Daily Business Report — April 26, 2010
40 Under 40 Nominations
Nominations are now open for San Diego Metropolitan Magazine’s 11th annual 40 Under 40 awards. The nomination period ends May 31. The honorees will be feted at our annual luncheon on Sept. 9 at the San Diego Convention Center and profiled in the September issue of the magazine. Visit http://sandiegometro.com/40under40/ for a nomination form.
San Vicente Dam-Raising Project to Boost Region’s Water Reserves
Work will start soon on a $140.2 million construction project to raise the city-owned San Vicente Dam by 117 feet, an effort that will increase the reservoir’s capacity by 169 percent and provide the region with additional local water reserves. The project, awarded to a joint venture partnership between Shimmick Construction Co. and Obayashi Corp., is the largest dam-raising project in the country and the largest of its kind in the world, according to the San Diego County Water Authority. It will create 5,500-job years of employment to the San Diego region, said Maureen Stapleton, Water Authority general manager.
The dam is currently 220 feet tall. By raising it to 337 feet, the expanded reservoir will provide 152,000 acre-feet of additional water storage. Of that amount, 100,000 acre-feet will be dedicated to carryover storage — water stored in wet years for use during subsequent dry years. An additional 52,000 acre-feet of the increased storage will be dedicated for emergency storage. (An acre-foot is 325,900 gallons, enough to meet the needs of two single-family homes of four people for a year.)
“The San Vicente Dam Raise project is a critical part of the Water Authority’s $1.5 billion plan to ensure that our region can call upon locally stored water reserves during emergencies or other periods of limited imported supplies,” said Stapleton.
The project is also the largest component of the fourth and final phase of the Water Authority’s Emergency Storage Project (ESP), which has been under development for more than a decade. It is a system of reservoirs, pipelines, and other facilities that work together to store and move water around the county in the aftermath of a disaster, such as an earthquake. When complete, the entire ESP system will provide 96,000 acre-feet of water stored locally for emergency use, enough to supply the region for up to six months.
The construction contract also includes construction of a new saddle dam, a new outlet tower, a new pipeline and control facility and new access roads. Construction is expected to be complete by early 2013.
The dam-raising project is funded through bond sale proceeds. The Water Authority in January completed a $627 million bond sale to provide funds for capital improvement projects for fiscal years 2011 and 2012.
Shimmick Construction Co. is based in Oakland and Obayashi Corp. is based in Tokyo, Japan. They have completed a number of roller compacted concrete and conventional concrete dams and dam rehabilitation projects over the past 10 years.
Workforce Partnership Funds White-Collar Jobs Program
The San Diego Workforce Partnership has awarded more than $200,000 in federal funds to UCSD Extension to provide no-cost training to unemployed white-collar professionals. UCSD Extension will use the funds for a pilot program to train 45 individuals to obtain skills for higher-demand jobs. The first group of 15 students will begin a 15-week training course on May 17. The target audience for the program are workers with college degrees and five or more years of experience in professional or paraprofessional fields. For more information, San Diegans should contact their nearest One Stop Career Center. For Career Center locations visit SanDiegoatwork.com or call (619) 228-2900.
“Long-term unemployment has been a well-recognized phenomenon of this recession and white-collar workers are increasingly among the most hard hit,” said Mark Cafferty, San Diego Workforce Partnership president and CEO. “Architects, accountants, business analysts, journalists, designers, IT and finance workers are among the professionals now applying for unemployment and registering with recruitment agencies.”
The pilot program will help white collar workers accelerate job transition by understanding how to research emerging job fields, harness technology like social media in job searches and understand the unadvertised job market. Students will receive training through a variety of methods including classroom instruction and one-on-one coaching. In addition to providing training, UC San Diego Extension will gather data about white collar workers and provide job trend analysis to help refine future educational offerings.
CONNECT Hires Lobbyist
Timothy Tardibono, former legal counsel to Sen. Tom Coburn, has been named director of government affairs and chief counsel for CONNECT in its Washington, D.C., office. Tardibono was counsel to Coburn in the areas of intellectual property, trade, antitrust, workforce development, telecommunications and regulatory affairs. He previously worked in state government as the assistant general counsel for the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
Tardibono will serve as CONNECT’s lobbyist in Washington on San Diego innovation issues. Duane Roth, CEO of CONNECT, said Tardibono has a history of success in negotiating and impacting legislation and possesses an understanding of multiple innovation issues and their impact on the entrepreneurial climate.
Tardibono will be responsible for managing CONNECT’s federal issue portfolio, including intellectual property legislation, workforce development, regulation, trade and antitrust, investment capital and incentives and federal research funding.
Hutchens PR Group Promotes Lucia Stone to Vice President
Hutchens PR Group Inc. has promoted Lucia Stone to vice president of the company, responsible for developing and implementing communications strategies and media relations for the firm’s clients. Stone previously was senior associate. Prior to joining the company, Stone was a television news producer at KUSI-TV in San Diego. Before that, she produced the daily 11 o’clock newscast for the NBC affiliate KSBY-TV in San Luis Obispo. Stone serves on the board of directors for the San Diego chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and is the co-chair of the marketing committee. She holds a bachelor’s degree from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo.
Pierce Education Properties Announces Promotions
Matthew Maruccia has been promoted to vice president of acquisitions for San Diego-based Pierce Education Properties (PEP). Maruccia, who joined the company in 2008, previously was director of acquisitions. The company also announced the promotions of Nancy Monaghan from director of finance to vice president of finance, Kent W. Dunn from vice president to senior vice president of asset management and Theresa Nakata from vice president to senior vice president of marketing.
Maruccia will lead efforts related to PEP’s student housing acquisition programs. Monaghan joined PEP in 2007 and is responsible for all aspects of financial reporting for the firm’s multiple partnerships and entities. She has 20 years of experience in finance, accounting and operations. Dunn joined PEP in 2006 and oversees all assets acquired and managed under the PEP student housing acquisition program and third-party property management contracts. Nakata, with PEP since 2006, has 19 years of marketing experience. She is responsible for corporate marketing as well as sales, advertising, and public relations for the firm’s student housing and real estate development divisions.
Datebook
April 28
WORKSHOP: Grossmont College Career Center will present “Job Interview Fitness,” a free workshop from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the Career Center, Room 627, on campus. Topics: job interview tips, ethics and etiquette. Speakers: Nancy Davis, Grossmont College student development services supervisor, and Carole Martin of The Interview Coach. For more information or to reserve a seat, phone (619) 644-7614.
April 29
PROGRAM: The World Trade Center presents “Standards, Connections, Pathways and Problem Solving — the DNA of Lean,” featuring Samuel Obara of Honsha demonstrating why so many companies fail when trying to implement lean strategies. 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., World Trade Center conference room, Downtown. $35 for members, $45 for nonmembers. Walk-ins, $55. For information, call (619) 615-0868, Ext. 111. To register, visit wtcsd.org.
WORKSHOP-MIXER: The San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce hosts its monthly workshop and mixer, 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., U.S. Grant Hotel, Downtown San Diego. $10 for members, $15 for nonmembers, $20 at the door. Seminar covers topics ranging from leveraging social media to connecting with customers through blogging and e-mail marketing campaigns. For more information, visit sdchcc.com.
May 14
SEMINAR: The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) holds its monthly seminar featuring Joon Han, founder and strategy specialist with Better San Diego, speaking on “Get Ahead by Giving Back.” Noon to 1 p.m., Brandman University, 7460 Mission Valley Road, San Diego. Pre-registration is required. Visit nawbo-sd.org. Free for NAWBO members; visitors $25.
The Daily Business Report is produced by REP Publishing Inc., publisher of San Diego Metropolitan Magazine, the North Park News, Kensington News and the West Coast Craftsman. (619) 906-4104.
