Daily Business Report — Oct. 9, 2009
Gemological Institute of America holds Oct. 16 career fair
Job seekers interested in the jewelry industry will have access to more than 200 positions at the Gemological Institute of America’s (GIA) Jewelry Career Fair and Open House on Oct. 16 in Carlsbad. Companies such as Tiffany & Co., Firestone Inc. and Zale Corp., will be on hand to find qualified candidates who want to pursue a profession in the gem and jewelry industry. The Career Fair is free and open to the public. Twenty-four companies will recruit on site for more than 100 employees. An additional 135 positions can be applied for at the event from listings on the GIA Career search engine. These opportunities span the range of the jewelry business and the globe, from San Diego, Beverly Hills, Las Vegas, Boston, New York and Palm Beach, to Hong Kong, Antwerp, Dubai, Mumbai and more.
Positions available at Career Fair will be diverse and intriguing, according to GIA Career Services Adviser Anna Hayman. “One exciting job opening is with Diamonds International, which will be recruiting sales representatives for their retail store locations on cruise ships in the exotic locations of the Caribbean and Alaska,” said Hayman. “Positions offered during Career Fair range from the glamorous responsibilities of an estate jewelry buyer seeking high-end fashion jewelry, to the role of a business development associate located in the growing Indian market.”
In addition to the employment possibilities, panel discussions and career coaching sessions will be offered. The speakers and coaches will include some of the jewelry industry’s most influential executives as well as top designers and stylists to Hollywood celebrities.
The Open House portion of the event is the only day in the year visitors can tour the GIA museum exhibits and classroom demonstrations without a prearranged tour. Employers interested in recruiting at the event can contact GIA’s Career Services office at (800) 421-7250, Ext. 7303, or e-mail anna.hayman@gia.edu. Job seekers can call the Career Fair hotline at (800) 421-7250, Ext. 4100, or e-mail careerfair@gia.edu. For more information, visit www.gia.edu/careerfair.
Cart Mart acquires Pacific Golf Cars of Escondido
Cart Mart Inc. in San Marcos, a distributor of golf, transportation and industrial vehicles, has acquired Pacific Golf Cars (PGC) of Escondido. The acquisition enables Cart Mart to exclusively distribute industry brands such as Yamaha, Club Car, Fairplay and Taylor-Dunn brand vehicles. “This acquisition creates a unique opportunity for our customers. When you combine the resources and experience of Cart Mart with Pacific Golf Cars’ similarly long history and Club Car, we can now offer our customers the largest selection, the highest level of support, improved customer service, and deliver the consumer confidence that is so rare in these challenging times,” said Brian Rott, president of Cart Mart. Pacific Golf Cars has served as San Diego’s Club Car dealer for more than 33 years.
California Healthcare Medical Billing acquires business
San Diego-based California Healthcare Medical Billing Inc., a provider of outsourced billing products, has acquired the assets of Medical Management Resources (MMR) based in Orange County. The acquisition will bring the total to over 1,000 physicians in 250 practices utilizing California Healthcare’s revenue cycle and technology business services. “CHMB has had a presence in the Orange County area for some time, and it was our desire to expand our reach by linking with a well-established company such as MMR,” said Bob Svendsen, CEO of California Healthcare. The acquisition was final on Oct. 1. ShP Securities LLC, the investment banking arm of Shoreline Partners LLC, La Jolla, represented CHMB in the acquisition.
Blackstone Group purchases Anheuser-Busch InBev
The Blackstone Group, a private equity firm, has agreed to purchase Anheuser-Busch InBev, owner of several entertainment venues, including SeaWorld San Diego, for $2.7 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Blackstone will acquire Anheuser-Busch InBev’s wholly owned subsidiary, Busch Entertainment Corp. (BEC), the second largest entertainment park operator in the United States with 25 million annual visitors. BEC operates 10 entertainment parks throughout the United States including three SeaWorld parks in Orlando, Florida, San Antonio, Texas, and San Diego, two Busch Gardens parks in Tampa, Fla. and Williamsburg, Va, and other family entertainment attractions in Orlando, Fla., Tampa, Fla., Williamsburg, Va. and Langhorne, Pa.
“Busch Entertainment Corp. is a high performing asset with a world-class management team, but not a core business for Anheuser-Busch InBev,” said Carlos Brito, CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev. “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with a buyer who understands the industry and has a strategic vision for the business. The sale of BEC represents another important milestone in our commitment to de-leverage the company and will also allow us to continue to focus on our core brewing business.”
“We have long admired the Busch Entertainment Corp. parks. They are the premier collection of entertainment parks in the United States and offer a unique family experience,” said Joseph Baratta, senior managing director of The Blackstone Group. “We are pleased to have the opportunity to acquire this business. We have deep sector experience and look forward to working with the excellent BEC management team to continue to invest in and grow the company.”
Campaign to build a disc golf course at Cal State San Marcos
Campus Recreation, a division of Associated Students Inc. at Cal State San Marcos, has begun a $20,000 campaign to raise funds to build an 18-hole disc golf course (also called Frisbee golf), on campus. Like traditional golf, disc golf is a game where the objective is to advance to the target with as few strokes (or throws) possible. Instead of using clubs and a ball, a flying disc is released toward the target, which is a standing basket. The sport can be played individually or as a group. Campus Recreation, led by Director Hugo Lecomte, chose construction of the course as its primary project this year. Besides the recreational use, the course will provide opportunities for both the College of Education and the Kinesiology Department in the College of Arts and Sciences to conduct pedagogical instruction. The no fee course, scheduled to be complete in spring 2010, will also be open to community members who can play the course as it winds through campus. Several of the holes on the upper campus will be accessible for players in wheelchairs. The disc golf course will be the first at any Southern California college or university.
Several donors have contributed to the campaign, including the San Diego Aces, the local affiliate organization of the Professional Disc Golf Association, which gave $2,500. Other contributors included In Motion Inc. and student organizations Zeta Beta Tau and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternities. Donors who provide $500 will have the opportunity to have their name printed on a tee sign. For gifts of $25 or more, donors will receive a commemorative mini disc suitable for use as a marker or keepsake. For more information, call Monica Watkins at (760) 310-9468.
S.D. Hospice and Institute for Palliative Medicine win top award
The Palliative Care Psychiatry Program at San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine has been named the winner of the 2009 Gold Achievement Award by the American Psychiatric Association. The director of the Palliative Care Psychiatry Program is San Diego psychiatrist Scott Irwin. The program is the only full-time psychiatry service at any hospice in the nation, said Irwin. The program combines clinical innovation, applied research and education to improve mental health and palliative care for the seriously ill population. “Through this award, I hope to gain visibility for our program so that more patients and families can benefit from the work we do at The Institute,” said Irwin. The formal award ceremony took place Thursday at the opening session of the Institute on Psychiatric Services in New York, where Irwin was presented with a plaque and the $10,000 Gold Achievement Award provided by Pfizer Inc.
Grants go to Family Health Center and Project Concern
UnitedHealth Group and PacifiCare have awarded a $96,000 grant to Family Health Center of San Diego and a $100,000 grant to Project Concern International, also in San Diego, for improving health care services. Family Health Center received funding for new technology, including robotic devices that will help increase the multi-site clinic’s pharmacy. Project Concern, with the Mexican Consulate of San Diego, received funding to bring health information and referrals to thousands of consulate visitors in order to improve their access to preventive health care.
Big Brothers Big Sisters expands
Thanks to contributions from The Jack in the Box Foundation and the T. Boone Pickens Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County has been able to expand its Operation Bigs program beyond its five sites at Camp Pendleton and open two new sites in Point Loma and Coronado. The new sites opened at the start of the fall school semester. Operation Bigs provides mentors to children of military families who have deployable parents. The program matches Big Brothers and Big Sisters to children who need mentors during stressful times in their lives.
“The new funding has allowed us to expand the program to Silver Strand Elementary in Coronado and Gateway Youth Recreation Center in Point Loma,” said Paul Palmer, CEO and president of BBBS.
UCSD rated ‘Sustainability Leader’ in Green Report Card
Reported by Rex Graham, senior director, media relations,
University Communications and Public Affairs, UCSD
Years of emphasis on sustainable operations have resulted in an outstanding green “report card” for UCSD. Citing such factors as the organic food served in its dining halls and strong student involvement in sustainability initiatives to 56 hybrid and 33 biodiesel vehicles in its fleet, the nonprofit Sustainable Endowments Institute listed UCSD as one of the nation’s 26 greenest campuses in its 2010 College Sustainability Report Card.
UC San Diego received an overall grade of “A-”, the highest awarded in the report card and an achievement shared with only 25 other campuses nationwide. The report card is based on nine operational categories: administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, green building, student involvement, transportation, endowment transparency and investment priorities. In order to foster constructive dialogue about investment in clean energy and community development, the Sustainable Endowments Institute has made its in-depth research on 332 colleges and universities available on a website.
“Our high ranking in this national comprehensive analysis of sustainability efforts is a testament to the innovative and ceaseless efforts of our students, faculty and staff,” said Russell Thackston, assistant vice chancellor of auxiliary and plant services. “Our campus is off to a great start, and we will continue to aggressively pursue our goal to be among the world’s greenest campuses.”
UCSD received five “A” grades on the report card for categories related to administration, climate change and energy, food and recycling, student involvement and transportation. The report card also recognized UCSD’s student “Econauts” and a variety of competitions that encourage students to reduce energy use and waste.
The campus is installing sustainable and drought-tolerant bio-swale landscaping. Cafeterias offer organic, locally grown foods and students bring their refillable bottles to “hydration stations” that eliminate the need for disposable water bottles. As an incentive to keep energy consumption as low as possible, each student in a new campus apartment building will receive an individual electricity bill.
UCSD lists its sustainability initiatives at http://sustain.ucsd.edu to highlight its coordinated campus-wide efforts to advance our understanding of the scientific, economic, and social issues involved in the sustainable stewardship of planet earth in the 21st century.
Sustainability is part of UCSD’s institutional DNA. Modern climate change science began at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD with the Keeling Curve in 1958, which has become the scientific icon of global warming. Campus researchers continue to make major strides in climate change science, completing modeling studies and worldwide monitoring of oceans and the atmosphere.
The report card not only recognizes UCSD’s growing campus fleet of hybrid and biodiesel vehicles and that emissions have fallen 20 percent since 2006, but also noted the university’s target of zero waste and carbon neutrality, which the university plans to achieve by 2025.
“Given the state of California’s funding cutbacks, we will be hard pressed to continue our rapid progress toward achieving our sustainability goals, but UCSD is exploring every possible source of support to get there,” said Thackston. “Being one of the greenest universities in the nation also has helped us attract some of the most environmentally conscious students in California and the world to our campus. In important ways, we’re educating a new generation of Econauts who will help California and the nation preserve today’s resources and improve the environment in the future.”
