AROUND THE VALLEYS

News and notes from around the greater San Fernando Valley area ANTELOPE VALLEY Palmdale Sell: Senior Systems Technology has hired Western Technical Sales to find leads and acquire new business in the Pacific Northwest territory. The electronics manufacturer looks to grow in that area and Western Technical is an asset to the company to achieve that, said Gregg Mozdy, vice president of business development. “We feel that our core technical competencies, combined with the operational excellence at Senior Systems, will be a winning combination in our account base,” said Western Technical partner Pete Thunem. Western Technical joins Harper & Two in Southern California in expanding Senior Systems’ representative network. Lancaster Money: Three downtown Lancaster business owners can apply for up to $40,000 in grant funding as part of the city’s Downtown Commercial Property Improvement Program. The money will go toward façade enhancements to meet design requirements of the Downtown Specific Plan. The first three businesses to receive the grants are Pueblo Viejo, an existing Salvadorean and Mexican restaurant; Pour d’Vino, a new wine lounge and bistro; and Kinetic Brewing Company, a new restaurant and microbrewery. The program was designed to benefit locally owned ventures that meet the target tenant mix for the downtown, fill existing vacancies, and are located in a strategic location. The three businesses are in the 700 block of Lancaster Boulevard, the middle of the downtown area. “Not only will these businesses create permanent, full-time jobs for area residents; they have also made a commitment to employ only local contractors for their projects,” said Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris. SAN FERNANDO VALLEY San Fernando Identify: Precision Dynamics Corp. received a three-year contract to provide health care medical labels to Novation, an industry supply contracting company. Precision Dynamics will be the sole-source provider of labels for Novation’s private label brand of pharmacy and medical-surgical products, Novaplus. The contract runs through 2014. Precision Dynamics has been a supplier to Novation for more than 10 years, said company President and CEO Cecil Kost. Encino Recognition: Online survey sampling firm uSamp was honored as a promising private technology company by Red Herring magazine. The company was among 100 businesses chosen by Red Herring based on financial performance, technology innovation, quality of management, execution of strategy, and integration into their respective industries. Co-founders Matt Dusig and Gregg Lavin were gratified their blend of technology and market research has resonated within their industry and in the tech community at large. Van Nuys Honor: Saskia Chiesa of International Checkout Inc. was named Best Executive of the Year at the 9th annual American Business Awards taking place June 20 in New York City. Chiesa and International Checkout were among the more than 2,800 entries for the awards, known as the Stevies. Chiesa had previously been recognized as executive of the year in 2009. “Winning the Stevie award for Best Executive for a second time is an unbelievable honor,” Chiesa said. “I am grateful to my employees who make it all possible, to the American Business Awards, and to the esteemed judges for their recognition.” International Checkout was a finalist in the Best Overall Company of the Year and Most Innovative Company of the Year. Flight: TWC Aviation Inc. earned an NBAA Commercial Business Flying Safety Award for its exceptional safe flying operations. The air charter and aircraft management firm operated for more than 26,000 hours in 11 accident free years. Six TWC Aviation employees also earned NBAA Flying Safety Awards: Greg Paxson, director of maintenance; Cherie Hecker, assistant director of operations; Lori Spevak, lead flight coordinator; Natalie Villareal, flight coordinator; Lauren Bennett, flight coordinator; and Mei Lan Wong, compliance specialist. SANTA CLARITA VALLEY Santa Clarita Succeed: CareerCampSCV will take place on July 16 at College of the Canyons to help adults build or improve their career. The event is hosted by the school’s career center and organized and led by the attendees. This is the second year the camp has come to Santa Clarita. Co-chairman Douglas Welch founded a similar event in Los Angeles last year and found that providing career assistance can be uplifting for the attendees. “They might be struggling with unemployment or underemployment, but CareerCamp is one day when they can take control of their future,” Welch said. CareerCampSCV is free and takes place from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Registration is required at http://careercampscv.wordpress.com — Compiled by Mark R. Madler