Staar Studded: Monrovia Company Helps Grammy Award-Winner Singer See Clearly

"As a member of the Grammy Award-winning group the Black Eyed Peas, apl.de.ap has rocked a million faces, but he hasn’t seen them all," according to a news story reported by Good Morning America on July 26.

But with the technology of Staar Surgical - whose headquarters is located in Monrovia - singer apl.de.ap  can now see the facial detail of his fans and bandmates while he's performing. That's a stark difference to his vision prior to the implants, he told Good Morning America. Click here to read the story, or watch the video below.

Unlike corrective eye surgeries such as Lasik, Staar Surgical uses "Intraocular Lense" technology. This involves making a micro-incision on the eye and implanted a lens, unlike Lasik, which burns material from the eye and cannot be reversed.

Family Festival to Celebrate 20th Anniversary on Friday

This Friday marks the 20^th Anniversary of the Friday night Family Festival along Myrtle Avenue in Old Town Monrovia. 


The event began as a humble farmer’s market. 


Today, it has grown to be the largest of its kind in California, and features artisan craft vendors and commercial booths, along with children’s rides, food booths and live entertainment. The farm portion of the event became a certified farmer’s market.

To mark this occasion, a special ceremony will take place at 6 pm in the entertainment area with representatives from the City to acknowledge the very successful weekly event, according to Family Festival organizers. Special ‘farmer’ related photo opportunities will be available. Live music will feature the popular rockabilly/swing band The 8-Balls.

Special drawings will be held during the night for gift baskets of produce and products from Festival vendors. Registration is free at the Family Festival Information Booth located on the sidewalk near the northeast corner of Olive at Myrtle. The bloodmobile from Huntington Memorial Hospital will be parked on Olive Ave. at Myrtle seeking donors, and will be thanking donors with coupons good from discount in farmer’s market and children’s bounce rides. 

Other “special” activities will be presented throughout the evening. As always, admission and parking is free.

Happy Birthday Merengue!

Merengue Bakery and Cafe at 111 E. Colorado Boulevard in Old Town Monrovia is celebrating its fourth birthday today. Swing by before closing today at 8 p.m. for a free slice of Cuban cake. Congratulations Merengue!

Palmdale Assistant City Manager Named as Monrovia's New Top Administrator

The Monrovia City Council on Tuesday announced the hiring of Palmdale assistant city manager Laurie Lile to Monrovia's top administrative post as City Manager.

Laurie Lile has worked through the ranks of Palmdale over the past two decades, where she started as Principal Planner in 1988 until she climbed to her current position as assistant city manager.

Palmdale is located in northern Los Angeles County, and has a population of nearly 150,000. It has a diverse job and business base that includes the Antelope Valley Regional Mall, the Edwards Airforce Base, and aerospace manufacturers such as Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. Here is a link that describes more of Palmdale's economy, and what Ms. Lile has been working with the past 24 years.

Ms. Lile is expected to assume the position as Monrovia City Manager April 30. Read more.

Trader Joe's CEO Gives Interview to USC Magazine

Dan Bane, CEO of Monrovia-based Trader Joes, has a reputation for avoiding the limelight when it comes to requests for interviews from the press. That is unless you're a Trojan.

The USC Alumni Magazine landed an interview with Mr. Bane, and what we learn is his accounting background has proven to be invaluable to his career, that he got an education in management by sitting on the bench and observing his USC baseball coach, and that he is an avid Trojan fan and supporter - almost as much as he's a fan of "Two Buck Chuck," which is the popular Charles Shaw wine.

The interview also reveals that he is the recipient of a USC Achievement Award.

Check out the interview by clicking the link below:

A Conversation With Dan Bane | Spring 2012 | Trojan Family Magazine

Monrovia Businesses: Job Creators, Revenue Generators, Fun Makers

This week, the "Monrovia Report" - a City-issued weekly-report on all items related to Monrovia - provided this write-up on why City Hall values its business community:


A Strong Business Community is a Strong Monrovia


Jobs. Sales Tax Revenue. Entertainment options for our residents, visitors and workforce.

These are just a few of the reasons why we value our local businesses – and why the City of Monrovia has been working hard to attract, retain and grow our local companies of all shapes and sizes.

Monrovia has more than 1,300 businesses – ranging from our homegrown Old Town businesses, to our national retail chains on West Huntington Drive, to the aerospace manufacturers located along our High Tech Corridor.  

Combined, each of these businesses contribute in some way to strengthening our local economy, creating jobs, selling goods that generate sales tax dollars or even by hosting events at our local hotels or restaurants.

From a finance point of view, it’s easy to see the effects of the businesses that sell retail items – such as Living Spaces or Sierra Autocars. 

In 2011, these types of businesses are expected to generate more than $8 million of sales tax revenue for the City – or roughly 42 percent of to the City’s general fund budget. 

These are dollars that are used to help fund vital City services like our police and the upkeep of our streets, sewers and parks, as well as fire operations, and our library and recreation activities.

When it comes to job creation, Monrovia businesses are doing their part to stabilize the regional economy. The top 50 employers in Monrovia – which includes businesses such as Ducommun Aerostructers, Trader Joes and Worley Parsons – generate 8,000 jobs. And that figure does not even include the remaining 1,250 small businesses in our community.

The City values the contributions that our businesses, business owners and their employees make to our community, which is why we will continue to do whatever we can to create programs that will attract, retain and grow business in Monrovia. To learn more about these programs, visit our website at www.cityofmonrovia.org/red-home.

Nation's Largest Independent TV Station to Feature Old Town Business Owner

Photo from www.kcet.org

Mary Winners, founder of Monrovia-based About 

Senior Solutions, will be featured on KCET.

Monrovia-based Gerontologist  Mary Winners has a passion for assisting families that are coping with how to help their aging loved ones. And on Wednesday, this passion can be witnessed firsthand on the nation's largest independent television station, KCET. 

Winners, who opened About Senior Solutions at 525 S. Myrtle Avenue in September 2011, will appear in the first of a four-part KCET documentary series, "Your Turn to Care." 

The docu-series presents heartwarming stories and solutions related to caregiving for an aging loved one.

For Winners, this is a topic that she lives and breathes on a daily basis in her work at About Senior Solutions. In the first episode, Winners will meet with the Urquiza family to discuss plans to assist their 75-year-old mother with Parkinson's disease.  

According to KCET, the documentary explores the challenge of America's growing aging population and support for the baby boomer generation as caregivers, and aims to create "hope and inspiration for million in this segment of the population."

WHEN: The show will air at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 7 on Channel 3 for Monrovia's Champion Broadband customers, and Channel 28 on all other Monrovia cable providers. You can also see it online by clicking here. 

Additional air dates and times include:  on KCET, PST --Thursday, 3/8 at 2:30pm, Saturday 3/10 at 4:30pm, Wednesday, 3/14 at 8pm, Thursday 3/15 at 2:30pm and Saturday, 3/17 at 4:30. 

Mt. Sierra Students Step Up to Global Game Jam

Photo by Alexis Newell

Here is an inside look at Mt. Sierra College at 101 E. Huntington Drive in Monrovia.

Monrovia's Mt. Sierra College - an information technology and media arts and design school of nearly 600 students - hit the headlines recently when it became one of only three Southern California schools to compete in a global gaming competition.

In late January, Mt. Sierra College was featured on CBS2 when it was among just 247 locations around the world that participated in the "Global Game Jam." This 48-hour competition challenged students to create a board or video game using the image of a snake eating its tail as inspiration.

What we learn is not just that this type of activity takes a lot of energy drinks, but that these students are extremely creative. Here's the video.

Mount Sierra College Students Take Up Challenge To Create New Games « CBS Los Angeles

Photo by Alexis Newell

Mt. Sierra College first started in Pasadena before it relocated to Monrovia.

'A Snail's Pace' Gets National Recognition

Monrovia runners, you're in luck: Our city is home to one of the nation's top running stores.

A Snails Pace, a running store that opened in Monrovia in July 2011, was recently voted one of the "50 Best Running Stores in America," according to this Monrovia Weekly story.

Snails Pace opened in 1979, and recently relocated from its longtime home in Old Town Pasadena to Old Town Monrovia, 750 S. Myrtle Ave.

According to the Weekly:

This national recognition is sponsored by Competitor Magazine and Formula Four Media. They conduct an intense, one-year evaluation process including nominations from consumers and members of the trade, and mystery shopper reports. They also rate the stores relationship with the community it serves.

“We are very thankful and appreciative for all our customers who have supported our stores and voted for us as one of the 50 Best Running Stores in America, We also want to thank our hard working and dedicated employees for helping us achieve this prestigious award,” stated Dave Reynolds, president of the company.

A Snail’s Pace has store locations in Fountain Valley, Laguna Hills, Brea, and Monrovia.

Twitter Time: City of Monrovia Now Tweeting

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: You can now follow the City of Monrovia on Twitter. Yes, that means that whatever you read here you can now find at www.twitter.com/@MonroviaCA.

LA Magazine of Old Town: "This is a place meant for meandering"

Old Town Monrovia received a flattering write up in February's edition of LA Magazine...

Power to Old Town Monrovia 100 Percent Back Following Windstorm

Well, it only took six days, but power has been restored to 100 percent of the businesses in Old Town Monrovia following the windstorm that swept away much of the power in the San Gabriel Valley last Wednesday.

Power came back on early this morning for the businesses on the 100 through 400 blocks on the east side of Myrtle Avenue, including Krikorian Theater,  Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and side street businesses such as Pho Lemon.

As far as the pther Old Town businesses, power was restored to the east side of the 500 block of Myrtle Avenue almost immediately on early Thursday, while other businesses saw power restored by the weekend.

Be sure to dine and shop in Old Town Monrovia to help these businesses recover from their loss.

This is all that remained of the City's Christmas Tree           

last Friday.

     Holiday decorations in Old Town were among the casaulties 

     in the windstorm that occurred last Wedensday and Thursday.

Monrovia Company Lands 'Time' Cover Story

Monrovia based AeroVironment, the company that created the Hummingbird Drone, is featured on the cover of Time as one of the year's top 50 inventions. Read more.



The Hummingbird Drone is featured on this week's edition of Time Magazine.                   



Monrovia Video: "It's a Place for Business..."

This KGEM produced-video played at the 16th Annual Eddy Awards, where Monrovia won the award for "Most Business Friendly City" for cities with less than 60,000 residents.

Monrovia Business Friendly from KGEM-TV on Vimeo.

Award Winning Photos

Here are some of the action shots taken during the "Most Business Friendly City" awards ceremony on Nov. 3, where it was announced that Monrovia had won the award for cities with populations under 60,000, and West Covina was the winner for cities with populations over 60,000:


Mayor Mary Ann Lutz gives her speech following the announcement that

Monrovia was the 2011 "Most Business Friendly City."



Mayor Mary Ann Lutz and Mayor Pro Tem

Joe Garcia pose with the award on Thursday.

Mayor Mary Ann Lutz and Mayor Pro Tem Joe Garcia accept the award from

LAEDC President Bill Allen and the ceremony's emcee.

West Covina City Manager Andy Pasmant (left) and council members Shelley 

Sanderson, Steve Herfert, Karen Armbrust and Mike Touhey  join Monrovia

City Manager Scott Ochoa, Mayor Mary Ann Lutz and Mayor Pro Tem Joe

Garcia following the announcement that West Covina and Monrovia

were selected as the winners for the "Most Business Friendly City" award. 

Monrovia Profiled on "Strong Cities, Strong State" Website

Monrovia is the newest city to be profiled on the "Strong Cities, Strong State" website, an online site created by the League of California Cities. The site features cities up and down the state, and is intended to highlight local government success stories.

To view the website, visit www.strongcitiesstrongstate.com/city/monrovia.

Highlights of city of Monrovia’s profile include

·         Old Town Monrovia;

·         Monrovia Public Library;

·         Monrovia Area Partnership;

·         Business Friendly Atmosphere; and

·         Redevelopment on Huntington Drive.

And the Winner Is...

Back in September, Monrovia was named a finalist for the "Most Business Friendly City Award," distributed by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation.

Well, tonight we find out whether we can officially call ourselves the most business friendly city in Los Angeles County.

Monrovia is competing against four other cities in the category of cities with populations of 60,000 or less - Commerce, Duarte, Gardena and La Mirada. The award will be presented at the 16th Annual Eddy Awards.

The ceremony begins at 7:30 p.m., so check back later to see how Monrovia fared.

Business Newsmakers

Several Monrovia-based businesses have received positive media attention over the past week:

• The Los Angeles Times featured Monrovia-based Sierra Auto President Peter Hoffman in this article for his decision to train his sales team at Disneyland so that they can pick up a few pointers on customer service. This is part of a GM-led campaign to increase Chevrolet sales in Southern California.
• STAAR Surgical, a Monrovia-based developer, manufacturer and marketer of minimally invasive implantable contacts and other eye products, reported a 16 percent jump in revenue in the third quarter. Read more.
• Prolacta Bioscience, a Monrovia-based company and the first and only company to offer human milk fortifier made from 100 percent human breast milk for critically ill, premature infants, has donated $100,000 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure since October 2010.
• Miyachi Unitek, the Monrovia-based manufacturer of welding equipment and laser processing systems, introduced its powerful material weldability mobile application for smart phones, according to this article. This app can detect material weldability using either laser welding technology or resistance.

From the Los Angeles Times

According to a Los Angeles Times article, Sierra Chevrolet in

Monrovia is among the brand's dealerships undergoing          

remodeling in an effort to boost sales in Southern California.