Connected in Carlsbad

The hiring of Edward E. Schmidt by Carlsbad-based World Communications Inc. as executive vice president and chief operating officer is not an out-of-the-blue affair. It exemplifies the importance of business connections.

WCI president and founder Jay M. Kholos was a board member of 6-month-old Capital Bank of Carlsbad, which Schmidt left to join WCI.

Schmidt will have his hands full, given WCI’s legal tug-of-war with U.S. Postal Service authorities, who have charged that advertisements of the firm’s Grapefruit 45 diet plan are misleading.

Government officials have been seizing Grapefruit 45 products and money orders since February.

But what about the impact of a director hiring away the bank president? According to Kholos, he resigned as a director about two months ago because “I had my eye on Ed. I wanted to make sure there wasn’t a conflict of interest. It wouldn’t have been proper to talk to him as a director.”