South Coast Metro Alliance unites developers, property owners and key corporate leaders who have a long-term investment in this community and are focused on nurturing business relationships while responding to issues and concerns.
South Coast Metro Alliance is a dynamic and evolving organization that fosters economic growth and development in South Coast Metro, Orange County’s premiere corporate and cultural center.
South Coast Metro Alliance implements and coordinates programs that focus on regional marketing, infrastructure development, business attraction, expansion, and retention.
South Coast Metro Alliance is the only business organization in South Coast Metro (north Costa Mesa/South Santa Ana) that provides members with the opportunity to meet other key business leaders, to maximize their exposure through publications, meetings and events while staying abreast of the latest business trends, events and information influencing Metro businesses.
| Click here to view all that South Coast Metro Alliance Members benefit from: |
Business Roundtables includes business leaders from key corporations who are interested in utilizing their Metro business location to foster and strengthen their business development opportunities.
Human Resource Group provides a network of Human Resource Directors/Personnel providing an opportunity to discuss issues, laws and regulations that effect recruitment and retention of employees.
Legal/Financial/Investment Group providing a network for the law firms, financial and investment companies discussing topics of mutual interest.
Board of Directors and Advisory Board work together overseeing transportation improvements, freeway & surface street access, local and regional legislative actions and other issues that impact South Coast Metro.
Commercial Leasing Group and Property Management Group include developers, leasing directors, property owners and managers of commercial real estate interested in marketing support to attract new tenants while retaining current tenants and working together to create, enhance, and protect property values via the
Business/Police Partnership Program. Business/Police Partnership Program provides information regarding the prevention of fraud, graffiti, and other illegal activities via quarterly lunch meeting with Costa Mesa and Santa Ana Police Departments.
Apartment Home Communities Group works to attract new residents while working on programs that enhance and protect property values via the Business/Police Partnership and programs targeted to retaining residents.
SCM Style, emailed the 15th and 30th of the month, highlights South Coast Metro amenities and businesses.
Member Directory. South Coast Metro PocketBook and Web site showcases the Metro’s many amenities such as the dining, shopping, hotels, and visual and performing arts. |
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Meet world traveler and businessman Travis Allen
On more than one occasion, Travis Allen, a certified financial planner and president of Wealth Strategies Group, has been known to jump on a plane destined for a faraway land without a travel plan other than to drink in the culture and go with the flow.
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Upon arrival, he seeks out a bookstore, purchases a guidebook and away he goes. Sometimes he engages a taxi or rents a vehicle. But how he finds his way is not as important as what he discovers along the journey.
“I’m in it for the pure enjoyment that comes from meeting the challenges I’m bound to come across,” he says. “Not knowing what may happen next is part of the fun. I like the experience to go deeper than just being a traveler.”
Once he landed in Israel and hired a Palestinian cab driver to show him places more conventional tourists seldom dare to visit. Another time, he arranged for the use of a Land Rover to explore the northern coast of New Zealand. In total, his adventures have brought him to more than 40 countries around the globe. And treks to China, Russia and Israel are in the horizon. On this side of the pond, Travis’s travels frequently take him to Washington, DC, to meet with friends and contacts in governmental affairs.
Allen’s travels have led to his involvement in foreign affairs. For example, he is a trustee of the World Affairs Council in Orange County, an organization that brings notable representatives of other countries to speak to audiences here. Seeing so much of the globe has also given Travis a broader perspective on world affairs and reminded him of what is to be an American. “We live in the greatest country in the world and have a unique opportunity to keep changing lives for the better.”
Now as a moderate Republican, Allen believes that industry and the environment can coexist amicably. “It’s important to hear both sides of issues that are of critical importance to all of us. I’m a lifelong surfer so I know how important it is to protect our oceans, but I also believe in free enterprise and the responsible use of natural resources. I believe that our leaders can be friendly to the environment and be fiscally responsible, too. There is a balance that can be struck.”
With regard to using our resources, Allen believes that we must plan for both the short and long term. In his own life, he chose to postpone marriage and having children until he had established himself as a successful businessman.
Pouring himself into his career of choice, he has become a consummate and astute professional managing an impressive portfolio of individual and corporate accounts with aplomb. His specializes in conservative investment management and corporate 401k, health and disability plans. He is also a sought after speaker who has addressed many local governments, institutions and corporations.
Now that he has achieved his goal of becoming a business success, will his purpose-driven life lead him to seek a leadership role in government? He is certainly no stranger to politics on a local scale, having walked the precincts in San Diego as a child with his mother who served on both the California Coastal Commission and California Coastal Conservancy.
“I am at a point in my life now where I want to carefully examine my options going forward. I will always enjoy running my company and advising clients on their financial decisions, but I recognize that our state and our nation are at a crossroads. For my part, I plan to consider my options carefully before taking the next steps, but I feel very strongly that I can make a difference.”
Allen has called South Coast Metro his business home for more than a decade. “It’s an ideal location to meet people and discuss the issues that confront all of us.” |
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Meet L. Ski Harrison - Attorney, Teacher and Mentor
L. Ski Harrison, managing partner at Rutan & Tucker, LLP, California’s largest full-service law firm based in Orange County, has enjoyed a multifaceted career as a teacher, counselor and administrator in the California public school system and then as a highly respected attorney.
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A native of Kansas, Ski grew up in San Diego, where his father was a professor of psychology at California State University San Diego and his mother taught elementary school. After graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara, he began his own teaching career in Anaheim.
Eventually, he became a counselor in Fullerton and then dean of students in Mission Viejo. Later, while working as the assistant to the superintendent of Saddleback Valley High School District, he became interested in law. It was his job to interface with the district's lawyers at Rutan & Tucker and with housing developers in South Orange County to make sure there were enough new schools to serve students moving into new housing tracts.
Determined to become an attorney, he attended Western State University College of Law in Fullerton at nights to get his law degree. After passing the bar, he joined the firm’s Public Law Section in 1988 and became a partner in 1995.
But education still plays a leading role in his career. Today, he represents school districts throughout California in both litigation and transactional matters, and occasionally calls upon his expertise in negotiating agreements related to the effects of new residential development on school facilities. He also handles personnel matters for a variety of public agencies.
“It’s a great honor to lead our firm,” said Ski. “For more than a century, Rutan has helped to shape Orange County by providing cutting edge legal services and strong community leadership. Even as we expand our practice throughout California and serve our national and international clients, we will always have a strong presence in Orange County here in South Coast Metro." |
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Business Trial Attorney Bill O'Hare On Giving Back to the Community
When seasoned attorney Bill O'Hare is not busy with his successful commercial litigation practice, you’ll find him actively pursing his other passions.
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By day, he's the administrative partner of the Orange County office of Western regional business law firm Snell & Wilmer, L.L.P. At night and on many weekends he’s involved with activities in his hometown of Laguna Beach. He has served as president of the Laguna Beach Education and Endowment Foundation and has been an active supporter of Laguna Beach schools for more than 16 years. Though his children have all now graduated from Laguna Beach High School, he fervently retains his connection to the Laguna Beach School District, where his wife Theresa serves as an elected school board member.
Bill is also a past president and board member of the Orange County Bar Foundation and membership chair of the University of California at Irvine CEO Roundtable. Among the many honors he has received in his distinguished career are the Anti-Defamation League of Orange County/Long Beach’s 2009 Marcus Kaufman Jurisprudence Award, the 2008 Robert S. Barnes Award from the Orange County Bar Foundation and the State Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award.
For the past three years, the striking Plaza Tower in South Coast Metro has been home to the firm’s Orange County operations. “Working and playing in South Coast Metro is energizing. Home to shopping, dining and the arts, South Coast Metro is Orange County’s downtown. We’re glad to be here,” said Bill.
Given all he does, Bill is the living embodiment of Snell & Wilmer’s motto “Character comes through.” |
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Accomplished Attorney George Wall On Maintaining A High Profile During Challenging Economic Times
Pun intended, George Wall, a senior partner at Rutan & Tucker, California’s largest full-service law firm headquartered in Orange County’s stylish South Coast Metro area, believes that the last thing an attorney should be during recessionary times is a wall flower.
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Instead, he sees great opportunity in down times and he’s practiced law long enough to know that prosperity will return if you’re around to take advantage of it. For example, these days prospective clients may have become disenchanted with their present firms and are looking elsewhere to get top talent at rates that may be more attractive.
So George’s philosophy is to ramp it up during difficult economic times by staying very visible – an easy task for a man of who’s well above six feet tall – at high-profile social and political events frequented by key people, and by serving as a director of the Forum for Corporate Directors, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), the Association for Corporate Growth, and in the New Majority, which he co-founded.
Wall’s high caliber contacts and clients, such as Ambassador George L. Argyros, real estate development company Capital Pacific Holdings, investment firm ClearLight Partners, LLC, and Riordan, Lewis & Haden, a leading regional private equity firm, have kept him busy in a corporate law practice that includes acquisitions, sales and reorganizations; venture capital transactions; securities including numerous public and private offerings; health care; broad-based tax planning including real estate development and financing; real estate acquisition and exchanges; preparation of loan documentation for lenders; and franchising registration.
Why is his firm located in South Coast Metro? “There’s simply no place quite like South Coast Metro to enjoy the amenities and attractions that define a sophisticated Orange County lifestyle,” says George. |
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Meet Renaissance Man A. Patrick Muñoz
Patrick Muñoz is something of a modern day renaissance man. Among his many accomplishments, he is a well-respected attorney, an advocate of higher education, a longtime community volunteer and a family man.
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These days, Patrick divides his time between several important pursuits. First and foremost, he is a seasoned partner with Rutan Tucker, LLC, California’s largest full-service law firm headquartered in Orange County, with offices in South Coast Metro’s Pacific Arts Plaza. South Coast Metro has been home base for Rutan for more than a quarter-century.
When he’s not busy practicing law – he currently serves as city attorney for the cities of Dana Point and Twentynine Palms and is also a general counsel for several medium-sized and small businesses – Patrick devotes time to his role as chairman of the 30-member Board of the Orange Coast College Foundation. The mission of the Foundation is to support the college by encouraging gifts of time, treasure and talent from alumni, campus and community members.
His favorite Board accomplishments include the construction of a nautical library and the renovation of the crew facilities at the Orange Coast College Sailing Center located in Newport Beach, and the renovation of the college’s Computing Center. At the sailing facility, students learn seamanship skills aboard the 65-foot Alaska Eagle sailing vessel. Under Patrick’s leadership, the Foundation is also currently in the early stages of a campaign to raise $10 million to build a state-of-the-art planetarium on the college campus.
Patrick also finds time to stay involved with CM900, the charitable arm of the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce, and with the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce. On the home front, Patrick and his wife are busy with their two children who enjoy academics, sports and music.
For his part, when he’s not working in South Coast Metro or busy with his family, Patrick relieves stress and stays in shape by training for and participating in triathlons and half marathons. |
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Meet Rob Lucenti – Trusted Business Advisor, Dedicated Coach and Optimist
Though it’s an often-quoted cliché, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’ aptly describes the mindset and actions of Robert Lucenti, managing partner of Deloitte’s Orange County office.
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Put simply, when situations are difficult, strong people like Rob rise to the occasion and strive to create a more positive environment for everyone.
As office managing partner, Rob’s focus is to motivate and lead his staff, serve clients, and maintain Deloitte’s leadership as a top professional services organization in Orange County. In Rob’s view, this is best accomplished by being present in the community. “Your success lies in the strength of your relationships. It is critical to stay connected – to clients, colleagues and the community,” says Rob.
Rob is especially proud of Deloitte’s commitment to the community and encourages his people to get involved. While working in Los Angeles, he actively participated in the non-profit foundation called "A Better LA" that was created by former USC head football coach Pete Carroll to help make South Los Angeles a better, safer place to live and work. Through Deloitte’s pro bono program, Rob and his colleagues contributed their business skills to help A Better LA address several financial reporting and risk management issues. Deloitte’s support enabled A Better LA improve its operations and redirect its limited resources toward serving troubled youth.
Here in Orange County, Rob has also eagerly shared his business acumen with the non-profit Forum for Corporate Directors that helps directors, executives and others who support boards establish and meet the highest standards in corporate governance. And as a member of the Board of Orange County’s United Way, he provides leadership and business counsel to this worthy organization that serves many county residents. As a lifelong sports enthusiast, Rob has lent his coaching skills to his children who have excelled in volleyball and basketball, and led teams to victory in the local Flag Football League.
Rob describes South Coast Metro as a hub of activity. It is situated in ideal proximity to many of Deloitte’s clients, and to the local universities from which Deloitte recruits top talent. In addition, Deloitte professionals love coming to work in a unique place that offers exceptional housing, dining, shopping and arts amenities – something that he feels is particularly important during these challenging times. Deloitte has been located in South Coast Metro for several decades. The corporation provides audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management and tax services to its clients.
Rob believes it’s essential to be active in the marketplace and encourages everyone he comes into contact with to keep an upbeat attitude. Fortunately, creating a positive environment is exactly what he does best. |
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