Daily Business Report-Nov. 21, 2013
The collection being digitized by the San Diego Air & Space Museum will be made available online for worldwide public access.
San Diego Air & Space Museum Receives
Rare Historic Atlas Rocket Film Collection
The San Diego Air & Space Museum has been given a historic Atlas space launch vehicle film collection by Lockheed Martin and United Launch Alliance that contains 3,000 reels of 16-millimeter film. The collection is being digitized by the Balboa Park museum and will be made available online for worldwide public access.
Besides the film, Lockheed Martin and ULA provided $50,000 to the museum to preserve and catalog the collection. ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Co. that designs, builds and launches the Atlas and Delta rockets that deliver missions for the Department of Defense, NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office and other commercial customers.
The Atlas film collection includes interviews and lectures by early rocket pioneers, such as Krafft Ehricke, known as the “Father of the Atlas”; James Dempsey, who headed development of the original Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) program; and Charles Draper, known as the “Father of Inertial Navigation.” Films of both presidential and early astronaut visits to Atlas facilities are included, as are films documenting many of America’s most historic space missions. The collection includes data, photographs, and film of virtually every launch over more than 50 years of the Atlas program. Virtually every aspect of the program is captured, including images of the vehicle, the design, development, test facilities, operational sites, and the men and women who made this era of spaceflight possible.
Electricity Ratepayers Could See
Millions In Refunds for San Onofre
Regulators are in the early stages of figuring out how much power companies can reasonably charge ratepayers for the fiasco that led to the shut down of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Stations, KPBS reports. Two administrative law judges with the California Public Utilities Commission propose Southern California Edison and SDG&E refund $94 million to customers. That would be for costs incurred while the plant was shut down in 2012, and the company was exploring whether it would be feasible to restart it.
SDG&E said it is reviewing the proposal, and will submit papers to the PUC, which will make the decision on the refund next month.
$94 million sounds like a lot of money. But John Geesman, attorney for the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, said it’s not enough. “Ratepayers are still paying more than $80 million a month for a plant that’s been abandoned,“ Geesman said, “and for the PUC to propose refunding only $94 million right now falls pretty short. “
Geesman said Southern California Edison and SDG&E have set aside more than half a billion dollars to cover what they may be required to refund customers.
Majority owner, Southern California Edison, said in a statement that it is disappointed in the proposed decision. The company disputed the finding that it should have known by May 7 of 2012 that the problems with the new steam generators were serious enough to make it unlikely the plant would ever return to normal operation.
Northrop Grumman Battlefield System Completes 5,000 Missions
The Battlefield Airborne Communications Node developed by Northrop Grumman Corp. for the U.S. Air Force has completed 5,000 combat missions connecting warfighters in the air and on the ground, the company reported. BACN, as it is called, is a high-altitude, airborne gateway that translates and distributes voice communications, video, imagery and other battlespace information from numerous sources. Using a suite of computers and radio systems, BACN bridges and extends communications among disparate users and different datalink networks to provide situational awareness and enable better command and control coordination between warfighters and commanders.
The BACN fleet comprises four E-11A manned systems and three Northrop Grumman EQ-4B Block 20 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft systems.
Nathan Fletcher Ends Pursuit of Elective Office
Nathan Fletcher said Wednesday he’s ending his pursuit of elected office after finishing third in Tuesday’s special San Diego mayoral election and throwing his support to the candidate who knocked him off the runoff ballot, Councilman David Alvarez. Fletcher said he respected the voters’ decision.
“I leave today with my head held high, feeling really good about the campaign that we ran, about the ideas we’ve advanced, about the way we’ve conducted ourselves,” he told reporters. Fletcher said he promised his wife he would step away from public life if he lost the race.
Alvarez will take on fellow Councilman Kevin Faulconer in a runoff election on a still-to-be scheduled date early next year. Faulconer led a field of 12 candidates with 43.58 percent of the vote, according to figures released by the San Diego County Registrar of Voters. Alvarez finished 2,638 votes ahead of former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher. Alvarez received 52,283 votes, a 25.59 percent margin, to Fletcher’s 49,645. The only other candidate to receive at least 1 percent of the vote was former City Attorney Michael Aguirre, who finished fourth with 4.44 percent. — City News Service
New San Ysidro Health Center to Open in December
CHULA VISTA — Consolidated Contracting Services Inc. has completed construction of the new three-story, 46,016-square-foot San Ysidro Health Center clinic and urgent care center, located at 678 3rd St. CA 91910. The center is to open for patients in December.
San Ysidro Health Center purchased the building last March for approximately $12 million, before it was completely renovated to accommodate the consolidation of three of its satellite clinics — Chula Vista Family Clinic, Otay Family Health Center and South Bay Family Urgent Care Center – under one roof. With the new facility, San Ysidro Health Center has expanded its community health services to include behavioral health and dental services, as well as ancillary services such as digital x-rays. The expansion increases the organization’s number of available exam rooms from about 40 to 65.
Nick Rehnberg of Boulder & Associates served as the project architect. Jean Young of Young+Co., Inc., was the interior designer. Charlie Young served as project leader for Consolidated Contracting, with Steve Viscioni as superintendent and Kim McComb as project engineer.
Sirius Financial Services Acquires Farmica Africa
Sirius Financial Services Inc. of San Diego has acquired a new subsidiary, Farmica Africa, a producer of Lemon grass-based products including tea, soap, an energy drink, insect repellant and essential oil. Oil of Lemon grass is used as an ingredient in toiletry products such as toilet soaps, and bath salts. It is also employed in artificial lemon flavoring and in the manufacturing of ionones, which are important for the production of artificial flavor, perfumes and soaps and as raw material for vitamin A manufacturing. Sirius Financial Services said Farmica Africa is aiming at reducing poverty and hunger among the local population in Sierra Leone, thereby improving their socio-economic status in the country. This will be done through support to farmers, product processing and marketing. The vision of Farmica Africa is to be one of the leading Lemon grass producers of high quality products in West Africa.
Luis Barrios Inducted into Lodging Group’s Hall of Fame
The California Hotel & Lodging Association has inducted Luis C. Barrios, general manager of the Best Western Plus Hacienda Hotel in San Diego, into its Hall of Fame at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort & Spa. The Hall of Fame award is presented to California hoteliers or industry executives recognized for outstanding contributions of leadership, service, and professionalism to the California lodging industry and the community at large. Luis Barrios is the 25th recipient of the award. He has been general manager of the hotel since 2004. Barrios was granted an internship with Hilton Hotels and placed in the management training program at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. He attended Miami-Dade Community College for hotel management training and participated in the general managers program at Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
Parking Meter Rate Boost Under Consideration
A rate increase for parking meters at Shelter Island and the Embarcadero is under consideration by the Port of San Diego, with the top rate possibly jumping to $2.50 an hour — double the current rate. The port also is considering charging for street parking on Sundays. Port commissioners have scheduled a Dec. 2 forum to get public opinion on the proposal. The meeting is from 4 to 6 p.m. at the administration building, 3165 Pacific Highway.
Press Club Names New Officers and Board Members
Travel journalist Maggie Espinosa has been named president of the San Diego Press Club for 2013 to 2014, and Kris Eitland, writer and co-founder of sandiegostory.com, was named first vice president. Other officers newly elected are: Wordpop PR’s April Harter as second vice president; KPBS’ Sally Hixson as treasurer; and U-T San Diego’s Roger Showley as secretary. Reid Carroll, retired radio news journalist, has been named a director emeritus member of the board.
New board members include: Karyl Carmignani of San Diego Zoo Global; Freelance Editor/Producer Kristen Castillo; Joanne Faryon of inewsource.org; and Barbarella Fokos of ArtPulseTV. Patch.com’s Chris Jennewein returns to the board.
Local Projects Receive Popular Science’s ‘Best of What’s New’ Awards
Two ongoing projects at UC San Diego have received Popular Science’s Best of What’s New awards. The two innovative projects — the world’s biggest outdoor shake table and a robot designed to move along utility lines — are featured in the magazine’s December issue, now on newsstands. Cliff Ransom, executive editor of Popular Science, explained the significance of the award, noting that “The Best of What’s New Awards is our magazine’s top honor, and the 100 awardees are selected from a pool of thousands.”
Adconion Direct CEO Honored
Kim Reed Perell, CEO of Adconion Direct, has been named the 2013 Woman of Excellence Entrepreneur of the Year by the National Association for Female Executives. Perell was selected for the award for her continued success as an entrepreneur and CEO over the last decade and her commitment to fostering a strong corporate culture and enriching the community through active volunteerism. Perell was also a 2013 recipient of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award, SD METRO’s Women Who Impact 2013 and San Diego Magazine’s Women Who Move the City.
SDSU’s DeNoble Gets Entrepreneurial Post
Alex DeNoble, executive director of the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center at San Diego State, has been elected president-elect of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. DeNoble has taught entrepreneurship management at SDSU for the past 30 years. He will serve as the organization’s president-elect starting January 2014 through January 2015 during which time he will be groomed to take on the responsibilities of the role of president. In January 2015, he will lead USASBE in the role of president until the following year. The association he will lead bills itself as “the largest independent professional academic organization in the world dedicated to advancing the discipline of entrepreneurship through its stated mission of advancing knowledge and fostering business development through entrepreneurship education and research.”
