Relocation Of Business

Driven crazy by U.S. immigration policy, Microsoft Corp. executives decided to drive some of their employees north. Unable to land enough visas for a third of the foreign-born engineers and computer scientists it wanted to hire -- many of them newly minted graduates of U.S. universities -- the Redmond, Wash., company opened a software development center just over the Canadian border last year. About 150 people now work in Vancouver. "Our immigration system makes it very difficult for U.S.

Nissan wants to talk about more than a way to drive at its soon-to- be-finished Americas headquarters. The Japanese automaker is showing off "green" features of the $100-million project as a kind of image signpost for car and truck buyers who are increasingly focused on environmental concerns. The 10-story S-shaped building, which is scheduled to open in July, eventually will have about 1,500 people working in it. Nissan North America, which increased annual sales by 4.5% to more than 1 million vehicles and a market share of 6.6% in 2007, is moving about 20 miles south from a Nashville high-rise to a 50-acre campus with a restored wetland.

The nation's largest car market, Southern California, is losing two major automobile operations. Chrysler said Friday that it would close its Pacifica Advanced Product Design Center in Carlsbad to reduce costs. Separately, Volvo of North America, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Co., said it would abandon its Irvine headquarters in favor of Rockleigh, N.J., by the end of the year. "We have evaluated the situation in the U.S.

The Motion Picture Assn. of America will relocate its Encino office down the street to a larger space in Sherman Oaks Galleria, the association said Thursday. The MPAA, a trade group representing six major Hollywood studios, is sub-leasing the 100,000-square-foot space from Warner Bros. Entertainment for the next 8 1/2 years.

Cal Ripken Jr. could replace Tom Lasorda as the resident icon at Dodgertown. A major league club has reserved the option to replace the Dodgers when they move from their longtime spring home in Vero Beach, Fla., Mayor Tom White said Friday. He said the deal could enable spring training in Vero Beach -- a tradition since 1948 -- to continue uninterrupted after the Dodgers leave. White would not identify the club, but it is believed to be the Baltimore Orioles.

Rose Bowl officials declined Thursday to offer a lease to USC, instead recommending that USC first attempt to work out its differences with the Coliseum Commission. After meeting in closed session at the Pasadena stadium, the Rose Bowl Operating Company board announced that it would take no action on USC's two-year lease proposal, but left open the possibility of revisiting the issue.

California is losing relatively few jobs as a result of businesses relocating to other states, with most business moves involving relocations within the state, according to a study. The number of California jobs moving to other states because of business relocations is a relatively inconsequential 11,000 per year out of more than 18 million jobs, according to the report by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Ten minutes into the season premiere of "Nip/Tuck" and you have to wonder what those deeply disturbed plastic surgeons were doing wasting four seasons, and all that unexplored sexual tension, in Miami when they so clearly belong in Los Angeles. Leaving behind all past heartache and folly, Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) and Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh and no relation) are starting over, together again.

With NBC moving its vast studio complex to Universal City, the spotlight turned Thursday to Burbank, where 34 acres of prime real estate and Hollywood history beckon. Tucked between the Warner Bros. lot and Walt Disney Co.'s headquarters, the NBC Studios space has soundstages, TV studios, executive offices and acres of room for expansion -- zoned and ready for another entertainment enterprise.

NBC Universal is dropping the curtain on "beautiful downtown Burbank." The media company, which made the town of tract houses the butt of endless jokes, but also brought it prominence as the base of "The Tonight Show," is decamping to nearby Universal Studios. The media company plans to announce today that it will sell much of the 34 acres it owns in Burbank, including the legendary NBC Studios at 3000 W. Alameda Ave.