Valley Briefs

Valley Briefs On Assignment Falters Greater San Fernando Valley-based companies typically don’t make big, national lists due to their size, but one such firm had the dubious distinction of landing on a CNBC stock list recently. On Assignment Inc., the temporary help agency specializing in healthcare, found its way onto a list of the 50 worst performing stocks of the year. On Assignment, based in Calabasas, has logged a 36.6 percent decline in its share price for the past 52-week period, making it number 29 on the CNBC list. The stock has been trading in the low $5 range. With stocks beginning to trend upward, On Assignment is also the worst performing stock in the Valley 50 Stock Index. Of the 50 companies on the Valley’s index, only six other stocks have registered declines in the 52-week period. The others are: 3D Systems Corp., California Amplifier Inc., Chad Therapeutics Inc., Qualstar Corp., Salem Communications Corp. and TDK Mediactive. Trade Confab Set The date has been set for the 2003 International Trade Conference, presented by the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, The Valley International Trade Association, the Port of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles World Airports. The annual event, now in its fifth year, will be held Friday, October 24 at the Hilton Universal City & Towers hotel in Universal City from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets for the event are $75 ($60 for students with current ID) and include parking, breakfast, lunch and materials. The theme for this year’s conference is “Identifying Opportunities in Emerging Markets.” Breakout sessions will include topics on: Obtaining Finance and Credit; Doing Business in Asia; Doing Business with the European Union, and Logistics & Supplied Chain Security. To register online, go to www.economicalliance.org, or call the Alliance at (818) 379-7000. Vendare Acquisition The Vendare Group, a Sherman Oaks-based Internet advertising services provider, has acquired TrafficMarketplace, an Internet-based advertising distribution network. The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, will allow Vendare to offer advertisers placement with a large database of Internet publishers. It is part of a continuing effort to integrate a variety of online advertising services under the Vendare umbrella. Vendare, which also operates websites such as Jackpot.com, uses a performance-based model that sets advertising costs based upon the number of responses the pop-up ads elicit. TrafficMarketplace had been a unit of VUNet USA, which, in turn, was a division of Vivendi Universal. Telecom Entry XO Communications, a Reston, Va.-based broadband communications service provider, has opened a Woodland Hills office. The company currently operates in some 60 markets throughout the U.S. The privately-held company reported revenues of $283.9 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2003. That compares with revenues of $325.5 million for the comparable period last year.