San Fernando ValleyVAN NUYS Nancy Hoffman Vanyek, chief executive at the Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce, has been recognized as a 2021 Small Business Advocate of the Year. She won the award alongside Murrieta/Wildomar Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Patrick Ellis. During the pandemic year, the two chamber presidents worked to establish the Save Small Business Coalition to lobby for relief. The coalition includes 200 chambers. They also worked with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on passing national relief legislation. “It is an honor to be recognized, especially by our fellow chambers,” Hoffman Vanyek said in a statement. “Patrick and I would not have been successful without our colleagues who are equally passionate and who jumped on board immediately to help find solutions for small businesses.” The Save Small Business Coalition said in a statement that thanks to Hoffman Vanyek and Ellis, the coalition was able to successfully push relief legislation, partner with other business organizations and create America’s Recovery Fund Coalition.
Tri-CitiesBURBANK Backlot Burbank, a 306,224-square-foot creative industrial park with 16 buildings, has signed three tenants in the animation sector, according to brokerage Colliers International. Backlot Burbank is located near the corner of Vanowen Street and North Valley Street in Burbank. Amgi Animation Studios, a full-service animation studio that focuses on story development, design, rendering and audio services, has leased an 18,392-square-foot facility at the complex. Dhar Mann Studios, a content creator that houses directors, writers, videographers and editors, will occupy two buildings with 25,490 and 27,226 square-feet. Together, the leases total 71,108 square feet. Financial terms of the leases were not disclosed. Colliers Executive Vice Presidents David Harding, Greg Geraci, Matt Dierckman and Senior Vice President Billy Walk represented landlord BKM Capital Partners in this transaction. “The entertainment industry is springing back to life post-COIVD,” Geraci said in a statement. “We are thrilled to see these leases come together as TV, movie and other content production companies see an uptick in expansion. Backlot Burbank delivers the perfect environment for creative entertainment space and is the ideal setup for Amgi and Dhar Mann to grow.” Burbank-based marketing agency Counterintuity has acquired the website and app development business of Digital Natives, a 10-year-old New York City-based digital marketing firm. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. As part of its acquisition, Counterintuity now services 16 Digital Natives clients, including Grand Central Terminal, the “I Love New York” campaign, the Louis Armstrong House Museum, the Historic House Trust of New York City and several other nonprofit organizations, government entities and businesses located throughout New York and the United States. “While acknowledging the challenges of the pandemic, we have remained 100 percent focused on our own growth in order to better serve our clients,” Counterintuity Chief Executive Lee Wochner said in a statement. “Securing these new accounts from Digital Natives, as well as their development team, enables us to expand our services to fully match the growing needs of our clients.” Counterintuity, which focuses primarily on governmental and nonprofit clients, also secured a programming development team as part of the deal and is adding specialists to its client strategy team.
Three remaining Disney Stores in the greater San Fernando region are set to close next month, while Target Corp. plans to open more sections in its stores featuring merchandise from the Burbank entertainment studio. The stores at Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks, the Oaks shopping center in Thousand Oaks and the Valencia Town Center in Valencia will close on or before Sept. 15, according to the Disney Store website. The store at the Camarillo Outlet mall will remain open, while the Disney Baby store at the Americana at Brand in Glendale had already closed. In March, Disney announced it would close 60 stores this year to focus on its e-commerce business. At the time of the announcement, Stephanie Young, president of consumer products, games and publishing at Disney, said the global pandemic has changed what consumers expect from a retailer. “Over the past few years, we’ve been focused on meeting consumers where they are already spending their time, such as the expansion of Disney store shop-in-shops around the world,” Young said in a statement. “We now plan to create a more flexible, interconnected e-commerce experience that gives consumers easy access to unique, high-quality products across all our franchises.” Target announced on Aug. 23 that it will expand its partnership with Disney to bring 160 Disney stores to its locations across the country. In 2019, the retailer opened the first 25 Disney stores inside its stores along with an online shop.
GLENDALE Applebee’s announced a partnership with Country music singer Walker Hayes whose viral song “Fancy Like” will promote the chain as perfect for date night. The Glendale-based restaurants owned by Dine Brands Global Inc.
unveiled two television commercials featuring Hayes’ song along with shots of guests dancing. Alongside the new marketing campaign, Applebee’s also announced two new additions to its $5 Mucho Cocktail menu and that it is bringing back the Oreo Cookie Shake. “For years, my wife Laney and I have been regulars at Applebee’s for date night, and I’ve always wanted to write a song about it,” Hayes said in a statement. The song, which features the lyrics “we fancy like Applebee’s on a date night, got that Bourbon Street steak with the Oreo shake,” has gained rapid popularity on TikTok since its release in June, with videos of users dancing to Hayes’ song garnering millions of views. “The response to ‘Fancy Like,’ the dance and the fan love has been a dream come true – plus, Applebee’s even brought back their Oreo Cookie Shake! What’s better than that?” Hayes said in his statement.
Ventura CountyVentura County Public Health has issued a health order requiring individuals to wear face coverings while indoors in public settings, regardless of vaccination status. “As of today, we reached a rate of 28 cases per 100,000, a 40 percent increase. I hope that this order will increase mask usage in Ventura County,” Public Health Officer Dr. Robert Levin said in a statement on Aug. 20. “I expect that this will have a beneficial effect on the increase in COVID-19 infections we are seeing.” According to Ventura County Public Health, the increased levels of community transmission have been in part due to the COVID-19 Delta variant, which is more transmissible than previous forms of COVID-19. “Masking indoors must again become a normal practice by all, regardless of vaccination status, so that we can stop the trends and level of transmission we are currently seeing,” Levin said in a statement before urging all eligible individuals to get vaccinated. The order will be in effect until Sept. 19, or until it is extended, rescinded, superseded or amended.
THOUSAND OAKS Amgen Inc. will require that all employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Nov. 1, the Thousand Oaks company announced earlier this week. The requirement covers both field and remote staff in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. “One of our Amgen Values is to Be Science-Based,” Amgen stated in its COVID-19 FAQ page. “The scientific evidence overwhelmingly shows that widespread vaccination is the most effective measure to protect our staff, our families and our communities from serious illness and limit the spread of COVID-19.” According to Amgen, most of its employees have already received their vaccinations. The biotech giant’s vaccination requirement will not apply to staff residing in jurisdictions where it is prohibited by law. Reasonable accommodation will be given to those who are unable to receive the vaccine due to qualifying religious or medical reasons. Amgen’s employee number sits at 24,300 as of May according to Forbes.
AROUND THE VALLEYS
