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Dr. Laura's Coming to Town
Three years ago, the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in La Jolla created the San Diego Jewish Book Fair to heighten local exposure of Jewish culture. The fair offers lectures on various topics, including politics, religion, history and women's issues. Guest authors from across the country speak about their works, ranging from children's stories to fiction to historical essays.
This year’s program, from Nov. 14 to 17, will feature national figures such as radio talk show host Laura Schlessinger, who will discuss moral standards in society today. Thomas Cahill will discuss his "Gifts of the Jews," which explores ancient nomadic Jews' contributions to current laws and customs. Not to be missed is San Diego author Yaacov S. Lieberman, who will read from his memoir "My China." Lieberman's Russian-Jewish parents fled anti-Semitic Europe between the two world wars, settling in eastern China. His autobiography provides a history of the small Jewish communities that arose in the East from this migration, his own activism and the first Chinese Jewish exodus to Israel.
The fair has a book sale, a photo display and more than a dozen lectures. For a list of speakers and a complete schedule of events, call the JCC at (619) 457-3161.
— Colleen Phillips
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New Training For Event Managers
Nervous about planning that big company event? The University of San Diego this month starts a new certificate program in event management that is expected to draw students from around the globe. "The field is coming into its own," says Jodi Waterhouse, USD's manager of corporate and professional programs in continuing education. "Corporations and other groups realize there is a lot of professionalism involved in creating a special event. It’s much more than party planning."
USD is partnering with George Washington University, which created its own program in 1995 and has since credentialed hundreds of professionals from around the world. "Why reinvent the wheel?" says Waterhouse. "By partnering with GWU, we can take advantage of their experience, saving time and money." GWU's program is the brainchild of Joe Goldblatt, often considered the "father of event management," who organized major events, including inaugurals for the Reagan and Bush administrations, as well as the gala that opened Donald Trump's Taj Mahal casino and hotel in Atlantic City. Goldblatt will be in San Diego Nov. 18 and 19 to kick off USD's program, which consists of four core courses in event management, along with three electives. The first 10-hour course starts this month. For more information, call (619) 260-4231.
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When Banks Are Merging, Kicklighter Gets A Call
Kurt Kicklighter
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Of the five mergers this year involving San Diego banks, Kurt Kicklighter, a partner in Higgs, Fletcher & Mack, has been the attorney behind the scenes handling four, the exception being Peninsula Bank's merger with Western Bancorp. Kicklighter represented FP Bancorp and its subsidiary First Pacific National Bank in its $110 million acquisition in May by Zions Bancorp. In February, Kicklighter represented Bank of Commerce in its $35 million acquisition of Rancho Vista National Bank that closed in May.
Kicklighter also represented Pacific Commerce Bank, which was acquired by Scripps Bank for $25 million in a deal announced in February and being finalized this month. Finally, Kicklighter represented Palomar Savings and Loan Association when it was acquired by Community West Bancshares. The deal is expected to close by year’s end.
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Bank merger and acquisition work is highly specialized. In addition to the typical information involved with an acquisition, banking transactions bring an overlay of peculiar regulatory and specific banking business issues. To deal with these, bankers tend to look for attorneys who have a specialty in representing the industry. Kicklighter says personally knowing the appropriate regulator helps, too.
Two additional issues peculiar to the banking industry include whether both institutions have good Community Reinvestment Act records (in each of the above-mentioned transactions the institutions did), and whether both institutions are Year 2000 compliant. Regulators want Year 2000 compliance when a merger is completed.
Although not a glamourous area of the law, Kicklighter calls the merger and acquisition area "meat and potatoes." In addition to bank deals, he has represented clients in the aerospace and high-tech industries. He's proud of the reputation and niche he's developed since coming back to San Diego in February from Los Angeles where he worked for the New York firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. "Just about everyone is happy once these transactions are completed," he says. "As lawyers, we help grow the companies, help them raise capital and then help the people who have founded them retire."
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Software Execs Parade For Dough
The San Diego Software Industry Council paraded 19 up-and-coming companies before 260 investors and executives on Oct. 13, giving company representatives eight minutes each to tell their stories. Items pitched ranged from products designed for recording information on medical transport patients to equipment that mined the Internet for information.
One presenter was BioQ, a start-up located in Downtown San Diego. The company is developing software to help biomedical companies comply with the complicated government requirements and paperwork of drug and medical device development. Its president, chairman and CEO is Howard Asher. He is well-known in his former role as president of Advanced Bioresearch Associates, a clinical research organization that helps biomedical companies complete clinical trials. The company is seeking $1 million.
Another presenter, Golden Hour Data Systems Inc. of Solana Beach, began selling its medical transport software this month, reports Kevin Hutton, the company’s chief executive and former director of Life Flight San Diego. Golden Hour is seeking from $50,000 to $1 million to complete its software and get it to market, a process that’s already beginning.
For more information about presenting companies, call the San Diego Software Industry Council at (760) 930-9163. The group operates a Web site at www.sdsic.org.
Attendance at the conference was higher than last year’s, reports Niki Krutop, chairman of the conference and a partner in the San Diego office of Ernst & Young. Investors weren’t daunted by weaknesses in the stock market and reports of a cooling economy.
"I think investors realize a downturn is the best time to invest in the future companies," Krutop says. "As people are disappointed with the public market stock, there's a lot of money out there that has to have places to go, and T-bills aren’t the place to put your money if you want returns." —- Bradley J. Fikes
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