Daily Business Report-Jan. 29, 2016
Amy Cuddy, left, and Padma Lakshmi
2016 San Diego Women’s
Week Lineup Finalized
The North San Diego Business Chamber announced the roster of 2016 San Diego Women’s Week speakers has been finalized. The seventh annual event takes place at a variety of venues March 14-18, and features a diverse lineup of speakers and topics.
Padma Lakshmi, cookbook author and host of the Emmy Award-winning, top-rated Bravo series “Top Chef,” talks about the journey from her humble childhood kitchen, ruled by ferocious and unforgettable women, to the “Top Chef” Judges’ Table and beyond.
Amy Cuddy is known around the world for her 2012 TED Talk — the second most viewed in TED’s history. Cuddy discusses the themes from her book, “Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges.”
Naomi Tutu, daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, presents “Building the World You Want to Live In.” This inspirational talk relates how the challenges of growing up black and female in apartheid South Africa have been the foundation of her life as an activist for human rights.
Additional speakers include Frank Shankwitz, founder of Make-A-Wish Foundation; Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann from “Gilligan’s Island”; female Black Hawk pilot and leadership speaker Elizabeth McCormick; Kim Coles, Arielle Ford, Mallika Chopra, Tanya Brown and others.
For ticket information, click here.
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Study Finds Toxic Pollutants
In Fish Across the World’s Oceans
Scripps News
A new global analysis of seafood found that fish populations throughout the world’s oceans are contaminated with industrial and agricultural pollutants, collectively known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The study from researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego also uncovered some good news — concentrations of these pollutants have been consistently dropping over the last 30 years.
The findings, reported in the Jan. 28 issue of the journal PeerJ, were based on an analysis by Scripps researchers Lindsay Bonito, Amro Hamdoun, and Stuart Sandin of hundreds of peer-reviewed articles from 1969-2012. The pollutants studied included older “legacy” chemicals, such as DDT and mercury, as well as newer industrial chemicals, such as flame retardants and coolants.
“Based on the best data collected from across the globe, we can say that POPs can be anywhere and in any species of marine fish,” said Scripps biologist Sandin, a co-author of the study.
Although POPs were found in fish in all of the world’s oceans, the researchers say that concentrations in the consumable meat of marine fish are highly variable, where one region or group of fish may find concentrations of POPs that vary by 1,000-fold. The analysis revealed that average concentrations of each class of POP were significantly higher in the 1980s than is found today, with a drop in concentration of 15-30 percent per decade.
“This means that the typical fish that you consume today can have approximately 50 percent of the concentration of most POPs when compared to the same fish eaten by your parents at your age,” said Bonito, the lead author of the study.
San Diego Deputy District Attorney
Appointed Superior Court Judge
Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed Kelly Chong Mok to a judgeship in the San Diego County Superior Court.
Mok, 48, of Carlsbad, has been assistant chief at the North County branch of the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office since 2015, where she has served as a deputy district attorney since 1994.
She earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Irvine.
Effective Feb. 9, Mok will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge William C. Gentry Jr. She is a Democrat.
The compensation for this position is $189,041.
USD Gets $12 Million Gift
For STEM Next Program
The University of San Diego has received a $12 million gift from the Noyce Foundation to advance a national initiative — STEM Next — aimed at inspiring and preparing more young people, especially girls and those from underserved areas, for careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
The gift — the largest ever received by USD’s School of Leadership and Education Sciences — will fund STEM Next, a multi-faceted initiative to expand STEM learning opportunities for more students by helping communities develop quality programs and improving those that already exist. The Center for Education Policy and Law, housed within SOLES, will oversee the work of STEM Next. STEM Next does not fund programs directly, but rather the systems and supports they need.
The Noyce Foundation was created to honor the work of Dr. Robert Noyce, co-founder of technology giant Intel and inventor of the integrated circuit, which fueled the personal computer revolution and gave Silicon Valley its name.
City College District Grants
To Expand Student Apprenticeships
The San Diego Community College District has received $1.1 million in state grants to expand apprenticeships aimed at training workers in professions ranging from carpenters and electricians to microbiology quality control technicians.
San Diego Miramar College will receive a $600,000 Innovative Apprentices for the Life Sciences Industry grant to grow the number of apprenticeships in nine areas: microbiology quality control technician; chemistry quality control technician; regulatory compliance associate; regulatory affairs specialist; clinical research coordinator; quality assurance associate/GXP auditor; clinical trial assistant; drug safety advocate; and clinical data coordinator.
Miramar College — home of the Southern California Biotechnology Center — will be the lead education agency in partnership with Rx Research Services Inc., the apprenticeship sponsor. The sponsor will place at least 30 apprentices at more than 17 companies. The apprentices will receive paid on-the-job training to for quality/ regulatory positions where entry level median wages range from $31.08 to $35.98 per hour.
San Diego City College will receive $500,000 to work with San Diego Continuing Education, Palomar College, and Southwestern College in creating a regional framework to strengthen pathways into existing registered apprenticeships and to improve the preparation of students.
The grant is expected to help lead at least 200 people into registered apprenticeships.
Both grants are from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.
SDG&E to Install Thousands
Of Electric Vehicl Charging Stations
The California Public Utilities Commission approved San Diego Gas & Electric’s program to install thousands of electric vehicle charging stations at businesses and multi-family communities throughout San Diego and south Orange counties.
An important program benefit is that it should maximize the use of renewable energy to charge electric vehicles and minimize the need for new fossil-fuel power plants.
The company will install charging stations at up to 350 businesses and multi-family communities throughout the region, with 10 chargers at each location for a total of 3,500 separate chargers. SDG&E will install at least 10 percent of the chargers in disadvantaged communities. SDG&E’s project will overcome many current obstacles to EV growth and reassure local EV drivers that they will have a place to charge their vehicles.
In addition to expanding access to EVs, the pilot features special rates that encourage EV drivers to charge their cars when electricity supply, including renewable energy, is plentiful and energy prices are low. With rates encouraging off-peak charging, vehicles will be efficiently integrated onto the grid, helping to avoid on-peak charging that drives the need to build more power plants and other electric infrastructure.
Personnel Announcements
Robert Armstrong Joins Luther Burbank Savings
has joined Luther Burbank Savings as senior vice president of its Online Banking Division. In this newly created role, Armstrong is charged with expanding the bank’s offerings and creating greater access to its products and services.
Armstrong will be splitting his time between the bank’s Irvine and Solana Beach locations
Armstrong has more than 20 years of experience. His background includes senior positions with Bank of America, market president of U.S. Bank, CEO of San Diego Private Bank, and head of business and private banking at Bank of Internet.
Co-Chairs Named for
Developing Leaders Program
NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, installed Chris Williams of Colliers International and Melissa Scofield of CBRE as co-chairs of its Developing Leaders program.
NAIOP’s Developing Leaders is an exclusive program geared specifically for all NAIOP professionals age 35 and under. The program was designed to help propel members in their careers by:
• Providing educational programs.
• Advocating for effective legislation in an effort to promote job creation and enhance economic development within the commercial real estate industry.
• Connecting members with senior leaders in the industry through a formal mentorship curriculum.
• Attracting and retaining members through support and engagement.
• Planning social events that allow members to network and build relationships with peers.
• Organizing informational panel series with real estate programs at local universities.
• Raising awareness and supporting charitable organizations that have an impact within the San Diego community.
