California Lutheran University to Launch Veterans Entrepreneurship Institute

CLU starts vets entrepreneurship program

University increases emphasis on job-creating skills

California Lutheran University is launching a Veterans Entrepreneurship Institute in January as part of an increased emphasis on preparing people to create their own business opportunities.

Nelson Pizarro, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship in CLU’s School of Management, will lead 10 three-hour Saturday workshops for military veterans. Each of the 20 participants in the pilot program will receive a full scholarship, with partial funding coming from a Ventura Country Community Foundation grant.

Pizarro, who founded six companies and has conducted business in 46 countries, will help veterans to build on the discipline, commitment and leadership they developed through military service. New skills such as entrepreneurial thinking will help participants to either start their own businesses or improve their prospects in the job market. Each participant will create a product or service during the course.

The program is part of a new emphasis on entrepreneurship at CLU driven by School of Management Dean Gerhard Apfelthaler. It has resulted in the addition of faculty, curricula and programs.

Under Pizarro’s guidance, a student entrepreneurship club has formed and started organizing events. The School of Management revived its free Entrepreneur Roundtable lecture series for the public this summer, and Pizarro has started a new professional mentor program. Apfelthaler is starting a seed fund for students and alumni to test their concepts and an accelerator fund to help launch tested ideas. The university plans to launch an incubation facility in Westlake Village in 2014.

Pizarro has developed three new courses for the entrepreneurship track in the MBA program. One of the classes, which covers entrepreneurial thinking, will also be offered for undergraduate students in all disciplines.

Bill Gartner, a new faculty member and one of the most-cited scholars on entrepreneurship, will begin teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in new-venture development in January. He also plans to teach an entrepreneurship course in summer that would be the university’s first massive open online course (MOOC). Gartner will work with faculty to integrate entrepreneurial thinking across all disciplines, particularly in the arts and humanities, and organize a summer speaker series. He was formerly the Henry W. Simonsen Chair in Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California and the director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Georgetown University.

The deadline to apply for the Veterans Entrepreneurship Institute is Jan. 6. To complete an application, visit callutheran.edu/veterans. For more information, contact Pizarro at 805-493-3371 or npizarro@callutheran.edu.

JM Mission Burrito Opened 2nd Simi Valley Location on Saturday, December 7th

JM Mission Burrito has served up traditional Mexican cuisine in Simi Valley since 1972 at its east Simi Valley location at 2161 Tapo Street. This past Saturday, Mission Burrito opened a second location at the Simi Valley Town Center, on the east end food court near the Macy's Men's and Home store.

Visit www.jmmissionburrito.com or call 805.579.7815 for more information.

Village Pizza and Pasta Coming to The Village at Dos Vientos Ranch in October

Update 1/13/14: Check out THIS POST for an update on The Local Table and its anticipated grand opening on Saturday, February 1st.

Update 11/20/13: A few days ago the Village Pizza and Pasta Facebook page indicated "The Local Table" is coming to The Village at Dos Vientos Ranch on 1/7/14. They say The Local Table will have pizza, pasta, calzones, a great bar and fantastic pastries and baked goods, all at family friendly prices.

This is a slice of pizza from the CVG files. We look forward to sampling the pizza at Village Pizza and Pasta soon!

Posted 9/14/13: There is a new restaurant planning to open at The Village at Dos Vientos Ranch sometime in October. According to its Facebook page, Village Pizza and Pasta will serve up pizza, pasta and sandwiches and have plenty of space for sports team gatherings.

Village Pizza and Pasta will be located at 360 Via Las Brisas in the space most recently occupied by La Cucina di Venti and prior to that, Mama Rita's.

I kind of like the sound of what they are trying to do...create a family-friendly eatery well geared for kids' sports teams and casual dining. Stay tuned...

SweetXO to Open 2nd Local Area Location at The Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks

Update: SweetXO at The Oaks opened its doors at midnight last night, Black Friday 2013.

SweetXO® is opening a 2nd local area location and 5th location overall this Fall at The Oaks Shopping Mall. SweetXO opened its first location on April 1, 2012 in Agoura Hills. It will be located at what used to be McDonald's on the 2nd floor of the mall, across from JC Penney. The store will carry yogurt, ice cream, baked goods, candy as well as an assortment of gifts and clothing. Learn more about SweetXO at www.sweetxo.com.

Additional Information About Proposed Westlake Village In-N-Out Restaurant

Proposed In-N-Out at The Shoppes at Westlake Village (Image courtesy of City of Westlake Villlage)

The City of Westlake Village has published a video highlighting information about the proposed In-N-Out Burger that will be covered at a December 21 Public Hearing. Featured in a Q&A session are City Manager Ray Taylor and City Planning Director Scott Wolfe. The video is embedded below but here is a summary of points covered:

• Construction of The Shoppes at Westlake Village is moving along, with infrastructure (water/sewer) and paving in place and building foundations and initial framing underway. The target date for opening of the Target store is July 27, 2014 (updated July 2014).

• The proposed In-N-Out Burger is planned for the west end of The Shoppes development up against the existing Bank of America building.

• The proposed In-N-Out lies on about a one acre plot, with the restaurant itself occupying about 3,700 sq ft., which is a typical size for an In-N-Out.

• The architecture of the In-N-Out will match that of the rest of The Shoppes, including stonework, natural tile and other "Older European" treatments. It will thus have a different look than a typical In-N-Out.

• In-N-Out originally proposed one bronze colored In-N-Out sign facing the 101 Freeway, with two others in the standard In-N-Out corporate color scheme. Working with the City, the plan has been changed such that all three signs are proposed to be bronze to match the coloring of other stores at The Shoppes.

• The City wanted to make sure there was adequate queuing space for drive-thru traffic. Wolfe indicates typical fast food restaurants have space for 7 to 9 cars and typical In-N-Outs accommodate 15 cars. The City worked with In-N-Out to accommodate in excess of 20 cars for this particular In-N-Out Burger!

• The City is satisfied that In-N-Out and The Shoppes have adequate walls and landscaping planned to ensure car headlights in the parking and queuing areas do not impact drivers on the 101 Freeway.

• In-N-Out has proposed store hours of 10:30 am 7 days a week, closing at 1am Sunday through Thursday and 1:30 am Friday/Saturday. Wolfe indicates this is subject to City Council review.

For more information about the proposed In-N-Out restaurant in Westlake Village, visit www.wlv.org/index.aspx?NID=351.

Proposed Westlake Village In-N-Out Burger Topic of Public Hearing on December 11th

PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED ON PROPOSED IN-N-OUT RESTAURANT IN WESTLAKE VILLAGE

After several months of discussions and a number of plan revisions, In-N-Out Burger has filed an application to construct and operate a drive-thru restaurant on Russell Ranch Road along the 101 Freeway (within the Shoppes at Westlake Village retail center).

This application is scheduled to be discussed at a public hearing at the regular City Council meeting on December 11, 2013, 6:30PM.

In-N-Out Burger is proposing to occupy a freestanding building at the west end of the Shoppes at Westlake Village, which is to be anchored by Target. The Shoppes is anticipated to open in Summer 2014. The City Council’s Planning Area C Ad-hoc Committee and staff have carefully reviewed building and design plans and requested a number of changes to ensure that the building reflects the same architectural detail and standards as the rest of the Shoppes center including stonework, roofing tile, and window treatments. Additionally, at the Committee’s request, signs facing the freeway will be halo-lit and bronze colored, rather than the traditional In-N-Out corporate colors, to match the freeway oriented signage for the rest of the center.

In-N-Out Burger currently has 292 locations in five states, including 218 in California as well as locations in Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Utah. You'd think that with all the excitement about In-N-Out Burger that they'd have more locations by now! But this family chain, opened originally in Baldwin Park in 1948, is taking its sweet time!

Other local Ventura County area In-N-Out locations in Newbury Park (only about 8 miles away from this new proposed Westlake Village location), Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Woodland Hills and Goleta. In May 2011 an Agoura Hills In-N-Out Burger location was under consideration but the plans were withdrawn.

Learn more at www.in-n-out.com. For updates, stay tuned here or visit the City of Westlake Village website at www.wlv.org.

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Carmike Cinemas Completes Acquisition of Muvico Theatres on November 21st

Carmike Cinemas Completes Acquisition of Nine State-of-the-Art Theatres and 147 Screens from Muvico Theatres

Carmike Cinemas, Inc. (NASDAQ: CKEC), a leading entertainment, digital cinema and 3-D motion picture exhibitor, today (11/21/13) announced the completion of its previously announced purchase from Muvico Entertainment, L.L.C. (d/b/a Muvico Theatres) of nine entertainment complexes with an aggregate of 147 screens in Florida, California, and Illinois.

Of the nine theatres purchased, seven are located in Florida, with one each in Illinois and California. Ninety seven percent of the acquired auditoriums are digital and feature stadium seating. Approximately 24 percent of the screen count is 3-D-capable and four theatres have premium large format screens – two IMAX® and two MuviXL. Every location features select auditoriums that contain D-BOX motion-code action seats, and a majority of the theatres offer beer and wine service. Each of the Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Rosemont, Ill., locations contains within the theatre complex a Bogart’s Bar & Grill full-service restaurant. All 147 screens are participants in the Screenvision Cinema Network, which includes more than 14,000 screens throughout the US. Inclusive of the Muvico screens, Carmike’s theatre portfolio now consists of 257 theatres with an aggregate of 2,681 screens in 37 states.

Carmike Cinemas, Inc. is a U.S. leader in digital cinema, 3-D cinema deployments and one of the nation’s largest motion picture exhibitors. As of September 30, 2013, the Company had 247 theatres with 2,521 screens in 36 states, with a digital footprint of 2,418 screens, including 229 locations with 954 screens also equipped for 3-D. The circuit includes 32 premium large format auditoriums featuring state-of-the-art technology and luxurious seating, including 20 “BigDs,” 10 IMAX® auditoriums and two MuviXL screens. As “America’s Hometown Theatre Chain,” Carmike’s primary focus is small to mid-sized community locations. Visit www.carmike.com for more information.

Note to local moviegoers here in Thousand Oaks: Although owned by Carmike, the theaters continue to operate, at least for the time being, under the Muvico brand, although to buy tickets online you will be visiting the Carmike website at www.carmike.com/ShowTimes/Theater/320 or call 805.494.4702.

CLICK HERE FOR MOVIE THEATERS THROUGHOUT VENTURA COUNTY

DISH Restaurant Thousand Oaks Closed Its Doors on November 14th

I was one of the first customers to dine at DISH Restaurant Thousand Oaks on its opening day, September 26, 2012. Today I heard from CVG Facebook follower Julie B that DISH Thousand Oaks closed its doors, as evidenced by the sign on the front door shown above. This was confirmed with a phone call to the original DISH location in La Canada.

This is too bad because it's not every day that we get a non-chain restaurant in the Conejo Valley, like DISH's predecessor in its space in the Janss Marketplace, TGI Fridays. I dined at DISH several times over the last 14 months had generally had a decent experience with their food. Their service seemed to need a little help in my opinion, which generally appears to be shared by other CVG Facebook followers.

OK, let's see what's next for this nice corner space at Janss.

In other news, long-time Agoura Hills bagelry, Bruegger's Bagels on Kanan Road recently closed too.