John J Rooney

John J. Rooney is president of Valley Economic Development Center Inc. in Van Nuys. Founded in 1978, the organization provides consulting, training and financing to small businesses. Last year, it won a Commerce Department award as the best economic-development lending program in the Western United States. Q: What services do you offer? A: We are a full-service, small-business development center, so we offer every type of service a small-business owner would need to grow a business.

Valley Economic Development Center President John Rooney is preparing to leave the agency he brought to prominence, and the center board is expected to ask agency Vice President Wilma Berglund to take over as acting president.

Valley Economic Development Center President John Rooney is preparing to leave the agency he brought to prominence, and the center board is expected to ask agency Vice President Wilma Berglund to take over as acting president.

The Valley Economic Development Center has been praised by politicians and executives citywide for turning around thousands of small businesses and helping rejuvenate down-and-out commercial areas from Ventura to Compton. But the nonprofit organization, which is headquartered in Van Nuys, is trying to recover from a recent controversy in which it brokered a $1.2-million investment from a Tokyo investor in a small business in Canoga Park.

The Valley Economic Development Center has been praised by politicians and executives citywide for turning around thousands of small businesses and helping rejuvenate down-and-out commercial areas from Ventura to Compton. But the nonprofit organization, which is headquartered in Van Nuys, is trying to recover from a recent controversy in which it brokered a $1.2-million investment from a Tokyo investor in a small business in Canoga Park.

The Valley Economic Development Center, together with Valley area chambers of commerce, has opened six centers to help business owners seeking earthquake relief get loans from the federal Small Business Administration. So far, the SBA has received more than 42,000 requests for disaster-loan applications, according to John J. Rooney, VEDC president.

A privately funded new program that will help match people with jobs will start Thursday. The Work Force Development Initiative will operate out of five Pacoima schools and have five bilingual career coaches, said Mario Matute, the initiative's manager at the Valley Economic Development Center, which is funded by grants from a nonprofit group that provides assistance to small businesses.

The phrase "eliminate the middle man" has been used so commonly that it has reached cliche status. But there are times when the intermediaries are important and deserve recognition. This time, it's the Valley Economic Development Center. You may recall, from last Sunday, our Valley Perspective editorial that noted a $205,000 loan from a U.S. Commerce Department program to De Leon Enterprises of Pacoima. The loan program was important for two reasons.

Now that her kids are growing up, designer Terri Becker has decided it's time for her shop, Enchanted Child, to do so too. The dress shop has always been what consultants call a "lifestyle business," allowing Becker a creative outlet and time for her young children but not much in the way of money. "Time is of the essence," said Becker, 42, who opened the shop in downtown Covina near her kids' school seven years ago. "If it doesn't make money soon, then I need to drop it."

Quake-damaged businesses--even those that have been denied loans by the Small Business Administration--may be eligible to receive money and help with their debts under a $30-million federal program outlined Thursday by Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown. "The funds will fill a financial void created by the Northridge earthquake," Brown said. "Small businesses will be able to access the necessary capital that is at the center of their recovery and expansion plans."

John J. Rooney is president of Valley Economic Development Center Inc. in Van Nuys. Founded in 1978, the organization provides consulting, training and financing to small businesses. Last year, it won a Commerce Department award as the best economic-development lending program in the Western United States. Q: What services do you offer? A: We are a full-service, small-business development center, so we offer every type of service a small-business owner would need to grow a business.

Battered by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the North American Free Trade Agreement, recession and defense downsizing, Pacoima is making a quiet comeback. Problems plaguing this northeastern San Fernando Valley community have earned it eligibility for a long list of government programs that city officials believe are lifting--or will lift--much of its predominantly Latino population from below the poverty level.

To hear some small businesses tell it, the Northridge earthquake was only the first jolt. The aftershocks began when they turned to the Small Business Administration for help. Most small-business owners are still waiting for assistance as the SBA doles out the money at a snail's pace--and with homeowners at the front of the line. The now-familiar list of destruction from the Jan.