Daily Business Report-Jan. 19, 2015
Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins at Tuna Harbor Dockside Market on Saturday.
Toni Atkins to Introduce Legislation
To Help Local Fish Markets Grow and Thrive
With the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market as a backdrop, Assembly Speaker
Toni Atkins announced Saturday she will introduce legislation to make it easier for local fish markets to grow and thrive in California.
She said her “Pacific to Plate” legislation would clarify and streamline state laws that currently treat fish markets differently from other food facilities.
“Since the market opened, thousands of San Diegans have enjoyed being able to walk down this pier and choose their next meal from the fresh catch brought ashore by our local fishermen,” she said. “Though the market has been successful, there are still some barriers in state law that need to be overcome to ensure its ongoing operation.”
Atkins was joined by San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox, Port of San Diego Board Chairman Dan Malcolm and local fisherman Peter Halmay.
“San Diego was once the tuna capital of the world,” said Cox. “This bill can help us establish more fishermen’s markets, create more jobs for local fishermen and give San Diegans more fish caught fresh off our waters.”
Atkins’ proposed legislation would:
• Allow fishermen’s markets to operate as food facilities.
• Allow fresh fish to be cleaned for direct sale at the markets.
• Streamline the permitting process, so commercial fishermen can organize under a single permit.
The bill has attracted bipartisan support from San Diego’s state legislative delegation. Assembly members Rocky Chavez, Brian Jones, Brian Maienschein, Marie Waldron and Shirley Weber are co-sponsoring the bill, along with state Senators Joel Anderson, Patricia Bates, Marty Block and Ben Hueso.
San Diego’s Tuna Harbor market has been a success since its Aug. 2 opening, drawing 350 visitors a week who spend about $15,000 weekly on fresh seafood brought directly to the pier by local fishermen.
— Times of San Diego
San Diego Venture Capital Dips in
Fourth Quarter — Up for the Year
Venture capital for San Diego startups slowed down in the fourth quarter of 2014 but overall it was a good year for young companies looking to raise money from investors.
The 2014 MoneyTree Report from the National Venture Capital Association/Pricewaterhouse Coopers and the Dow Jones VentureSource survey both confirmed that it was a weak fourth quarter but a solid year overall.
Nationwide venture capitalists invested $48.3 billion in young companies last year, up 61 percent from 2013.
Top Five Deals in the Fourth Quarter 2014:
1. BioNano Genomics: $22 million, Biotech analytics
2. Suja Life: $21 million, Health food
3. DB Networks: $17 million, Cybersecurity software
4. Cue: $7.5 million, Biosensors
5. StackIQ: $6 million, Database management software
— U-T San Diego
Qualcomm Backs Satellite Internet Venture
Qualcomm has joined The Virgin Group as investors in a startup company that aims to deploy a low-orbit constellation of 648 microsatellites to bring high-speed Internet to rural areas, the U-T San Diego reports.
WorldVu Satellites, operating as OneWeb, said Thursday that Virgin’s Richard Branson and Qualcomm Executive Chairman Paul Jacobs would join its board of directors.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Qualcomm declined to provide additional details, including the amount it invested.
“We have a shared vision to bring connectivity to underserved areas around the world,” said Jacobs in a statement. “We are pleased to join Virgin as an initial investor, and we look forward to helping fund initial technical feasibility work for the satellite system.” OneWeb said in a statement that it plans to bring in additional investors to fund construction, launch and operation of its satellite cluster. It will use Virgin Galactic’s LauncherOne program to carry its satellites into orbit.
Bandwidth and pricing have yet to be determined. OneWeb’s satellites that would weigh as little as 250 pounds. The company aims to launch its first group in 2017 and have the system operating later that year or by 2018, said a company spokesman.
Sunita Cooke to Head Workforce Task Force
Dr. Sunita Cooke, president of MiraCosta College, has been chosen to lead the Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation and a Strong Economy, which was established by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors to make community college workforce education more responsive to the state’s economy.
Cooke serves on the San Diego Workforce Partnership’s Workforce Investment Board as well as on the board of the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce. She has also served on the State Chancellor’s Workforce and Economic Development Advisory Council. Prior to her new role with MiraCosta College, Cooke was president of Grossmont College in El Cajon.
The Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation, and a Strong Economy will be made up of representatives from the California Community Colleges, business community, labor groups, public agencies involved in workforce training, K-12 policy, and community-based organizations. Its goal is to develop policies that will prepare more students for existing high-value jobs and promote job creation with workforce training that sparks small business development and lures out-of-state business investment in key industry sectors.
Personnel Moves
Steven Berk Joins Barney & Barney as CFO
Barney & Barney Insurance Services LLC announced that Steven Berk has joined the firm as its new chief financial officer. Berk brings to his new role more than 35 years of insurance experience, most recently serving as Marsh
USA’s San Diego office head. He joined Marsh in 1980 and has held a number of different leadership positions, including 24 years serving as either a divisional or regional CFO. Marsh & McLennan Agency is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh.
Berk assumes CFO responsibilities from Hal Dunning, who has served as both CFO and Chief Operating Officer of Barney & Barney since 2003. Since that time the firm has grown from $29 million in revenue with one office location to $115 million in revenue and four offices. Dunning will continue to run the day-to-day operations of the firm as COO.
