16 LOS ANGELES BUSINESS JOURNAL NEWS & ANALYSIS JANUARY 25, 2016

CONSTRUCTION

Construction industry veteran JeffM. Bernards has joined SharpeInterior Systems, an establisheddrywall contractor, as ExecutiveVice President where he willcontribute executive leadership andcontinuity to Sharpe’s reputationfor delivering high quality service.Current projects include KaiserWoodland Hills, Waldorf AstoriaBeverly Hills, 1200 Figueroa,

WeWorks, and Henry Mayo Newhall MemorialHospital.

Bernards

ARCHITECTURE

Harley EllisDevereaux (HED)appoints SeanBani as Principal,ElectricalEngineeringLeader, andDouglasKeys, AIA, asPrincipal, ProjectManagement.Bani will oversee and manage the technical discipline inthe Los Angeles office. Keys will lead the overall projectmanagement activities for the Los Angeles office.

Bani Keys

Hirings, awards, promotions and special accomplishments in local businessPeople on the Move

Advertising Feature

Contact Rosz Murray323.549.5225 ext. 215

rmurray@socalbusinessjournals.com

ARCHITECTURE

P+R ARCHITECTS WELCOMES TODD PILGREEN TO SHANGHAI OFFICE AS GENERAL MANAGER

P+R Architects, a full-serviceinternational architecture firm, ispleased to welcome Todd Pilgreen, AIA to their Shanghai office asGeneral Manager. Todd is responsiblefor developing new businessstrategies to proactively position and

strengthen the P+R brand within the Asian market, aswell as overall leadership for the Shanghai office.

Todd possesses over seven years of experience livingand working in Shanghai, bringing with him profoundbusiness and leadership acumen. “Todd is a well-rounded architect, a talented designer and an inspiringleader. He is an excellent addition to our firm. We areexcited to gain a trusted partner who will leverage ourbrand and strategic endeavors in our Shanghai office,”said Principal / Chief Operating Officer, Brad Williams.“His drive, enthusiasm and background in architecturewill play a major role in our firm as we continue to growand evolve in the Asian Market.”

Pilgreen

ARCHITECTURE

JOHNSON FAIN recognizes thefollowing individuals for theirleadership, accomplishments andcommitment to the progressivevalues of the firm. Steve H. Chung, RA, LEED AP has been appointedto Associate Principal and thefollowing individuals have beenpromoted to Associate: HyeyoonChung, RA, LEED AP; Edwin Fang, LEED AP; John Jackson, Jeffrey

Levy, LEED AP and Alex Pijuan. JOHNSON FAIN, anarchitecture, urban design + planning and interiordesign firm, is well-known for the design of a widerange of projects both locally and abroad.

Chung

ACCOUNTING

Matt Cochran, CPA, was namedan audit manager of LucasHorsfall, according to Mike Amerio,managing partner. Cochranholds a bachelor’s degree withconcentrations in accounting,finance and marketing fromMarquette University. Lucas Horsfallis one of the largest accountingand business consulting firms inSouthern California.

Cochran

WAGE INCREASE: TheLong Beach City Council hasvoted to raise the minimumwage to $13 an hour and cre-ated a pathway to $15 anhour. The 6-2 decision fol-lowed two hours of testimonyfrom workers and communitymembers and another hour ofdebate by council members.The city will raise the mini-mum wage incrementally to$13 an hour by 2019. Afterthat, a study will be conduct-ed on if the higher minimumwage helped or hurt the econ-omy and whether the wageshould be raised to $15.

RATE HIKES:Commissioners of the LosAngeles Department ofWater and Power have unani-mously endorsed a proposalfor power rate increases.

Under the proposal, the aver-age monthly increase in thepower rate for residentialcustomers would increaseapproximately $1.17, or 1.56percent, each year for fiveyears. That would result in a$5.85 average monthlyincrease for those using atypical amount of energy(500 kilowatt-hours a month)at the end of the period. Theproposed hikes will soonhead to the City Council forconsideration.

UBER ARRIVAL: Aftermonths of negotiations, driv-ers for UberX, Uber’s low-est-cost ride service, beganpicking up travelers at LosAngeles InternationalAirport last week. Thearrival of UberX is a mile-stone as city officials work to

provide additional servicesand convenience at LAX.Pickups by transportationnetwork companies wereallowed after a policy devel-opment process that includedinput from stakeholders suchas passengers, neighborhoodgroups, transportation net-work companies themselves,taxicab and limo businessesas well as disability and envi-ronmental advocates.

CHARGED UP: SouthernCalifornia Edison plans toinstall 1,500 charging sta-tions for electric carsthroughout SouthernCalifornia. The utilityreceived regulatory approvalfrom the California PublicUtilities Commission lastweek for a $22 million pilotprogram aimed at installingstations at locations wherecars are parked for extendedperiods of time, such asworkplaces, school campus-es, recreational areas and res-idential complexes. The utili-ty will install and maintainthe supporting electricalinfrastructure but participat-

ing property owners willown, operate and maintainthe charging stations.

TACKLING STADIUM:Los Angeles Rams ownerStan Kroenke has set out toborrow roughly $1 billionfrom JPMorgan Chase &Co. to finance his planned sta-dium project in Inglewood,according to the Los AngelesTimes. The amount is one ofthe largest stadium loans everextended by a financial institu-tion. The loan would be madeto the new stadium’s operatingcompany, not to Kroenke him-self, according to the story.The deal would be a big winfor JPMorgan as the lenderhad largely been shut out ofrecent big stadium financings.The Inglewood stadium isscheduled to open in 2019.

NETFLIX SURGES:Entertainment juggernautNetflix is growing into amuch feared force inHollywood. The Los AngelesTimes reported last week thatrapid expansion from a per-ceived minor player to a major

threat to the status quo hasstruck fear into the rest of theindustry. The Los Gatos firmevolved from a video rentalbusiness to a streaming serviceto go-to destination for mil-lions of viewers (an estimated70 million subscribers in near-ly 200 countries) that gener-ates award-winning contentfor both its digital streamingservice and theatrical releases.

WAL-MART DOWN-SIZES: Wal-Mart StoresInc. will close 269 of its storesglobally, including 154 in theUnited States and nine inCalifornia. About 1,780employees will lose their jobsin the state, including 1,040 inLos Angeles County, the LosAngeles Times reported.According to the outlet, Wal-Mart plans to reposition itselfand open more than 140 storesnationwide in the next year aswell as open or expand ninestores in California.

LICENSING DEAL:Online music service-stream-ing site SoundCloud hasreached a licensing deal with

Universal Music Group,allowing the record labelgiant to collect revenue fromthe streaming site, the LosAngeles Times reported lastweek. SoundCloud alsoannounced it would begin tointroduce subscription servic-es in the United States andabroad later this year. Thedeal allows SoundCloud fullaccess to Universal’s catalog,which includes U2, KatyPerry, Kanye West, SamSmith and the Weeknd.

MALL SALE: WarnerPlaza, a Woodland Hills shop-ping center with about115,000 square feet of retailspace, has been sold in a non-cash deal worth $76.3 million.Seller Plaza International, aprivate company that ownedthe asset for 41 years, sold itto San Diego-based REITRetail OpportunityInvestment Corp. inexchange for shares. Becausethe deal, known as an umbrel-la partnership real estateinvestment trust, or UPREIT,involves no cash, it qualifiesfor favorable tax treatment.

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Uber Arrival: LAX pickup. Netflix Surges: Content king. Licensing Deal: Katy Perry.

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