South Coast Plaza has tapped a new general manager, the first woman to run the Costa Mesa retail center, after its longtime leader retired.

Molly Unger succeeds David Grant, who was GM at the Costa Mesa retail center for 26 years.

“I am thrilled to join South Coast Plaza at an exciting time in its history,” Unger said in a statement.  “I look forward to taking part in shaping the center’s future while continuing its storied tradition of quality.”

Unger oversees the day-to-day operations at South Coast Plaza, using 25 years of management experience in the shopping center and retail industry.

Previously, she was vice president of shopping center management at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, a developer and operator of shopping centers. In that role, she oversaw Westfield Century City, Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara, Westfield UTC in San Diego County, among others.

Exer Urgent Care, a Los Angeles-based chain of clinics, opened its second Orange County location in Irvine. The urgent care company is framed around a clinic that was conceived and staffed by ER-trained doctors. The goal, its owners say, is to make walk-in care more affordable than a visit to the ER. (Courtesy of Exer Urgent Care)

New urgent care in Irvine

Exer Urgent Care has opened its second Orange County location at 4143 Campus Drive in Irvine. Staffed by doctors and nurses, the Los Angeles-based clinic offers care at rates below that of traditional ERs. Services range from minor to major. Exer Irvine hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, with the last patient registered at 8:30 p.m.

The STORM Trade Fair will bring men’s outdoor surf lifestyle to the Paséa Hotel in Huntington Beach in mid-January. (Photo by Nick Agro, Orange County Register/SCNG)

New trade show coming to town

The STORM Trade Fair will bring men’s outdoor surf lifestyle to the Paséa Hotel in Huntington Beach in mid-January.

The trade show was created to showcase new products emerging from California’s surf lifestyle.

The three-day expo starting Jan. 13 will include brands such as Volcom Cotopaxi, Salty Crew, Roark, Kavu, Texino, Globe and Von Zipper. Also new to the surf trade show industry: alpine meets surf.

For more information, go to stormtradefair.com/get-invited.

On the move

Jason Harinstein is the new chief financial officer at Santa Ana-based Collectors Holdings, the parent company of Professional Coin Grading Service, Professional Sports Authenticator and Wata Games. Previously, he was CFO at Flatiron Health for five years.

Five breast cancer medical and surgical oncologists have joined MemorialCare Medical Group. They include breast oncologist John Link; breast surgical oncologists Lisa Guerra, Amy Bremner and Shawndeep Tung; and medical oncologist Bhavana Pathak. In Orange County, they treat patients in offices in Newport Beach, Laguna Hills and Orange and at MemorialCare Cancer Institute facilities at Orange Coast and Saddleback Medical Centers.

Kathy Jones is the new president of the Laguna Beach-based FOA Foundation, a nonprofit that brings education and cultural enrichment through the arts. Jones is a painter and a longtime resident of Laguna Beach and has served on the boards of the Festival of Arts, LOCA Arts Education and the Laguna College of Art+Design (LCAD). She served as vice-chancellor of UC Irvine and senior vice president of Georgetown University.

Windes’ Irvine office has appointed Thomas Liu as partner in its tax department. He joins Windes with 20 years of experience in public accounting. He specializes in tax planning and consulting for small- to large-sized businesses and high-net-worth individuals, and tax compliance for corporations and partnerships.

Orange County Community Foundation’s Cathleen Otero, vice president of donor relations and programs, has been named to the Orange County Grantmakers 2022 Advisory Board as its new board chairwoman. (Courtesy of OCCF)

On board

Orange County Community Foundation’s Cathleen Otero, vice president of donor relations and programs, has been named to the Orange County Grantmakers 2022 Advisory Board as its new board chairwoman. Under Cathleen’s leadership, OCG will work on advancing equity for all Orange County residents.

Alzheimer’s caregivers honored

Alzheimer’s Orange County in November honored caregivers at its 2021 Visionary Women’s Caregivers Luncheon who have shown compassion in caring for people living with Alzheimer’s disease or a related form of dementia.

Honorees included: Terri Wheeler of Fountain Valley; Sharon Mulhall, a caregiver with Carefree Home Care in Orange; Ronald Simpson of Mission Viejo, owner of Granny’s Place Assisted Living in Mission Viejo; Jason Abney, medical director, founder and CEO of Doctors Direct Medical Group in Costa Mesa; Marie DeGuzman of Lake Forest, a house manager with the Cottages Memory Care Community; Sonia Garcia-Francia of Santa Ana, administrator at Guardian Angels Homes in Santa Ana;

AlzOC board member Jacqueline DuPont-Carlson provides financial backing for the DuPont-Carlson Scholarship program, which awards $2,000 to eligible honorees for use toward continuing education of any kind to further their lives and careers.

The ”Light a Light of Love” celebration and fundraiser on Dec. 5 in Huntington Beach included lighting 6-foot-tall snowflakes on the pier and Main Street. The event raised money to benefit nonprofit Waymakers’ Huntington Beach Youth Shelter (Courtesy of Kait McKay Photography)

Good works

The nonprofit Waymakers and the city of Huntington Beach raised $125,000 at the 25th annual Light a Light of Love celebration and fundraiser. The money will benefit Waymakers’ Huntington Beach youth shelter. The facility serves homeless and abused children while focusing on family reunification.

Heights Christian Schools in La Habra Heights, a 40-year-old private school, raised $25,991 from 133 donors during its annual Giving Tuesday fundraiser. Money raised will go to local heroes, those who’ve shown compassion, those affected by cancer and more.

Girls Inc. of Orange County, in lieu of its annual Champions for Girls Luncheon, hosted a series of five “patio parties” in October and November, raising $69,821 for College Bound, Literacy Lab, STEM, Social & Emotional Learning, and Intro to Girls Inc.

Anaheim-based Sir Owlverick’s Coffee, founded by Amy Tang, is the recipient of a First Women Grant of $10,000 and executive coaching. (Courtesy of Matthew Gush and Owlverick’s Coffee)

Grants

Community Action Partnership of Orange County has received a grant for $375,000 from the Pacific Life Foundation. The money will be over a five-year pledge of $75,000 annually beginning this year. The program will provide 1.2 million meals for families in need of food assistance through CAP OC food bank program. The meals represent some 1.5 million pounds of food over to be distributed over five years, including produce and proteins and non-perishable items. The nonprofit’s food bank is on track to serve 46 million pounds of food in 2021, double the amount served before the pandemic began.

Anaheim-based Sir Owlverick’s Coffee, founded by Amy Tang, is the recipient of a First Women Grant of $10,000 and executive coaching. “I’m both humbled and excited to be recognized by a world-renown brand like Jane Walker by Johnnie Walker. We were laughed out of banks when we tried to get loans, so we are grateful to receive this grant,” Tang said in a statement. The grant money will be used to develop a subscription coffee line called “Club 99s,” she said.

Correction

Technologent is based in Irvine. Because of an editing error, the headquarters was misstated in the 2021 Top Workplaces special section, which published Dec. 10 in the Register. The information technology firm placed 64th among 85 small company honorees.

Status Update is compiled from press releases by contributing writer Karen Levin and edited by Business Editor Samantha Gowen. Submit items and high-resolution photos to [email protected]. Allow at least one week for publication. Items are edited for length and clarity.