Visit Our Website

NewsletterMay - June 2017 Highlights

Valley Stars recognized at 20th Annual Gala & AwardsCeremony on June 3rdSan Fernando Valley stars were recognized and awarded for business, leadership andentertainment at The Valley Economic Alliance's 20th Annual Valley of the Stars Galaand Awards Ceremony on Saturday, June 3rd at The Collection at Galpin Auto Sports.

The 2017 "Star of the Valley" award recipients were;

Jane Boeckmann - Business Award. Jane has contributed countless hours to thedevelopment and support of numerous community projects and programs. Atouching video presentation highlighted Jane's compassion and humanitarianism.Jane was the publisher of Valley magazine, a pilot, and is the co-owner of GalpinMotors. She currently works alongside her husband as Corporate Secretary forGalpin Motors, Inc.Marianne Haver Hill - Leadership Award. Marianne is the new Executive Director ofPROPEL LA, the countrywide strategic plan for economic development, housed atthe Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC). She waspreviously the President and CEO of Meet Each Need for Dignity for 29 years, the

largest poverty relief agency serving 40,000 people per month in the San FernandoValley. Marianne stressed the importance of community, leadership and serviceduring her acceptance speech. Bob Miller - Arts and Entertainment Award. Hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster whoretired in March 2017 after 44 years as the Voice of the Los Angeles Kings. Heworked the first 17 years simulcast on TV and radio and the last 27 years as theexclusive television voice of the team.

Bill Allen, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Los Angeles Economic DevelopmentCorporation and first CEO of The Valley Economic Alliance was the Gala's Master ofCeremonies. Guests enjoyed hors d'oeuvres, beautiful classic cars, a sushi bar, seafood display,carving station, mashed potato martini bar, dessert, cocktails, and live music provided byLos Angeles Valley College's Roberto Gutierrez and band, OSTIA.

Special guests included United States Congressman Brad Sherman, California SenatorBob Hertzberg, City of Calabasas Mayor pro Tem, Fred Gaines, City of Los AngelesCouncilmember Bob Blumenfield, City of Glendale Councilmember Ara Najarian, City ofBurbank Councilmember Bob Frutos, and City of San Fernando Councilmember JoelFajardo.

Platinum event sponsors were Galpin Motors and Wells Fargo Bank. Gold sponsors wereChase Bank and Southland Regional Association of Realtors, Inc. Silver sponsors were BillAllen, City of Burbank, City of Glendale, California State University Northridge and LAEDC.Bronze Sponsors were Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Express EmploymentProfessionals, US Bank, David Fleming, and Los Angeles Community College District.

Photo 1: From left; President & CEO of The Valley Economic Alliance, Bob Miller, JaneBoeckmann, Marianne Haver Hill, and Bill Allen. Photo 2: 2017 Star of the Valley honorees with their spouses. Photo 3: Honorees with the Star of the Valley award. Photo 4: Business honoree Jane Boeckmann.

Photo credit: Chasing Pleasures Fine Art Photography

San Fernando Valley Schools, Educators and Studentsrecognized at Economic Alliance Board MeetingSan Fernando Valley schools, educators and students, who have recently received nationaleducation recognition, were recognized and awarded at the 17th Annual Steve Allen"Excellence in Education" Awards on May 18th at The Valley Economic Alliance (TVEA) Boardof Governors meeting.

Steve Allen"Excellence inEducation" Awardrecipients include: LosAngeles ValleyCollege Speech &Debate Teamwho received a Bronzemedal, 3 individualgolds, 1 individualsilver medal and 12individual bronzemedals at the Phi RhoPi National SpeechCompetition. North HollywoodHigh School's Team

Togo won the national cyber security championship competition. Tasks at the competitionincluded safeguarding a computer system against a team of professional hackers working againstthem in real time. Erica Rood is a 3rd grade teacher at Chime Institute's Schwarzenegger Community School inWoodland Hills who received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and ScienceTeaching from President Barack Obama. The GranadaHills CharterHigh School'sAcademicDecathlonteam won itsthird UnitedStates AcademicDecathlon title ina row. It's theteam's sixthnational titlesince 2011. Thecompetitionincludesmultiple-choiceexams in eachsubject, essays,speeches, and afast-paced Super Quiz relay. This year's topic was World War II.

California State

University,Northridge'ssenior levelmechanicalengineeringstudents came infirst overall at the2017 AmericanSociety ofMechanicalEngineers' HumanPowered VehicleChallenge (HPVC) forthe second year in arow. Each team in theHPVC presented anoriginally designedhuman-poweredvehicle that was

judged for design, workmanship and innovation.

The "Business and Education Partnership" Award is presented to an outstanding businessin the community that has partnered with a San Fernando Valley School. This year's award waspresented to Northrop Grumman Corporation for their partnership with LAUSD, Reseda HighSchool's Navy Junior Reserves Officers' Training Corps team. The "Champion of Education" Award recognizes individuals and/or organizations who havededicated their lives to improving education. These individuals are creative and passionateleaders that have influenced positive change in the academic community to improve the lives ofchildren and their families. This year's recipient was Bernardine S. Pregerson. Pregerson hasspent the last 42 years as a professor of biology at Los Angeles Pierce College and CSUN. The "Innovation in Education" Award recognizes outstanding educational leaders for theirinnovative use of the arts in the classroom and community. This year's recipient was Dr. MichaelE. Spagna, Dean of Michael D. Eisner College of Education at CSUN. Dr. Spagna is responsiblefor positioning the public college to produce the largest number of educators anywhere in thenation.

View more photos here.

TVEA's Women's Collaborative Mentoring Program launchedat CA Women's ConferenceThe Valley Economic Alliance launched it's Women's Collaborative Mentoring Program(WCMP) at the Speed Mentoring Event at the 30th Annual California Women's Conference(CWC) on May 10th at the Long Beach Convention Center! This year the CWC introduced a special breakout session focused on the importance of mentoring.The mentoring session included a panel discussion followed by speed mentoring lead by theWomen's Collaborative Mentoring Program.

WCMP gathered leaders from 100 top independent businesses and Entrepreneur TrainingPrograms to mentor women entrepreneurs focused on growing their business. Mentors came fromSBDC, SCORE, SBA, WBC, Business Source Centers, LAEDC, TVEA, An Empowered Woman,Women's Business Momentum Center, Solutions by Madelon Incorporated, and more. The mentoring session included a panel discussion with Founder of An Empowered Woman,Desiree Doubrox; Sales Trainer of Soul Notes and Consultant with Thinking Into Results, BarbaraDaoust; Founder of Women's Business Momentum Center, Marianne Emma Jeff; Founder of TheImageN Group, Angelica Urquijo, and Founder of Thrive Entrepreneurs, Naja Hayward.

Visit www.thewcmp.com to learn more.

In The NewsFix for Bedsores By San Fernando Valley Business Journal

Medical Device : Lift prevents pain for patients, caregivers

Margarita Clement came to the United States from Aruba to pursue a career in nursing.However, once she started working at a local hospital, paralysis in her left hand that haddeveloped during childhood prevented her from lifting and turning patients properly. Then after herAmerican mentor and father gure fell ill, she was faced with a similar problem in caring for him.So she developed a product to better move patients and protect caregivers. Now, she is launchinga company, The BuddyGuard Corporation of Sherwood Forest, to bring her invention to themasses.

The Boemba, as she calls it, is alift sling used to move wheelchair-bound and bedridden patients. Itdifferentiates itself from other slingson the market by helping tominimize bedsores and provide asafer way of transferring patients.The product incorporates ananotechnology fabric that offersanti-microbial, anti-bacterial andmoisture-resistant properties,providing added comfort, drynessand sanitary conditions. It comeswith a pouch on the inside of theleg to hide a catheter as well as alog that attaches to the sling torecord when a patient has beenturned.

Bedsore problem Pressure ulcers, also known asbedsores, are "wounds caused byunrelieved pressure on the skin,"according to the Centers forDisease Control and Prevention ofAtlanta. The government agencystates that pressure ulcers remaina big problem in nursing homeswith 2 to 28 percent of nursinghome residents suffering from theinjury. To prevent bedsores, animmobile patient must be turnedconstantly, which can be difficult fornurses due to the weight of thepatient.

Larona Taylor, a safe-patient-handling program manager forWestwood-based UCLA Health,said to minimize instances of pressure ulcers, it's important to inspect and monitor the patient'sskin, keep the skin dry and use air mattresses to distribute the weight. "It's a balancing actbetween making sure the patient has proper care, and the staff is at low risk for injury," sheadded.

Clement developed Boemba specifically to prevent bedsores. "It (pressure ulcers) is an $11billion industry, and it all can be prevented," she said. "The device is a win-win for caregivers andpatients." She launched BuddyGuard in 2014. During the first couple of years, she searched forthe perfect material to make the device, worked on U.S. Food and Drug Administration approvaland ensured coverage by Medicare, Medi-Cal and most major insurance carriers.

To get FDA approval, Clement decided not to hire a lawyer. She went to her local library,researched the patent process and funded the endeavor herself. Initially, Clement spent $50,000of her own money on getting the patent and starting the company, which has grown to aninvestment of $200,000. Medicare and insurance approval for reimbursement was a separateprocess altogether that differed by payer type, meaning each insurance company and governmententity had different hoops to jump through. But insurance reimbursement is key to a product'ssuccess and adoption rate, thus the company made sure to secure an 80-to-20 split, where theinsurer pays 80 percent and the patient 20.

In the product development process, the Boemba went through five generations before reaching afinal design. It is currently manufactured in Los Angeles. BuddyGuard markets the device tonursing homes, home health care providers and hospice caregivers. The company believes if thefacilities are aware of the Boemba's benefits, they will request the doctor's prescription on aresident's behalf, knowing it will help the patient and care team. After the prescription is obtained,the device is assembled - as they are custom-fitted - packaged and delivered to the care facility.

Now, the company's focus is scaling the product, which will incorporate an education andawareness component. BuddyGuard is getting the word out via networking and attending healthcare events, like the recent HealthX organized by The Valley Economic Alliance in ShermanOaks. In addition, it is looking to increase its number of distributors and salespeople to supportmarketing efforts. The company is currently in talks with distributors in major coastal cities andhopes to work its way into the central part of the country as demand increases.

Read Full.

Source: Stephanie Henkel, Staff Reporter, San Fernando Valley Business Journal Volume 22, Number 10, May 15-May 28

The Sky is the Limit for students at Aviation Career DayThe Valley EconomicAlliance haspartnered with VanNuys Airport (VNY)

for 12 years topresent "The Sky'sthe Limit - AviationCareer Day." Over1,200 students metwith industryprofessionals toexplore aviationcareers at the annualevent at the VanNuys Airport's ClayLacy Hangar on May19th.

Kenn Phillips,President and CEOof TVEA deliveredwelcome remarks aswell as TVEABoardmember DianaSanchez, Public and Community Relations Director of VNY.

For the first time, the event featured a panel of industry professionals speaking on "How to Enter aCareer in Aviation," based on personal experience. The panel, led by Curt Castagna, Presidentand Chief Executive Officer of Aeroplex/Aerolease Group featured:

Joe Barber, Clay Lacy (Business Development)Samantha Butero, Tron Air Sales Director (Manufacturing)Christian Moreno, Chief of Airport Operations (VNY)Niall Mulcahy, Station Manager Signature Flight Support (FBO)Chris Nielsen, Global Pilot Avalon (Pilot)Jason Price, Owner Mach 1 (Flight School)Tony Russo, Manager Duncan Avionics (Avionics)

Students in attendance were also provided a behind the scenes airport tour, took part in interactiveexhibits and viewed aircraft displays including an F-18, Condor Squadron's AT-6, the Los AngelesFire Department Air Rescue Unit and met Airport Police and Airport Operations personnel. View more photos here.

Out and About

The Valley EconomicAlliance's AcceleratorProgram members andC-Level Roundtable

members with sponsorDonald Kincey, SeniorVice President ofComerica Bank.

The United Chambers ofCommerce hosted theirThird Annual InspirationalWomen of the SanFernando Valley Awards& Luncheon on May 4th atWoodland Hills Hilton.

5 inspirational women wereawarded for theircommitment and service toour communities. Photo fromleft: Marisa Hamamoto ofInfinite Flow, RebeccaLienhard with Tierra del SolFoundation, Barri Worth

Girvan of California State Senator Bob Hertzberg's team, Georgia Van Cuylenurg of Arts Bridgingthe Gap and Marlene Harrison with Concepts for Living.

Kenn Phillips helped the Miller Careerand Transition Center 's, Center forAdvanced Transition Skills (CATS)Program students at Los AngelesMission College with their mockinterviews on May 5th.

These students all have special needsand are in the CATS program to learnjob skills, how to ride a bus, have aninternship related to their field of interest,independent living skills, and a collegeexperience.

Carmen Bowen andthe ConcordeCollege team visitedthe DIY Girls fromSan Fernando High

School on May 4th todeliver a $1,000donation, backpacksand travel cases fortheir trip to the MIT'sEureka Festcompetition with theirsolar powered tent forthe homeless.

The San Fernando Valley RescueMission and Councilmember MitchellEnglander hosted an ExecutiveChamber Mixer and launch of the250LA Campaign on May 25th at theMission's homeless shelter inNorthridge.

The campaign's goal is to rescue 250children and their families from thestreets of Los Angeles this year.

Visitsfvrescuemission.org/donate/250la todonate and join the 250LA team.

Diego Paz and Ben Lukerfrom High Tech LApresenting theirexperience as interns atTVEA.

Senior students presentedhow they contributed andwhat they learned on May23rd. Attendees includedemployers, students andparents.

The Valley Economic Alliance | 818-379-7000 | information@economicalliance.org |www.thevalley.net

Your Success Is Our Business!Your Success Is Our Business!TM

The mission of The Valley Economic Alliance is to elevate the economic vitality of our five-city region by

assisting the San Fernando Valley in business, education, & government.

STAY CONNECTED: