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Sunday, November 4, 2001
Beltran has chamber of commerce post in Arizona
Also: Liquid co-owner leaves to run Velvet; development group goes space-age

Char Beltran, who resigned as chief executive officer of the Corpus Christi Convention and Visitors Bureau last year, is now heading up a chamber of commerce in Sedona, Ariz..
   Last month, Beltran took the job as president and chief executive officer of the Sedona Oak Creek Canyon Chamber of Commerce.
   After resigning from the Corpus Christi bureau, Beltran took the job as president of USDM.net., an Internet company based in Corpus Christi. U.S. Destination Marketing developed the Corpus Christi Convention and Visitors Bureau Web site.
   Beltran strongly advocated Internet-based marketing in her two years as head of the bureau.
   Beltran left her position at USDM in April with plans to move to Arizona, where she has ties. She did contract work for USDM.net until she took the job with the Sedona chamber.
   "I couldn't believe this job was open," she said.
   Before arriving in Corpus Christi, Beltran was director of travel and industry sales for the Phoenix & Valley of the Sun Convention and Visitors Bureau. She also is a graduate of the University of Phoenix with a bachelor's degree in business management. She moved to Arizona as a teen-ager with her parents.
   Liquid owner joins new club
   One of the owners of the downtown nightclub Liquid has left to help start up a new downtown club in Corpus Christi at the corner of Starr and Mesquite streets.
   Chris Taylor said the grand opening of Velvet on Oct. 26 was attended by more than 600 people.
   Taylor said he wants to create a New York, Chicago or Miami-style alternative club "in our own little section of the world.''
   The club plays dance music, international, and hip hop.
   Taylor declined to discuss his reasons for leaving Liquid, a gay club that packs in a mostly straight crowd on Friday nights.
   He said a group of local investors owns the business. Velvet reopens the vacant Illusions club building, which closed this summer, and featured among other themes a bondage act from a local Goth group.
   Space-age help
   Rocket scientists soon will help local businesses solve technical problems, the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corp. has announced.
   The corporation has agreed to help market and sponsor the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program, which also is sponsored by the NASA-Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Clear Lake Area Economic Development Foundation.
   The Economic Development Corp. will provide free assistance to local companies looking for solutions or technical assistance from a network of engineers and scientists in more than 20 organizations, including NASA, aerospace contractors, and colleges and universities.
   The assistance doesn't necessarily pertain to aerospace, however. Solutions in the past have included the development of medical devices and a new system testing safety belt restraints. Of course, companies may end up paying for the rights to the solution.
   NASA is reimbursing the Economic Development Corp. $2,500 per year for two years to market the program. Interested companies can complete a technical-assistance request form online at www.spacetechsolutions.com
   Attorney continues suit
   A local law firm is trying to keep interest alive for a lawsuit filed in April against Ford Motor Co.
   Billy Edwards of the Edwards Law Firm in Corpus Christi said his filing for a class action over the installation of heavy-duty radiators in F-150 trucks is not a moot point just because Ford offered last week to replace the radiators or offer cash or discounts.
   Edwards said his lawsuit contends that Ford never installed special heavy-duty radiators promised in $210 and $350 optional upgrades. He filed for a class action to cover Texas in the 28th District Court in Nueces County, with Corpus Christi disc jockey Edmond Ocanas as the plaintiff.
   Ford spokesman Mike Vaughn said the owners of more than 457,000 model year 2000 and 2001 F-150s with optional heavy duty towing and engine cooling would start getting letters this month about the offers. He said a mistake in ordering guides lead to the confusion. Ford has been reeling from a rash of product quality complaints this year.
   Edwards said the offer to his potential clients isn't good enough. He estimates about 80,000 Texans have the trucks covered by the lawsuit. A separate law firm in Chicago has filed for another class action lawsuit on the same issue for the rest of the nation.


Caller-Times reporters Naomi Snyder and Laura Elder contributed this week. You can reach them at 886-4316, 886-3678 or at snydern@caller.com or elderl@caller.com.

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