SAN FRANCISCO: Visa launched a Visa Business Network for small business owners on Facebook in an effort to take its existing relationship with entrepreneurs a step beyond the business cards and services it offers.

WASHINGTON: The nonprofit Sabin Vaccine Institute hired Hyde Park Communications to develop new branding for the organization as well as provide strategic communications counsel and media relations.

LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners awarded two, three-year contracts June 19 to The Rogers Group, for $750,000, and Hill & Knowlton, for $600,000, for upcoming communications initiatives related to The Port of Los Angeles.

WASHINGTON: The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) launched a new PR and ad campaign to battle what it calls "myths" and "inaccuracies" in the media about the use of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in foods.

NEW YORK: American Express (AMEX) has enhanced its digital outreach efforts for the Members Project, the card issuer's CSR program that will award $2.5 million for philanthropic endeavors.

LONDON: Hewlett-Packard has selected Edelman to handle its laser and printing business in EMEA, edging out incumbent Porter Novelli, reports PRWeek UK.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA: The city of West Hollywood hopes a new PR campaign will catapult the roughly 37,000-person town into an international wedding destination for gay couples.

HAGATNA, GUAM: Burson-Marsteller is helping the Guam Visitors Bureau develop a new branding campaign that will launch this fall to boost tourism from its key Asia Pacific markets as well as the emerging travel markets of Russia and China.

DEARBORN, MI: Ford Motor Co.'s communications team set up a series of experiential events to create buzz for its crossover SUV, Ford Flex, which is on its way to dealerships now.

Russ Berrie and Co. will introduce consumers to its new plush toy line, SeaPals, a part of its Applause brand, on July 2, at Ripley's Aquariums in Myrtle Beach, SC, and Gatlinburg, TN.