Daily Business Report-May 7, 2015
The Spectrum Aeronautical de Mexico plant.
Baja California will Manufacture the
First Business Jet Made in Mexico
Carlsbad-based Spectrum Aeronautical will manufacture the first business jet aircraft in Mexico at the Silicon Border Industrial Park located in Mexicali, Baja California. Spectrum will invest $300 million for the design, certification and production of the airplane model S-40.
Spectrum Chairman and CEO Linden Blue said Baja California was chosen because of its highly skilled and self-motivated workforce, as well as the geographic proximity to the important aerospace industry in California.
The Spectrum S-40 takes advantage of over 30 years of refinement of carbon fiber/epoxy technology, which has been driven by the Spectrum management and technical team.
The S-40 is a mid-size business jet that can accommodate up to nine passengers and fly over 2,400 miles. The S-40 is expected to cost about half as much to own and operate as comparably sized business jets and use half the fuel.
The Spectrum Aeronautical de Mexico plant site will be at the foot of picturesque El Centinela Mountain immediately west of Mexicali and less than two miles south of the Mexico/U.S. border.
“This announcement is great news for Baja California and Mexico,” said Baja California Gov. Francisco Vega de Lamadrid. “When finalized, Baja California will lead the aerospace industry in Mexico and in general for our country at the international level, since this will be the first aircraft totally manufactured in this country, having certifications and features enabling it to take off from its plant in Mexicali to the world skies.”
“We chose the Silicon Border site because of the skilled and highly motivated labor force in Mexicali and Mexicali’s proximity to the huge aerospace industrial infrastructure of Southern California,” said Spectrum President Austin Blue.
The total investment in the Spectrum S-40 project is expected to be about $300 million over a three-year period.
“By the 10th year, we expect Spectrum will either provide or stimulate the creation of about 19,000 new jobs in Baja California,” said Blue.
Assembly Committee Approves Bill
To Increase Civic San Diego Oversight
A bill designed to strengthen oversight of organizations that make land use decisions for cities, like Civic San Diego, was passed Wednesday by the Assembly Local Government Committee.
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and area business leaders said they would lobby against AB 504, authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego).
The legislator said her bill would create more oversight by local governments that rely on the planning, zoning or permitting expertise of nonprofit organizations or private individuals.
“Serious questions remain about a city’s legal ability to outsource these sorts of powers outside of government,” Gonzalez said. “AB 504 is our opportunity to make sure the rules are clear and avert more serious legal challenges that could undermine community development and ultimately waste taxpayer money.”
Civic San Diego was created three years ago to handle design and permitting for major projects in Downtown, City Heights and Southeast San Diego after the state abolished redevelopment agencies.
Faulconer and other Civic San Diego supporters said the bill, if passed, would thwart the ability of the agency to revitalize urban neighborhoods.
“Civic San Diego has long served as catalyst for positive change in San Diego, helping to create jobs and build affordable housing,” Faulconer told reporters. “Communities like Encanto need Civic San Diego to help them succeed, and we can’t let Sacramento stop our progress with one unnecessary bill.”
— City News Service
Water Authority Disappointed
Over California’s New Rules
The San Diego County Water Authority Wednesday offered praise and criticism for cutbacks ordered by state water officials in the face of the California drought.
The state Water Resources Control Board voted 5-0 Tuesday to fulfill Gov. Jerry Brown’s demand for a 25 percent reduction in water use by assigning conservation targets for individual water agencies. Water districts in San Diego County will have to cut back between 8 percent and 36 percent.
Mark Weston, chairman of the Water Authority, said he was pleased that the order will protect the $1.9 billion local agriculture business.
“However, we are disappointed that the board’s regulations do not encourage the development of new water supplies,” Weston said. “Despite requests by the Water Authority and others, the regulations don’t give credit to regions that have prudently planned for dry periods by investing in drought-proof water supplies such as the Carlsbad Desalination Project, which will produce 50 million gallons per day for San Diego County starting this fall.”
— City News Service
MiraCosta College Names Student
Employee of the Year
MiraCosta College has presented the 2015 Student Employee of the Year award to Health Services mental health peer educator, Colt Gordon. Nominated by Marge Reyzer, coordinator of health services, Gordon is described as a leader, role model, great listener and educator.
As an educator, Gordon helps raise awareness about suicide prevention and other mental health topics in the college community through classroom presentations and other weekly events.
Gordon also started a new club on campus called NYNS (New Year New Shoes) that provides shoes for those in need and volunteers for the Wounded Warrior Project.
The award also includes a prize basket with two tickets to Legoland, a $100 Visa gift card, and a prize basket from Buffalo Wild Wings valued at $50.
The award is sponsored annually by the Career Center and acknowledges the efforts of student workers and to celebrate their demonstration of exceptional skills. A committee of five faculty and staff members ranked the nominees based on professionalism, teamwork, attitude, customer service, and overall contribution to the college.
— Times of San Diego
City Council Members Support
Increase to Library Funding
A bipartisan group of City Council members on Wednesday expressed support for increasing the San Diego library system’s fund for acquiring books and audio/visual materials, which was reduced in Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s proposed spending plans for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The council is in the midst of a one-week series of hearings on the $3.2 billion budget proposal, combing through plans for individual departments and agencies.
The issue surrounding the library materials acquisition fund stems from last year, when the mayor proposed redirecting the full $500,000 toward a new after-school study program. The spending plan adopted by the council for this fiscal year, however, maintained the half-million dollars through a mix of ongoing and one-time funding sources.
The proposal for the 2015-16 fiscal year only continued the library materials fund with the ongoing sources, leaving a hole of $209,000, according to Chris Ojeda of the city’s Independent Budget Analyst’s Office.
Library Director Misty Jones said her department could cover the shortfall through philanthropic matching funds, but Ojeda pointed out that overall spending on the library system was reduced when taken as a percentage of the budget.
Sal Giametta, the past chairman of the Board of Library Commissioners, said that works out to a $2.1 million cut.
“As the IBA has noted numerous times in recent years, San Diego continues to lag behind our peers in spending for these resources,” Giametta said.
— City News Service
National Indian Gaming Association
Chair to Speak at Pala Casino Conference
Ernest L. Stevens Jr., chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association, will be a featured speaker on the iPolitics panel at the third annual Indian Country Online on June 11 at the Pala Casino Spa Resort. The panel focuses on the political realities and potential opportunities of online gaming for tribes, now and in the future.
Stevens is among several prominent gaming industry speakers at Indian Country Online.
As NIGA chairman, Stevens represents the Indian gaming industry. He is also responsible for shaping policy initiatives that have the potential to impact the industry. He is currently beginning his eighth two-year term as the organization’s leader, which is a position elected by the member tribes of NIGA.
“The National Indian Gaming Association’s Internet Gaming Principles will continue to guide us as the Internet Gaming debate progresses,” Stevens said. “The strength of our organization has always come from the unity of our member tribes and tribal leaders. These principles call for any Internet gaming legislation to acknowledge the inherent right of all federally recognized tribes, as governments not subject to taxation, to engage and regulate tribal Internet gaming.”
Conference details are available at www.indiancountryonline.com.
Pala Casino Spa Resort is located at 11154 Highway 76, north of Escondido.
Grossmont Healthcare District Finalizes
Sale of General Obligation Bonds
The Grossmont Healthcare District, landlord of Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, has finalized the sale for two separate series of general obligation bonds totaling $24.5 million and $175 million. The bond proceeds will finance ongoing capital improvement construction projects consisting of new and improved patient care facilities currently underway at the publicly owned hospital.
The $24.5 million bond sale was the third and final series of G.O. bonds that are part of Proposition G, a GHD-sponsored $247 million bond measure that East Region voters approved in June 2006. The two previous GHD bond sales totaled $85.6 million in 2007 and $136.8 million in 2011.
The $175 million sale of bonds was a partial refunding of the bonds previously sold in 2007 and 2011. The refunding, a transaction similar to a refinancing, will save taxpayers about $1.13 million in interest payments annually, or a total of about $28.6 million over the life of the bonds through 2040, district officials said.
This latest bond sale will help complete the 71,000-square-foot Heart and Vascular (H&V) Center building, currently under construction, as well as the 18,000-square-foot Central Energy Plant, with its 4.4-megawatt combustion turbine generator weighing 52 tons, and remodeling work on floors 2 through 5 of the East Tower.
The H&V Center is planned to expand the hospital’s surgery capabilities with four new cardiac catheterization labs and four multipurpose procedural rooms for supporting a wide range of specialties, including general surgery, minimally invasive surgery and image-guided surgery, as well as endovascular interventional procedures.
The East Tower’s remodeling includes upgrades to patient rooms, including Americans with Disability Act (ADA) compliance and bariatric accessibility, improvements to elevators and nurse stations, and modernization of mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.
SR Commercial Buys Carlsbad Property
To Develop Multi-Tenant Industrial Project
SR Commercial, a commercial real estate investment company, has acquired an 11.8-acre land parcel in Carlsbad for $6.16 million on which to develop a 151,500-square-foot multi-tenant industrial distribution project. Rendering of industrial project to be developed by SR Commercial in Carlsbad.
The company plans to develop and operate a multi-tenant industrial distribution business park with suite sizes ranging from 3,400 to 35,500 square feet, according to CJ Stos, SR Commercial principal. The ground-up development project will be located in Carlsbad Oaks North, a new 414-acre master planned corporate business park in Carlsbad, which currently consists of 25 vacant lots.
The approximately 151,500 square-foot incubator project will be state-of-the-art featuring, 27-foot to 32-foot clear height, abundant dock-high and grade-level loading, an ESFR sprinkler system, and parking. As part of SR Commercial’s long-term investment strategy, the firm plans to hold the property for 15-plus years.
UC San Diego Researchers: Why Eye
Movement Doesn’t Blur the Picture
Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Shiley Eye Institute have identified the molecular “glue” that builds the brain connections that keep visual images clear and still, even as objects or your eyes move. Using mouse models and human cells, the researchers demonstrate that image stabilization depends upon two proteins, Contactin-4 and amyloid precursor protein, binding during embryonic development. The study is published May 7 by Neuron.
“In the visual system, precise connections between your eyes and brain help you see specific things and make sure those images are clear and crisp,” said senior author Andrew D. Huberman, assistant professor of neurosciences, neurobiology and ophthalmology. “Sensors in the eye also detect movement and connect to the brain in just the right way to tell your eyes to move in the right direction without blurring images, the way a camera does if you try to take a picture while moving. Until now, we didn’t really understand how the eye and brain control that on a molecular level.”
To determine exactly how your eyes and brain work together to keep things steady, Huberman, lead author Jessica Osterhout and team labeled specific sets of neurons in the brain that make specific connections — a technique pioneered by Huberman’s lab. This approach allows researchers to look at individual components of the visual network and eventually identify the exact genes those cells switch on during development, as they make the appropriate connections.
Based upon these findings, Huberman and colleagues hypothesize that there are also very specific sets of genes that make sure the correct neurons make the correct connections in other aspects of neural circuitry, in addition to vision. And these genes are very likely important for accurate sensory perception and behavior.
Co-authors of the study include Benjamin K. Stafford, and Phong L. Nguyen, UC San Diego; Yoshihiro Yoshihara, RIKEN Brain Science Institute.
TSRI Researchers Connect Haywire
Protein to Breast Cancer, Leukemia
A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) sheds light on the cause of some cancers, including breast cancer and leukemia.
In the new study, the researchers found that too much of a key protein, called cyclin E, slows down DNA replication and introduces potentially harmful cancer-linked mutations when cells divide.
“Overexpression of cyclin E is one route to cancer,” said TSRI Professor Steven Reed, senior author of the new study.
A cell must copy its DNA before dividing into two identical daughter cells. Each round of cell division comes with the risk of DNA replication errors –the chance that some areas might be duplicated, deleted or out of order.
In normal cells, cyclin E binds to and activates an enzyme, Cdk2, which begins the DNA replication process. Cells need just the right amount of cyclin E to divide properly. Unfortunately, some genetic mutations can cause too much cyclin E to be produced in cells.
Reed and his colleagues at TSRI originally discovered cyclin E, and previous studies led by Reed’s lab showed that abnormally high levels of cyclin E are associated with chromosome instability, increasing the chances that a chromosome will acquire more mutations as it divides. Researchers have found that cyclin E is frequently overexpressed in cancer cells and that overexpression is linked to a decreased survival rate for breast cancer patients.
Until this new study, scientists did not know exactly how cyclin E introduces chromosome instability and errors into DNA.
Personnel Announcements
Abbey Brown and Scott Jablow Get Partnerships
Lavine, Lofgren, Morris & Engelberg LLP announce the admittance of Abbey Brown and H. Scott Jablow to the partnership.
Brown has been with the firm for 12 years, serving as manager in the tax department for the past six years. She works with a wide range of clients, including those within the industries of real estate, service and distribution. She specializes in providing tax services to closely-held and family-owned businesses.
Jablow has been with the firm since 2008 and has more than 20 years experience assisting clients with their tax planning and compliance needs. His experience includes high net-worth individuals, partnerships and closely-held corporations. Jablow’s focus is working with businesses and owners on taxation issues while specializing in real estate taxation.
Red Cross Names Regional
Chief Development Officer
Wendy McKinney has been named regional chief development officer of the American Red Cross of San Diego/Imperial Counties.
A native of Los Angeles, McKinney has more than 20 years of marketing, sales and fundraising experience in the financial services industry and more than 10 years of experience in the non-profit industry. Most recently, McKinney successfully created and led the fundraising division of one of San Diego’s oldest and largest nonprofits, the Neighborhood House Association. As development director, McKinney led NHA’s 100 Year Centennial Celebration, which raised over $1 million for the organization.
Prior to joining NHA, McKinney worked in the financial services sector for companies including Morgan Stanley Smith Barney,) and AIG/SunAmerica.
