecting with [women] and you’re not doing business in a manner that

is going to keep them around, you’re going to have a high amount of loss of business,”Miller said. �

Women In Business Profiles

� By DIANA BOSETTI, Contributing Writer

Denise M. KuperLaw Offices Of

Kuper & Wilson, A Professional Law

Corporation4344 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach

562/595-5600www.KuperWilson.com

After working in hotelmanagement and wit-

nessing the problems hotelworkers faced, Denise Kuperdecided to enter the field of lawand open her own practice toadvocate for struggling workers. She was especially concerned

about the impacts of job-relatedinjuries on hotel workers and their families, especially those who took home little pay fordifficult work. As she recalled on her website, “An on-the-job injury devastates the livesof not just the injured worker, but her whole family. This experience motivated me tobecome an advocate for their cause.”Kuper passed the California State bar exam in 1994 and opened her Long Beach-based

law firm, the Law Offices of Denise M. Kuper, in 1995 and slowly built a client base. In2013, she and her law partner and partner in life, Paula Wilson (who passed the bar in2010), purchased a 4,000-square-foot office building in Bixby Knolls to house Kuper &Wilson. This new firm focuses on workers’ compensation, personal injury, estate plan-ning, general business and personal litigation.Kuper said the firm has expanded its reach to represent employees of the Long Beach

Unified School District and Disneyland (where she briefly worked in hotel management),among others. Still, one of Kuper’s greatest challenges is reinforcing the legitimacy ofwork-related injuries. “Fraud?” Kuper asked rhetorically. “I’ve seen it maybe twice in thelast 20 years, and when I do I show [those clients] the door.” Kuper has volunteered for several years as a judge pro tem on the Long Beach

Worker’s Compensation Appeals Board – a position she said has taught her to betterunderstand all sides of an issue. “It has made me a better attorney when it comes toevaluating my own cases,” she said.In addition to her law practice and office renovations, she and Wilson are raising their

eight-year-old daughter, Roxy. Kuper also volunteers at Roxy’s elementary school and isa founding member of the Long Beach Alive Foundation, a non-profit corporation whichfocuses on HIV/AIDS health and housing issues. Kuper earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia in 1988

and received her law degree from Western State University College of Law. �(Please Continue To Page 16)


WOMEN IN BUSINESS16 Long Beach Business Journal August 19-September 1, 2014

Christina LincicumKidz Head 2 Toe

5467 E. Carson St., Long Beach562/627-5438 • www.kidzhead2toe.com

Soon after her second child was born, Christina Lincicum decided to open a chil-dren’s clothing and accessories store in Long Beach because she had trouble find-

ing a second-hand store for kids that didn’t feel like, well, a second-hand store.“I became disappointed by what was out there,” she explained. What started out as dis-

appointment, however, quickly turned to inspiration. In March 2011, Lincicum openedKidz Head 2 Toe at 5467 E. Carson St. in the Parkview Village shopping center.“We are not a thrift store; we are a boutique experience,” she said.Kidz Head 2 Toe aims to create an atmosphere where shoppers find it hard to imagine

the items are previously owned. The store features hardwood floors, chandeliers, hand-painted walls, steam-cleaned clothing, toys and gadgets crosschecked for recalls, as wellas handmade costumes, tutus, bibs and aprons. Business increased by 50 percent after the first year and has grown steadily since. “Our

transaction numbers are also up,” Lincicum said. “In our first year we had about 10 to 15[transactions] a day. Now we have about 30.”That’s good news for the Lincicum family. Christina first had to convince her husband,

Ken, that she should leave her finance job of 13 years at Northrop Grumman to build aretail business. Once he was on board, it truly became a family venture as Ken, an electri-cian, made all the necessary upgrades to the 1,800-square-foot space. Lincicum’s mother,a retired elementary school librarian with 10 years of children’s retail experience, helpedwith the shop design and business plan. Ariel Portillo, Lincicum’s sister, oversees the day-to-day operations at Kidz Head 2 Toe and updates the store’s social networking sites. Kidz Head 2 Toe recently reached 2,000 “likes” on its Facebook page – which connects

users to the latest products and sales, their personalized “wish lists” and incoming mer-chandise. As for the future, Lincicum said, “I’ve considered opening a second location, and peo-

ple have offered to buy the business or have asked for a license. Those are all things Iwould consider, but at the end of the day I just want to be sure that they wouldn’t want tochange the business plan.” �

Alisa MoffettDomani Designs

5500 E. 2nd St., Suite 1A, Long Beach562/438-1828 • www.domanidesigns.com

It’s no surprise that designers’ decorating skills are based on instinct and experience,but it’s rare that such proficiencies manifest at the age of 15. But they did for AlisaMoffett when she was just a Bakersfield teen. The city was in the midst of a cookie-cutter homebuilding frenzy when Moffett saw an

opportunity to express her creativity beyond moving around the furniture in her custom-built childhood home. The teen marched across the street, talked with a homebuilder, andconvinced him to allow her to stage his model homes. An interior designer was born. Today Moffett owns Domani Designs, a high-end resi-

dential and commercial design company she opened in 2008.Moffett trained at the Interior Design Institute in Newport Beach and traveled exten-

sively throughout Europe and Asia. The ornate designs and wood designs of those conti-nents inspired her future work. Moffett returned to California when she was 21 and tooka job in Costa Mesa with Fort Worth-based homebuilders D.R. Horton, Inc. She workedfor other large firms as well, but said she always felt stymied.“It can be challenging working among seasoned designers who are less flexible when

it comes to taking risks and thinking outside the box,” Moffett said. “I’ve always been anentrepreneur, and starting my own company has allowed me to bring an unexpected levelof service to my clients, creating spaces and designs that are timeless, fresh and current.”Designing a room involves balancing possibilities with reality and dreams with budgets, a

concept recently learned by one of her clients, Dr. Helen Tang, whose 16,000-square-footoccupational medical practice is entering its third year and next phase of renovation. “WhatI found helpful in working with Alisa was that we originally had grand plans,” Tang said. “Shehelped us realize that we needed to cut down on our budget by doing the work in phases.” Moffett said she has had many wonderful clients who are constantly referring new busi-

ness to her. Though hiring an interior designer is a luxury for some, Moffett said she is

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WOMEN IN BUSINESSAugust 19-September 1, 2014 Long Beach Business Journal 17

encouraged by a steady growth of clients and believed that through continued relationshipbuilding, her business grows.“I like to think of Domani Designs as the client’s advocate,” Moffett explained. “Our

goal should be helping to accomplish the goal of the client, while helping them to stay onbudget and see their goals come into reality. That’s where building relationships come intoplay, then creating an end product that we are all proud of.” �

Janet Moore Distant Horizons350 Elm Ave. Long Beach

562/983-8828 • www.distant-horizons.com

Inspired by excursions to exotic locations but unsatisfied with what she considered a“real lack of thoughtful travel opportunities to more remote parts of the world,” JanetMoore opened a cultural tour company, Distant Horizons, in Long Beach’s East VillageArts District in 1985.“It was hard during the first three years, but then the company took off,” said Moore,

who employs three people and has a long list of clients, including groups from Stanford,Harvard, Yale, the American Museum of Natural History, the Washington Institute, WorldAffairs Council of Los Angeles and the Pan Am Foundation.Born in England and raised by a Spanish mother and an English father, Moore said she

learned to appreciate diverse people and communities at an early age. She completed herundergraduate studies in England at the University of Bristol and her graduate work inpublic policy and economics at the University of Michigan. After graduating, sheattempted to join the English Foreign Service, but a recession-induced hiring freezeprompted her to instead take a position with a Boston travel company. That was 1983. Moore said she quickly realized that remote areas of the world weren’t being marketed,

and two years later she attempted to fill that gap by opening Distant Horizons. “I was verynaïve and didn’t know what I was doing,” she said. Her first excursion fell flat when noone signed up, but she eventually came across a museum curator who was interested inassembling a large tour to India.

Since then, Distant Horizons has been among the first travel agencies to initiate culturalprogram tours to Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Lebanon, Tuva (a federal subject of Russia),Iran, Ethiopia, Cuba, Afghanistan and Libya. A guest scholar accompanies all DistantHorizons tours to give lectures and infuse the trips with an educational component,according to the company’s website. Moore conducts most of her business with institu-tions, although she sometimes books for large, general-traveler groups.Such a specialized niche in the travel industry doesn’t come without its risks.

Misconceptions about an area’s safety are common, and recent events, such as theMalaysian airliner downed over Ukraine, increase traveler’s concerns. “If something likethat happens again, it could impact the travel industry,” Moore said. She isn’t worried,though, because geopolitics evolve and with it so do her itineraries. For her expertise, Moore has been voted as an “A-LIST Travel Operator” by Travel and

Leisure Magazine for several years running and is frequently interviewed by NationalPublic Radio’s program, “The World.” A Long Beach resident, Moore also volunteers withthe Long Beach Unified School District and is on the board of the Downtown Long BeachAssociates. �

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BEACH COUNTYREAL ESTATE

Cynthia D. Schoelen, CPANamed Partner of Onisko & Scholz, CPAs, LLPOnisko & Scholz, CPAs, LLP is pleased to announce that Cynthia D.

Schoelen, CPA has been named a partner at the firm. “We are excited to bring Cynthia on as a partner in the firm,” said Paul P.

Scholz, CPA, ABV, and Managing Partner. “Through her client servicefocus, professionalism, and proactive attention to detail, Cynthia exempli-fies the culture that we strive to provide our clients.”Cynthia was formerly the principal of Cynthia D. Schoelen, CPA, PC, and

joined Onisko & Scholz, CPAs, LLP in 2005. With over twenty years in public accounting, Cynthiaoversees consulting, forensic accounting and financial statement engagements. She has extensiveexperience working with nonprofits, government entities and privately held companies.She earned a B.S. in Business Administration from California State Polytechnic University,

Pomona. She is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), a member of the American Institute of CertifiedPublic Accountants (AICPA), and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants. Onisko & Scholz has been serving the Long Beach area business community since 2004.

Onisko & Scholz is one of the largest independentlyowned accounting and business advisory firms in thegreater Long Beach area and provides tax and account-ing services to small to mid-size businesses and indi-viduals throughout Southern California.

ONISKO&SCHOLZ, LLPCer t i f i e d Publ i c Account ant s

562/420-3100 www.oniskoscholz.com


PERSPECTIVE18 Long Beach Business Journal August 19-September 1, 2014

EDITOR & PUBLISHER

George Economides

SALES & MARKETING EXECUTIVE

Heather Dann

SALES & MARKETING ASSISTANT

Cori Lambert

DISTRIBUTION

Conrad Riley

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

SENIOR WRITER

Samantha Mehlinger

STAFF WRITER

Brandon Ferguson

PHOTOJOURNALIST

Thomas McConville

COPY EDITORSLindsay Christopher and Pat Flynn

The Long Beach Business Journal is a

publication of South Coast

Publishing, Inc., incorporated in the

State of California in July 1985. It is

published every other Tuesday

(except between Christmas and mid-

January) – 25 copies annually. The

Business Journal premiered March

1987 as the Long Beach Airport

Business Journal. Reproduction in

whole or in part without written

permission is strictly prohibited

unless otherwise stated. Opinions

expressed by perspective writers

and guest columnists are their views

and not necessarily those of the

Business Journal. Press releases

should be sent to the address shown

below. South Coast Publishing also

produces Destinations and the

Employee Times magazines.

Office

South Coast Publishing, Inc.

2599 E. 28th Street, Suite 212

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Ph: 562/988-1222 • Fx: 562/988-1239

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Note: Press releases should be faxed

or mailed. No follow up calls, please.

For a copy of the 2014 advertising

and editorial calendar, please fax

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Business Journal SubscriptionsStandard Bulk Rate: $28.00

1st Class: $70.00(25 issues – 1 year)

Vol. XXVII No. 16

August 19-

September 1, 2014

K ids competing insports is as com-

mon as fireworks on theFourth of July, becausefor most kids beingactive and playing sportsis a way of life.Participation in sportsoffers social, emotionaland physical benefits forchildren, and the rate atwhich kids are playingsports has never beenhigher. In the U.S. alone,

approximately 30 million children participate insome form of organized sports each year.However, just because playing sports is fun does

not mean there isn’t potential for injury and that iswhere the numbers get interesting. According to theCenters for Disease Control (CDC), more than 2.6million children 0 to 19 years old are treated in theemergency department each year for sports andrecreation-related injuries, while high school ath-letes account for an estimated two million injuries,500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizationseach year. Whenever you associate the words injury and

sports in the same sentence it rarely ends withouttalking about two of the most common and seriousinjuries in sports today – concussions and anteriorcrucial ligament (ACL) injuries. These two injuriesseem to be grabbing all the headlines, but for all thewrong reasons, as concussion and ACL injury ratesare on the rise in professional sports and now theirpresence can be felt in youth sports as well.A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury

(TBI) and TBI’s are responsible for nearly 630,000emergency room visits, more than 67,000 hospital-izations and 6,100 deaths in children and teens eachyear, according to research from the CDC. Thereare between 250,000 and 300,000 ACL injuries peryear, and they're almost exclusively happening to

athletes. The incidence of ACL injuries in adoles-cents has risen dramatically over the past decadeand account for 30 percent of all knee injuries inyoung soccer players.Despite the fact that these injuries are two of the

more prevalent injuries in sports, the key is to beaware and to learn how to prevent sport-relatedinjuries. A concussion can be caused by a blow or jolt to

the head that can change how the brain normallyfunctions. Concussions can occur from a fall or ablow that causes the head and brain to move quicklyback and forth. In most cases, a concussion isdescribed as a “mild” brain injury because theyusually are not life-threatening. Even so, theireffects can be serious which is why kids and parentsneed to know how to prevent them. Some of the most basic ways your child can

avoid a concussion is to always wear proper safetyequipment and make sure it fits properly, followtheir coach’s rules for safety, the rules of the sportand practice good sportsmanship. Awareness ofsigns and symptoms of concussions – commonlyheadaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and short

term memory loss – is vital to allow for immediateremoval from the sporting event and to help moni-tor when it is safe to return.An anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is a

tear in one of the knee ligaments that joins the upperleg bone with the lower leg bone. The ACL keepsthe knee stable and bears a large amount of stressduring sport activities. Injuries can range from mild,such as a sprain of the ligament, to severe, when theligament tears completely or when the ligament andpart of the bone separate from the rest of the bone.However, if your child performs training drills thatimprove balance, power and agility to their lowerbody, and plan for at least four weeks of endurancetraining before their sport begins, they can help pro-tect themselves from ACL injuries. A pediatric orthopedic specialist knows that

musculoskeletal problems in children are differentthan adults so if your child suffers a sports-relatedinjury you should take them to see a pediatricorthopedic specialist right away. (Kenneth Huh, M.D., is a pediatric orthopedic

surgeon, sports medicine specialist at MillerChildren’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach)

Whether change isbeing thrust upon

you or you are boldly goingwhere others have not, itwould be a good idea to dis-sect change to gain a betterunderstanding of it.Change is not always the

dreaded exercise often por-trayed in the media. Thereare times when changeexcites us, energizes us, andmotivates us. Buying a newcar, getting a different

house, developing that new relationship, are allexamples of inviting change.So where’s the real rub in change efforts? It’s not

the actual change, but the transitions – adapting tothe change – that create most of the tension. Changeis an event. Buying a new house and moving in.Transitions are the protracted processes that wemust go through subsequent to a change effort.Getting used to the house – new ways of doingthings, different impact on relationships, new routesto community locations – can take months of adjust-ment. The same principle is true when changingjobs, overhauling your golf swing, or adopting anew company policy.The transition requires new ways of doing things.

This is not automatic. What is automatic are the 95percent of the things we are now doing, the thingson autopilot that we get so much done with littleeffort or thought. Folding clothes and driving carsfall into this category, as do many routines aroundthe home and office.

The 5 percent that is left over is used to recognizeand make necessary changes. Let me state the obvi-ous. Something must end for something better tobegin. And it can hurt! But there is a big differencebetween hurt and harm. Everyone hurts when mak-ing a change leading to growth and productivity. Butit’s not harmful. Harm leads to damage. Do notavoid hurt because you confuse it with harm.Pruning can hurt, but it produces growth and devel-opment.This is why transitions require emotional aware-

ness and regulation. Our emotional responses arereal. Every leader must acknowledge this. Embracethe fact that you are uncomfortable. Then ask,“What is the stress from? Let’s analyze it. Is it fromsomething that’s wrong, or is it due to the transitionsin changing?” Just thinking about it can bring relief. Gaining insight into the stages of transitions is

helpful. Here are four.The first stage involves “routines.” They are

already in place. Familiarity with certain routinesmakes the transition much easier to navigate.Sometimes it’s a matter of building on what exists.It could be as simple as canceling a low-value meet-ing and sending an email instead. Small improve-ments can make a big difference. Don’t changeeverything, but improve something.A second stage deals with “endings.” The result-

ing discomfort is normal. This is because it has amore personal impact on our lives. Our natural ten-dency is to resist. This can make us crosswise withlife itself. It’s a time of goodbyes. Grief is an accom-panying emotion since loss is a factor.A third stage is abeyance. This is simply a time of

waiting for a change to happen. It can be character-

ized by low energy, apathy or ambiguity. This is acondition where the person adapts to the “misery”because there is nothing they can do about it. It isout of their control. This can be incredibly distress-ing for those professionals who view themselves asenergetic and decisive. They think, “What’s hap-pened to me?”The key is to lead people through these stages to

the fourth stage which is “starting.” The “starting”stage is a time of energy, vision, hope, and excite-ment. New things are eagerly tried. Freedom tomake progress is juicing the employee’s energy. Thiseventually becomes routine, right where we started.Like all models, it is not always perfectly

sequenced by you or your people. But it providesmarkers to know where you are in the process, andwhere to move them next. Understanding this modelprevents everyone from being blindsided. Knowingwhat stage you are in minimizes the “despair.”If you want change initiatives to be successful,

then transitions will take a lot of energy and requirea lot of attention. If managed well, any loss of pro-ductivity will be temporary and promises more pro-ductivity in the future. If managed poorly, toxicbehavior can be seeded in the organization andlinger for years.Lead Change. Manage Transitions.(Mick Ukleja has co-authored several books

including Managing the Millennials. He helpsorganizations create environments in which all gen-erations can thrive. He is a keynote speaker andpresident of LeadershipTraq, a leadership consult-ing firm. His clients have included Fortune 500 cor-porations and non-profit organizations. Check hisweekly blog at www.leadershiptraq.com.)

� EFFECTIVELEADERSHIP

By Mick Ukleja

Lead Change. Manage Transitions.

Concussions And ACL Injuries – A Duo That Is On The Rise In Youth Sports

� HEALTHWISE

By Kenneth Huh, M.D.

Dear EarthTalk: To what extent is Antarcticareally melting and what impact might it have oncoastlines around the world?

– Andrea Hutchinson, Cary, NC

T he Antarctic continent, roughly the size of theUnited States and Mexico combined, is com-

posed of rock covered by glaciers some 16,000 feetthick. The glaciers form from fallen snow compact-ing into successive layers of ice, and they eventu-ally move downhill toward the coasts and “calve”into the ocean as icebergs and eventually melt outinto the sea. Antarctica and Greenland combinedhold about 99 percent of the globe’s freshwater ice.

According to the National Snow & Ice DataCenter, the result of the entire Antarctic conti-nent melting out completely would be sea levelrise of about 200 feet around the world, whichcould in turn lead to untold devastation. Whileno one can be sure how hot things will get as aresult of global warming, most climate modelsdon’t forecast conditions hot enough to cause thewholesale melt-out of Antarctica.In fact, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS)

reports that the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, whichconstitutes about two-thirds of the world’s south-ernmost and iciest continent, is remaining rela-tively stable, with some slight melting that is bal-

EARTHTALK: Antarctica’s


PERSPECTIVEAugust 19-September 1, 2014 Long Beach Business Journal 19

Despite a generallystrong stock market,

an improvement inemployment figures, andhome prices that arereflecting some progressif not dramatic apprecia-tion, there appears to bethe re-emergence of thedark underbelly of thehousing market: The vol-ume of REO (Real Estate

Owned) foreclosure properties is on the riseagain across the country in specific markets,particularly in Massachusetts, New York,Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Tennessee and elsewhere.The reasons are many. Lenders who have

taken back foreclosed properties during thepast seven-plus years of the economic down-turn have in many instances held on to theseproperties in their portfolio and are only nowstarting to release them back into the salespipeline. Much of the motive behind thisstockpiling was to not flood the market when it

was at its worst, in 2008-10, which would havedriven prices even lower. Another reason is that, even though govern-

ment figures keep telling us that unemploy-ment numbers are getting better, other sourcesreveal that more Americans are underem-ployed with falling wages, and many havegiven up on finding jobs and are no longercounted in the workforce numbers. The lengthof time Americans are spending unemployedrose in June after reaching its lowest point inmore than five years. This will not help thehousing market or the economy to improvemuch at all.And, according to information reported by

Reuters regarding economic growth in the sec-ond quarter of this year, the U.S. economy grewat a 4 percent pace, but early reports like thisone have been revised downward time and timeagain – such as the first quarter report that wasrevised and showed the GDP to be shrinking ata revised 2.1 percent pace.According to reports coming out of the

National REO Brokers Association, most of

their members reported increased listing activ-ity of REOs – with one company reporting7,000 homes in their current portfolio – andexpect that number to more than double throughportfolio acquisitions and organic growth fromtheir lending side. This is perhaps only anec-dotal evidence of a worsening housing marketand general economy, but even lenders them-selves report that problems with loans havenever really gone away.Many individuals and families who received

loan modifications and other workouts arefalling back into default, while the backlog offoreclosures in judicial foreclosure states arebeginning to make it to the system, adding moreREOs to the mix. Home equity lines of creditare recasting into much higher loan paymentsand could be the next big bubble for lenders toovercome. Another problem might be mort-gages that were modified through the TreasuryDepartment's HAMP program, which meanshigher mortgage payments while home pricesare beginning to decline in many markets. FHAloans have become the "new" subprime loans,

and the government is pushing lenders to makeloans to low-income families. But with a jobmarket that is sketchy at best, even this programwon’t help many people get into homes.Real average hourly earnings declined 0.1 per-

cent, seasonally adjusted, from June 2013 to June2014, according to the Department of Labor. Thedecrease in real average hourly earnings, com-bined with an unchanged average workweek,resulted in a 0.1 percent decline in real averageweekly earnings over this period. This agencyalso reported that real average hourly earningsfor all U.S. workers fell 0.2 percent from April toMay this year, seasonally adjusted.Given these real numbers for American work-

ers and the fact that foreclosed homes continueto be in plentiful supply in many markets, theseissues will need to be addressed before we’ll beable to move away from the current stagnation.(Terry Ross, the broker-owner of TR

Properties, will answer any questions abouttoday’s real estate market. E-mail questions toRealty Views at [email protected] or call949/457-4922.)

REALTY VIEWS

By Terry Ross

REO Volume Increasing

N egotiations continue between manage-ment and dockworkers over the next

longshore contract for West Coast ports.There’s been little word from San Francisco,where the negotiations are taking place, asboth sides have remained tight lipped. You canbet that one point of contention is the use oftechnology at the ports and what it means forunion jobs on the waterfront. Regardless ofthe outcome, the use of technology throughoutthe supply chain will only grow. Californiafaces significant transportation capacity chal-lenges to meet current goods movementdemand and to expand the state’s central rolein global trade. Technology, includingIntelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), willhave to be one of the solutions if we’re goingto keep pace.ITS has become one of the ubiquitous

enablers of global trade. Typical public sectorhighway ITS programs include traffic man-agement centers, closed circuit TV, permanentand portable dynamic message signs andvideo detection systems. Recent technologyinnovations include real-time adaptive signalcontrol, photo detection to replace loop detec-tors embedded in the roadway, active dopplerradar sensors to detect highway delays andBlueTooth travel time and delay reportingusing data from mobile devices and movingvehicles. Yet integration of these systems haseluded state and regional agencies becauseintegration has been beyond the scope of the

individual ITS initiatives. Funding the operation and maintenance of

installed systems is also a significant chal-lenge for over-stretched agencies.Transportation planning for metropolitanareas has traditionally focused on building andmaintaining basic infrastructure to ensure ade-quate roadway capacity. Strategically usingITS requires agencies to shift focus from plan-ning construction and maintenance of road-ways to planning the operations of the surfacetransportation system. ITS deployment has notalways been well integrated with other trans-portation strategies and programs. Lack ofquantifiable information about benefits canput ITS projects at a disadvantage comparedwith other types of hardscape transportationprojects, which have more easily quantifiedbenefits. In addition to developing a work-force skilled in ITS, transportation agenciesalso need leaders who support ITS. Historically, California has focused its ITS

initiatives on Traffic Management Systemsand Traveler Information Systems. Butregional initiatives are emerging to extend ITSto demand management and real-time triprouting. Growing congestion on the rails andparallel highways is forcing locales through-out California to consider ITS solutions thatbetter integrate highway and rail networks. Locally, the Regional Integration of

Intelligent Transportation Systems (RIITS)project, is an upgrade of the countywide trav-eler information system being developed by L.A. Metro, Caltrans and other agenciesthroughout L. A. County. The project will usea diverse set of data sources across a number

of agencies. Metro is also developing theArchived Data Management System datawarehouse to enable development of multi-modal products that mirror the USDOT’sIntelligent Transportation Systems strategicplan.The Gateway Cities Council of

Governments (GCCOG), a joint powersauthority of local jurisdictions adjacent to theSan Pedro Ports, is undertaking an ambitiousfreight-specific ITS integration program. TheGCCOG Goods Movement Technology Plandeveloped a concept of operations and a busi-ness plan containing a number of highway-related elements including freeway detection,arterial travel time reporting, queue detectionat port gates, truck data collection, truck fleetcommunications, scheduling systems, per-formance monitoring, truck parking manage-ment, truck platooning, autonomous freightvehicles, truck enforcement, traveler informa-tion sharing, emergency notification, weather,and accidents / detours.Regardless of the initiative, the private sec-

tor will need to be an active partner in financ-ing, testing and deployment. That means fig-uring out what matters most to key stakehold-ers like rail companies and truckers. For rail-roads there is a benefit to rail projects that areintegrated with highway investments as part ofa national freight policy. Railroads servingWest Coast ports learned that the internationaltransportation system can become congestedwhen the rail and highway networks and inter-modal connectors don’t keep pace with thegrowth in freight. In response, multi-modalbusiness-related proprietary systems have

been implemented for global logistics, secu-rity of goods, and resource allocation andmanagement. However, proprietary ITS tech-nologies and proprietary data that provide apotential competitive advantage have createdbarriers to sharing that have slowed industry-wide implementation. For its part, the truckingindustry needs to improve existing real-timerouting and scheduling information to helptrucks avoid congested areas and peak travelperiods. California has an opportunity to more

aggressively lead ITS network initiativesthroughout the state through private-publicpartnerships and by providing regulations andfunding of open-standards technology anddata source integration. This leadership role isimportant since statewide environmental andsustainability policies rely on the continueddevelopment of reliable and cost-effectivedemand management and system managementtools that can be implemented seamlesslyacross modes throughout the state.(Dr. Thomas O’Brien is the director of

research for the Center for International Tradeand Transportation at CSULB and associatedirector for Long Beach Programs for theMETRANS Transportation Center, a partner-ship of USC and CSULB. Steve Lantz is atransportation consultant to the South BayCities Council of Governments. For past arti-cles in this series, please go to www.ccpe.csulb.edu/IndustryArticles.)

TRADE AND TRANSPORTATIONBy Tom O’Brien and Steve Lantz

Pursuing Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)

anced out by new winter snows. Because EastAntarctica rests on rock that is higher than sealevel, it is unlikely to collapse. In fact, EastAntarctica’s ice cover may thicken movingforward due to predicted increases in snowfallamounts over the coming decades.But on the west side of Antarctica, ice

across an area roughly the size of Texas calledthe Amundsen Sea Embayment (ASE) isalready thinning rapidly in large part as aresult of surrounding waters warming up dueto changing ocean circulation patterns. Manyscientists believe that these ocean changes arehappening as a result of human-induced

global warming as well as thinning of thestratospheric ozone layer.“This is an area that has always caused

glaciologists concern, because here thebedrock beneath the ice is a long way belowsea-level and the ice is only kept in placebecause it is thick enough to rest on the bed,”reports BAS. “Thinning of the ice around thecoast could lead to glacier acceleration andfurther thinning of the ice sheet. Essentially,the ice sheet may be unstable, and the recentpattern of thinning could be a precursor towholesale loss of the ASE ice sheet.”Meanwhile, researchers from NASA and

UC Irvine studying the ASE ice sheet report a“continuous and rapid retreat” of glaciersthere and think that there is “no [major] obsta-cle that would prevent the glaciers from fur-ther retreat.” They worry that within a millen-nium and perhaps as soon as two centuries,the ASE could melt out entirely – leading tobetween four and 10 feet of sea level risearound the world – if moderate warming mod-els prove to be correct.Of course, we can all play a role in prevent-

ing such scenarios by reducing our carbonfootprints. Take fewer airplane trips. Buyorganic food. Walk, bike or take public transit

to work. If you must drive, get a hybrid orelectric car. Wear a sweater instead of turningup the heat. And urge legislators to push newlaws that limit greenhouse gas emissions byindustry, utilities and other big polluters. Itmay be now or never.Contacts: National Snow & Ice Data

Center, nsidc.org; British Antarctic Survey,www.antarctica.ac.uk.(EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy

Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registeredtrademark of E - The Environmental Magazine,www.emagazine.com. Send questions to: [email protected].)

s Melting And Its Impact On Coastlines


august 19-september 1, 2014 section a

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