Daily Business Report — May 7, 2012

40 Under 40 Nominations Open

Nominations are now open for SD METRO’s annual 40 Under 40 Awards recognition program. Nominate a man or woman you think has made outstanding contributions to his or her profession, industry or to San Diego County as a whole. We will announce the winners in September. Either fill out the nomination form at sandiegometro.com or send your nomination to rebecapage@sandiegometro.com. Better get crackin’! The deadline is May 31.

NASSCO Launches USNS Cesar Chavez

General Dynamics NASSCO on Saturday launched the U.S. Navy’s newest resupply ship, the USNS Cesar Chavez, named in honor of Cesar Estrada Chavez, the labor leader who founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA). The evening ceremony took place at the NASSCO shipyard. Juan M. Garcia III, assistant secretary of the Navy for manpower and reserve affairs, was the ceremony’s principal speaker. Helen Chavez, widow of Cesar Chavez and the ship’s sponsor, christened the ship by breaking the traditional bottle of champagne against its bow. “This celebration marks the culmination of a successful U.S. shipbuilding program that has spanned nearly a decade,” said Fred Harris, president of General Dynamics NASSCO.USNS Cesar Chavez is the final ship of a class of 14 dry cargo-ammunition ships for the Navy. NASSCO began constructing the 689-foot-long ship in October 2010. The ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Supervisors to Consider $7.77 Billion Budget Plan

A proposed $4.77 billion spending plan for the 2012-13 fiscal year will be presented to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors next week. The spending plan represents a 1.9 percent reduction from the current fiscal year’s $4.86 billion budget, according to documents posted online. A further drop is expected for the following fiscal year, in which Chief Administrative Officer Walt Ekard will propose a $4.62 billion budget. The county plans two years at a time. The proposal for next year includes an increase of $35.8 million for public safety, which includes the Sheriff’s Department, District Attorney, Public Defender, Probation and Medical Examiner. The Sheriff’s Department would gain 62 new jobs, while the District Attorney would lose 44 positions under the plan. Community Services, which includes departments like animal services, libraries and the Registrar of Voters, would get an additional $13.6 million. Public hearings on the budget proposal will begin on June 11. — City News Service

NewSchool of Architecture Team Wins Design Village Competition

A team from the NewSchool of Architecture and Design won an award for “Most Adaptable Structure” for its cube-based design at the Cal Poly Design Village competition in April in San Luis Obispo. Another NewSchool team received an honorable mention for its bamboo structure. The competition challenged students to develop structures that are portable and habitable, a job requiring a mastery of form and function. The winning team members (shown in photo, left to right) are Antonio Barragan, Ramiro Martinez, Gonzalo Hernandez and Luis Valdovinos. They built their project with 65 blocks made of light Masonite. Each block was hand-sewn with hemp and had asymmetrical sides in the shape of a diamond, a square, a triangle and a shield. Plastic bands were used to link blocks.  “The idea was that with these combinations you could build this structure in many different ways, depending on the need and site characteristics,” said Valdovinos. For the competition, students had to carry the structure materials three-quarters of a mile, build the structure on site, and then live in it for three days and two nights.

Lafayette Hotel Rehabilitation to be Celebrated

The rehabilitation of the historic Lafayette Hotel on El Cajon Boulevard will be celebrated on Wednesday at a 3 p.m. event to show off the renovation and the green technologies implemented in the project. Built in 1943, The Lafayette Hotel was once a retreat for the rich and famous with guests including Hollywood stars Bob Hope, Betty Grable, Ava Gardner and “Tarzan” actor Johnny Weissmuller, who also designed the hotel’s Olympic-sized pool. By 2010, the aging property needed to be completely remodeled. The hotel partnered with San Diego Gas & Electric to implement energy efficiency upgrades that will reduce annual operating costs by $70,000. This will include an overview of how the hotel is using a ClearEdge Power fuel cell system to reduce its annual energy costs by approximately $30,000, while also eliminating 100 tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year. In addition, speakers will explain how the energy efficiency upgrades and high-efficiency and scalable fuel cell system has supported the broader renovation project by helping The Lafayette Hotel qualify for substantial tax credits as well as various energy upgrade rebates.

Cubic Showcases Advanced Training Systems in Jordan

Cubic will showcase the advanced training systems it has developed for the Kingdom of Jordan and other Middle Eastern nations during the Special Operations and Homeland Security Exhibition exhibition from May 7-10 at King Abdullah I Airbase in Jordan. Cubic is a leading supplier of live and virtual training systems in the Middle East and is now extending its capabilities to include computer-based constructive training tools to enable training in all three domains — live, virtual and constructive. Jordan’s armed forces recently began conducting live training exercises with their new Cubic-developed deployable Combat Training Center.

San Diego Fluid System Technologies Relocates

San Diego Fluid System Technologies, the local distributor of Swagelok fluid handling components, has relocated to 9170 Camino Santa Fe in San Diego. The new facility will accommodate the company’s current operations and support further expansion and future growth. About a mile from their previous locationthe new location has nearly double the square footage for additional inventory, fabrication and customer support capacity. “In addition to the larger facility space, we have invested in additional machinery and fabrication equipment to accommodate increasing demand,” said Mike Schleyhahn, president of the company.

PERSONNEL MOVES ____________________________________

San Diego — Adam Schleyhahn has been promoted to operation manager for San Diego Fluid System Technologies’ San Diego and Anaheim branches. Schleyhahn joined the company after working as an associate consultant at Triage Consulting. He recently coordinated the successful relocation of the entire San Diego facility.