Daily Business Report — Dec. 21, 2010
Anthony Pico Takes Viejas Reins Again
Anthony R. Pico, who served as tribal chairman of the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians for more than two decades, has returned as chairman of the Alpine tribe. He and six others were elected to the Tribal Council in voting this past Sunday. Also elected were Robert “Cita” Welch Jr., vice chairman; Anita Uqualla, secretary; Sam Q. Brown, treasurer; and council members Greybuck Espinoza, Victor Woods and Bear Cuero. They will take office Jan. 3 and will serve two-year terms.
Under Pico’s previous leadership, the Viejas Band achieved national and state recognition for its economic and social progress. He was a driving force and spokesman in the landmark California ballot initiatives in 1998-2000 that brought economic growth to many of the 107 federally recognized tribes in the state and San Diego County. Pico served as co-chair of the Proposition 1A initiative to amend the California Constitution, enabling tribes to engage in gaming on tribal land. Viejas was a leader in promoting inter-tribal business ventures, most notably the establishment of Four Fires and Three Fires LLC, tribal coalitions in the development of Marriott Residence Inns in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento.
Pico is a director of Borrego Springs Bank, one of the first American Indian owned banks in the United States. He Pico was named the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) Man of the Year in 1997 and received the organization’s 2007 John Kieffer Award demonstrating a lifetime of achievement and commitment to Indian gaming. Pico is also a recipient of the 2008 Award for Public Service from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution. He served as a U.S. Army paratrooper in Vietnam, where he received a number of Distinguished
Word of Life Worship Center Purchases La Mesa Church
The Word of Life Worship Center has purchased a La Mesa church at 8691 Echo Drive for $4.7 million and will relocate to the new site from its current location at 2701 E. 8th St. in National City. The property was sold by the WaterStone Support Foundation. The 28,025-square-foot building is situated on 3.2 acres of land. Paradise Valley Seventh Day Adventist Church, the owner of the East 8th Street property, will lease out the 20,000-square-foot property after Word of Life Worship Center vacates it. Tom Morgan of Grubb & Ellis Co. represented Word of Life and WaterStone Support Foundation in the sales transaction.
Morgan also represented the previous occupant of 8691 Echo Drive, Father’s House Church International, in its relocation to 18,589 square feet of space located at 2705 Via Orange Way in Spring Valley. Father’s House Church signed a 63-month lease at the property. Jeremy Dentt and Ryan Dentt of Pacific Realty Advisors represented the owner of the property, Pacific Ranch San Diego, in the transaction.
AT&T to Purchase Spectrum Licenses from Qualcomm
AT&T has agreed to purchase spectrum licenses in the lower MHz frequency band from Qualcomm Inc. for $1.925 billion, a move intended to bolster AT&T’s ability to provide an advanced 4G broadband experience for its customers. Qualcomm currently uses the licenses to support the service business of FLO TV Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm, and the sale follows Qualcomm’s previously announced plan to evaluate strategic options for the FLO TV business. Qualcomm expects that the FLO TV business and network will be shut down in March 2011. The spectrum covers more than 300 million people nationwide.
One-Day Wine Course Offered at SDSU
SDSU’s College of Extended Studies will launch its spring semester of its Professional Certificate in the Business of Wine program with a course titled “The Sensory of Wine — Aroma, Palate and Faults,” on Jan. 22 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the SDSU Extended Studies/Gateway Center. The one-day course is a baseline and cornerstone of wine knowledge. From capturing varietal aroma and palate, to understanding characteristics, wine making techniques and flaws, the course will be a student’s on-going reference for wine tasting, pairing,and appreciation. Students will gain new skills to use in restaurants, wine bars, wine country or at home. Cost of the course is $195, or $225 after Jan. 15. For more information, call (619) 594-6924 or visit neverstoplearning.net/wine.
Multicultural Festival Set for Jan. 15 Downtown
A crowd of thousands is expected at the 13th annual Sheila R. Hardin San Diego Multicultural Festival Jan. 15 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. along the Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade in Downtown San Diego. The Promenade is between Fourth Avenue and Market Street on Harbor Drive, across from the San Diego Convention Center. Featured will be music and dance performances, storytelling and children’s activities and a wide range of food and retail vendors. The event was renamed for Sheila R. Hardin, a long-time community relations manager for Centre City Development Corp. and the driving force behind the festival. Hardin died in April. This year’s event will also incorporate a variety of cultural and learning institutions as part of the Downtown Education Fair, which allows attendees to find out more about learning opportunities throughout Downtown. A free drawing for prizes including Amtrak Surfliner passes, restaurant and local business gift cards is part of the fun, too. Sponsors of the festival include CCDC, SDG&E, the county of San Diego, Westfield Horton Plaza, Union Bank of California, Procurement Concepts Inc., San Diego Community College District, Amtrak, Ampco System Parking and media partners KUSI Television, radio stations Magic 92.5 and Z90.3, and San Diego CityBeat.
Pelican Packaging Purchases Oceanside Industrial Building
Pelican Packaging, a packaging company based in San Diego, has purchased a 9,329-square-foot industrial building at 1806 Ord Way, Building 2D, in Oceanside, for $900,000. Pelican Packaging relocated to Oceanside from its previously leased industrial space at 5816 Dryden Place in Carlsbad. Jeff Saywitz, senior vice president of The Saywitz Co., represented the buyer. The seller, PCCP bkm, Oceanside II LLC, was represented by Jim Spain and Josh McFadyen of Colliers International and Joe McDermott of Coldwell Banker.
MDA DataQuick Hires Vice President of Sales
Philip Susdorf has joined MDA DataQuick as vice president of sales in the real estate division. Prior to joining the real estate data company, Susdorf served as vice president of sales for the national bank sales and marketing division at Automatic Data Processing. Susdorf also served as division and area vice president of sales for the West division of the same company. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Redlands.
Ryan Leaf Signs Books Contract
Former Chargers quarterback bust Ryan Leaf has signed a contract with Crimson Oak Publishing to write three books, one of them focusing on his battle with prescription painkillers and “demons of self doubt” that haunted him since his once-promising pro career came undone at age 26. Another book will be a broader biography on the triumphs, trials and tribulations of a life lived much in the public eye, from his youth in Montana through his troubled time with the San Diego Chargers and beyond. The first book in the series will be more specifically targeted. “It will cover four years, from the moment I decided to attend Washington State up through our Rose Bowl appearance in 1998,” Leaf said.
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