Smarts, 'Fresh Ideas' Cited in CEO Choice

Tulare - Board members describe Shawn Bolouki, their unanimous choice for chief executive officer of the Tulare Local HealthCare District, as a highly experienced administrator who quickly grasped the needs of the hospital district and has many ideas on how the district can proceed with its multimillion dollar expansion.

The board announced its selection of Bolouki last Thursday, the day after a closed-door session that included feedback from community members who had met with the three finalists informally at the Charter Inn and Suites after their Jan. 26 meeting.

Few details about Bolouki were released and he has not made himself available for media interviews because he and the hospital district are still working out details of his employment, spokeswoman Linda Crase said.

“He's very experience, very well educated,” board member Dr. Prem Kamboj said, noting Bolouki even has a degree in hospital engineering.

“He wrote a thesis on that in Germany, which will be helpful to the hospital with its expansion,” Kamboj said. Information gleaned from the Internet, indicates that in addition to a master's of science degree in hospital engineering from the University of Giessen, Bolouki earned a master's in business administration from the University of Redlands in California.

He has previously served as the CEO at CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, where he earlier had served as chief operations officer. He also has worked as chief operation officer and CEO for the Los Angeles County/USC Healthcare Network, the largest trauma center in Los Angeles County, and has held executive positions at St. Luke Medical Center in Pasadena and at Community and Mission Hospitals of Huntington Park in Huntington Park, according to a news release Hollywood Presbyterian issued when Bolouki was appointed to the CEO position

'Fire in His Belly'

“He was the strongest candidate,” Kamboj said. “I think the community members who met with all three (candidates) felt the same way.”

Among the community members who interviewed Bolouki were: Tulare County Supervisor Connie Conway; retired Tulare City School District Superintendent Bill Postlewaite and retired City Manager Lynn Dredge, who co-chaired the 2005 campaign to pass an $85 million bond for the hospital expansion; Councilman Richard Ortega; College of the Sequoias trustee Sue Shannon and Laura Gadke, past chair of the Tulare Hospital Foundation.

Having the candidates meet with community members sent a message to all the candidates that the hospital board expects the new CEO to work well with the community, Kamboj said.

Dr. Parmod Kumar, hospital board president, said he found Bolouki the most prepared of the candidates.

“He knew everything about our hospital,” Kumar said. “He grasped the most information.”

Board member Deanne Martin-Soares said Bolouki “was definitely in my top two (candidates). He has a fire in his belly and we need an astute business person with ideas on how to jump start the district.”

Like Kamboj, she said it appeared community members “unanimously liked him.”
Martin-Soares said she was impressed with Bolouki's reflections on the financial information that the board provided candidates prior to their interviews.

“He picked things out that I knew he knew what he was talking about,” she said.
'Turmoil' Subsiding

Board member Roger McPhetridge said one of the things that struck him immediately about Bolouki was his leadership qualities “and his desire to develop an organization of leaders and his understanding of a lot of the significant information hospitals need to function. He's going to be very capable. He comes in with a lot of fresh ideas.”

McPhetridge said he and the board are concerned about coming up with the $20 million that it appears the district will need for its expansion in addition to the $85 million bond that voters approved. “He and I have talked about several options that can occur to off-set that deficit,” he said.

Board members experienced many conflicts after the last election, which turned two incumbents out of office, replacing them with two doctors, who along with a third physician board member, has comprised the majority in several matters.

The situation has improved, McPhetridge said.

“What we all want for the hospital is for it to succeed and get bigger,” he said. “I think we're getting through our turmoil to get there. We're still going to have bumpy roads, but we have the same goal.”

He said the board hopes to have Bolouki on board by the last week of February, if contract terms can be reached by then.

Board member Dr. Lonnie Smith could not be reached for comment.

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Model Air Tanker New to Agri-Center Museum

Tulare - There's a new addition to the Antique Farm Equipment Museum at the International Agri-Center that pays tribute to TBM Inc., a Tulare-based business that for five decades provided the federal government with airplanes and pilots to fight fires all over the country.

Dr. Tim Ross, a retired Tulare dentist and pilot, has completed a 6-foot model of a DC-6 plane the company purchased from the government about 50 years ago and converted into a fire bomber.

He built the 1/20-scale model from a kit 20 years ago and had it hanging up at his home for a long time, when Doyle and Doug Jones suggested he convert it into a tanker bomber to honor Bob Moore and his late brother, Hank, who, with others, had owned TBM.

“Moore Aviation [a separate business the Moores owned] and Johnson Aircraft were anchors at this airport for years and I think it's time they got some publicity,” Ross said, explaining why he wanted to replicate TBM tanker No. 68.

“I just completed the 40 windows a few weeks ago,” he said.

Tulare resident Ken Stubbs, who worked for TBM as its maintenance supervisor for 40 years and flew around the country making repairs when needed, was at the museum in the Heritage Complex when Ross delivered the completed model.

“When they bought this, it was in Tennessee and I went back there and flew it out—there were three of us,” Stubbs said. “It was an American Airlines configuration. We had tank modifications put on by AeroUnion in Chico.”

The plane was the only DC-6 TBM had in its fleet, Bob Moore said. “It was a very good air tanker.”

According to a history that Ross, Moore and Stubbs compiled for the museum display, this particular member of TBM's bomber fleet was originally registered to American Airlines on Jan. 1, 1947, and sold to a private company in November 1966 and eventually to a flight travel club. The late George Wallace, former governor of Alabama, used the plane during one of his campaigns for president in the late 1960s.

TBM purchased the plane from the Explorer Flight Club on Jan. 22, 1973, for $13,000, converted it into an air tanker and flew it for 30 years and more than 3,800 hours before selling it. Today it is hauling fuel to remote areas of Alaska.

Visitors to the museum will see a photograph above the replica, which shows the actual TBM bomber No. 68 in action.

“He did a good job,” Moore said, noting Ross even painted on the measuring line on the outside of the plane so the level of the retardant could be determined. The plane held 2,200 gallons of retardant or 19,800 gallons of water.

TBM's fleet included 14 other bombers, which it used to fulfill contracts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service Division. Included were DC-7s, B-17s, F7Fs and C-130s.

The company would supply the airplane and pilot and the government supplied the retardant and told the company where and when to go, Moore said.

Moore no longer owns TBM. Most of the airplanes were sold to Butler Aircraft in Oregon and Stubbs's son, Norman Stubbs, who worked as a mechanic and assistance maintenance supervisor for TBM for about 30 years, now owns the business, which has taken a different direction and operates with only one air tanker.

The museum, which is located at 4500 South Laspina St., is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and will be open during World Ag Expo from Feb. 12-14.

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Motor Sports Investors, Advisors Meet with City

By John Lindt

Tulare - Signaling a coming out of sorts of investors and major players involved with the Tulare Motor Sports Complex, both groups met with city officials recently and agreed the huge project is still moving forward.

“We met with investors and the new motor sports advisory board in Clovis last week,” says City Council Member Phil Vandergrift, reporting he was sandwiched between two racing greats at the dinner table--Davey Hamilton (he came in ninth at the most recent Indy race) on one side and Rob Johnson, former president of Pikes Peak International Raceway, on the other.

The Tulare Motor Sports Complex advisory board, founded last month, includes Johnson and Hamilton as well as Fresno's Phil Casey, Tommy Hunt of Rancho Cordova and Gary Scelzi of Fresno – all involved in the racing industry.

The group was treated to a virtual reality tour of the proposed motor sports complex and its hotels, retail centers, condominiums and towers with big names like Honda and Kawasaki and others that suggest a large Japanese/Korean investment in the 730-acre project near the International Agri-Center.

Korean Investors

Besides the advisory board, Tulare officials met a large number of foreign investors – mostly Koreans, says Vandergrift, noting that a federal immigration program may be helping to fuel investor interest in the Central California project.

The EB-5 programs, administered by the U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services, encourages wealthy foreigners to invest $500,000 in a depressed area, making them and family members eligible for green card visas and eventually citizenship in the U.S. The program is popular with investors from South Korea, China, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. The program requires proof that the investment creates at least 10 permanent jobs for U.S. workers.

Some 5,000 visas a year are set aside for foreigners who invest in what are designated regional centers, areas of high unemployment or other qualifying rural areas. Much of South Dakota has been set aside for such investment and it's said it has helped rejuvenate the dairy industry there.

Tulare County is among nine valley counties eligible for such investment based on the export of fruits, nuts and grapes.

Vandergrift told the Voice foreign investors could fund as much as a third of the expected $1.5 billion needed to build the big racetrack complex and all the development associated with it.

Early Land Purchase?

Recent meetings between the investment group led by Bud Long and city officials suggests the investors are ready to buy the land for the project even though all approvals are not in place, says consultant Lynn Dredge.

Dredge says discussions are under way to see if an early close on the purchase of the property is possible. The project will need to complete its environmental review, be annexed into the city and receive the rest of the entitlements. Proponents hope to be pushing dirt this summer and be racing by 2009.

Critics of this approach caution Tulare residents have not made up their mind whether they want to move forward with such a mega project and want to wait until all approvals are in before land changes hands.

Meanwhile, Vandergrift says he hopes a revenue sharing agreement can be in place with the county late in February that will ensure the annexation portion of the deal is not slowed down. Vandergrift heads up the new City Council of Governments in Tulare County, which will be negotiating with county officials on several planning issues in coming weeks.

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Tulare Ready to Put Best Foot Forward

Tulare - It is often said the world comes to Tulare for World Ag Expo and 2008 will not be any different. It is an opportunity for motel managers, restaurants, gas station/convenience markets and those in economic development to showcase the town.

World Ag Expo, the largest farm equipment show in the world, kicks off Tuesday and more than 100,000 visitors are expected to join thousands of exhibitors for the three-day show.

“I love it, I wish there were a few more of these types of events,” said Tony Cota, assistant general manager for the Best Western Inn in Tulare. He said his 93 rooms are booked years in advance for the week and that business basically picks up the first week of February and continues into the week after the show.

“We have longstanding companies who come in each year. They book five years in advance and they keep the same rooms,” said Cota. He added the companies don't want to change their bookings or cancel for fear they won't have the rooms the next year.

If you haven't already booked a room, there is little chance you'll find anything between Bakersfield and Fresno, he said. “People come off the freeway [show week] and are shocked that we don't have any rooms.” Courtney Roche, manager of Roche Oil at Blackstone Street and Paige Avenue said it is definitely his store's busiest week of the year. He said the day before and the last day of the show are the busiest.

“It's good for the town, good for the people and good for the farmers,” Roche.

60 Countries

Farm Show General Manager Jerry Sinift said the show will attract visitors from across the U.S. and from more than 60 countries, including China and Taiwan. The International Agri-Center has said the show means billions of dollars for the local economy each year. Gates will open at 8 a.m. each day, an hour earlier than in the past. The show will close at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Anthony Navarro, manager of Vejar's Restaurant on South K Street, said he would bring in extra help for the week and have live entertainment on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

“We get pretty busy,” he said, adding he believes it is the busiest time of the year. He said the majority of the extra business is in the bar, but the restaurant also benefits. Along with the live entertainment, they will have a DJ playing music on Thursday night.

Bringing that many people, especially industry people into town, is also an opportunity for the city and the region to showcase itself.

“The show helps. We travel across the U.S. looking to attract people. To have them all here for three days is a tremendous help,” said Karin Ford, vice president of client services with the Tulare County Economic Development Corporation.

NORBCO Move

Ford said the EDC staff is joined by volunteers from cities within the county to walk the show grounds and make contacts. Usually cities will send their economic development people to join in the effort, she said.

The EDC has already sent out a mailer to many exhibitors that have the potential to locate a plant here. Some are companies that have expressed interests in the past or are the types of companies that fit well in the county.

“It's mainly us just going out and meeting face to face with exhibitors. We'll talk about land availability,” said Ford.

She said one success story was NORBCO, a manufacturer of dairy barn equipment. The EDC met with company representatives while they were at the World Ag Expo last year and not only did the company locate a plant here, NORBCO West, but it is now looking to expand.

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TNT Automotive Breaks Ground

Tulare - After four long years, TNT Automotive owner Jim Pidgeon was finally able to break ground Monday at a new location on J Street and Cross Avenue, just east of the Union Pacific Railroad Tracks.

Pidgeon, above left, and his four employees, Keith Rippee, Frank Vasquez, Jason Pidgeon, and Leon Snow, watch as his grandson—6-year old Jacob Pidgeon, shovels dirt during groundbreaking ceremony also attended by city and Tulare Redevelopment Agency officials.

Pidgeon, who resisted suggestions to move his business from downtown where he has been for decades, faced many delays as the Agency ran into obstacles trying to purchase the property from a reluctant Union Pacific. His and three other properties south to San Joaquin Avenue were finally acquired through condemnation proceedings in Tulare County Superior Court.

Environmental studies are under way on those parcels, where the Orosco Group wants to build a shopping center.

The railroad has been more agreeable recently and a yet-to-be executed sale and purchase agreement will give the Agency more vacant railroad property south of Inyo Avenue to Bardsley Avenue, where an Orange County developer wants to build a shopping center.

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