CARMEL VALLEY —— A workshop examining the challenges facing management in organizations with distributed operations will begin at 7:30 a.m. Thursday with networking, followed by the program at 8 a.m., at AMN Healthcare, 12400 High Bluff Drive Drive. The cost is $50 for San Diego Software Industry Council members and $65 for nonmembers who preregister. Go to www.sdsic.org/eventregistration.php.

Real Worth Network to hold seminar

OCEANSIDE —— The Real Worth Network will hold a seminar on an investment opportunity in Bentonville, Ark., from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Oceanside Public Library, 330 N. Coast Highway. Reservations required; call (760) 840-0649 or (760) 586-6542.

Copper Creek event planned

SAN MARCOS —— The grand opening of Copper Creek Apartments will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday at 1730 Elfin Forest Road, San Elijo Hills.

'Understanding Dollars' on tap

CARDIFF —— Financial Focus owners Gloria Foote and Barbara Williams will hold "Understanding Dollars —— A Financial Workshop for Women" from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at MiraCosta College's San Elijo campus. Call (760) 795-6820.

Cox employees to donate water

SAN DIEGO —— Cox Communications employees in San Diego and Motorola have partnered to donate truckloads of bottled water to Hurricane Katrina victims in New Orleans.

Cox includes North County in its service area.

Coda models on the market

RANCHO SANTA FE —— Coda at The Crosby's two model homes have been released for sale. The community is in Rancho Santa Fe. Call (858) 759-0913 or go to www.davidsoncommunities.com.

Framing finished at spa

RANCHO SANTA FE —— Framing has been completed on the 10,000-square-foot Spa at Rancho Valencia Resort. The spa is scheduled to open in summer 2006.

Twinject launched in Canada

CARMEL VALLEY —— Verus Pharmaceuticals Inc., a pediatric-oriented company in Carmel Valley, says that Canadian specialty pharmaceutical company Paladin Labs Inc. has launched Twinject in Canada. Twinject is an epinephrine auto-injector for the emergency treatment of severe allergic reactions.

Michael Crews buys land

ESCONDIDO —— Local builder Michael Crews Development has bought Sunstone Ranch, a 300-lot neighborhood that shares property lines with Zion National Park in Utah.

Local company to work with agency

CARLSBAD —— Huff Realty, a real estate agency in the Midwest, has signed a contract to have PrintDepartment.com, a Web-based, on-demand print and mail marketing company in Carlsbad, provide its agents with online printing and direct marketing resources.

Tandberg Data, Chi expand contract

POWAY —— Tandberg Data Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tandberg Data ASA located in Poway, and Chi Corp., a specialist in storage networking solutions, expanded their business agreement, which broadens Tandberg's product coverage in North America.

XIFIN adds 'live' customer

CARMEL VALLEY —— XIFIN Inc., a company that delivers a Web-based application to support laboratory accounts receivable and financial management operations, announced the addition of Westcliff Medical Laboratories, an independent clinical lab in Southern California, as a "live" customer for its accounts receivable management system.

HST receives systems order

DEL MAR —— Homeland Security Technology Inc. has received an order to supply U.S. Army units stationed in Iraq hand-held GPS systems pre-loaded with Iraqi street maps.

Bridgetech signs contract

SOLANA BEACH —— Bridgetech Holdings International Inc., a Solana Beach company focuses on health care products and services in the U.S. and Asian markets, announced a contract with HealthOne Staffing LLC to provide acute care nurses who will be deployed in California hospitals.

NTN to work with Radiant

CARLSBAD —— NTN Communications Inc. of Carlsbad announced a partnership with Radiant Systems Inc., establishing the NTN ProHost product suite as the exclusive seating management and reservation software for Aloha Point-of-Sale applications.

SB Home Inventory launches service

OCEANSIDE —— SB Home Inventory in Oceanside has launched a new service for homeowners. The company takes a detailed inventory of your home and documents the items. Call (760) 529-9947 or e-mail sbhomeinventory@cox.net.

Jacob Tyler partners to form division

CARMEL VALLEY —— Jacob Tyler Creative Group, a design company in Carmel Valley, and TalentFuse, an IT staffing firm in San Diego, have partnered to form a new IT services division of TalentFuse, dedicated to building, branding and managing corporate Web sites.

Dj Orthopedics to be presenter

VISTA —— Medical device manufacturer dj Orthopedics Inc., based in Vista, has been chosen to be a presenter at the Association for Manufacturing Excellence's national conference, scheduled Oct. 31 through Nov. 4 in Boston.

Local company cools Gulf with 'Fogg'

TEMECULA —— Big Fogg has sent at least a dozen of its signature misting fans to help cool evacuees and construction workers in southern Louisiana and Mississippi, the company said in a release last week.

The company said it had scheduled several of its fans to arrive in Baton Rouge for a football matchup between Louisiana State University and Arizona State earlier this month. The game was moved to Arizona State, but the company said it insisted that the fans stay in inland Baton Rouge to cool thousands who had fled the storm and floods.

An additional 10 fans have been ordered by the U.S. Navy to cool down construction workers in Gulfport, Miss.

Best business

LAKE ELSINORE —— Morrow Plumbing was voted the city's "business of the quarter" for the July to September period. The award is given based on community service, reputation for customer service, and long-term staying power, according to the city.

Paying dividends

CARLSBAD —— The parent company of Southwest Community Bank said it would pay a first-ever cash dividend next month. Shareholders will receive 5 cents cash for each share on Oct. 20, Southwest Community Bancorp said in a statement. The bank maintains branches in Carlsbad, Murrieta and six other Southern California cities.

Kids' center opens

MURRIETA —— Alakazoom, an entertainment and learning center for children, is holding a grand opening this weekend at its store in Margarita Square, at 39400 Murrieta Hot Springs Road, Suite 101B, according to a press release from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest County, which is benefiting from the event. The event began Saturday and continues today.

The center will offer an art studio and a 1,000-square-foot "soft" playground, according to the press release.

For more information, call Alakazoom or owners Michelle and Eric Presley at (951) 698-9377.

Monthly mixer

WILDOMAR —— Farnam and Associates Real Estate will host the Wildomar Chamber of Commerce's monthly mixer. The mixer will be at 32275 Mission Trail, R2, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday. For more information, call (951) 674-0041.