Achieve Like a Girl

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ocbj.com ORANGE COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL

TM $1.50 VOL. 38 NO. 39 THE COMMUNITY OF BUSINESS SEPTEMBER 28-OCTOBER 4, 2015 INSIDE Achieve Like a Girl Innovators Honored 3 High-Profile OC Execs page 7 4321 Jamboree: Israel-based company recently com- Count Gold Award as Precursor mitted to lease extension through 2027 to Bountiful Careers By KIM HAMAN Out of Ordinary for

There was a budding business mind behind the Newport Beach: cherubic face selling cookies door-to-door. It was 1968, and the face belonged to Cyd Brand- Factory Upgrade vein, a 10-year-old Girl Scout. She approached the assignment with determina- TECHNOLOGY: Chipmaker to put tion, knocking on every single door in her New York

City apartment building, armed with a pitch and a $15M or more into plant on Jamboree Special Report smile. Brandvein: has gone from Ed Sullivan to AECOM, By CHRIS CASACCHIA T page 15 She sold 3,000 boxes of remained part of organization as director of OC Beyond Work Girl Scout cookies— chapter Israel-based Tower Semiconductor Ltd. is in- enough to earn her a guest spot on the “Ed Sullivan Show,” where along with vesting $15 million to $20 million to upgrade its other record-breaking cookie sellers, she sang the “God Bless America” accompanied by an orchestra Newport Beach manufacturing plant to meet led by the song’s composer, Irving Berlin. growing demand for new generations of chips for “It was really one of the best experiences of my whole life,” Brandvein says, reflecting back on the smartphones and other wireless devices. friendliness with which Sullivan and his staff treated her and the other Girl Scouts. “The best part was The added business, fueled by the booming In- we got to meet the Supremes!” ternet of Things market, has led the company to Diana Ross was especially kind, encouraging the Girl Scouts and helping ease their nerves back- boost local employment by more than 40 people stage. this year and by nearly 150 since January 2014. Brandvein now lives in Irvine and serves as a global corporate vice president at AECOM, a publicly “We’ve added a lot of factory workers, but we Ł Ł Girl Scouts 56 Chipmaker 13

Luxury Homes page 27 OC on Road Map for Why Google Has Eyes for Irvine Autonomous Vehicles Quality Counts as City Joins SD, Louisville on ENGINEERING: Short List for Fiber Program Link to Bay Area By CHRIS CASACCHIA test station runs through Irvine By KATE SCHWARTZ Irvine’s diverse economy, increasingly vibrant startup scene, affluent demo- Orange County has be- graphics, and residential mix all helped come a key pit stop in the put Orange County’s third largest city on race to develop a fully au- Workers Unionize track for Google Inc.’s new Internet and tonomous car. page 45 TV service. The role has come via Irvine’s population of 250,000 or so Alberta, Canada-based doesn’t come close to two other cities Stantec Inc.’s western under consideration for the Google Fiber U.S. headquarters in program—Louisville and San Diego— Irvine. That’s where Stantec’s Rohani: but the local business landscape is ex- Arya Rohani, a recently “people are in- ceptional in terms of size and range. hired senior transporta- trigued” by potential for automated vehi- The cadre of big businesses that call tion principal, has set up cles in master- Irvine home include the world’s largest shop. planned The Vine: one of several incubators and co-working spaces cited His main duty: project communities technology products distributor, Ingram by Google as part of attractive landscape for startups in Irvine Micro Inc.; the world’s largest disk management of the engi- drive maker, Western Digital Corp., Broadcom food behemoth Taco Bell; and medical device neering firm’s role as a partner in a year-old Corp., the world’s eighth largest chipmaker; maker Edward Lifesciences Corp., among others. effort by the city of Concord to turn 20 miles video game giant Blizzard Entertainment Inc.; The city’s base of big companies is comple- of idle roads, tunnels, bridges and other infra- OC in Space Vizio Inc., the U.S. leader in smart TV sales; LA mented by midsize and smaller enterprises that structure into a secure test station for the Ł Ł page 50 Fitness parent Fitness International LLC; fast- Google Fiber 47 Stantec 55 9.28.15_front_Layout 1 9/25/15 12:17 PM Page 2

56 ORANGE COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL Local breaking news: www.ocbj.com SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

try new things, thanks to what I learned in the Girl Scouts.” Ł The Girl Scout experiences also helped Girlfrom page Scouts 1 her hone mental focus, Jolly said, giving her traded architecture and engineering firm the ability to see to the end goal. A two- Gold Standard with more than 30,000 employees company- week camping trip when she was 11—a trip The Gold Award is the highest achieve- Green” to teach younger children what wide, headquarters in downtown Los Ange- paid for with money she’d earned selling ment bestowed by Girl Scouts of the they can do to help the environment. les, and an office in Orange, where Girl Scout cookies—involved a 36-mile USA, an honor earned by just 8% of eligi- The candidate found a publisher on her Brandvein spends much of her time (see re- hike along the Appalachian Trail, finishing ble Girl Scouts, according to Nancy Ny- own and created distribution channels so lated lists in Special Report: Architecture & with a climb to the crest of Stone Mountain gren, chief executive of the Girls Scouts that elementary school-aged children Engineering, starting on page 15). in Georgia. of Orange County. throughout Orange County can receive a The road she’s taken since her days ped- “I learned to pull my own weight,” Jolly An eligible Girl Scout—she must be in free copy. dling cookies led to a degree from the Uni- says. “Even more, I learned that I could do ninth through 12th grades and have Gold Award winners have painted versity of California-Los Angeles, whatever I set my mind to, even if completed her Girl Scout murals in children’s hos- world travel, and a steady rise to a it seemed tough at first.” Silver Award—identifies a pital wards; launched Sis- top executive role at AECOM. She approached her pursuit of social issue that reaches be- ter City festivals with A constant has been work with the Gold Award in the same way yond the organization to af- Girl Scout Troops in other numerous volunteer organiza- when the time came for her to fect the larger countries; cam- tions, including the Girl Scouts of tackle her project, which she did in community, then devel- paigned for drunk Orange County, which she 1984. ops a service project driving awareness; serves as a director. Jolly wanted to expand the Girl proposal that outlines a and much more, all Brandvein’s success in business Scout’s annual “World Thinking specific plan to address the programs designed to and her star turn on network TV Day,” a day when members raised issue. make a difference on an The Girl Scout must take important issue. have company when it comes to Buchan: Girl Scout funds to help girls in need all over her personal highlight reel. Right experience “made me the world. The program had been ownership of the plan in “One of the most im- up there is the Girl Scout First comfortable with my around since 1926 yet had no cor- every way once the Girl Scout Gold portant things that girls learn when Class Award she received as a skills and comfort- responding local event in Naples, Award Committee ap- working on their able with myself” The award: candidate must take ownership teenager. The honor—now known Fla., where Jolly lived. She envi- proves her project, of the plan in every way Gold Award project as the Girl Scout Gold Award—is earned by sioned launching a celebration that would from managing a is that challenges a fraction of the organization’s membership. bring people together to learn about differ- budget to soliciting involvement from oth- can—and do—arise,” Nygren says. It’s a distinction that’s about on par with the ent cultures while raising money, plus rein- ers when needed. “She has to be ready with a plan to tackle Boy Scouts Eagle Scout award, which is force the bond Girl Scouts share, no matter “It’s a complex, multitiered process that a problem and deal with the unexpected about as rare but generally much better what country they live in. usually takes a girl a minimum of about 80 while still reaching her goal.” known. Jolly wrote countless letters to other Girl hours to plan and complete the project,” Colleges and universities look favorably Scout troops all over the world, asking for Nygren says. “The projects that result are on the Gold Award in their admission Foundation their support. She visited other Girl Scout amazing.” process, Nygren says, as do all the The requirements were slightly different Troops throughout Florida to build interest She describes a 2015 Gold Award proj- branches of the United States military, when Brandvein earned the top honor—she in the event. As a 17-year-old, she coordi- ect through which Orange County Girl which she says will automatically promote was required to master four unique chal- nated with city officials for use of a public Scouts created the “I Dream Express” pro- a recruit with a Gold Award to the next lenges that represented the guiding princi- park to hold the event. gram to bring educational opportunities to highest rank. ples of Girl Scouts: social dependability, “Orchestrating such a large event seemed street children in the Philippines. When Gold Award recipients enter their emergency preparedness, active like a fun challenge,” she says. “I Volunteers delivered books, medicine, professional lives, they have the skills em- citizenship, and the all-important worked on it for months. In the food, and school supplies to various im- ployers are looking for, she says: leader- Girl Scout Promise, which at its end, 28 countries were represented poverished locations around Manila. The ship, communication, problem solving and core is a promise to be an honest in different ways. A Girl Scout Girl Scout candidate partnered with a non- planning. and helpful individual, she says. from India even came and spoke to profit agency in the Philippines to ensure “Earning a Gold Award is very presti- The Gold Award now requires re- the crowd. It was really great.” she had the support she needed, even from gious,” Nygren says. “It is a reflection of cipients to give a comprehensive And so it has been throughout 7,300 miles away. a Girl Scout’s leadership abilities, her or- demonstration of such skills her life, she says, with big chal- A project of that scope isn’t an excep- ganizational skills, and her commitment tion, Nygren says. to being part of the larger world commu- through a single project. lenges setting benchmarks I One of Brandvein’s challenges throughout. Her career started in a Another Girl Scout, she explains, wrote nity.” and illustrated a book called “Kids Go was learning to sail and earning Jolly: caught sports fairly conventional way, she says, — Kim Haman her mariner’s badge, an experi- bug in Alaska, now with a degree in accounting and ence that instilled a lifelong love senior vice president, economics, which led to a position She tapped into her inner Girl Scout. her determination, decided to let her do it. of sailing. finance and adminis- at Arthur Anderson. “The scouting program made me comfort- “I remember going to the first official “I truly believe that the Girl tration for Angels She decided after a few years to able with my skills and comfortable with cookie meeting,” she says. “All around me Scouts program helped shape my innate move to Alaska, where she worked with myself,” she says. “I learned how to work were moms from other troops, waiting for abilities into strong skills that have helped Arco—and discovered a new passion: well with people who weren’t necessarily instructions. They saw me and assumed I make me the person I am today,” she says. women’s hockey. She was a competitive like me.” was just there with one of the moms. They An example she points out came in re- player on the ice and a strong leader on the Her affinity for finding common ground didn’t realize I was our troop’s cookie sponse to Hurricane Sandy. One of Brand- board of the National Women’s Hockey with others was a huge benefit when she de- chair.” vein’s primary roles at AECOM is to ensure League. cided to pursue a career in finance—at the Her successes with Girl Scouts—manag- that the company is always prepared. She “Sports brings people together,” she says. time a male-dominated profession, she ing cookie sales, being a Girl Guide in Lon- took action when news of the impending The camaraderie of the sports world led says. don as a 12-year-old, earning her First Class storm reached her. her to make another big change in pursuit of Buchan, like Brandvein and Jolly, earned Award, and, as a young adult, leading a Girl AECOM had 7,500 employees and 75 job a new career track. She moved to Los Ange- the highest award possible in Girl Scouts, Scout Troop for inner-city girls—reinforced sites in the direct path of destruction, and les to earn her MBA from UCLA’s Anderson the First Class Award, putting her skills to her belief that she could conquer almost any she devised an emergency plan beforehand School of Management and landed a job the test as a volunteer on a 5K run for a obstacle, Buchan says. that helped keep AECOM’s employees safe, with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in fundraiser organized on behalf of a non- That belief has stayed with her through with alternative places to work, so that busi- 2001. profit in Portland, Ore. her professional career, starting at J.P. Mor- ness could continue with as little interrup- “It was a complete change of direction in Buchan says she was motivated to earn gan Investment Management, where she tion as possible. my career,” she says. “But I was confident the award because it gave her an opportunity was often the only woman in the room. She Thousands of businesses and lives were that it would work out.” to test herself. She joined Girl Scouts in sec- and three partners founded PAAMCO in destroyed when Hurricane Sandy descended Jolly also serves on the board of the Girl ond grade as a Brownie and was immedi- 2000. In June, Buchan was honored at the on the Eastern Seaboard, but the impact on Scouts of Orange County. ately inspired to push herself beyond what Business Journal’s 21st Annual Women in AECOM’s operations was minimal. “I am such a believer in the Girl Scout anyone thought she could do, she says. Business Awards in recognition of her con- mission,” she says. “Girl Scouts encourages That became a habit. tinuing efforts to change the way women are Confidence is Key girls to have a broad perspective and to be “When someone tells me something is dif- perceived in the investment management in- Molly Jolly, senior vice president of fi- strong and courageous and believe in them- ficult,” she says, “I become even more in- dustry. nance and administration for the Los Ange- selves.” terested.” les Angels of Anaheim, is also a Gold She also found challenges on her own— More Than Cookies Award recipient who remains connected Believe, Achieve she asked to be the troop Cookie Mom—as Brandvein, Jolly and Buchan all look back with the Girl Scouts as a director of the OC Jane Buchan, co-founder and chief exec- a fifth grader. on having had the opportunity to earn the chapter. She says her experience with the utive of Irvine-based fund of hedge funds “It’s a role usually reserved for … well … Girl Scouts’ highest honor as one of the Girl Scouts has been a boon to her profes- PAAMCO, echoes Jolly’s sentiments about moms,” Buchan recalls. main reasons they’ve become confident, sional life. the importance of believing in oneself. She knew the job was a lot of hard work— successful, professional women. “For me, it’s all about courage, confidence Buchan recalls looking around her classes placing orders, distributing cookies to the Brandvein sums up all their thoughts and character,” she says, referring to the Girl as a doctorate student at Harvard University other troop members, and managing all of when she says, “Girl Scouts is an experience I Scout motto. “I always had the courage to and realizing she was the only woman. the money. The adult troop leaders, seeing I’ll always treasure.”