Daily Business Report — Jan. 20, 2011
Annex Brands Acquires Navis Pack & Ship System
Annex Brands Inc., a San Diego company formerly known as Postal Annex, has acquired the 49-unit Navis Pack & Ship franchise system to bring its total franchise network to more than 380 in 38 states and Canada. The company’s existing brands include PostalAnnex+, Handle With Care Packaging Store and Sunshine Pack & Ship. Navis Pack & Ship was founded in Denver in 2000. The acquisition was Annex Brands’ third in the past four years. In 2006, it purchased the Florida-based Sunshine Pack & Ship system and in 2007 it acquired the 68-unit Handle With Care Packaging Store brand. “Adding the Navis system strengthens the company’s presence in the freight segment of the shipping industry,” said Patrick Edd, president and CEO of Annex Brands. “At the same time, it also increases the opportunities for our existing network of retail stores.” According to Steve Goble, Annex Brands’ vice president of marketing communications, the Navis brand is a well-known provider for the crating, packaging and delivery of items labeled FLAV (fragile, large, awkward or high in value).
Annex Brands was founded by Jack Lentz in 1985 under the name Postal Annex. After the Handle With Care Packaging Store acquisition, the company changed its name to Annex Brands to more closely reflect its service in the packing, crating and shipping industry. Each location is an individually owned and operated franchise.
Experts to give Local and National Economic Forecasts
The 27th annual San Diego County Economic Roundtable will be staged Jan. 27 at the University of San Diego and will feature five local experts sharing their local and national economic observations for 2011. The conference will run from 8:30 to noon at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at the USD campus. Panelists will be Marney Cox, chief economist for the San Diego Association of Governments; Alan Gin, associate professor of economics at USD; Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Point Loma Nazarene University; Mark Marquez, past president of the San Diego Association of Realtors; Camille Sobrian-Saltman, president and CEO of CONNECT; and Mark Cafferty, president and CEO of the San Diego Workforce Partnership. Moderator will be Ryan Ratcliff, assistant professor of economics at USD’s School of Business Administration. Conference sponsors are the county, USD, The San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Workforce Partnership and Qualcomm Inc. For more, visit sdcounty.ca.gov/economicroundtable.
Chambers Group Names Director of Environmental Planning
Greg McCafferty has been named director of environmental planning for Chambers Group Inc., a promotion from his previous position as a principal environmental planner. In his new position, McCafferty will oversee a staff of environmental planners and GIS analysts responsible for environmental documentation that includes California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations in California and Nevada. He has more than 21 years of environmental planning experience. McCafferty holds a bachelor’s degree from UCLA. Prior to Chambers Group, he worked at the city of Anaheim for 18 years and was the principal planner in charge of development review.
Larry Campitiello Heads Bar Association
Larry Campitiello of the law firm Sullivan Hill Lewin Rez & Engel has been elected president of the San Diego North County Bar Association for 2011-2012. He was to be officially sworn in today by Justice Gilbert Nares at The Crossings in Carlsbad. Since 2008, Campitiello has served on the board of the NCBA as a director and chair of the public outreach committee. Campitiello joined the law firm in 2008 and focuses his practice in business litigation with special emphasis in commercial and real estate disputes. He also assists the San Diego Superior Court as a volunteer settlement judge and is admitted to practice in all federal courts in California, as well as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Campitiello began his legal career as a law clerk to Calvin K. Ashland, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Central District of California.
Cubic Corp. Awarded $26 Million Contract
San Diego-based Cubic Corp. announced that its defense systems business has been awarded a $26 million contract for basic skills trainers and student stations for the Javelin Field Tactical Trainer. Cubic will begin delivering the systems in January 2012 under a follow-on contract with the Raytheon-Lockheed Martin Javelin Joint Venture. “Javelin is the premier man-portable surveillance and anti-armor missile system on the battlefield,” said Karen Pickell, program manager for Cubic’s Simulation Systems Division in Orlando, Fla., which manufactures the systems. “Cubic’s basic skills trainer uses realistic scenarios to train our troops in field surveillance, target recognition and acquisition, and fire mission control on the Javelin system.” Basic skills trainer components include a classroom trainer and student and instructor stations. Since 2001, Cubic has delivered a total of more than 2,000 of these components to the joint venture.
Councilman Todd Gloria Reschedules Speech
Councilman Todd Gloria has rescheduled his State of District 3 talk to 6:30 p.m. at the Birch North Park Theatre. It was originally scheduled for Jan. 25, which conflicts with President Obama’s State of the Union address.
Noted Spanish Architectural Expert to Lecture Here
Dr. Alberto Garín, professor in residence and head of the department of Urbanism and History of Architecture at Spain’s Universidad Europea de Madrid, will lecture to students, faculty and staff of the NewSchool of Architecture and Design (NSAD) at 1 p.m. on the campus at 1249 F St. in San Diego. The visit is part of a faculty exchange program. Garín is internationally known as an expert on art history, contemporary architecture and pre-Colombian colonial Guatemalan architecture.
Luce, Forward Firm Adds an Associate
Catherine “Katie” M. Swafford has joined Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP as an associate in the firm’s San Diego office. Swafford will be a part of the firm’s Family Wealth & Exempt Organizations practice group and will focus primarily on trusts and estates matters. Prior to Luce Forward, Swafford was a general business, trusts and estates and real estate litigation associate at Lurie, Zepeda, Schmalz & Hogan in Beverly Hills. She received her undergraduate degree from UCLA and her law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law.
$342 Million Pipeline Project Completed
Construction of the San Vicente Pipeline Tunnel, a part of the San Diego County Water Authority’s $1.5 billion emergency storage project, has been completed. The 8.5-foot-diameter pipeline stretches for 11 miles from Lakeside to Mira Mesa and connects the San Vicente Reservoir to the Water Authority’s second aqueduct. The pipeline, constructed for $342 million, will improve emergency water distribution to water agencies in the southern half of the county. Officials said the project also enhances the Water Authority’s ability to move large quantities of water into storage when imported water supplies are abundant. The pipeline can deliver up to 200,000 gallons of water per minute. The Water Authority’s emergency storage project is a storage and conveyance system to protect the San Diego region if imported water supplies are disrupted by an earthquake or other disaster. Final components of the project include raising the San Vicente Dam by 117 feet and building a pump station on the Second Aqueduct in North County. The dam raise project, the tallest dam raise in the nation, is under construction. The raising of the dam is scheduled to be complete in early 2013.
Small Business Workshops
SCORE San Diego has scheduled January workshops to help small business owners and those interested in starting a small business. Fees range from $29 to $109. For more information, call (619) 557-7272. To register for a workshop online, visit scoresandiego.org.
• Jan. 21 – Women’s Networking Breakfast – 8 to 11 a.m. at Morgan Run Resort & Club (5690 Cancha de Golf, Rancho Santa Fe 92091; pre-paid registration $30 by Jan. 18, $40 thereafter).
• Jan. 21 – Business Basics 101 – 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at SCORE Entrepreneur Center (550 West C St., #550, San Diego 92101; no charge – please pre-register).
• Jan. 24 – Professional Selling: Increase Your Business Sales Now! – 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at National University – Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $69, $79 at the door).
• Jan. 24 – Insurance: What You Need to Know – 9 a.m. to noon at SCORE Entrepreneur Center (550 West C St., #550, San Diego 92101; pre-paid registration $49, $59 at the door).
• Jan. 25 – Introduction to Starting Your Own Business – 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at National University – Carlsbad (705 Palomar Airport Road, Carlsbad 92011; pre-paid registration $69, $79 at the door).
• Jan. 26 – Business Plan 201: How to Write a Winning Business Plan – 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at National University – Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $99, $109 at the door).
• Jan. 26 – Good Governance for Nonprofits: Effective Board Performance – 9 to 11:30 a.m. at The San Diego Foundation – Liberty Station (2508 Historic Decatur Road, #200, San Diego 92106; pre-paid registration $39, $49 at the door).
• Jan. 27 – Internet Marketing 302: Develop a Winning E-mail Marketing Success Strategy – 9 a.m. to noon at National University – Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $49, $59 at the door).
• Jan. 27 – Financial Statements: What They Mean, How to Use Them – 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at National University – Carlsbad (705 Palomar Airport Road, Carlsbad 92011; pre-paid registration $29, $39 at the door).
• Jan. 28 – Marketing and Contracting with State and Local Governments – 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at National University – Kearny Mesa (9388 Lightwave Ave., San Diego 92123; pre-paid registration $69, $79 at the door).
• Jan. 31 – Intellectual Property: Promise and Practicalities – 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. at SCORE Entrepreneur Center (550 West C St., #550, San Diego 92101; pre-paid registration $29, $39 at the door).
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