Big Brothers Big Sisters of OC and IE 2024 Mentors of the Year

Feb52024 Feb 5, 2024 Photo courtesy of BBBS To mark National Mentoring Month, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and the Inland Empire (BBBS) announced its Mentors of the Year. 2024 winners include Community Program: Jennifer Arnoldt and Jazelle Lopez, and Chris Pyon and Angel Hernandez of Orange. High School Bigs Program: Ana Galvez, Buena Park high school and Alexander Dao, Oxford Academy. College Bigs Program: Vyianna Vargas, UCI. Workplace Mentoring Program: Ivy Goodman, The Walt Disney Company and Tyler Castro, Disneyland Resort. Through its community and school-based programs, BBBS offers professionally supported mentorship to youth facing adversity.

Anaheim Transportation Network represented on national panel

Feb52024 Feb 5, 2024 Image courtesy of ATN The CEO of Anaheim Transportation Network (ATN), Diana Kotler, will participate in the National Transit Advanced Technology Advisory Panel hosted by the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) and Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) in Chicago, Illinois. CTE has been tasked by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to gain feedback regarding how customization and configuration impact the complexity and cost of bus procurements. The objective of the panel is to provide recommendations to the FTA to help streamline purchasing. ATN serves 9 million passengers annually in the greater Anaheim area with a fleet of nearly 100 electric and clean-fuel vehicles connecting residents to jobs and visitors to destinations.

UCI 2024 Health Care Forecast Conference

Feb52024 Feb 5, 2024 Image courtesy of UCI UCI’s Paul Merage School of Business Center for Health Care Management and Policy will be hosting its 2024 Health Care Forecast Conference on Thursday, February 22 in Irvine. The conference will present a near-term forecast of the health care economic and political landscape. Presentations will include an examination of recent Federal and California health policy developments, an industry market forecast, workforce, affordability, mental health, and changing business models. Registration and ticket prices now available.

OC United Way opens new community resource

Feb52024 Feb 5, 2024 Image courtesy of OCUW Orange County United Way has opened the Varanasi Equity Workspace, a new resource that offers organizations a place to meet, advance their purpose, and work together to affect equitable change in the community. It’s free to use and interested parties can reserve it by calling the Orange County United Way general phone number (949) 660-7600. This year, Orange County United Way celebrates its 100-year anniversary. The opening of this new space kicks off the organization’s impactful efforts for the next 100 years.

Business leaders, law enforcement support retail theft bill

Feb52024 Feb 5, 2024 Video and photo courtesy of OCBC With property crime—including retail theft—increasing in all 34 Orange County cities and across the state, Assembly bill 1772, if passed, would add stricter penalties including jail time. Due to the lack of consequences put into effect by Prop 47 in 2014, many instances of property theft, especially retail theft, go under reported. OCBC President and CEO Jeff Ball joined bill co-author Assemblymember Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim) to speak at a press conference in Sacramento on January 22. OCBC advocates on behalf of its investors for the ability to operate in safe communities where their employees, and customers, are protected. A 2022 California Attorney General report showed that property crime increased 6.2% statewide.

OCBC Welcomes New Board Members

Seven Orange County business leaders join Orange County Business Council Board of Directors IRVINE, CA (February 5, 2024) — Orange County Business Council (OCBC) announced today that Stephen Finnegan, Government Affairs Manager of the Automobile Club of Southern California, Tony Petros, Chief Executive Officer of LSA Associates, Inc., Nate Shinagawa, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of UCI Health, Laurie Sicaeros, Chief Strategy Officer of MemorialCare Health System, Ramin Valian, Vice President of Eye Care and Pipeline Commercialization Strategy at Allergan, an AbbVie Company, Dan Vozenilek, Director of External Affairs at AT&T and Caroline Wong, Senior Director of Communications and Custom Content of Southern California News Group and The Orange County Register, have joined OCBC’s Board of Directors. The Board consists of 52 members. “I am honored to have these community leaders join our board of directors,” said Jeffrey Ball, President and CEO of Orange County Business Council. “Their insights and talents will be invaluable for the Business Council as we continue to advance the economic development of the nation’s sixth most populous county with a focus on workforce, housing and infrastructure initiatives.” As the Government Affairs Manager of the Automobile Club of Southern California (AAA), Stephen Finnegan leads public and government affairs, community programs, traffic safety advocacy and efforts and more for AAA Southern California, Texas, New Mexico and Hawaii. Throughout his career, Finnegan has worked at Bank of America, served as a management consultant to public agencies and non-profit organizations and held leadership positions with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Since beginning his career at LSA Associates, Inc. in 1984, Tony Petros has risen to the position of Chief Executive Officer and now spearheads the organization’s continued goal of achieving project management excellence and client development. Petros has previously served as a City of Newport Beach councilmember, was the President of the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, was appointed to the County of Orange Housing and Community Development Commission and provided LSA mobility services to clients throughout the United States, Middle East and Asia. With over 14 years of experience in hospital senior leadership and 10 years in public service, Nate Shinagawa is the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President at UCI Health, where he oversees the daily operations of Orange County’s only academic hospital with an annual net revenue of over $2.5 billion and 8,150 employees. Before joining UCI Health, Shinagawa held Chief Operating Officer roles at Banner Health in Arizona and served as a county legislator in New York for nearly a decade. Laurie Sicaeros is the Chief Strategy Officer for MemorialCare Health System, where she is responsible for the organization’s strategic goals and objectives, focusing on areas of growth, partnerships, and more. Since joining MemorialCare over 25 years ago, Sicaeros has served in various roles from mergers & acquisitions to marketing and more, established the MemorialCare Medical Foundation and been credited with the health system’s fundamental growth. As the Vice President of Eye Care and Pipeline Commercialization Strategy at Allergan, an AbbVie Company, Ramin Valian oversees the U.S. eye care business unit and is the global business unit head for eye care responsible for pipeline commercialization strategy. With more than three decades of experience, Valian has led the launch of seven significant projects and the global eye care strategy group that focused on increasing the net value of the Allergen eye care franchise. Leading AT&T’s government affairs, public policy, philanthropic and social engagement initiatives in Orange County is Dan Vozenilek, the organization’s Director of External Affairs for the region. Along with serving on numerous non-profit boards, Vozenilek is responsible for managing community partnerships with non-profit organizations, executing strategies that help attain corporate legislative objectives and presenting company positions to external stakeholders in key issue areas at AT&T. Holding board positions at South County Outreach and OC Forum, Caroline Wong is the Senior Director of Communications and Custom Content for Southern California News Group and The Orange County Register. Before joining The Orange County Register, Wong spent 11 years at FOX Television Studios working to bring shows like “American Idol,” “Glee” and “Good Day LA”—which dominated morning ratings while she was Senior Producer in promotions and marketing—across Los Angeles. About Orange County Business Council For over 25 years, Orange County Business Council (OCBC) has been representing and promoting the region’s business community together with government and academia to enhance the economic development of the nation’s sixth largest county. The Council’s core initiatives include advocating for adequate investment in regional and statewide infrastructure, education development that leads to a competitive workforce, advocating for a range of housing, and developing pro-business solutions that lead to sustainable economic growth. Members include businesses and local organizations representing a diverse cross section of industries including biomedical, construction, education, financial services, health care, manufacturing, municipalities, nonprofit, real estate, technology, tourism, transportation, real estate and utilities. For more information, visit ocbc.org. Media Contact: Lizz Mishreki, APR Vice President of Communications Orange County Business Council [email protected]

Disneyland Resort awards workforce development grants

Jan222024 Jan 22, 2024 Image courtesy of Disneyland Resort To help develop, prepare and empower Orange County’s workforce, Disneyland Resort provides career readiness opportunities to Anaheim students and residents through its community workforce development initiative. The resort recently awarded its annual workforce development grants to nonprofit organizations including Anaheim Union High School District, My Day Counts and Anaheim Family YMCA. Over the last six years, Disney has provided more than $6.5 million in financial support and countless hours by Disney VoluntEARS, impacting more than 10,000 lives.

RSCCD infuses $2 billion into Orange County economy

Jan222024 Jan 22, 2024 Photo courtesy of RSCCD Rancho Santiago Community College District’s (RSCCD) latest Economic Impact Report reveals that the district, which consists of Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College, added nearly $2 billion in income to Orange County’s economy while former students employed in the county workforce contributed $1.5 billion in income. The data affirms the district’s goal to provide education and training to ensure that students move into high-paying jobs in Orange County.