Daily Business Report-Sept. 22, 2014
Neal Adams, shown here in 32004, will be the guest of honor at the Oct. 17-19 San Diego Comic Fest.
San Diego’s ‘Other’ Comics Convention
Offers Casual Atmosphere and No Lines
The third annual San Diego Comic Fest, which calls itself “Comic-Con unplugged,” will be staged Oct. 17-19 at the San Diego Town & Country Resort and Convention Center in Mission Valley. The convention’s emphasis will be on comics, science fiction, movies, animation artwork and cosplay, “but without lines or crowding.”
The Guest of Honor is Neal Adams, “the greatest living comic book artist,” according to Geoff Boucher, creator of the Hero Complex website. Wizard Magazine wrote of Adams: “He revived Batman, saved the X-Men, challenged the system and changed comics forever.”
Greg Bear, whose novels include “Blood Music,” “Darwin’s Radio,” “Hardfought” and “Moving Mars,” is the Science Fiction Guest of Honor. John Rogers, president of Comic-Con International, the parent organization of the San Diego Comic-Con, is the Fan Guest of Honor.
The Comic Fest Café, one of the features of the convention, will pay tribute to Rod Serling’s “Twilight Zone.” Guests with connections to the show include Anne Serling, Rod’s daughter and author of “As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling,” and George Clayton Johnson, who wrote several Twilight Zone episodes.
San Diego Comic Fest’s origins date to the very first comics convention held in San Diego. Back in 1969, teen-ager Mike Towry was part of the small group of fans who founded what became known as the San Diego Comic-Con. After the celebration of the 40th Comic-Con in 2009, he and other Comic-Con veterans agreed that San Diego needed a second convention, one reminiscent of the early Comic-Cons. Thus, San Diego Comic Fest was born in 2012, with Towry as the convention president.
Among the special events scheduled at Comic Fest is a 100th birthday party for Jerry Siegel, the co-creator of Superman. Laura Siegel Larson, Jerry’s daughter, will be at the party, which will be in the evening on Oct. 17, and attend the convention as well to meet her father’s fans.
For more information: www.sdcomicfest.org.
San Diego Faces Stiff Fines for Failure
To Meet Stormwater Filter Requirements
The city of San Diego is on the hook for as much as $2.5 million in fines and upgrade costs for failing to properly enforce rules that require businesses and the city itself to make sure runoff is filtered before it drains into the ocean and the bay.
The city has until Nov. 1 to notify 142 private property owners that they must bring their stormwater management systems up to code.
If it misses the November deadline, the city could face daily fines of $10,000 a day. If the businesses fail to comply, each can be fined $100 a day up to $250,000.
These actions are detailed in a settlement reached last month between the city and the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, which is tasked with creating and enforcing water quality goals.
And the city assures it is taking the settlement seriously. The city tried to make clear to the water board, starting during the settlement process, that it was committed to fixing the deficiencies that led to the enforcement action, said Bill Harris, the city’s Transportation and Stormwater Department spokesman.
“In essence we were apologizing for the oversight and making sure that they knew we were committed to making the changes that we had to and taking care of the problem,” Harris said. “But also moving forward, putting the systems in place that would help us avoid these problems in the future.”
— inewsource
Qualcomm Invades the Digital Eyewear Market
The next generation of digital eyewear has arrived. Qualcomm Connected Experiences Inc. announced that new digital eyewear devices launched by Osterhoust Design Group, Epson and Samsung are all powered with the Qualcomm Vuforia software and snapdragon processors.
The Vuforia software allows for interactive 3D content to be visually aligned with the underlying world, providing an authentic augmented reality effect. This capability enables new applications in gaming, shopping, education, enterprise and industrial uses.
A beta version of the Vuforia software for digital eyewear will be available to selected developers this fall.
Guild Mortgage Co. Acquires
Mortgage Banking Company
San Diego-based Guild Mortgage Co. has acquired Comstock Mortgage, a Sacramento-based independent mortgage banking company with 15 offices, more than 180 loan officers and support staff and $600 million in loan originations in 2013.
As part of the acquisition, which is effective Oct. 1, Jeff Tarbell will join Guild as regional manager, leading the branches under the new Comstock Division of Guild Mortgage. Tarbell has been chairman of the board of Comstock and its broker of record for the last three years.
The company said the acquisition is part of Guild’s long-range plan to grow through acquisition, adding branches in its existing markets and preserving its customer service culture with experienced, top producers with established relationships. From 2010 to 2013, Guild grew from its western base into the Southeast and Southwest, increasing its number of branches and satellite offices from 75 to more than 200. Loan volume in the same period jumped to $7 billion from $4.1 billion. Servicing volume more than doubled, from $6.4 billion to $13 billion.
BioHorizons Acquires Precision One Medical
Alabama-based dental implant manufacturer BioHorizons has acquired San Diego’s privately held Precision One Medical Inc. Precision One, which also manufactures dental implants, will remain located in San Diego as a subsidiary of BioHorizons.
“The dental implant industry is fast-growing and centered in Southern California,” said BioHorizions COO Todd Strong. BioHorizons does more than $100 million in revenue annually. A report from Henry Schein, a distributor of medical supplies, said the dental implant market in the U.S. and Canada is expected to increase to $1.5 billion by 2016.
City Offers $22 Million to Settle
35-Year De Anza Cove Dispute
The city of San Diego announced Friday that it is offering around $22 million to settle a 35-year legal dispute with residents of the De Anza Cove Mobile Home Park on Mission Bay.
In 2003, residents sued the city when they were given eviction notices after a master lease expired for the park, which is owned by the city. City officials have been trying to close the mobile home park since discovering several decades ago that a trust, under which the city acquired the land, does not allow for residential uses.
The latest ruling, finalized Aug. 20 by Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman, set rates for reimbursement for those being forced to leave the park. Residents had asked for $48 million, but the formula approved last month envisions the city paying less than half that amount. Another $7 million or so would go to the plaintiff’s attorneys.
“The City Council believes it is time to end the lawsuit, provide residents with reasonable compensation and reimbursement of attorney fees as determined by the judge and return this park to the people of San Diego,” City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said.
“After 11 years of litigation, there are certainly legal issues that can be appealed on both sides. But there are times when the lawyers should get out of the way and allow a problem to be solved without more litigation. We think this is one of those times,” Goldsmith said.
If the plaintiff, the De Anza Cove Homeowners Association, accepts the offer, neither party would appeal and the residents would vacate the premises, Goldsmith said. He said if the plaintiff appeals the August ruling, the settlement offer would be withdrawn.
The City Council approved the offer unanimously in closed session, according to the city attorney.
— City News Service
Trigild Holds Lender Conference Oct. 22-24
CNBC commentator Steve Cortes and economist Sam Chandan will headline the annual Trigild Lender Conference Oct. 22 to 24 at the Hotel del Coronado. Chandan and Cortes will address topics related to the economy, finance, commercial real estate and the lending industries at the annual San Diego conference.
Cortes appears daily on CNBC’s Fast Money “Halftime Report” and is the founder of Veracruz, a trading and consulting firm providing real-time market research to institutions.
Chandan, president and chief economist for Chandan Economics and adjunct professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, will present his annual update on the commercial real estate industry.
Registration: www.trigild.com.
New Book Examines General Atomics’
Role in Unmanned Aircraft Revolution
A new book examines the role of San Diego-based General Atomics in developing the Predator drone and launching a revolution in unmanned aircraft technology.
“Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution” recounts the story of Israeli aircraft engineer Abraham “Abe” Karem’s early work on drones and the subsequent efforts by General Atomics to turn the idea into a practical, world-beating military technology.
The first Predators were unlikely warplanes. “With its flimsy wings and skin, the craft resembled a weekend hobbyist’s glider and couldn’t fly much faster,” author Richard Whittle wrote.
The Pentagon now has some 360 Predator aircraft in operation, and thousands of other types of drones.
Whittle reportedly spent five years cultivating access to insiders from the Defense Department and General Atomics to write the book.
Whittle is a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and 2013-14 Alfred V. Verville Fellow at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. — Times of San Diego
$1 Million Gift Creates 1st Endowed
Chair at Francis Parker School
Chris Harrington, a Francis Parker School faculty member since 1991, has been named the first Vassiliadis Family Chair in English — benefiting from a $1million endowment gift.
This also represents a milestone for Parker — with Harrington being the first faculty member to have an endowed chair position in the school’s 102-year history. Harrington teaches 11th grade English while serving as English Department chair for the middle and upper schools. He is a San Diego native who graduated from Clairemont High School in 1982. An alumnus of UC San Diego, he worked in the sports department of The San Diego Union-Tribune — where one of his first assignments was covering a Parker football game.
Carol Vassiliadis, former board of trustees member and parent of two Parker graduates (Andrew 2001 and Melissa 2004), established the chair to recognize an exceptional faculty member who embodies excellence in educational pedagogy.
Personnel Moves
Katie Attebery Joins Callan Capital
Katie Attebery has joined Callan Capital as a client relationship manager.
She is responsible for providing advanced financial planning and wealth management counsel to the firm’s clients in conjunction with Trevor, Tim, and Ryan Callan. Attebery has more than seven years of experience working with high net worth clients at Fisher Investments in Camas, Wash.
Attebery earned a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and a master’s degree from Willamette University in Portland, Ore.
Jerry Fazio to Retire from Boys & Girls Clubs
After 35 years with the Boys & Girls Clubs of East County, Jerry Fazio, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of East County Foundation, has announced his retirement. Fazio plans to begin his retirement Oct. 24. His official retirement date, following vacation, will be Dec. 4, three days after his 35th anniversary with the youth organization that has served hundreds of thousands of young people in the East County since its founding in 1961.
Since joining the organization on Dec. 1, 1979, Fazio has served in several executive positions with the Girls’ Club and Boys & Girls Clubs, as well as executive director of the foundation, a nonprofit fundraising entity, on two occasions, most recently since July 2008.
Fazio’s honors during his career have included El Cajon Citizen of the Year in 1992, Boys & Girls Clubs Pacific Region Executive of the Year in 2006, and National Executive Director of the Year from Boys & Girls Clubs of America in 2007.
