Happy 30th anniversary to Karl Storz Imaging of Goleta, which got its start on Nov. 12, 1990 when Karl Storz SE & Co. of Germany purchased a startup called Medical Concepts.

Today, the company remains a unit of Karl Storz and employs around 400 on the Central Coast, where it produces endoscopes for use in medical diagnostics and minimally invasive surgeries. Parent Karl Storz remains a family owned business that employs 8,000 people in 44 countries around the world. It is one of the largest privately held medical device companies anywhere.

In 2014 the company purchased its 100,000-square-foot facility at 1 S. Los Carneros Road, which serves as a design center, headquarters and manufacturing facility. A virtual celebration marked the occasion.

GOOD WORKS
Large nonprofits are beefing up with substantial hires. At the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the region’s largest, Atiqua Hashem will take over as vice president, general counsel and secretary, joining the Westlake Village-based organization’s executive leadership team.

She has 20 years of experience in the practice of law and was director of Legal Services at ChildFund International before joining the Hilton Foundation. She has worked at CARE USA and has experience in international mergers and acquisitions.

Meanwhile in Camarillo, Richard Gutierrez joins Casa Pacifica Centers For Children and Families as CFO, teaming up with CEO Shawna Morris, who joined in July. Gutierrez was CFO at Options For All, a San Diego-based nonprofit providing programs for people with developmental disabilities.

TAKING OFFICE
Mohammed A. Hasan, a longtime business leader in Ventura County, has been elected to the United Water Conservation District board. United manages and serves groundwater to farmers and cities in West Ventura County. Hasan is the principal engineer and owner of the civil and environmental firm Hasan Consultants in Ventura. He was an engineer with the Ventura Regional Sanitation District and the utilities superintendent of the city of Oxnard, and serves many nonprofits including Rotary, Easter Seals and Focus on the Masters.

NEIGHBORHOOD CHAMPS
The Economic Vitality Corp. of San Luis Obispo County is the recipient of the Neighborhood Champion Grant from Bank of America for 2020-21. EVC will receive a $50,000 cash award spread over two years. The grant will be used to build leadership capacity at the organization, which has a major initiative under way on expanding access to child care.

READY TO HELP
Edan Mimran of Thousand Oaks has hatched an innovative gig-economy venture. The 46-year-old Israeli Army veteran, and California resident since 1999, is the brains behind ReadyB, an app-based program that connects consumers to handyman, cooking, housekeeping and other services.

GOOD TASTES
• Tolosa winery in the Edna Valley has released is Primera 2019 Pinot Noir. The limited-production run uses the very best barrels of each vintage and Tolosa Vintner Robin Baggett says 2019 was special.
• At The Lark in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone, Executive Chef Jason Paluska teams with one of his favorite local winemakers, Ernst Storm, for The Storm Winemaker Autumn Dinner on Nov. 20.
• Chef Tanya Holland of Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland joins part-time Montecito resident Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network for its first-ever food programming block, premiering Nov. 14 and featuring celebrated African American chefs.

CHAMBER, HANCOCK TEAM UP
Santa Maria Valley Chamber CEO Glenn Morris leads a new partnership between the chamber and the Jobspeaker platform at Allan Hancock College. Alma Miranda leads the Hancock side of the effort.

FINAL SCENES…
• QUICK KIT: QuickPickleKit.com of Los Osos has been selling the Quick Pickle Kit DIY Pickling Kit for almost 25 years. This year has been tough so, go out and pick up a DIY kit—and one for the neighbors, too.
• GREAT ESCAPE: The Channel Islands get top billing in AARP magazine’s list of “off the beaten path” national parks. Recommended are hikes and snorkeling (wet suit recommended). Santa Cruz Island and its foxes are among the favorites.