Daily Business Report — Dec. 1, 2009
Port Commissioners to Hear Convention Center Expansion Plan
Representatives from the San Diego Convention Center Corp. are to make a presentation to the Port of San Diego’s Board of Port Commissioners today on the proposed $1.1 billion Convention Center expansion and construction of a 500-room hotel on Convention Way and Marina Parkway behind the Convention Center. The meeting begins at 1 p.m. in the board room of the Port Administration Building, 3165 Pacific Highway. A closed session involving property negotiations will begin at 11 a.m.
Other matters to be reviewed or scheduled to be voted on in the monthly board meeting include:
• The board will be asked to commit to reducing the concentration of copper from copper-based antifouling boat hull paint in San Diego Bay. The Port has been testing alternative paints on boat hulls and at the direction of the board, the district entered into an agreement with the SDSU College of Business MBA Business Consulting Program to identify non-toxic alternatives to copper-based hull coatings. The board is being asked to consider policies that will ensure that non-copper-based paints are used on vessel hulls.
• Commissioners will be asked to amend the agreement with Bermello Ajamil and Partners, the firm that is designing the new $28 million Broadway Cruise Ship Terminal. Construction began in July, but additional work, including the design of pier upgrades, is required. The board will be asked to authorize an additional $200,000 to the $3.1 million professional services contract. The board also will be asked to approve a $1.9 million agreement with San Diego Gas & Electric to install electrical service hookups to support shore power at the B Street and Broadway Pier Cruise Ship terminals.
• The concept design for the 3.3-acre Ruocco Park, a $6.3-million waterfront park near Harbor Drive and Pacific Highway, is scheduled for review. The park will include large grass areas, small contemplative areas, public restrooms, open views to the bay, public art, and water-saving elements such as water-wise plants.
• The board will be asked to issue a non-appealable coastal development permit for the restoration of the Chula Vista Wildlife Reserve. The Port,
California Coastal Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are partnering to restore 280 acres of salt marsh in south San Diego Bay. Besides the request to issue the non-appealable permit, the board is expected to accept a nearly $295,000 Coastal Conservancy grant to help pay for the project.
• Commissioners will honor BMW Oracle Racing, the United States challenger in the international America’s Cup competition. For the past year, the crew has been conducting sea trials in Point Loma. The racing team was headquartered at Fifth Avenue Landing, a Port tenant located behind the Convention Center.
District Holds Open House for Mesa College Police Station
The San Diego Community College District will hold an open house on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to noon to mark the completion of the new Mesa College Police Station, a 7,000-square-foot facility that includes offices, a waiting area, a conference room, a secure suspect processing area and a locker room outfitted with daylight-harvesting fixtures and waterless and low-flow plumbing fixtures. The station is at San Diego Mesa College, 7250 Mesa College Drive, San Diego. The project is currently undergoing the application process to obtain a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It would be the district’s first police facility to be LEED certified. The open house will include training and equipment demonstrations, displays of equipment and memorabilia, and self-guided tours.
The Mesa College Police Station is funded by the district’s $1.555 billion Propositions S and N construction bond program, providing for new teaching and learning facilities, major renovations, public safety facilities and campuswide infrastructure projects at City, Mesa and Miramar Colleges, and six continuing education campuses.
The police station provides new space for Mesa’s 25-member college police force, including officers, lieutenants, sergeants, college service officers and administrative support team members. The station was part of the $29.3 million East Campus improvement project, which also included the adjacent parking structure, the realignment of the campus’ east entry gateway and road and parking improvements.
The Mesa College Police Station was designed by Architects Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, a San Diego-based firm which also designed the Allied Health Building, which opened in August, and the adjacent Mesa College parking structure The firm is also designing the future math and science building at Mesa. Other project partners include Barnhart Heery, RBF Consulting, Wimmer Yamada and Caughey, Hope Engineering and X-nth Inc. Diane Malone, Daniel Sicile-Kira and Edgar Hinojosa of Gafcon Inc. serve as the campus project management team. Gafcon Inc. also serves as the program manager for Propositions S and N.
Commercial Real Estate Women Elects 2010 Board
Anne Benge, principal of the San Diego office of Unisource Solutions, has been elected president of Commercial Real Estate Women San Diego (CREW) for 2010. She and other elected members of the board of directors will serve one-year terms. The other board members are:
• Allison Beall, Pacific Building Group, president-elect.
• Kellie Hill, r3 Building Systems, first vice president, membership.
• Tiffany English, Ware Malcomb Architect, director of membership.
• Angela Rauzi, Dowling Construction, second vice president, sponsorship.
• Mike Raring, AAA Property Services, director of sponsorship.
• Jennifer Shumaker, Douglas Allred Co., treasurer.
• Shereen Rossini, Gerson Law, secretary.
• Tara Burns, Brickman Group, director of marketing communications.
• Jason Hunking, ROEL Construction, director of special events.
• Amber Mauer, JMA Architecture, national delegate.
• Christina Skwat, Studley Inc., national delegate.
Inovio Partner Completes Hepatitis Clinical Study
Inovio Biomedical Corp.’s partner, Tripep AB of Sweden, has completed its phase I clinical study of its ChronVac-C hepatitis C virus DNA vaccine delivered using Inovio’s electroporation technology. Inovia said the study established the safety and tolerability of the therapy, with vaccine-induced immune responses and transient effects on the serum levels of hepatitis C virus in these chronically infected patients providing proof-of-concept of DNA vaccines delivered using electroporation. Twelve patients were treated with this combination of Tripep’s ChronVac-C DNA vaccine and Inovio’s proprietary electroporation technology. “We are pleased to collaborate with Tripep. The results of this clinical study will contribute to the advancement of all our programs for DNA vaccines delivered using electroporation, including those for influenza, HIV, cervical cancer, and other infectious diseases,” said J. Joseph Kim, Inovio’s president and CEO.
Entrepreneur Succeeds With SCORE San Diego Help
Brian Jones used the services of SCORE San Diego to launch his business, which sells lamps based on the famous “leg lamp” design from the popular holiday movie “ A Christmas Story,” and has returned to the organization as a counselor to help other small business entrepreneurs. A retired Naval intelligence officer, Jones Jones originally consulted SCORE San Diego for guidance in starting his Internet-based business. He attended the entrepreneur series of workshops, including “How to Start and Manage Your Own Business,” “How to Develop Your Competitive Advantage” and “How to Write a Business Plan,” which taught him the importance of competitive differentiation to get a “leg up” on his competitors.
To help differentiate his business from other leg lamp upstarts that started to appear during the 20th anniversary of the movie, Jones bought the Cleveland, Ohio house featured in the movie. In addition to selling leg lamps online, Jones offers tours of the “A Christmas Story” house and the next-door museum, which features movie paraphernalia. He also sells other movie memorabilia. Jones currently works with SCORE San Diego to counsel small business entrepreneurs on Internet e-mail and social media marketing, Web presence, pay-per-click, SEO campaigns and Website set-up, including the aesthetics of a page.
“I was able to get a wealth of business knowledge from the SCORE San Diego counselors at almost no cost – and when you are starting a business, every dollar counts,” said Jones. “I returned to SCORE San Diego as a counselor because I know what an asset the organization is for small business owners, and I can now provide my knowledge about owning a Web-based business.”
To learn more about the A Christmas Story House, museum and movie memorabilia, visit achristmasstoryhouse.com.
Barona a Top Winner in American Gaming Assn. Awards
Barona Resort & Casino was the top winner at the American Gaming Association’s ninth annual Communications Awards ceremony, taking five Gaming Voice awards, which recognize outstanding corporate communications, public relations and advertising in the gaming industry. “Our five awards, ranging from Best Web site to Best Corporate Social Responsibility Publication, display the amazing versatility of our marketing team,” said Linda Devine, senior vice president of marketing.
North County Philanthropy Council Honors 4 Volunteers
The North County Philanthropy Council has honored four members of The San Diego Foundation’s regional foundations with Volunteer of the Year Awards. The honorees:
• Carlsbad Charitable Foundation past board chair Knox Williams and past grants committee chair Hollyce Phillips.
• Escondido Charitable Foundation past chair Ken Lounsbery.
• Oceanside Charitable Foundation past board co-chair Colleen O’Harra.
• Rancho Bernardo Community Foundation board member Maureen Rouleau.
The Carlsbad, Escondido, Oceanside, and Rancho Bernardo Charitable Foundations are part of a network of local affiliates of The San Diego Foundation, each serving the needs of communities throughout the region.
Carlsbad Foundation Receives $25,000 Matching Grant
The Carlsbad Charitable Foundation has received a $25,000 matching grant from the Leichtag Family Foundation to support its philanthropic activities in Carlsbad. The matching deadline is Dec. 31. Businesses and individuals making a five-year commitment at $1,000 per year to the Carlsbad Charitable Foundation by that date will see their positive impact on the community doubled as their first-year contribution is matched by the LFF, said Yvonne Murchison Finocchiaro, chair of the Carlsbad Charitable Foundation. “The Leichtag Family Foundation’s generous matching grant will help us meet our goal of welcoming at least 25 new members to the CCF,” said Finocchiaro.
Scripps to Send Delegation to Climate Change Conference
Scripps Institution of Oceanography will send a delegation of scientists and students to Copenhagen for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties, which begins Dec. 7. Along with other scientific institutions and organizations, the researchers will be on hand to interact with international negotiators on policy decisions that could dictate the world’s response to climate change threats. Scripps will attend the conference as part of the UC Revelle Program on Climate Science and Policy. The conference is anticipated to produce a successor or companion emissions agreement to the 1998 Kyoto Protocol, the first commitment period of which expires in 2012. “What the research since Kyoto tells us is that we know enough to act,” said Tony Haymet, director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography and leader of the UC Revelle delegation. “We are hopeful that Copenhagen negotiators will not opt to kick the problem down the road because Scripps science suggests that there is no time for more procrastination.”
The Scripps Oceanography delegation includes the following researchers: Haymet; Victoria Fabry, professor of biological oceanography and visiting research associate; Andrew Dickson, professor of marine chemistry; Veerabhadran Ramanathan, professor of climate and atmospheric sciences; Ray Weiss, professor of geochemistry; Tamara Beitzel, student, Applied Ocean Science curricular group; Brendan Carter, student, Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry curricular group; Grant Galland, student, Marine Biology curricular group; and Kristina Pistone, student, Climate Science curricular group.
During the conference, Scripps Oceanography will offer a Website featuring the latest news and multimedia content from Copenhagen as well as blogs from participants and a reader discussion board. View the Website at scripps.ucsd.edu/cop15.
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