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The Big O Tires story begins back in 1962, just as Americas new love affair with the automobile was hitting high gear. The market for replacement tires was exploding, and independent tire dealers found themselves struggling to compete in the face of low prices offered by major tire manufacturers own company stores. Big Os founding fathers were a handful of progressive independent tire dealers who decided to band together to form a tire-buying cooperative so that they could secure volume pricing and keep their customers happy. Their concept worked. In the years that followed, The Big O Tires co-op evolved into a full-fledged franchise as it continued to find innovative ways to harness the power of the collective to benefit independent dealerships and their customers. Almost a half-decade later, Big O Tires has become North Americas largest retail tire franchisor, with over 400 independently-owned and operated locations in 20 states, providing customers with a broad range of automotive services in addition to quality tires, wheels and accessories. Big O has become an industry role model admired for its innovative approach to franchising and unmatched customer loyalty ratings. In 1996, Big O Tires joined forces with one of the largest and most respected tire marketers in the nation when it became part of the TBC Retail Group, an automotive retail network comprised of some 1,200 Big O Tires, Tire Kingdom, Merchants and NTB locations spanning 40 U.S. states. Big Os reach was broadened again in 2005, when TBC Corporation was acquired by Sumitomo Corporation of America, the largest wholly-owned subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sumitomo, one of the worlds leading traders of goods and services. As Big O Tires continues to thrive and adapt to an ever-changing marketplace, it remains rooted in its humble beginnings as a proud collective of independent dealers committed to putting its customers first.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Manufacturers Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of SMBC Americas Holding, Inc., a member of SMBC Group. For over 60 years, the Commercial Bank division of Manufacturers Bank has been serving middle-market and corporate businesses by providing sophisticated solutions and expertise with the personal touch of a community bank. The Commercial Bank division serves the specialized needs of middle-market and corporate businesses, franchise finance including quick service restaurants, manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, importers, exporters, and service companies. We offer a comprehensive suite of credit, deposit and treasury management solutions including foreign exchange and trade finance. The Commercial Bank has offices in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Brea, Encino, Glendale, Newport Beach, San Jose, and Torrance. Member FDIC
Grenova™ is an innovative company that is revolutionizing lab consumables through high-quality waste reduction solutions. Our mission is to lower costs in the laboratory industry and reduce biohazard waste in the environment by delivering groundbreaking approaches in dealing with plastic consumables. Every year, over 5 million pounds of plastic pipette tips are disposed of in landfills globally after a single use. This drives significant environmental pollution and unnecessary costs. The typical laboratory consumes several thousand pipette tips every day for samples and assay procedures, due to the lack of options for safely cleaning plastic consumables. Such high consumption of plastic tips adds $25,000 to $1.5 million in annual operational costs for laboratories worldwide. At Grenova™, we know that high consumption of plastic tips is an excessive, avoidable operational cost for companies and a significant contributor to environmental pollution. This is why we decided to create devices that enable labs to wash and recycle pipette tips in large quantities. Grenova devices offer labs the option to reuse plastic tips several times, cutting associated costs by up to 90%. Grenova devices are safe for both the user and the environment, without producing hazardous waste or gases.