Top Hiring Employers in Ventura County and Nearby Areas as We Enter 2019

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As we enter a new year, it is a great time to start looking for a job, or perhaps a new job. This popular list of over 300 employers in Ventura County and surrounding areas provides local job seekers with resources for discovering local opportunities.

Let's take a closer look at that list and highlight some of the companies that have the largest number of posted job openings as of January 1, 2019.

Conejo Valley (Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills, Calabasas) Top Hiring Employers

Simi Valley/Moorpark Top Hiring Employers

Camarillo/Oxnard/Ventura Top Hiring Employers

Top Hiring Employers in the San Fernando Valley, Malibu and Other Local Cities

Top Hiring Employers in Santa Barbara County

Click here for some practical resume submission tips. And of course, don't limit yourselves to just these companies! Check out the more comprehensive list at this link.

Happy Face Hill in Simi Valley Shown in Green and Not So Green Times

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"Happy Face Hill" was created by Northridge gardener Sonny Klamerus in 1998, making it 19 years old.  This video documents the changes in its looks over the last several years. The hill is seen by westbound drivers on the 118 freeway just west of Kuehner Drive.

Happy Face Hill in mid-December 2018 looking happier than ever with some nice, bright, apparently new set of LEDs.

Happy Face Hill in mid-December 2018 looking happier than ever with some nice, bright, apparently new set of LEDs.

52nd Annual Country Music Association Awards Begins with Remembrance of Borderline Shooting Victims

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Garth Brooks began the 52nd Annual Country Music Association (CMA) Awards on November 14th with a remembrance and moment of silence for the victims of the Borderline Bar & Grill shooting one week prior.

Brooks said “On behalf of our country music community, I want to say that tonight’s show is lovingly dedicated to the 12 individuals whom we lost far too soon just a week ago tonight at the Borderline in Thousand Oaks, California,” Brooks said, referring to those who died after a gunman opened fire at the country dance bar. Tonight, let’s celebrate their lives. Let the music unite us with love, and their enduring memory.”

IN MEMORIAM

November 7, 2018

Sean Adler

Cody Coffman

Blake Dingman

Jake Dunham

Sgt. Ron Helus

Alaina Housley

Daniel Manrique

Justin Meek

Mark Meza Jr.

Kristina Morisette

Telemachus Orfanos

Noel Sparks

Donate to "The Paramount Project" to Rebuild Paramount Ranch's Western Town

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The iconic Western Town at Paramount Ranch was destroyed by the Woolsey Fire of November 2018. The only surviving structures were the church and the train station.

The iconic Western Town at Paramount Ranch was destroyed by the Woolsey Fire of November 2018. The only surviving structures were the church and the train station.

The Santa Monica Mountains Fund, in cooperation with the National Park Service, has launched “The Paramount Project,” a campaign to rebuild Paramount Ranch’s Western Town, recently destroyed by the Woolsey Fire.

The site, long popular with location scouts looking to replicate a rustic town with a Western motif, was also used for many of the special events that take place at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, including weddings, star parties, music festivals, classic movie nights and a variety of other activities. A National Park Service employee, along with her family, lived in Western Town and was one of three employees who lost park housing in the Woolsey fire.   

The new fundraising initiative is expected to restore the only National Park Service site that interprets American film history. It was purchased by the National Park Service in 1980 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

DONATE TO “THE PARAMOUNT PROJECT” AT THIS LINK.

The focus of the campaign is to tap into the creativity, expertise, and resources of both the entertainment community and the general public to create a temporary set and then, ultimately, a number of permanent structures that will retain the rustic features of the past, but with more fire-resistant materials.

The National Park Service and the Santa Monica Mountains Fund have already been contacted by members of the entertainment industry who would like to be involved in the project.

In 1927, Paramount Pictures purchased 2,700 acres of the old Rancho Las Virgenes for use as a "movie ranch." Thus began an era of film production that had continued until last week with more than 300 films, television shows and commercials being shot here. The current ranch is comprised of 765 acres.

Famous Hollywood actors, from Bob Hope and Marlene Dietrich to Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper, have strolled around the dusty streets that could be magically transformed into a real town that included a general store, a sheriff’s jail, a saloon, drugstore and a variety of other settings. After it was purchased by Paramount Pictures, a veritable who's who of Hollywood, such as director Cecil B. DeMille and actors Gary Cooper and Claudette Colbert, practiced their craft here for the next 25 years.

But it was the diverse landscape that was the real star of the show. It offered filmmakers the freedom to create distant locales such as colonial Massachusetts in The Maid of Salem (1937), ancient China in The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938), a South Seas island in Ebb Tide (1937), and numerous western locations including San Francisco in Wells Fargo (1937). The art of illusion was mastered in this landscape.

In the 1950s, Western Town was created for television shows, such as The Cisco Kid. More recent television productions at Paramount include The Mentalist, Weeds, episodes of the X-Files and Hulu’s Quickdraw.

More recently, Western Town gained attention as Main Street in HBO’s hit series “Westworld.” For five years in the 1990s, it stood in as Colorado Springs, Colorado, providing the backdrop for many of actress Jane Seymour’s frontier adventures on the popular TV show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.  Also, Sandra Bullock had a leading role in The Lake House here.

Less known is the history of the Paramount Racetrack. The track operated from 1956 to 1957 and was known as one of the most challenging in the nation. The movie, The Devil’s Hairpin, was filmed on the course, which closed down after three fatalities within 18 months from its opening. Most of the track still winds through the grass and oak woodlands of the park.

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) is the largest urban national park in the country, encompassing more than 150,000 acres of mountains and coastline in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. A unit of the National Park System, it comprises a seamless network of local, state, and federal parks interwoven with private lands and communities. As one of only five Mediterranean ecosystems in the world, SMMNRA preserves the rich biological diversity of more than 450 animal species and 26 distinct plant communities. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/samo.

The Santa Monica Mountains Fund works to protect and encourage appreciation and understanding of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The Fund achieves this by supporting National Park Service efforts in education, science, research, improved facilities, citizen engagement, stewardship and philanthropy. For more information, visit www.samofund.org.

The General Store seen prior to the Woolsey Fire.

The General Store seen prior to the Woolsey Fire.

The Power of Social Media - Case Study: Getting Myrtle the Turtle Back Home

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On Friday night, May 19, 2017, the Weathersfield School (@GoWeathersfield) Twitter page tagged @ConejoJoe asking that I share a photo of a turtle found at the school.

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I retweeted the post on my Twitter page.

I retweeted the post on my Twitter page.

And then I decided to also to post the photo on the CVG Facebook page, which at the time had over 13,000 followers and a lot more interaction than Twitter.

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Sure enough, comments started rolling in with suggestions…non-profit animal rescue, “we can give him a home,” “I remember someone posting a missing turtle on a neighborhood board,” etc.  There were 18 comments and 14 shares. Not viral, but apparently enough to get the attention of its owner, Paula Nathan, who at 9:10AM the next day posted:

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Given the turtle was found literally across the street from the owner’s home, without social media, perhaps signs posted around the neighborhood would eventually have reunited the owner with Myrtle the Turtle. But with the social media’s help, Myrtle’s owner was able to connect quickly with her turtle.

Join a Local Ventura County Moms Club

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If you're looking for local Ventura County groups to meet up with other moms for playgroups, activities and socializing, look no further than this list (includes only organizations with websites... Contact Us for additions).

(Last update September 2018...subject to change.)

Calvary Community

Church MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) - Meets every other Tuesday morning

Conejo Valley Homeschoolers (Home school support group)

Conejo Valley Mothers of Multiples

Stroller Strides and Our Village of Conejo Valley

Ventura MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers)

There are a number of local La Leche League groups in the area. Visit lllusa.org to find them.

Additional links and information at www.conejovalleyguide.com/moms-clubs.

Rolling Pin Donuts in Camarillo Captured in Oil Painting by Local Artist

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Rolling Pin Donuts in Camarillo (Artist: Linda Dark)

Rolling Pin Donuts in Camarillo (Artist: Linda Dark)

Long-time Camarillo resident and artist Linda Dark enjoys capturing local scenes in oil paint. Rolling Pin Donuts has operated at 2153 Las Posas Road since 1992 and has quite a loyal following at this stand-alone location. Dark has lived in Camarillo since 1978 and recalls it was previously called Donna Lee Donuts.

Have a donut craving? Rolling Pin is open from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily. You'll want to stop by for sure after checking out their creations at www.facebook.com/RollingPinCamarillo.

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Rolling Pin Donuts on Rainy Day (Artist: Linda Dark)

Rolling Pin Donuts on Rainy Day (Artist: Linda Dark)