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Ground Broken on National City Chamber Building

Ground Broken on National City Chamber Building

Labor Department Opens Office to Aid Small Biz

Small Business by Lee Zion, Staff Writer

National City has broken ground on a new building that will house its Chamber of Commerce and also a new visitor’s center.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held June 27. The building had been planned since 1999, said Edith Hughes, chief executive officer of the chamber.

The new 3,100-square-foot building at 901 National City Blvd. will be completed by late December or early January, and it’s hoped the facility will help spark redevelopment in the city’s old downtown area.

The property was made available to the chamber by the Community Development Commission of National City. The building was designed by Martinez+Cutri Architects and will be built by Aerial Construction Co., of Bonita.

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Small Biz Project: The U.S. Department of Labor has unveiled a new initiative to help small businesses understand and comply with labor laws.

Labor Secretary Elaine Chao announced June 14 that the department has created a new, permanent, senior position called the director of compliance assistance. The director will make sure the department’s agencies are assisting small businesses in complying with the hundreds of thousands of pages of federal regulations, she said.

“We are going to help make sense of the regulatory jungle that small business owners have to comply with, because that is the best way to make worker protections work,” Chao said.

Chao also announced that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has created a similar office. She also said the Wage and Hour division will make its Field Operations handbook , the guide that tells inspectors what to look for in businesses , publicly available.

Also, the Department of Labor has created a new toll-free number, (866) 4-USA-DOL, to answers questions about laws dealing with pay, leave, workplace safety, health and pension benefits and more.

Information is also available at the department Web site, (www.dol.gov/elaws). The information includes links to several agencies and regional offices, and more.

Chao added that small businesses need these services. Large companies are more likely to have in-house attorneys, human resources specialists and accountants to track and ensure compliance with laws and regulations, but small-business owners usually can’t afford such expertise, she said.

“The idea that the government ought to provide small businesses with the knowledge and tools help people comply with its regulations should be a top priority and it is an idea whose time has come,” said Chao.

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Duty Free Opens: Baja Duty Free opened a new retail store at the Las Americas Shopping Outlet in San Ysidro.

The 10,000-square foot outlet opened June 28. The store will cater to business travelers, commuters, overseas tourists and local shoppers, said Irene Rojas, spokeswoman for Baja Duty Free.

Rojas plans to capture part of an estimated $14 billion in cross-border trade at San Ysidro and Tijuana. She added the border crossing is the busiest in the world, with 80 million crossings annually.

In addition, the region has 5 million residents, and is expected to grow to 8 million by 2020, Rojas said.

The store will feature typical duty-free products, such as liquor, tobacco and cosmetics, as well as small electronics, designer watches, plush toys and more. The store will also focus on brands familiar with the store’s Hispanic customer base, she said.

The duty free store is operated by Fairn & Swanson, one of the oldest retailers along the Mexican border.

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Pac Picks CV: Pac Sun has opened a new store in Chula Vista Center. The store is a popular retailer of “California wear,” or skate and surf styles for young adults.

Pac Sun began in 1980 as a small surf shop in Newport Beach. A year later, they began to expand into malls throughout California, starting with Santa Monica Place.

Now having almost 700 stores in 48 states plus Puerto Rico, Pac Sun carries several brands popular with young adults, including Billabong, Dickies, Quiksilver and Roxy, said Susan Lipp, marketing manager for Chula Vista Center.

“Pac Sun is an exciting new addition to our mall and has become popular with our young shoppers. It’s just what our youth-oriented market has been looking for,” Lipp said.

Send items for this column to

lzion@sdbj.com,

or call Lee Zion at (858) 277-6359, Ext. 112. The deadline for the July 15 issue is July 5.

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