Daily Business Report-March 4, 2014
Websense, which provides protection against cyberattacks and data theft, is moving to Texas and taking 470 local jobs.
San Diego Job Market Strong,
Despite High-Profile Job Cuts
San Diego’s job market is still improving, even with the news that three high-profile companies are shedding workers, according to a San Diego economist. Cox Communications is laying off 500 people. Sony is trimming 400 jobs from its local workforce. And San Diego-based Websense is moving to Texas and taking 470 local jobs.
The job losses don’t reflect the reality of the local job market, according to Marney Cox, the senior economist at the San Diego Association of Governments. He said the region’s job market continues to gain strength.
“And you can see that in our unemployment rate. We’re certainly generating more jobs,” Cox said.
Cox said the unemployment rate hovered above the U.S. unemployment rate for 48 months in a row after the great recession. It is now finally back below the U.S. average, Cox said.
It is also important to understand the context surrounding the job cut announcements.
Sony and Cox Communications are cutting jobs because those companies are struggling in very competitive industries.
Cox said the Websense case is more worrisome. That’s because the company is a healthy firm that is moving its potential to create more jobs to another region. — Reported by KPBS
Faulconer Becomes 36th Mayor of San Diego
Accompanied by his wife and two children, Kevin Faulconer was sworn in Monday as San Diego’s 36th mayor. Faulconer defeated fellow Councilman David Alvarez in the Feb. 11 runoff election in which voters chose the successor to Bob Filner, who resigned in disgrace Aug. 30 amid a sexual harassment scandal, barely nine months into his four-year term. In the interim, Council President Todd Gloria filled in.
Faulconer, 47, told a standing-room only crowd at the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation that his inauguration starts a new chapter in the city’s history — “a chapter written by the people of San Diego.”
“You sent a very clear message. You want a government that works for you. You want a City Hall that will continue the reforms that you voted for, reforms that will help create the city that we all deserve,” Faulconer said in his inauguration speech.
Faulconer said he would ensure trust and integrity in the police department, promised to boost morale on the force and give officers the support they need. He pledged to pave 500 miles of the city’s roadways, invest $900 million in neighborhood infrastructure over five years and give area businesses the “certainty” they need in dealing with City Hall.
The City Council must appoint a replacement for Faulconer’s council seat in the next 30 days to serve out the remaining eight months or so of his term representing San Diego’s beach and bay areas. That replacement is expected to be a Democrat, which would give Democrats a veto-proof 6-3 edge over Republicans until December.
City officials have said they won’t appoint anyone who plans to run for the seat later this year. — From a City News Service report
Cubic Completes Acquisition of Texas Technology Firm
Cubic Corp. has completed the acquisition of Intific Inc., an Austin, Texas-based advanced technology company focused on software and game-based solutions in modeling and simulation, training and education, cyber warfare, and neuroscience. Intific will become part of the Cubic Defense Systems segment. Intific finished 2013 with $14 million in revenue and 80 employees, primarily located in Austin, Texas and Alexandria, Va.
The acquisition enables Cubic to broaden its presence in a variety of adjacent businesses in the cyber security, next generation defense technologies including game based learning solutions, and transportation related training applications, the company said.
“Intific brings a wide range of expertise to Cubic including computer simulation, animation, human-machine interaction, robotics, neuroscience, visualization, gaming, and artificial intelligence,” the company said.
Rubalcaba Family’s Residential Property Sold for $3 Million
ENCINITAS — The Gardena Gardens Apartments in Encinitas, property that was first developed by Bernardino Rubalcaba following his service under General George Patton in World War II, has been sold for $3 million by the Rubalcaba Family Trust. The Stanford Descendent Trust is the purchaser. Located at 1141-1195 Gardena Road, the 1.2-acre property consists of five duplexes, one single-family home and a half-acre vacant lot.
Gardena Gardens Apartments had been in the Rubalcaba family since 1951 and was originally developed by Bernardino Rubalcaba, who served under General Patton in the U.S. Army’s 3rd Armored Division during the war. Following his honorable discharge in 1946, Rubalcaba became a general contractor and began saving money to buy land and build a new home for his family to integrate them into the community. By 1949 he had saved enough to purchase the land at the corner of Gardena and Santa Fe in Encinitas, but the broker did not allow him to present an offer because he was Mexican-American. Rubalcaba contacted the owner, Colonel Ed Fletcher, directly and the colonel responded, “If you served your country then I believe you have the right to buy land anywhere you want in this country.”
CBRE arranged the sale of the property.
Valley Center Casino/Resort Changes its Name
Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort in Valley Center has changed its name to Harrah’s Resort Southern California. “This official name change is concurrent with the unveiling of our most recent renovation and expansion in April, which perfectly positions Harrah’s as a premier Southern California destination resort,” said Janet Beronio, regional president and general manager. The resort is owned by the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians.
BOMA Program Features Insiders Look at the New Library
The San Diego Building Owners & Managers Association will host an insider’s look into the construction, implementation and design of the New Central Library at the organization’s monthly membership luncheon meeting March 11 at the library, 330 Park Blvd. Registration is at 11 a.m. and the program begins at noon. Darren Greenhalgh, the library’s lead engineer, will discuss the milestones that occurred during the construction. Cost is $45 for association members and $55 for nonmembers. For information and registration, visit www.bomasd.org.
Mo`olelo Performing Arts Selects New Artistic Director
San Diego’s Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company announced the selection of Lydia Fort as its new executive artistic director. Fort is an experienced director in New York with additional regional directing, teaching and producing experience. She will join the company in mid-May. Currently, Fort is assistant professor at the City College of New York where she teaches undergraduate theater courses. Since joining CCNY, Fort created a number of new theater courses and designed an Arts for Social Transformation Program.
Fort is a Time Warner Foundation Fellow at the Women’s Project Theatre. She was a Drama League Fellow and a Theatre Communications Group New Generations Future Leaders grantee. In addition, Fort was a member of the US delegation to the 2011 International Theatre Institute’s World Congress in China.
Fort replaces Seema Sueko, co-founder and former executive artistic director who led the company for the past nine years. She is recognized nationally as a pioneer in building community outreach and presenting important, socially-sensitive plays by playwrights of color featuring diverse artists. Sueko recently joined the Pasadena Playhouse as the associate artistic director.
San Diegan Elected Chair of Community Managers Group
Melinda S. Young, senior vice president of Walters Management in San Diego, has been elected chair of the board of directors for the California Association of Community Managers (CACM), the trade association for community association managers in California. As chair, Young will oversee board responsibility for establishing and overseeing CACM’s California-specific programs and policies and for upholding the association’s Code of Professional Ethics and Standards of Practice. The group also serves as an advisory body for CACM’s educational and certification programs.
Other San Diego managers elected to the board for 2014 are Cherié McColley, with Eugene Burger Management Corp. of Chula Vista, and William Stewart, with Santaluz Maintenance Association in San Diego.
Emilio Nares Foundation Names Board President
Gary Peterson, founder and CEO of Gap Intelligence, is the new board president of the Emilio Nares Foundation. The nonprofit assists low-income families with children battling cancer. “The Emilio Nares Foundation’s impact on San Diego is profound,” said Peterson. “That’s why it’s an honor to help lead the effort to make the organization touch many more families’ lives in even deeper and more meaningful ways.”
Richard and Diane Nares lost their only son, Emilio, to cancer when he was 5-years-old. The Nares family created the Emilio Nares foundation in 2003. Today, it provides a variety of programs and services for more than 5,000 low-income, underprivileged patients and families who have a child with cancer.
