Latest news with #Fullerton-based
Los Angeles Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County goes big with a new mural
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County & Inland Empire unveiled a new mural outside its Edinger Avenue building in Santa Ana on Tuesday. The new billboard-sized artwork is meant to catch the eye of the more than 100,000 drivers motoring past the organization's building each day. Sloane Keane, chief executive officer at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County & Inland Empire, hopes the work will not only touch the young people the organization serves, but also highlight the life-changing impact mentorship can have and inspire people to volunteer. 'We wanted this mural to be two things: a piece of art and also a call to action to the community,' Keane said to the crowd at the mural unveiling ceremony. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County & Inland Empire is a mentorship program serving at-risk youth, especially those from low-income households who are in need of positive role models. The organization works to match young boys and girls with a mentor through multiple professionally-supported programs the nonprofit offers. According to BBBS, nearly 65% of the population they serve live below the poverty line and low-income youth are nearly 10 times more likely to drop out of school. By partnering youth (or 'Littles') with a positive role model who provides a mentoring relationship (a 'Big'), BBBS increases the chance of a successful academic career for the child. 'Littles' who participate in Big Brothers Big Sisters have a 98% success rate of graduating from high school and almost 67% go on to be the first to graduate from college in their family. For the mural, the organization tapped local artist, Carla Roque. 'I love to create murals that bring a little bit of joy to the communities that they are created in,' Roque said. Against the BBBS logo, a Latino child, or a 'Little,' wearing glasses looks up at his 'Big' mentor, whose face isn't visible to the viewer. Viewers can infer from the wide smile and shining eyes of the youngster that he feels the adult is someone he can look up to and admire. Yellow rays emphasize the boy's line of vision toward his mentor and more details around the man's hand on the boy's shoulder demonstrate the powerful connection between the two of them. 'It takes little to be BIG,' the mural reads. Roque said she worked hard to include culturally specific features that would help members of the community feel represented in the work. 'We were really looking to make sure the community saw themselves in the mural, that was something that fit within this space of who they are, especially calling out male mentors for young Hispanic males. There is a huge need for that in this area,' said Roque. 'The little things like the gold chain were details that people in the community would notice and feel seen.' The Fullerton-based artist has been working in the community for 25 years, primarily creating murals. For this recent work she employed the help of seven pairs of 'Bigs' and 'Littles,' giving mentors and mentees the opportunity to take part in the creative process. Keane said it was also important for the organization to show two males in the mural. 'This is a reminder to the community to get involved, particularly men. We are looking for men,' said Keane. 'We have over 100 little boys today waiting for a positive male role model to be introduced into their life.' Keane said the two words on the bottom of the mural, 'Volunteer' and 'Donate,' are meant to inspire action. 'Those are the two most important resources this organization needs. Everybody needs funding but in equal measure we need volunteers to walk through the door and stand up and mentor,' said Keane. For donation and volunteer opportunities with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County & Inland Empire visit
Los Angeles Times
28-03-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Contractor for taxpayer-funded projects in Newport Beach, Anaheim, other cities faces wage theft allegations
The owner and foreman of a Fullerton-based construction company that took on taxpayer-funded jobs in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties face felony allegations of wage theft and fraud. The owner of Towo Enterprises Inc., Yun Su Chung, and the company's foreman, Jae Weon Kim face allegations of conspiracy and lying to discourage an injured worker from receiving benefits. The owner of the company has also been charged with 14 additional felony counts, including intent to evade taxes and falsifying official documents. They pleaded not guilty in December and were released from custody after posting bail. Their next court date is set for April 23, according to online records. Their charges were sparked by an investigation by the non-profit Center for Contract Compliance that began over three years ago, representatives for the organization said Wednesday in a news release. 'The offense was not discovered earlier because Yun Su Chung, the owner of Towo Enterprises, Inc. and his superintendent, Jae W. Kim directed employees to lie to compliance inspectors at job sites,' attorneys with the Orange County district attorney's office wrote in a criminal complaint filed Dec. 12. At least five people working for Towo Enterprise Inc. came to the Center for Contract Compliance in October 2021. They reported that the company was providing less than the prevailing wage mandated by state law. One said they had been injured on the job but did not get worker's compensation pay . Prosecutors claim Chung tried to conceal wage theft and reduce his premiums by providing inaccurate information to his worker's compensation insurance providers. The costs saved by allegedly doing so would have given his company an unfair advantage over other contractors competing for publicly funded jobs. 'Wage theft and insurance fraud not only affect workers but also have a direct impact on a public agency's ability to deliver high-quality projects on time and within budget,' Center for Contract Compliance Executive Director Branden Lopez told the Daily Pilot in an email Friday. '...When contractors underpay employees—pocketing funds meant for their wages — the quality of work suffers.' Towo Enterprises Inc. did work that was paid for by taxpayers in numerous cities across Southern California between April 2019 and November 2022, according to court documents. Some of their projects included the remodeling of the amphitheater at the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve, the Orange Coast College horticulture program's greenhouse and the East Broadmoor Trail at Santiago Canyon College, as well as street repairs and improvements in Anaheim, Brea, San Clemente and Ontario. In the 2020-2021 fiscal year alone, the California Labor Commissioner's office issued 516 citations to contractors hired for publicly-funded projects who had shorted their workers over $10,979,508 in wages. That's almost 20% of the combined $56,949,252 withheld by employers caught breaking labor laws in both the public and private sector that year. 'The CCC uncovers around $5-to-7 million annually in wage theft on public work projects,' Lopez said. 'The labor commissioner cites contractors for two or three times more than this annually. This does not include any of the cases in situations when an aggrieved worker hires their own attorney to sue for back wages.' Research suggests the true cost of wage theft may be exponentially higher than the value reported to state officials. A study conducted by the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations estimates workers in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Francisco and Santa Clara counties lost an average of $2.3 billion to $4.6 billion in pay annually due to minimum wage violations between 2014 and 2023.
