Daily Business Report — June 23, 2010
Superintendent Chosen for San Diego Unified School District
Bill Kowba, a retired Navy admiral who has been serving as interim superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District since last September, has been selected by the Board of Education to fill the position on a permanent basis. One of three finalists for the job, Kowba will now negotiate a contract with the district before assuming the post. “I’m certainly honored that the board has had the confidence in me to go forward in this process,” Kowba told the Board of Education at Tuesday’s meeting, where Board President Richard Barrera announced that Kowba was the “sole finalist” for the position.
Kowba joined the district in August 2006 as chief financial officer. He assumed additional responsibilities as acting chief administrative officer in August 2007 and served as the interim superintendent from January-March 2008. Following the appointment of Dr. Terry Grier as superintendent, he served as chief logistics officer, where he managed the district’s operational and facilities departments. He became interim superintendent after Grier’s departure.
Kowba had a 30-year career in the U.S. Navy. He was the first commander of the Fleet and Industrial Supply Centers organization, a Navy logistics force that streamlined regional and waterfront support and financial and acquisition operations. In this last assignment before joining the district, he developed a global network of Navy supply centers at more than 100 locations staffed by nearly 7,000 logistics, acquisition, and financial professionals.
Scripps Health to Open Proton Therapy Center for Cancer Patients
Scripps Health has announced plans to build the first patient care facility in the county to offer advanced proton therapy to cancer patients — a therapy that offers a more precise and aggressive approach to destroying cancerous and non-cancerous tumors, compared to conventional X-ray radiation. Groundbreaking for the $185 million Scripps Proton Therapy Center is to be held in July with opening by spring 2013. It will be the second facility of its type in California and the West and is expected to draw patients from across the West.
Officials said the 120,000-square-foot center will have the capability to treat about 2,400 patients a year. The site is a seven-acre parcel at 9577 Summers Ridge Road in the Carroll Canyon area of Mira Mesa.
Partners in the construction are Scripps Health, Scripps Clinic Medical Group and Advanced Particle Therapy LLC (APT) of Minden, Nev.
The new facility will include five treatment rooms, three of which will include gantries — rotational machines designed to deliver the therapeutic beam at the precise angle prescribed by the physician. The other two treatment rooms will have fixed-beam machines. A non-invasive treatment, proton beam therapy is usually performed on an outpatient basis and is considered most effective on solid, deep-seated tumors that are localized and have not spread to distant areas of the body.
The center also will offer MRI and CT scan diagnostic services in support of proton therapy; 16 patient exam rooms; and offices for 14 physicians. Patients will be able to access treatment through a referral to a specialist credentialed by the Scripps Proton Therapy Center. Scripps Health officials said proton therapy has an established history of reimbursement by Medicare and private health care payers.
Scripps Health will provide clinical management services to the center. Scripps Clinic Medical Group will oversee the medical services. APT has arranged financing to build the center and purchase the proton therapy equipment from Varian Medical Systems of Palo Alto. APT will manage and maintain the building and equipment. The architect for the center is Haskell Design Build of Jacksonville, Fla.
“Our intent is to provide broad access to cancer patients throughout the region,” said Dr. Robert Sarnoff, president of Scripps Clinic Medical Group. “Scripps Clinic’s radiation oncology specialists are national leaders in the field who bring extensive knowledge and experience to our medical management of this additional tool to treat cancer.”
Horizon Tech Center Sold for $40.5 Million
Horizon Tech Center, a three-building, 158,000-square-foot office complex in Scripps Ranch that is occupied by Lockheed Martin, has been sold for $40.5 million to KBS Realty Fund, a real estate investment trust. The buyer, operated by KBS Cos., is one of the country’s largest buyers of commercial real estate and structured debt investments.
Horizon Tech Center was constructed by Opus in 2009. The Class A campus sits on an elevated site with panoramic views and adjoins a six-acre city park with walking paths and trail access to Lake Miramar. The complex includes a cafeteria, men’s and women’s locker facilities in each building and parking.
Jeffrey Cole, Steve Rowland, Steve Rosetta, Ed Hernandez and Michael Roberts of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller in the transaction. Chris Wood of Voit Real Estate Services also consulted with ownership on the sale.
MiraCosta College Creative Arts Buildings Completed
Construction of a new Concert Hall and Arts Building on the Oceanside campus of MiraCosta College has been completed. The buildings are the newest additions to the college’s Creative Arts Complex and will provide performance and teaching spaces for the school’s music department. Barnhart Balfour Beatty provided construction management services for the expansion, which includes the addition of the 12,000-square-foot Concert Hall and a new 4,100-square-food Arts Building. The 400-seat Concert Hall has been designed specifically for vocal and instrumental performances and features a rehearsal and recital room. The Arts Building contains a lecture classroom and multi-purpose arts classroom. Both projects were designed by tBP/Architecture Inc. of Newport Beach.
Barnhart Balfour Beatty previously provided construction management services for MiraCosta’s $15 million Creative Arts Replacement Building, which was completed in 2008. The three-level, 21,600-square-foot building includes rehearsal spaces, state-of-the-art recording studios, a 150-seat performance hall, art studios and a rooftop open-air studio with a sail-like canopy. It replaced two buildings that were condemned in 2003 because the soil underneath them was shifting.
Barnhart Balfour Beatty team members included Anton Greenville, executive vice president; Mike Weber, project manager; Bryan Rasmussen, project superintendent; and Chris Drinko, construction manager.
Performance Toesock Maker Expands HQ
Injinji, the maker of the Performance Toesock footwear, has enlarged its San Diego headquarters by an additional 8,500 square feet to accommodate future growth and additional staff. The headquarters are at 10373 Roselle St. Injinji occupies the street-facing unit, which features new workstations and private offices, a large conference room, reception area and lobby, and a fully-furnished kitchen and dining space. An attached warehouse for shipping and storage also is utilized besides two other warehouses and loading docks. The company plans to transform space in one of the warehouses to create a “Zen” room for employee rejuvenation. “This is undoubtedly the right move at the right time,” said Jason Battenfield, CEO of Injinji. “We’re excited to acquire a new facility that can continue to support Injinji’s growth and our San Diego community.”
DexCom Appoints Chief Operations and Technical Officers
Steven R. Pacelli has been appointed to the newly created position of chief operating officer for DexCom Inc., a company that develops and markets continuous glucose monitoring systems for ambulatory use by patients and health care workers in hospitals. The company also announced that Jorge Valdes was appointed chief technical officer, also a new position.
Pacelli has served as DexCom’s chief administrative officer since December 2008. He was previously its senior vice president of corporate affairs and vice president of legal affairs.
Valdes has been DexCom’s senior vice president of operations since 2007. Before that he was vice president of engineering. Prior to joining DexCom, he was vice president of engineering at Advanced Fibre Communications.
Neighborhood House Association and Union Sign Contract
Neighborhood House Association and Service Employees International Union Local 221 have negotiated a labor contract for nearly 400 association employees that includes a 1.84 percent COLA wage increase beginning July 1 and no increase in health care premiums through next year. “This contract offers workplace enhancements that will allow our members to continue to provide quality service to children enrolled in Head Start programs in San Diego,” said SEIU Local 221 President Eric Banks. “Our bargaining team worked very hard to ensure this contract would positively impact the lives of NHA employees and the community they serve.” The contract is effective through June 30, 2013.
“This contract is important because everybody should be treated fairly and have a voice,” said NHA employee and Local 221 Bargaining Team member Belvia Gipson. “A contract helps resolve problems and issues.”
SDSU Prof Named to Council on Foreign Relations
Tom Novotny, a public health professor at San Diego State, has been named a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the independent, nonpartisan think-tank that promotes a better understanding of the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries. Novotny, co-director of SDSU’s joint doctoral program in global health, said he hopes to represent global health as an issue of foreign policy. “One area of particular attention will be the global diabetes epidemic,” Novotny said. “Food policy, trade policy, foreign aid — these are all central elements to helping us control this epidemic long-term.”
The Council on Foreign Relations was founded in 1921.
SCORE San Diego Small Business Workshops
• June 24 – Small Business Marketing – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Point Loma Nazarene University in Mission Valley (4007 Camino del Rio South, San Diego 92108; pre-paid registration $69, $79 at the door).
• June 25 – Insurance: What You Need to Know to Protect You and Your Business – Carlsbad – 9 a.m. to noon at National University (705 Palomar Airport Road, Carlsbad 92011; pre-paid registration $49, $59 at the door).
• June 26 – Internet Marketing 304: Cost-Effective Internet Marketing Tools – 9 a.m. to noon at Point Loma Nazarene University in Mission Valley (4007 Camino del Rio South, San Diego 92108; pre-paid registration $49, $59 at the door).
• June 29 – Internet Marketing 303: Social Media for Small Businesses – 9 a.m. to noon at Point Loma Nazarene University in Mission Valley (4007 Camino del Rio South, San Diego 92108; pre-paid registration $49, $59 at the door).
• June 30 – QuickBooks Basic – Carlsbad – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at National University (705 Palomar Airport Road, Carlsbad 92011; pre-paid registration $69, $79 at the door).
For more information on the workshops, call (619) 557-7272.
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.
