• Video: New Penguin Exhibit At Aquarium Of The Pacific

  • Video: St. Mary Medical Center's Neuro-Stroke Robot

  • Local Group Calls On Warren Buffett To Halt BNSF Rail Yard Plans

  • Molina Healthcare Closing In On Lease For Millworks On Pine

Long Beach City Attorney Robert 'Bob' Shannon

May 8, 2012 - After nearly four decades with the City of Long Beach, City Attorney Robert ‘Bob’ Shannon has gained a strong understanding of the demands of his position from both an administrative and legal perspective.

First elected to the city’s top legal post in 1998, Shannon was reelected in 2002, 2006 and 2010. He oversees an office staffed by 68 employees, 21 of whom are attorneys. One of his biggest challenges, Shannon said, is balancing his duties as a legal advisor to the city and as an office administrator. His bachelor’s degree in philosophy, which he earned in 1964 from UCLA, helped him understand the history of thought, he said, which in turn has helped him understand people and prepared him well for earning his doctorate in law from the UCLA School of Law in 1968.

Read More of 15 Minutes With Bob Shannon, Long Beach City Attorney

In The News - Photos And Information


  • May 8, 2012 – Only the second Porsche Experience Center in North America, and one of five such sites in the world, is coming to the City of Carson in about a year; the first in the U.S. is under construction...
  • May 8, 2012 – Dr. Susan Melvin has been named chief medical officer at Long Beach Memorial. For the past year, Melvin has served as the hospital’s associate chief medical officer. Before that, Melvin was...
  • May 8, 2012 – On March 1, Linda Nusbaum, a licensed marriage and family therapist (MFT), opened the Relationship Counseling Center of Long Beach at 1232 E. Wardlow Rd. With the assistance of MFT interns Gail...
  • May 8, 2012 – On March 1, Valerie Perez and Patrick Santa Ana (pictured) opened the Mint Shoe Boutique in the East Village Arts District. Located at 145 Linden Ave. in the neighborhood’s historic Broadlind...
  • May 8, 2012 – On April 1, Port City Tattoo opened its doors at the Traffic Circle. Located at 4290 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., the Long Beach shop (pictured) specializes in creating all styles of tattoos for its...
  • May 8, 2012 – After a recent remodel to update its look and expand its retail space to carry a range of high-quality grooming products, pet accessories and food, Soggy Dog has reopened under new ownership at...
  • May 8, 2012 – On April 24, the Long Beach Water Department (LBWD) received the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’ 2012 Public Agency Green Leadership Award for its Lawn-to-Garden Incentive Program....
  • May 8, 2012 – Simmzy’s, one of the original craft beer bars in Los Angeles, opened its second Southern California location in Belmont Shore on April 19. Located in the former residence of Shore House Café...

Newswatch - The Long Beach Business Journal

Business Journal Staff

May 9th - Included below is the 2012 Focus on International Trade publication, featuring an in-depth update on activities at the ports of Long Beach & Los Angeles, including environmental, security and goods movement issues, and projects planned or underway.

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Molina Healthcare Makes 2012 Fortune 500 List

This Is A First For The Long Beach-based Company

By Tiffany Rider - Staff Writer

May 8th - Molina Healthcare made its debut on the 2012 FORTUNE 500 list, the magazine’s catalog of the largest U.S.-based companies ranked by revenue.

According to FORTUNE, the managed care organization had revenues of approximately $4.8 billion in 2011, with profits of $20.8 million. The company is the only Long Beach-based corporation to make the cut, snagging the list’s 500th spot.

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The Business Corner, brought to you by the LB Business Journal
Putting Together a Winning Game Plan for Your Small Business

Turning lessons learned on the football field into small business success

By Drew Bledsoe
Former NFL QB and Owner of Doubleback Winery

The average career span for NFL players is less than four years, making “retirement” and career changes at a young age inevitable, and leading many into the business world. I was lucky enough to beat the odds, playing 14 years in the NFL before retiring in 2007, when I was in my mid-30s. At that time, while my career on the football field ended, I had already begun a new one as the small business owner after buying a piece of vineyard land several years earlier in hopes of one day opening a winery.

My wife Maura and I have had a passion for wine for many years, so when planning for “retirement” became a reality in my early-30s, the wine business became a very attractive choice.

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Long Beach Enterprise Zone
Puts Businesses on EZ Street

By Blake Christian
Blake Christian, CPA

It is clear that California businesses and individuals are faced with some of the highest marginal tax rates in the country – at 8.82% for most C Corporations and up to 10.3% for individuals making more than $1 million (note: an S Corporation owner can experience combined marginal rates of up to 11.8% for California purposes, when adding in the 1.5% California S Corporation level “toll tax”). These high taxes contribute to California’s relatively low rankings in “business friendly” surveys.

However, there is a silver lining for most Long Beach businesses and their equity owners (as well as certain lenders). Businesses can dramatically reduce their California income/franchise taxes by choosing to operate in the Long Beach Enterprise Zone (EZ), which comprises over 70% of the city and includes most of the commercial/ industrial sections of the city – including the port, Downtown Long Beach, The Airport, and most other sections of the city, except Belmont Shore/ 2nd Street.

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