Daily Business Report-July 10, 2013
Rendering of the Grossmont Hospital Heart and Vascular Center viewed from Murray Drive
Construction Begins on $26.3 Million Heart
And Vascular Center at Grossmont Hospital
McCarthy Building Companies Inc. has begun construction of the new 74,000-square-foot Heart and Vascular Center at Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa. Designed by KMD Architects, the heart and vascular center will allow for expansion of the hospital’s existing surgery department and provide new multipurpose procedural rooms with the flexibility to support a wide range of specialties including general surgery, minimally invasive surgery, image-guided surgery and endovascular interventional procedures. The building also will house a pharmacy, laboratory and connection to the existing Women’s Center. Completion is scheduled for March 2015. McCarthy was retained by the Grossmont Healthcare District governing board.
Proposition G, a $247 million bond measure approved by voters of the East County region in June 2006, is funding the project, budgeted at $26,325,383 in construction costs.
McCarthy is also in the process of building the new $46 million Central Energy Plant at Grossmont Hospital, construction costs for which are also being financed by Prop. G. The three-story, 18,400-square-foot energy plant is set for completion in March 2015.
Sudberry Properties Breaks Ground on 612-Unit West Park Apartments
Sudberry Properties has broken ground on West Park, a 612-unit apartment project on 10 acres northeast of the intersection of Friars Road and Mission Center Road in Mission Valley. The first phase is scheduled to be completed and ready for move-ins summer of 2014. Recreational amenities will include three pool areas, rooftop lounges with TVs, barbecues and fireplaces; a half-mile jogging loop with exercise stations; a dog washing station; and bicycle repair facility. Other features include a 10,000-square-foot resident gym and recreation area, a media room, clubroom, game room and business center with conference room. Residents will have access to electric-vehicle charging stations and the community’s fleet of Car2Go ride-sharing cars.
The development team includes architects Newman Garrison Partners, a joint venture between general contractors Coyle Residential and Reno Contracting, landscape architects Lifescapes International Inc., civil engineers Rick Engineering, and interior designers Style Interior Design, Inc.
Two Scripps Research Institute Professors Named Investigators to Pursue Research on the Origins of Life
Professors Donna Blackmond and Gerald Joyce of Scripps Research Institute have been named Simons Investigators for the Collaboration on the Origins of Life, sponsored by the Simons Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit organization established in 1994 to advance the frontiers of research in mathematics and basic sciences.
The 15-member international Simons collaboration aims to support creative, innovative research in 10 topic areas concerning the processes that led to the emergence of life on the planet Earth, including the development of prebiotic chemistry and RNA replication. Blackmond and Joyce each will receive $2 million of research funding from the Simons Foundation over the next five years.
Accion San Diego Hosts Free Small Business Workshop
Accion San Diego, a nonprofit micro-lender offering small business resources and loans from $300 to $50,000, is hosting “Meeting Your Small Business Dream Team,” an advising event for small business owners. It will be held on July 16 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the SDG&E Energy Innovation Center, 4760 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. in San Diego. The workshop is to help entrepreneurs get the benefit of free, personalized advice to the issues and topics most pressing to their business from experts in the field, including representatives from Cal Coast Credit Union, Foley and Lardner, SBDC, SCORE, State Farm and US Bank. The city of San Diego’s Small Business Ambassador Lisa Gordon-Hosch will be advising on starting and growing a business in San Diego.To register, visit www.accionsandiego.org/dreamteam.html. For more information on Accion’s business loans and entrepreneurial resources, call (619) 795-7250.
SDSU Workshop Gives Info on Digital and Social Media Courses
SDSU’s College of Extended Studies will hold a fall semester information session for its Professional Certificate in Digital and Social Media plus its Professional Certificate in Marketing and Media programs on Wednesday, July 17, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the SDSU Extended Studies/Gateway Centers. Sheila Fox, president of the San Diego Ad Club, will host a panel of instructors who will address the topic “How social media can be used across various platforms for business.” The digital and social media certificate program is designed for professionals who would like to hone their skills in how to use multimedia tools and how to harness the interactive power of the Internet to build an audience. To register, visit www.neverstoplearning.net/social or call (619) 594-0787.
Second Alumnus of Scripps Institution of Oceanography Selected as NASA Astronaut Candidate
Looking back, Jessica Meir thinks she was about five years old when the idea of being an astronaut became a dream of hers. Meir is now waking up to the idea that the dream is reality after she was selected earlier this month as one of eight new NASA astronaut candidates. “It still feels incredibly surreal that my dream has actually come true,” she said.
Meir was chosen for the extremely competitive program from the second-largest number of applications — more than 6,000 — in NASA’s history. The 2013 selections are NASA’s 21st class since the first group was chosen in 1959. She is one of eight NASA astronaut candidates “who will help the agency push the boundaries of exploration and travel to new destinations in the solar system, including an asteroid and Mars,” NASA said in a news release announcing the 2013 astronaut candidates.
Meir earned a doctorate in marine physiology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego in 2009 and credits her education and training at Scripps, as well as the mentorship she received, as instrumental in her career. “My Ph.D. training at Scripps certainly helped me prepare for this new adventure, from the experience I gained in critical thinking to the operational skills I acquired on the sea ice of the Antarctic and the beaches of California during my field work,” said Meir. “I have been incredibly fortunate to have benefited from an amazing run of mentors throughout my career, including Scripps’s Paul Ponganis and Jerry Kooyman, individuals who are not only amazing scientists, but amazing people as well. The influence that these individuals have made on my life both professionally and personally is invaluable.”
Meir joins Scripps alumna Megan McArthur, a NASA astronaut who journeyed aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 2009, in selection to NASA’s astronaut training program.
