CANADIAN FIRM SNAGS AIRPORT PROJECT



SACRAMENTO – 08/11/08 – Canadian transportation multi-national Bombardier has snagged a $29.8 million contract to design, supply and install an automated people mover system at Sacramento International Airport; the automatic train system will transport airline passengers between a ticket terminal and security checkpoints and airline gates at a new Terminal B and, eventually, to Terminal A.

LOMBARD INVESTS $15 MIL IN TAIWAN MANUFACTURER


SAN FRANCISCO – 07/11/08 – Bay Area-based Lombard Investments Inc.
has said it will invest $15 million in Taiwan-based San Shing Fastech
Corporation, a major manufacturer of high quality automotive fastener systems; San Shing said it will use the proceeds to expand its product line and enter new markets.

SECTOR 9 ACQUIRED BY AUSTRALIAN COMPANY


SAN DIEGO – 07/03/08 – Sector 9, a major player in the international skateboard industry, has been acquired by Australia-based Billabong International; the US skateboard company, founded in 1994, is considered a market leader in the design and manufacture of long boards – a niche segment within the skateboard market.

PACER EXPANDS SO CAL CAPACITY


CONCORD – 06/10/08 – Logistics provider Pacer International has expanded its warehouse operations in Southern California with the lease of a new 194,000 square foot warehouse facility in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson; the move gives Pacer subsidiary, Pacer Distribution Services (PDS), more than 800,000 square feet of warehouse capacity at its Southern California campus.

DEERE ACQUIRES T-SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL


SAN DIEGO – 05/30/08 – Agricultural equipment giant Deere & Company has completed its acquisition of T-Systems International, Inc., the San Diego-based manufacturer and seller of products with a variety of applications in the agricultural, nursery, landscape, mining, and greenhouse industry sectors; T-Systems currently operates manufacturing facilities in both Australia and France.

LAMBORGHINI VROOMS INTO CALIFORNIA


SANTA MONICA – 05/05/08 – Automobili Lamborghini America LLC, the newly-formed US subsidiary of Italian auto icon Lamborghini, has said it will base its US operations in the Southern California city of Santa Monica; the decision was largely based on the fact that California generates about one-third of Lamborghini's total North American sales, according to auto industry media sources.

VULCAN PLANT RECEIVES ISO 14001 CERTIFICATION


IRWINDALE – 04/03/08 – The Geneva, Switzerland-headquartered International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has granted the Vulcan Materials Company - Western Division official ISO 14001 environmental management systems certification; the plant, which produces both hot mix asphalt and aggregate products, is the first of its kind in California to achieve the global certification.

CALIFORNIA WINE EXPORTS SURGE IN 2007


SAN FRANCISCO – 03/21/08 – California wines set a record for overseas sales revenue last year with about a fifth of the state’s bottled wine shipments headed to overseas markets; according to the San Francisco-based Wine Institute, the state currently produces about 95% of US wine exports, which rose nearly 9% to $951 million last year.

DISNEY TO TEAM WITH JAPANESE PARTNERS


BURBANK – 03/08/08 – The Walt Disney Co. says it will team up with several Japanese companies to produce animated features targeting Asian markets; a leading Japanese paper reports that the entertainment giant’s Tokyo-based Japanese unit will work independently with Toei Animation, Madhouse and Jinni Animation – three of Japan’s largest animation houses – on separate projects as part of the deal.

MILES ELECTRIC VEHICLES INKS EU DEAL


SANTA MONICA – 02/07/08 – Miles Electric Vehicles has completed its first international distribution agreement with AllGreenVehicles of the Netherlands; The deal will create a joint venture bring the Southern California-based manufacturer's line of low speed, all electric vehicles to distributors in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

BAY AREA GLOBAL AIR FREIGHT FALLS


SAN FRANCISCO – 01/07/08 – Exports declined at the three airports in the San Francisco Bay Area in the third quarter; export value through San Francisco International Airport fell approximately 5%, according to a report from the Bay Area World Trade Center cited recently in Air Cargo Magazine.

FRANCE TAKES eBAY TO COURT


SAN JOSE – 12/21/07 – Online auctioneer eBay is being taken to court by the French government, which is charging that the company doesn’t do enough to protect consumers; the company should be held to the same standards as other auction houses in France, according to the state Council of Sales.

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