Archive for the ‘Business’ Category

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DBA Doing Business As Registration

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

If you are thinking of staring your own small business anywhere in Los Angeles County, you will be required to get a fictitious business name. To register your business name, you will need to download the DBA form, complete the application, and submit it to the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office in Norwalk.

When you think you came up with a unique business name for your future company, make sure to do an internet name check here and find out if that particular name has been registered or not. You would not want to register a similar or same business name of another existing company as they will come after you through legal means and cease your new registered name. You also want to make sure to check whether your desired business name has an existing trademark. For example, you wouldn’t want to name your electronic retail business as “Best Buy Electronics” because the name Best Buy is a registered trademark.

Once you come up with a unique business name and has not been registered by anybody, complete the form and mail it in with a personal check. You may also decide to drive down to the Norwalk Registrar office to get it processed the same business day. After the form is submitted, you will get a receipt in return. You must then get the DBA name published with any local newspaper which is a required procedure. Almost all commercial newspaper have a section that displays columns of new DBAs that were registered within that months. Your registered DBA name is required to be published too for a total of four weeks. If you contact the newspaper company, they will instruct you and collect all the necessary information. After you pay the fees, the newspaper company will send you a receipt confirming the 4-week publication.

If you visited the Norwalk Registrar office before, you have probably seen several people front of the office shouting “DBA, get your DBA here.” They are employees of newspaper companies trying to your DBA forms processed and published on their newspaper. They will help you complete and submit your DBA application and immediately get your DBA published on their newspaper at a reasonable fee (haven’t checked their rates). Of course this service is optional and you can also do the DBA registration yourself.

The final step is to mail or submit the newspaper receipt in the office to finalize the registration of your DBA.

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Computers and Electronics Recycling Centers

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

Check out http://www.norwalkcity.com/2010/01/electronic-waste-collection-event/ for the next electronics recycling event in the City of Norwalk.

Recycling has been a huge topic in the past few years due to the green initiatives and influential films and books by former Vice President Al Gore. Most residents of Norwalk city gets three trash bins per household – black bin for general trash, blue bin for recyclables, and a green bin for plant composts. The blue recyclable bin can be used to recycle paper items (newspapers,junk mails and flyers, magazines, catalogs, telephone books, and etc.), cardboard boxes, metals (aluminum, tin, wire hangers, aerosol cans, etc.), and plastics (even your plastic bags).

But did you know that you can not dump your computer desktops, CRT and LCD monitors, hard drives, ink toners, printers, and old television sets in your black or blue trash bins? These electronic equipments contains hazardous components that is unwanted in a land fill. So what exactly do you do with it if you can’t trash it?

AllGreenRecycling firm has many drop off locations in Southern California for electronics recycling. The website is http://www.allgreenrecycling.com/dropoff/california/ . I called the main number to see if the Norwalk branch is still operating but the operator told me that it might closed now and I was unable to reach them via phone. The Cerritos branch is open and is inside a Verizon retail store. Their address is 13315 South Street, Cerritos 90703. The store has long operating hours and the process of dropping off your electronics are simple and fast.

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Cash For Clunkers

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Norwalk residents with old gas-guzzling vehicles, please trade your cars at a local auto dealer with a modern gas-conservative vehicle. There are numerous car dealers within Norwalk and cities neighboring Norwalk. Norwalk Toyota and the Ford dealer comes to mind. As you probably have heard or read, the Obama administration began a program called “Cash For Clunckers” in which anyone can trade in their old vehicles for a new one with a $4,500 rebate generally paid by the government. The only requirement is that your old trade-in must get less than 18 gallons per mile city and highway combined. The program received an enormous interests in the nation as the reserved government funding was used up within one week! So the Congress and Obama administration officials are working on extending the funding to meet the demands.

For those now looking to trade in their old clunkers, Cerritos auto square is the largest auto center in the United States and you will find most car brand there within walking distances. I highly recommend Hyundai and GM for their affordable new cars.

Requirements for your trade-in vehicles are:

  • have been manufactured less than 25 years before the date you trade it in and, in the case of a category 3 vehicle, must also have been manufactured not later than model year 2001
  • have a “new” combined city/highway fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon or less
  • be in drivable condition
  • be continuously insured and registered to the same owner for the full year preceding the trade-in
  • Please refer to cars.gov for full information.

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Norwalk Sheriff Department

Monday, July 27th, 2009

Don’t you feel more secure when you see sheriff vehicles roaming around your neighborhood throughout the day and especially during the night? I do. Norwalk is in the County of Los Angeles and not City of Los Angeles so Norwalk is part of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Norwalk City has its own Sheriff Department located at 12335 Civic Center Drive, Norwalk, CA 90650 (across the street from the AMC Theatres Norwalk 20).

In addition to the Norwalk Sheriffs, the city also has a Public Safety department that consists of numerous services available to the Norwalk residents. Here are some of the services provided by the Norwalk Public Safety:

  • Community Resource Liason
  • Community Service Work Program
  • Safe Housing and Property Enhancement
  • District Attorney Services
  • Family Intervention Team
  • Neighborhood Police Service Centers
  • Motorcycle Patrol
  • Curfew / Daytime Truancy Enforcement
  • And more

Last night when I was returning home, there were literally ten Norwalk Sheriff vehicles parked in the street in an undercover mode. Their lights and engine were shut off and patiently waiting in their car for a reason. I wasn’t sure of the situation and hurriedly went inside my house. It was a bit unnerving to witness so many sheriff vehicles right in front of your street because anyone can assume that they were not there to patrol the streets of Norwalk, they were there to either capture, search, and/or arrest someone. I can tell you I did not feel very confident with the city especially when you have monthly helicopter runs, reckless drivers, unknown vehicles parked in your neighborhood streets, and people vandalizing your private properties (front lawn, puncturing your tires!).

Don’t get me wrong, there are some good sides to living in Norwalk. Retail stores within driving distances (Costco, Walmart, Walgreens, Starbucks, etc.), public services (LA County Recorders Office, numerous public departments), recreation centers, and great selection of restaurants and fast food joints. But if you happen to compare Norwalk neighborhoods to other nicer neighborhoods, “you get what you pay for.”

SIDE NOTE: On a Saturday night, house parties pop up here and there in Norwalk and depending how close you live near the hosts, your pet(s) will be parking all night and the bass from the music will keep you awake. If you are cool with the loud party and can easily fall asleep no problem with a weekend party, but for those that have a schedule on a Sunday morning, you really need those hours of sleep. If the party happens to go beyond 12AM (there really is not party curfew, you could call earlier), you can call the Norwalk Sheriff Department and make a noise complaint and request service. The operator will jot down the proximity of the party and send an enforcement officer. Within half an hour, the loud music should disappear by then.

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Costco Grand Opening in Commerce

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Costco Business Center in the City of Commerce is having a grand opening expo on Thursday, July 23rd, and Friday, July 24th from 8AM to 6PM. Lot of items will be on sale during the grand opening expo.

6333 Telegraph Road
Commerce, CA 90040

Hopefully many Norwalk residents will visit the Commerce Costco along with the Norwalk Costco to ease the traffic during the weekends. An important note I like to make before you actually drive down to City of Commerce, the Commerce Costco is opened to all Costco members but their general target market audiences are small to medium sized businesses. Although they carry all range of products from consumable goods to electronics, you may find less consumable goods (groceries and meat/produce) than the Norwalk branch. Hence the name “Costco Business Center.”

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