Daily Business Report — Feb. 21, 2012

Lindbergh Field to Get New Fixed Base Operation

The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority has awarded a 37-year lease to Landmark Aviation for the development and operation of a corporate and general aviation fixed-base operator facility (FBO) at San Diego International Airport. The FBO serves all corporate and general aviation aircraft, providing services such as fueling, maintenance and aircraft parking. Landmark Aviation operates 52 FBOs across the United States, Canada and Europe, and is the current operator of San Diego International Airport’s FBO. Under the new agreement, Landmark will design, build and operate a new FBO, with a 20,000-square-foot terminal, a 250,000-square-foot aircraft parking ramp and five hangars on 12.4 acres of airport property. The lease is expected provide the Airport Authority $315 million over 37 years, an additional $4.5 million in rent annually over today’s level. The FBO will also meet requirements for LEED certification. Under the terms of the lease, Landmark is required to invest $39 million and construct a new FBO facility that achieves LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, the highest possible LEED rating. The Airport Authority will pursue LEED certification for all of its future construction projects.

Robert Tyson Named Defense Lawyer of the Year

Robert F. Tyson  Jr., a partner at the law firm of Tyson & Mendes, has been named San Diego Defense Lawyer of the Year by the San  Diego Defense Lawyers. He will be honored at the Jan. 28 installation dinner of San Diego Defense Lawyers at the Children’s Museum in Downtown San Diego. “Bob was nominated for the award because of his success in the Rebecca Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions Inc. case,” said Victoria G. Stairs, president of San Diego Defense Lawyer. Tyson has practiced law in San Diego for over 22 years. He primarily litigates cases in the areas of products liability, personal injury; commercial and general civil litigation, professional malpractice, environmental and employment law.  Tyson was admitted to the California Bar June 1990 and to the District of Columbia Bar in October 1993.

Mark Cafferty to Head Economic Development Corp.

Mark Cafferty, 40, the president and CEO of the San Diego Workforce Partnership since 2008, has been named the new president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., the Downtown-based organization that promotes business and economic development in the region. The position had been held on an interim basis by Bill Geppert, who took over following the retirement of Julie Meier Wright last June. Cafferty will head an organization with a current fiscal year budget of $3 million and 13 employees. The Boston native joined the Workforce Partnership in 2001 and became its president and CEO in July 2008. He is credited with increasing the organization’s budget by more than 30 percent, managing a one-time award of $25 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and obtaining more competitive grants than at any time in the past six years.

Borrego Solar Receives GSA Contract

Borrego Solar Systems Inc. of San Diego has been awarded a contract by the General Services Administration giving it certification to provide solar installation services to federal agencies. In addition to the GSA award, Borrego Solar offers a power purchase agreement, a contract where Borrego Solar absorbs the costs of design, construction, operation and maintenance of a solar energy system and then sells the energy back to federal facility managers at a predetermined rate. It allows federal agencies to achieve renewable energy goals and save on operational costs, with zero up-front investment, according to Borrego Solar.

New Tech Incubator Opens Downtown

EvoNexus Downtown San Diego, a technology incubator that is home to startup businesses pursuing mobile apps and Internet software, has opened. Mayor Jerry Sanders and Councilmen Kevin Faulconer and Todd Gloria helped cut the ribbon last week. The incubator is located in the AT&T building at 101 W. Broadway. EvoNexus Downtown operates from about 15,000 square feet of space amid the high-rise offices, condominiums, apartments and businesses of Downtown. The incubator is home to 13 high-growth, software startups targeting e-commerce, location-based services, social engagement and cloud computing. EvoNexus is part of nonprofit high-tech association CommNexus and is the nation’s only free, community-backed business incubator. The downtown site is an expansion for EvoNexus, which has run an incubator in the University Towne Centre area since October 2009. The UTC incubator has worked with 14 companies, including six that have “graduated” after raising venture capital funding and moving into space of their own. Companies at the EvoNexus UTC incubator have raised more than $55 million in venture funding since incubation and now employ more than 250 people.