Canyon Country · Newhall · Saugus · Valencia · Stevenson Ranch · Castaic · Agua Dulce
SANTA CLARITA VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL www.scvbj.com
$2.00 · Volume 7 · Number 10
february 2016
Scorpion Rebrands and Seeks Larger Building Page 4
■ MTS Healthcare CEO James Deck (left) and marketing specialist Gary Jacobs stand in their temporary office in Valencia. Photo by Katharine Lotze.
IT Healthcare Firm Launches with Perfect Timing By Jana Adkins SCVBJ Editor
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f all goes well with lease negotiations this year, MTS Healthcare of Pasadena is planning to move its entire staff to Santa Clarita so that it can expand its work force, said its founder. Providing IT support to medical groups for the myriad medical software See MTS, page 6
■ Scorpion executive team members from left, Corey Quinn - Chief Marketing Officer, Jeffrey Kretz - Chief of Technology Officer, Rustin Kretz - Chief Executive Officer, Jamie Adams - Chief Revenue Officer, Eric R. Reuveni - Client Experience Officer, Dan Bedell - Chief Operating Officer, Michael A. Sauer - Chief Legal Officer, Matthew Shepherd - Chief Financial Officer. Photo by Dan Watson.
Sunkist: Profile of a Growers Cooperative
Refrigerated Door Company Relocates to Santa Clarita
By Jana Adkins
By Jana Adkins SCVB Editor
SCVBJ Editor Q&A with Santa Clarita-based Sunkist Growers Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer Russ Hanlin. The 123-year citrus growers cooperative, representing family farms, announced it was relocating to Valencia at 27770 N. Entertainment Drive in August 2014 after being based in Sherman Oaks for more than four decades. The cooperative offers more than 40 fresh citrus products. In October 2015 it launched a brand new website, giving Sunkist the ability to connect with consumers and trade audiences on a new platform. The SCVBJ asked Hanlin how the cooperative operates and benefits growers, to which he replied to our questions via email. SCVBJ: Sunkist was first formed in 1893? What was the basis of the founding? Russ Hanlin: Sunkist was formed in 1893 on the principle that a cooperative of growers together can do many things that a grower alone cannot afford to do. This foundation remains true today, from accessing the international market, promoting a brand name, leveraging a global transportation system, employing comprehensive research capabilities or gaining governmental access to overseas markets – being part of the Sunkist
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■ Sunkist courtesy photo.
cooperative allows our growers to thrive by going to market as a group. SCVBJ: How/Why did Sunkist select Valencia for its headquarters when it moved? Hanlin: In the past few years we have made significant advances on key strategic initiatives to position Sunkist for long-term growth and profitability. Our move was part of that strategy. Relocating our headquarters was a business decision to bring our operations closer to our growers, the heart of our business, while keeping our current employee base intact. The local community has been very welcoming during the entire process, and we are proud to welcome our business partners from all over the world to Sunkist’s new See NAME, page 17
fter 14 years of operation in San Fernando, CDS Doors LLC is relocating to Santa Clarita to accommodate the firm’s ongoing growth. Manufacturers of cooler and freezer glass display doors for refrigerated displays in supermarkets, convenience stores and the like, CDS Doors purchased a nearly 50,000 square foot building on Sierra Highway in Canyon Country, formerly occupied by Morton Manufacturing. “It was always a goal of ours to be able to own a facility in order to be able to be self-sufficient. We’ve come to the point in our business where we’ve outgrown our current facility in San Fernando,” said co-owner Fernando Calderon. “We saved as much as we could to purchase a building and saved enough money to use as a down payment. The timing (on this building) just happened to work out.”
■ The former Morton Manufacturing building. Google photo.
Founded in 2002 by three partners with combined decades of experience in the design, engineering and manufacturing of refrigerated glass doors, Calderon, Tim Karnes and Duane Beswick spent their first years in business conducting exhaustive research and development before producing their first doors See CDS DOORS, page 8
Contractor Buys Building He Constructed and Sold 10 Years Ago By Jana Adkins SCVBJ Editor
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he builder who constructed the Westridge Executive Plaza on The Old Road in Santa Clarita and then sold it in December 2005, bought it back 10 years later, in the first week of December 2015. Constructed by Dale Donohoe of Valencia-based Intertex Properties, the property
was built in 2003 and finished in 2004 or 2005, Donohoe said. At one time the 64,388 square foot building was leased to Pardee Homes. They had 10,000 square feet on the ground floor before the housing market crashed. Major tenants that remain in the building today are Realty Executives and Wells Fargo. The Newport-Beach based company, however, offered it as a Tenants-in-Common See WESTRIDGE, page 10
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