Biz Briefs Compiled by Camas Frank

French Hospital Medical Center (FHMC), received the “Patient Safety Excellence Award” from Healthgrades. In 2016, there were 466 hospitals across the nation that achieved Healthgrades’ Excellence Awards. “This distinction is a testament to French Hospital Medical Center’s ongoing commitment to providing high-quality care and excellence in patient safety,” said Alan Iftiniuk, president and CEO at French. “The Patient Safety Excellence Award further exemplifies our dedication to exceptional clinical standards in patient care.” Award recipients were determined by evaluating the occurrence of observed incidents and expected performance for 14 “patient safety indicators,” as defined by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. “Our analysis reveals that patient safety is strongly associated with high quality care, so it is vitally important to choose a hospital that performs well on these key indicators,” said Evan Marks, chief strategy officer, Healthgrades. Healthgrades is a U.S. Internet company that provides information about some 3 million physicians, hospitals and health care providers.

Visit San Luis Obispo County will hold its annual San Luis Obispo County Tourism Exchange from 1-5 p.m. Friday, May 6 at the Fremont Theatre in Downtown SLO. Keynote speaker is Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California. Others speakers are: Chuck Davison, president and CEO Visit San Luis Obispo County; Pat Merrill, a partner at Merrill Research; and Brandon Feighner, director CBRE Hotels, Valuation and Advisory Services. A reception will follow at the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Gardens from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The event is free to attend and open to the community. RSVP required email to: [email protected]

The SLO Chamber of Commerce recently welcomed new member, El Matador, with a ribbon cutting ceremony. El Matador is at 1032 Chorro St., in San Luis Obispo. They offer music and food service until 10 p.m., with 10 beers on tap, as well as wine. Their San Luis Obispo location offers the same menu as their other Mexican markets in Paso Robles (La Reyna Market) and Avenal (T&T Market). El Matador is also Downtown on Thursday nights at their Farmers’ Market booth. For more information, see: elmatadorslo.com.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company has donated $20,000 to the Mission Community Services Corporation of San Luis Obispo County, part of the company’s “Better Together Giving Program” that was designed to spur local economic vitality throughout the company’s service territory. PG&E selected the company for its commitment to developing support programs and offering coaching to local entrepreneurs and women-owned business. MCSC plans to increase its business coaching courses and certificate programs with the money, and to offer its programs in both English and Spanish.

Rabobank N.A. has promoted Kimberly Cade to vice president and branch manager at its Morro Bay branch, 251 Harbor St. In her new role, Cade manages personal and business lending and development activities at the branch. Cade brings more than 20 years of banking and financial services experience to the position. Before becoming branch manager, she was a Rabobank business banker. Prior to joining Rabobank, she held business-banking positions at Wells Fargo and Union Bank. An active member of the community, Cade currently serves as president-elect of the Rotary Club of Cayucos-Seaside.

Cal Poly’s Orfalea College of Business has again been named to Bloomberg Businessweek’s list of the nation’s top undergraduate business colleges, moving up 11 spots this year to No. 59 on the list of 114 colleges and universities. Cal Poly is one of only four universities in California to make the list along with UC Berkeley (No. 36), Santa Clara University (No. 51) and University of San Diego (No. 53).  “We are thrilled to see our emphasis on student success and career readiness reflected by positive momentum in the Bloomberg Businessweek’s rankings,” said Scott Dawson, dean of the Orfalea College of Business. For more information, see: www.cob.calpoly.edu.

Pacific Wildlife Care will receive a matching grant of up to $75,000 for any “new or increased donations” received by the organization in 2016, they recently announced. To qualify, donations need to have been received by PWC between March 1 and Dec. 31, or until the $75,000 is matched (whichever occurs first). Donations can be made at: pacificwildlifecare.org or mailed to: PO Box 1134, Morro Bay, CA 93443. Pacific Wildlife Care is a licensed wildlife rehabilitation center serving San Luis Obispo County with a full-time wildlife veterinarian as director of animal care. Its goal is to care for, rehabilitate and successfully release birds, land mammals and reptiles back into the wild. In 2015, PWC received 2,928 animals and expects to exceed that number in 2016. The organization needs at least $23,000 a month to care for animal orphans and patients.

Meathead Movers, the student-athlete staffed moving company, is seeking approximately 500, enthusiastic, “Meatheads” and “Princess Packers” across the state to join its growing company. “We’re not looking for career movers,” said Aaron Steed, president and CEO of Meathead Movers. “Our goal is to provide our team with the opportunity to learn fundamental business skills, in hopes that the experience will translate into everything they do in life and in their future careers. We’ve created an environment that motivates our team to work hard for us, as well as for themselves.” Meathead Movers is currently hiring in SLO, Camarillo, Santa Ana and Fresno. See: www.meatheadmovers.com/careers/apply.aspx.

The HERO Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program, recently approved by the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors, is now available to local residents. Pas Robles The City of Council has also voted to approve HERO and will launch the program this summer. HERO PACE financing enables homeowners to make energy and water-efficiency improvements and pay for them over time through property tax bills. HERO financing payments may have tax benefits, and homeowners see immediate savings on utility bills. In SLO County, San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay have already approved the HERO Program and are due to launch this summer. Over the 4-year history of the program, HERO has made more than 57,000 homes throughout the state more efficient.  For information see: www.HeroProgram.com.

Cuesta College has hired a new assistant superintendent, right out of the State Chancellor’s Office. After conducting a nation-wide search, the board of trustees hired Daniel Troy as assistant superintendent/vice president for administrative services. Troy was the vice chancellor of college finance and facilities planning at the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. Troy started work at Cuesta on April 25. “His addition to our executive team,” said Cuesta Superintendent/President Dr. Gil Stork, “will help take us to a new level of effectiveness in managing the assets of the district. Dan is one of the most respected community college professionals in the state.”

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