Daily Business Report-Sept. 13, 2016
The spacious quarters of Downtown Works at 550 West B St.
Downtown Works: San Diego’s
First Integrated Co-Working
Space and Accelerator
Downtown Works, billed as San Diego’s first integrated co-working space and accelerator, has just been launched, although the design and construction of the place has been going on for the past two years.
The 15,346-square-foot facility — or innovation hub — is located at 550 West B St. Representing an investment of more than $9 million, Downtown Works is the brainchild of San Diego entrepreneurs and co-founders
Wolf Bielas, Michel and Samantha Cohen, Edward Adato and Dan Schwarzblat, and has been prepared over the last two years by local designers and vendors. Those include Samantha Cohen, Liz Calderon, Carrier Johnson + Culture, Innovative Commercial Environments and Hyperion Construction.
Hub amenities include a full-service concierge, soundproof sky booths, a rooftop deck with 360 degree views of Downtown San Diego, high-adjustable desks, convertible meeting rooms, podcasting and video production equipment, ultra-high-speed Internet, two fully equipped kitchens, a mini market, lockers, complimentary printing and underground parking.
“The entrepreneurial journey can be isolating, however, some of my best ideas have stemmed from collaborating with others,” said Michel Cohen. “My mentors gave me so much knowledge in my early stages so it was important for me to create a hub where I can mentor and pass down what I’ve learned throughout 30 years in business.”
Downtown Works’ nonprofit accelerator program, set to open early 2017, will house venture capitalists and technology entrepreneurs under one roof. Wolfpack Ventures and Walket Capital are among the first firms to confirm sponsorship of the accelerator program.
“In an era of urbanization, we’ve chosen to specialize in technology that promotes urban innovation and water conservation at every vertical because we strongly believe startups have the ability to create marquee solutions for our city,” said Wolf Bielas. “San Diego is my sandbox, where I work, live and play, but most importantly I want it to be a launch pad for innovation.”
Downtown Works is currently home to startups, including: Rack City Media, Industry Careers Inc., SnapKnot, Xtreme Planet, Diosys Technologies, KidJo, Segmail and Katy Bray.
For more information on Downtown Works visit www.downtownworks.com or call (619) 535-9675.
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40 Under 40 Awards Luncheon Site Moved
Due to an expected record crowd of over 300 attendees, Friday’s 40 Under 40 Awards Luncheon site has been changed to the Grand Ballroom in the Marina Towers of the Sheraton Hotel & Marina, 1590 Harbor Island Drive. Registration is at 11:30 a.m. The luncheon and program lasts from noon to 1:30 p.m.
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Governor Signs Gonzalez’s
Farmworker Overtime Bill
Times of San Diego
California farm workers will get overtime pay if they’re on the job more than eight hours a day or 40 hours a week, under a bill authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, and signed into law Monday by Gov. Jerry Brown.
The new overtime standards will be phased in over four years, beginning in 2019. Current law calls for overtime for farm workers to kick in after a 10- hour day or a 60-hour workweek.
Starting in 2019, the 10-hour-a-day work period without overtime pay will be cut by a half-hour every year. By 2022, farm workers will be eligible for overtime compensation if they work more than eight hours a day.
“This is a truly historic day in California. Thanks to an incredible coalition of workers, lawmakers, labor, environmentalists and individually committed Californians, we have finally righted a 78-year wrong for farm workers,” Gonzalez said. “The hundreds of thousands of men and women who work in California’s fields, dairies and ranches feed the world and anchor our economy. They will finally be treated equally under the law. It is a good day.”
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RAF Pacifica Group Uses Weekend
To Acquire Building and Lease it Out
Over the weekend, RAF Pacifica Group purchased a 65,310-square-foot Class A corporate headquarters building in the Carlsbad Research Center for $10 million and signed a 12-year lease with Ostendo Technologies to occupy the building.
The property, encompasses 23,908 square feet of office space and 41,402 square feet of warehouse space in the Carlsbad Research Center, 1812 Aston Ave. in Carlsbad.
Ostendo Technologies, a digital manufacturing firm that recently developed a chip to bring holograms to smartphones, had originally planned to acquire the building, and during its escrow period, opted to lease it instead.
Industrial features include four grade level doors, two dock high doors, and 18 feet to 24 feet clear height ceilings for a variety of distribution functions.
Aric Starck and Dennis Visser of Cushman & Wakefield represented RAF Pacifica Group in the $10 million acquisition. The seller, Blackmore Company, a Carlsbad-based commercial real estate developer of industrial, R&D, and office properties, was represented by Roger Carlson and Adam Molnar of CBRE.
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Governor Signs New
Gaming Pact With Barona
City News Service
Gov. Jerry Brown Monday signed a bill ratifying a new gaming compact between the state of California and the Barona Band of Mission Indians, which runs a popular casino on its Lakeside-area reservation.
“Barona has been a champion of education in San Diego County and an ideal neighbor, having donated more than $30 million to local community organizations,” said Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, who wrote the law along with fellow San Diego Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez.
“I’m pleased to have authored the bill that updates a great partnership between the people of California and the people of Barona,” Atkins said.
The compact, ratified via Assembly Bill 291, supersedes an agreement signed in 1999, providing an updated framework for the sharing of gambling revenue with the county and other local jurisdictions to mitigate off- reservation impacts.
The compact also includes environmental and workforce protections, provides revenue sharing with non-gaming tribes and maintains consumer protections while respecting the sovereignty of the tribe, according to Atkins.
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UCSD Ranked Among 10 Best
Public Universities in Nation
The University of California San Diego is ranked the 10th best public university in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges guidebook, released on Monday. For more than a decade, the publication has included UC San Diego in its list of the nation’s top 10 public universities.
The U.S. News rankings are based on academic reputation, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduate rate performance and alumni giving. For more information on U.S. News & World Report’s 2017 Best Colleges guidebook, click here
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Film Festival to Honor
Actress Kate Beckinsale
The San Diego International Film Festival will present actress Kate Beckinsale with the Cinema Vanguard Award for 2016 at the Sept. 29 Night of the Stars Tribute at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla.
The Cinema Vanguard Award honors an actor who has the tenacity to forge new ground within their craft. Beckinsale received critical praise for her role as Lady Susan in the romantic drama “Love and Friendship,” an adaptation of a Jane Austen novella that premiered at Sundance this year. The actress will next be seen in the fifth installment of the sci-fi fantasy, “Underworld: Blood Wars,” where she reprises her role as the iconic action hero “Selene.”
The San Diego International Film Festival will run from Sept. 28 through Oct. 2. The most up to date festival information is available at www.sdiff.com.
The film festival will screen a diverse range of narrative, documentary, spotlight and short films. Screenings will be held in the newly renovated historic Balboa Theater and Regal Theaters in Downtown San Diego, and ArcLight Cinemas in La Jolla..
Passes are currently on sale to VIP members and the general public. In addition to screenings and events, passes provide access to the official festival lounge and parties where pass holders interact with Festival filmmakers and professionals in the film community. Individual tickets to The Night of the Stars Tribute are currently on sale.
San Diego International Film Festival is produced by the nonprofit San Diego Film Foundation.
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Ware Malcomb Opening Second Office
Ware Malcomb, an international design firm, is opening a second office at 600 B St., Suite 2070, in Downtown San Diego. The new office location will provide design services to clients.
“In addition to accommodating our firm’s rapid growth, our new downtown location will bring our interior architecture, design and branding services closer to the clients we serve,” said Tiffany English, principal of Ware Malcomb. “We look forward to joining San Diego’s vibrant Downtown business community, and to expanding our commercial interior design services in this growing market.”
Catharine Hughes, Ware Malcomb studio manager, interior architecture and design, will assist in managing the new Downtown office. Ware Malcomb Regional Vice President Matt Brady has overall responsibility for the firm’s San Diego operations, along with its offices in Phoenix, Atlanta, Panama and Mexico.
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USD to Receive Higher Education
Civic Engagement Award on Sept. 26
The University of San Diego is one of five colleges and universities chosen to receive the 2016 Higher Education Civic Engagement Award presented by The Washington Center. Recipients were chosen based upon their leadership and innovation in civic engagement.
USD will be presented the award during The Washington Center’s annual awards luncheon in Washington, D.C. at the National Press Club on Sept. 26.
The award aims to highlight, in particular, institutions that are forging transformational partnerships beyond campus to define and address issues of public concern, whether at the local, regional or international level.
Over 80 percent of USD’s undergraduate students contribute more than 300,000 service hours each year to national and international organizations and projects. For more than 20 years, the Linda Vista Collaborative has welcomed University of San Diego faculty and students through the Youth Engagement Initiative into local schools to help close the opportunity gap for K-12 students. They also developed the Montgomery Intersession Academy to support at-risk students newly on a year-round calendar with programs traditionally found only in the summer.
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RETURNING HOME
Sailors and Marines man the rails and render honors as amphibious assault ship USS Boxer passes guided missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill while returning to its homeport. Boxer, flagship of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, is returning to San Diego following a seven-month deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet and U.S. 7th Fleet areas of operation. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Eric Burgett)
