Iowa wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette speaks to a reporter after receiving the offensive Most Valuable Player trophy following the team’s Holiday Bowl NCAA college football game against Southern California on Friday, Dec. 27, 2019, in San Diego. Iowa won 49-24. (AP Photo/Orlando Ramirez)

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz accepts the Holiday Bowl trophy after the team’s win over Southern California in an NCAA college football game Friday, Dec. 27, 2019, in San Diego. (Bryon Houlgrave/The Des Moines Register via AP)

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Iowa players pose for a photograph following the Holiday Bowl NCAA college football game against Southern California on Friday, Dec. 27, 2019, in San Diego. Iowa won 49-24. (AP Photo/Orlando Ramirez)

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 27: The Iowa Hawkeyes celebrate after defeating the USC Trojans 49-24 in the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl at SDCCU Stadium on December 27, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 27: Nate Stanley #4 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates after defeating the USC Trojans 49-24 in the San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl at SDCCU Stadium on December 27, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)



A San Bernardino-based nonprofit that helps formerly incarcerated people with work training is the recipient of a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.

Citadel Community Development Corp. is one of 45 nonprofits across the country selected through a competitive bidding process to run local programs funded in part through the federal government’s Reentry Project. The program is designed to give those released from custody a clearer path to educational and vocational services.

Most of the agencies selected to run the programs operate locally, although some are larger organizations, such as Goodwill Industries and the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, which oversee operations in multiple areas.

Annette Punimata, Citadel Community Development’s program director, said the agency has been working to turn parolees into productive citizens since it started in 2004. She said the $1.5 million grant will allow the organization to bring in 200 additional clients.

Egan Reich, a spokesman for the labor department, said grant recipients should be ready to start by Oct. 1; the program will run for three years.

“It’s exciting,” Punimata said. “We’re getting it together now, and it won’t take long to implement this. This is our biggest contract yet; $1.5 million does make a difference.”

The agency could be ready for the additional participants in fairly shorty order, she said. It already works closely with parole and probation departments of both Inland counties.

Parolees are given information on agencies such as Citadel Community Development and apply on their own, Punimata said. The agency has an existing DOL grant to provide younger offenders with a chance to earn high school diplomas or GEDs and receive job training and apprenticeships in the construction and logistics fields.

It also offers training and workshops on understanding the financial world and learning science and technology skills. Punimata said the grant will likely enable the organization to add more workshops.

Vitamin warehouse workers face layoffs

About 60 workers at the Mira Loma facility operated by International Vitamin Corp. will be laid off before Sept. 30, according to a letter the company sent to California employment officials.

The last day for most of those employees will be Aug. 31, with the remainder of the layoffs scheduled for Sept. 30.

IVC, a global manufacturer of nutritional supplements owned by Chinese investors with its American headquarters in Irvine, informed the state Employment Development Department of the action July 1.

The facility, at 11010 Hopkins St., combines manufacturing and distribution operations, and manufacturing will continue there, said Steve Rosenman, senior vice president of IVC.

Rosenman said in an interview that the decision to shut the logistics portion of the Mira Loma was part of a regular assessment of company efficiencies.

Four buildings sold for $104.6 million

Colony Capital has sold its portfolio of four industrial properties in Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario — totaling 745,580 square feet — for $104.6 million, according to a statement.

The portfolio was sold to Lincoln Property Co. The buildings are at 8250 Milliken Ave., 9160 Buffalo Ave. and 11600 Millenium Court, all in Rancho Cucamonga, and 4850 East Airport Drive in Ontario.

All four buildings are fully occupied. Tenants include Carpenter Technology, Pinole Valley Trucking and ConAgra Foods.

CBRE represented Colony Capital, with the buyer representing itself.

Fontana starts counseling program

Fontana is initiating a service that provides counseling and networking for the city’s startup businesses.

The Fontana Business Concierge program will offer specialized assistance to entrepreneurs, including connections with organizations and other businesses, guidance on the development process, site selection, and demographics.

Business advocate and city economic development veteran Jerry Edgett will helm the program. He can be reached at 909-350-6741 or through the city’s economic development department, at jedgett@fontana.org.

Barons features beer for charity

Grocery chain Barons Market will host a beer-and-appetizer event at back rooms of all its Inland Empire locations on Wednesday, June 24, with the proceeds going to Feeding America: Riverside/San Bernardino.

Store locations are in Menifee, Wildomar, Temecula and Murrieta. The Backyard Brew Pairings will be from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. with a $15 admission.

The beer will be provided by Mikkeller Brewing, a San Diego brewery.

Tolar inks deal for 1,000 Atlanta bus shelters

Corona-based Tolar Manufacturing has landed a $7.1 million deal to build 1,000 bus shelters and adjacent facilities for the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, according to a company statement.

Tolar has been working with the Atlanta transit operators since 2007. The contract calls for shelters, benches, leaning rails, trash receptacles, solar-powered lighting and transit information displays.

The contract covers Atlanta and three adjacent counties. The transit authority says its system reduces the number of cars on the road by 168,000 per day.

Planet Fitness leases former Ontario Kmart

Planet Fitness has signed a lease in an Ontario shopping center that formerly housed a Kmart, according to Progressive Real Estate Partners.

The gym, at Vineyard Freeway Center at 1670 East Fourth St., will occupy 24,345 square feet and will be one of three tenants in the building. It’s slated to open in early 2020.

According to the statement, Progressive Real Estate Partners is still seeking tenants for the other two spaces.

Temecula contracts for Old Town improvement

Temecula has awarded a contract to Perris-based Greer’s Contracting and Concrete to remove Old Town’s wooden-planked boardwalk and replace it with an enhanced colored concrete sidewalk, the city said last week.

The installation will cut maintenance costs and provide more uniform walking space for pedestrians in Old Town. It will include landscaping and new trees.

Construction is expected to start later in the summer and take six months to complete. The cost of the project is estimated at just under $458,000.

To kick off the project, a community event is scheduled at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 25 at the parking lot on Sixth Street.

Perris warehouse site sold

A 9.87-acre site in Perris planned for industrial development has been sold for $6,990,000, according to commercial broker Newmark Knight Frank.

Circle Development bought the land from the Carson Companies.

The land is at the southwest corner of the intersection of Harley Knox Boulevard and Redlands Avenue. Construction on a 210,900-square-foot warehouse will start this month and is expected to be completed by the spring of 2020.

NKF and CBRE represented both sides in the deal, and NKF will lead efforts to find a tenant for the warehouse.

Nominate a Top Workplace

The Inland News Group is nearing the end of its sixth annual Top Workplaces program.

The program invites the best of the best to show the Inland Empire what makes their business No. 1.

In 2018, winners ranged from healthcare companies to municipalities and real estate brokerages. A common theme from all nominees was a workplace that embraced employee engagement and progress.

Last year 40 companies and organizations were honored. The large company winner was San Bernardino’s Inland Regional Center, which claimed its second top honor in two years. The midsize winner was Pardee Homes’ Inland division in Corona, and the small winner was Brookside Healthcare Center in Redlands.

If you think your company is a top workplace, here’s how you can get it nominated:

Any organization with 35 or more employees (it can be a public, private, nonprofit or government organization), provided it is located in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, as well as the Los Angeles County communities of La Verne, Claremont, San Dimas, Pomona and Diamond Bar

Workplaces are evaluated by their employees using a short, 24-question survey.

Companies will be surveyed from June through August.

Nomination deadline: Aug. 9

Nominate online at pe.com/nominate.

Nominate by telephone: 951-934-0462