Daily Business Report — Feb. 29, 2012
San Diego Home Prices Fell 5.4 Percent Last Year
(City News Service) — San Diego’s home prices fell 0.7 percent between November and December, according to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released Tuesday. For 2011 as a whole, prices fell 5.4 percent. Of the 20 large housing markets around the country tracked by the organization, only four performed worse than San Diego last year. However, the region has one of the highest appreciation rates over the life of the index. The Case-Shiller Index took the average cost of a house in each market in January 2000, assigned it a value of 100, and tracked the subsequent rise and fall. San Diego’s index value in December was 150.42, meaning an appreciation over about a dozen years of more than 50 percent. The increase is the fourth highest, behind Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles. The national composite of 20 cities in December was 136.71.
Robert Kennedy Jr. to Keynote Symposium at SDSU
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental law professor, will be the keynote speaker for the March 3-4 Forging a Sustainable Future Symposium II at San Diego State University. The symposium will be conducted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Kennedy’s presentation will be at 3:35 p.m. on March 3. Tickets start at $35. The symposium is hosted by UnitedGreen. For more information, visit united green.org. Kennedy is a clinical professor and supervising attorney at Pace University School of Law’s Environmental Litigation Clinic. He was named one of Time magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet” for his success in helping to restore the Hudson River.
Higgs Fletcher & Mack Hosts Construction Workshop
Higgs Fletcher & Mack will host a free construction industry educational workshop and mixer on March 1 at its offices at 401 West A St., Suite 2600, in Downtown San Diego. Guest speakers will cover bonding fundamentals and market trends for 2012 relevant to those in the construction industry. Speakers include Richard Hallett, direct of surety at Barney & Barney LLC and the Higgs Fletcher & Mack Construction Practice Group. Light appetizers, wine, beer and soft drinks will be served. Seating is limited and RSVP is recommended. To reserve, call Amy Clark at (619) 236-1551.
Social Media Symposium Set for March 1
The San Diego Social Media Symposium, a program designed to bring together community and business leaders to talk about social media and its impact, will be held March 1 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the San Diego Hall of Champions in Balboa Park. Representatives from several companies will give presentations, including FIJI Water, Cisco Systems, JustFab.com, Karl Strauss Brewing Co., Realtor.com, San Diego Gas & Electric, Hilton San Diego Bayfront, Social Control and Sony Online Entertainment. Author Jason Falls and mobile marketing expert Gary Kim are featured speakers.
Vector Resources Sponsors Open House
Vector Resources, a turnkey systems integration company in San Diego, invites the public to learn about some of today’s new networking products from the manufacturers themselves during a free March 8 program and open house. The program will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. at Vector Resources-San Diego, 9808 Waples St. Topics will include HD videoconferencing, VoIP and unified communications, remotely managed networks, wireless LAN and what you need to know about GPON. For more information, call (858) 546-1014 or visit vectorusa.com. The event is free, but registration is mandatory. Register at www.vectorusa.com/vectorenews-winter2011/vector-s.d.-technology-showcase.php.
Fisher & Phillips Sponsors Labor/Employment Law Seminar
The law firm of Fisher & Phillips will sponsor a labor and employment law seminar on April 17 to focus on upcoming employment law changes and challenges facing employers in 2012. It will be held from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, 10950 North Torrey Pines Road in La Jolla. Employment law attorneys will present on such topics as managing employee attendance; how to prepare employee documentation; “free speech” in the workplace; worker’s compensation costs; local issues in labor and employment; and “How Would this Look in Court?” The cost for the “One Day, Many Solutions” seminar is $165 per person and includes continental breakfast and lunch. For companies sending multiple attendees, the discounted per person price is $125. For more information, contact Gail Rice at (404) 240-4261 or by e-mail at seminars@laborlawyers.com.
Cubic Corp. Increases Semiannual Cash Dividend
Cubic Corp.’s board of directors has declared an increase in its regular semiannual cash dividend on common stock by 33 percent from 9 cents to 12 cents per share. The 12 cents per share dividend will be paid on March 19 to stockholders of record on March 9. Cubic has paid consecutive cash dividends to its stockholders since 1971. “Cubic’s strong operating performance and financial strength has positioned us to increase the dividend without sacrificing our ability to invest in the future growth of our businesses,” said Walter Zable, Cubic’s chairman, president and CEO.
Oceanside Industrial Building Sold by Lee Enterprises
Lee Enterprises Inc., parent company of the North County Times, has sold the industrial building at 1722 South Coast Highway in Oceanside for $3.75 million. Buyer of the 49,000-square-foot building is San Diego Coffee, Tea & Spice, which will use it for sales and production purposes. Cassidy Turley BRE Commercial represented Lee Enterprises. SD Commercial represented the buyer.
Davidson Communities to Open Miraval on March 3
Home builder Davidson Communities will launch its latest gated community of large family homes — Miraval, located in Carmel Valley — on Saturday at 10 a.m. Miraval offers 41 single-family detached homes, with up to six bedrooms, on sites averaging more than 6,000 square feet. Pricing is expected to start from the mid-$700,000s. Davidson is offering private tours in advance of the March 3 grand opening and release of the first phase of seven new homes. For information, call (858) 356-2476.
Brookfield Homes to Unveil Carlsbad Models
Brookfield Homes will unveil new homes at its Sago at The Foothills model grand opening on Saturday, March 10, at 10 a.m. in Carlsbad. Tours of three models will be offered. The development will offer two-story homes with three to four bedrooms and pricing starting from the mid-$400,000s. For information, visit brookfieldrp.com.
Personnel Moves
• SAN DIEGO — Hal W. Wooden has joined RF Industries as vice president of sales, a newly created position. Wooden has more than 19 years of sales management experience in the wireless and networking industry, and eight years of project and program management expertise in the SCADA and telemetry marketplace. He was most recently vice president of sales at Talley Inc.
• SAN DIEGO — Robert Felix, president and CEO of N.N. Jaeschke Inc., has been appointed chair of the National Board of Certification for Community Association Managers. Felix will serve on the board through 2014.
• SAN DIEGO — Sean Ebner is joining AMN Healthcare as president of its Locum Tenens division, effective March 5. Through their two brands, StaffCare and Linde Healthcare, this division provides physicians and advanced practice professionals, nationally on temporary and temp-to-perm assignments. Ebner will replace Tim Boes, who held the position since 2008. Ebner most recently led a division within Technisource.
Shelter Island Gets New Entrance Sign
A new Shelter Island entrance sign is being installed this week in the center median of Shelter Island Drive, near Anchorage Lane. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held Friday at 10:30 a.m. in the parking lot of the Brigantine Restaurant, 2912 Shelter Island Drive. The sign, built by Stanford Sign & Awning of Chula Vista, stands 25 feet tall and is 12 feet wide. Its design features three sails constructed from fabricated aluminum. The sign also includes travertine tile, a waterfall that reclaims the water it uses and LED lighting. Shelter Island is spelled out in blue letters that glow white at night.
The Daily Business Report is produced by REP Publishing Inc., publisher of SD METRO, the North Park News and the West Coast Craftsman. Contact: Manny Cruz (619) 287-1865. manny@sandiegometro.com.