Daily Business Report-Feb. 4, 2016
GATR President Paul Gierow holds a spectrum analyzer, which measures signal strength from the 1.8m X-band radome (radar dome) he stands beside. (Courtesy GATR Technologies)
Cubic Completes $232.5 Million
Acquisition of GATR Technologies
Cubic Corporation announced that it has received final Hart-Scott-Rodino regulatory approval and completed its acquisition of GATR Technologies, a manufacturer of inflatable satellite communications antenna systems in Huntsville, Ala.
Cubic completed the acquisition of GATR on Feb. 2, 2016 for a purchase price of $232.5 million.
GATR Technologies will operate within the Cubic Global Defense business unit and expands the company’s footprint in the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance space.
“GATR” stands for “Ground Antenna Transmit Receive.”
“As a proven leader in the expeditionary satellite communications industry, GATR Technologies will offer our customers an even broader offering of key communication solutions to the Department of Defense, intelligence community and commercial customers,” said Bradley H. Feldmann, president and chief executive officer for Cubic Corporation. “We are pleased to have GATR employees join the Cubic family.”
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Sanford Burnham Scientist Receives
$7.9 Million Grant for Cancer Fight
A cancer researcher at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute has received a National Cancer Institute Outstanding Investigator Award for cancer research with breakthrough potential.
Ze’ev Ronai is scientific director of SBP’s La Jolla campus and professor of its NCI-designated Cancer Center. He will receive $7.9 million over a seven-year period to advance his cancer research.
Ronai, a member of several NCI panels and current co-leader of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Melanoma Research Foundation, has made many key contributions to the understanding of cancer over the last 35 years. Early in his career, he and his team developed a sensitive assay allowing detection of cancer-driving mutations present at very low frequency, providing the initial grounds for today’s precision medicine.
Most recently, his research has identified new drug targets that may improve the outcome of patients with drug-resistant melanoma tumors.
The NCI award will allow Ronai’s team the freedom to perform more ambitious studies and take the time to translate basic discoveries into the clinic.
“We will continue investigating how tumors become rewired to withstand harsh conditions, such as low oxygen, starvation, and chemotherapy,” said Ronai. “Understanding these mechanisms is likely to establish new paradigms and offer novel therapeutic modalities for cancer.”
San Diego Launches Housing
Program For Homeless Military Veterans
City News Service
A $12.5 million program to provide housing for homeless military veterans in San Diego was launched Wednesday by the San Diego Housing Commission.
The “Housing Our Heroes” campaign seeks to find a place to live for 1,000 homeless former members of the armed forces over the next year. It was first announced last month by Mayor Kevin Faulconer in his State of the City speech.
“We have an opportunity — and an obligation — to dedicate ourselves to the men and women who dedicated their lives to our country,” Faulconer said.
“We’re going to work with landlords to open doors to more homes, cover security deposits so veterans can move into those homes, provide hundreds of housing vouchers so disabled veterans can afford rent for their homes, and offer supportive services so veterans can stay in their homes — and not end up back on the street,” he said.
Faulconer said he will commit $4 million to the program, pending City Council approval. The program will provide incentives to landlords who rent to homeless veterans, assist with security deposits and utility bills, create a contingency fund to help landlords cover expenses like move-out repairs, provide 300 federal rental assistance vouchers, and make mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, job training skills and health services available — among other things.
Surging Industrial Space Demand
Leaves Little Supply in San Diego
The San Diego industrial market had an astounding 2015, breaking many year-to-date records and leaving hardly any available space on the market, according to an Industrial MarketView report by CBRE for the 4th quarter of 2015.
The industrial market has quickly become constrained with high owner/user demand and very little available space for lease. Historically inexpensive money is available at low interest rates and many investment buyers are in the market, increasingly escalating sale prices, the report said. Consistent demand since the beginning of 2013 has halved San Diego’s overall vacancy from 8.6 percent in Q1 2013 to 4.3 percent in the 4th quarter. This surging demand, coupled with decreasing vacancy and rising rents, has made new construction feasible and spurred speculative projects from Murphy Development in Otay Mesa and Arnel Development in Carlsbad, as well as other projects in the pipeline for 2016.
This was the 14th consecutive quarter of decreasing vacancy, falling to 4.3 percent. The largest decreases were in Central San Diego and North County; each saw overall vacancy decrease 20 basis points from Q3 2015 to 5.1 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively. Southwest Riverside and East County share the lowest overall vacancy with 2.3 percent.
Union-Tribune’s Enlace Publication
Changing to Hoy San Diego Feb. 13
The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Spanish-language publication will be changing from Enlace to Hoy San Diego, starting Feb. 13. Enlace originally launched in 1999 with the mission to provide news, entertainment content and advertising to the Latino communities in San Diego County and Baja California. Hoy San Diego will continue to serve this community with award-winning journalism and culturally relevant content, according to Hoy Publisher Roaldo Moran.
“It is an honor that Enlace, which has served the community for 16 years, will adopt the Hoy name,” said Moran. “Hoy San Diego will maintain that high standard and commitment to informing the Latino community. And this expansion will make Hoy the largest Spanish-language publication in Southern California and Baja with a total weekly distribution of 1.4 million single copies.”
Delivered in a new tabloid format, Hoy San Diego will offer readers content on topics such as education, health, public services, immigration, entertainment and sports. Original stories will be written by its San Diego-based journalists and Hoy Los Angeles staff. The publication will also curate, adapt and translate relevant coverage from The San Diego Union-Tribune and Los Angeles Times.
Secretary of Defense Visits
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter toured the guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance at Naval Base San Diego on Tuesday. Carter is meeting this week with troops and members of the defense community to preview the proposed fiscal year 2017 defense budget. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tim D. Godbee)
Carter to Congress: Re-Examine the Draft
A day after two service chiefs said women should register for the draft, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in San Diego that Congress should consider the issue — especially after he opened up all combat positions in the military to women. Speaking at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station on Wednesday, Carter said he expanded the types of jobs women can hold in the military because the nation’s armed forces are stronger when they have a larger talent pool. He suggested that the issue of Selective Service registration offers a parallel dynamic. — San Diego Union-Tribune
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Workshops and Conferences
Friday
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Presents Women and Law Conference
The Thomas Jefferson School of Law on Friday will present its 16th annual Women and the Law Conference, Pursuing Excellence: Diversity in Higher Education.
The conference will bring together leading academics, educators, institutional leaders, and policy makers to examine how diversity in institutions of higher education affects and inspires students, faculty, and leaders. Discussions will focus on a number of critically important topics including United States Supreme Court case Fisher v. University of Texas and California’s Prop 209.
Under Prop 209, California became the first state to ban the use of race and ethnicity in public university admissions, as well as hiring and contracting.
The keynote will be by Bryant Garth, director of the American Bar Foundation.
The conference will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Rooms 323 and 325 at the law school, 1155 Island Ave., San Diego, CA 92101.
Feb. 9
Binational Infrastructure
For the Future of Cali-Baja
Urban Land Institute San Diego–Tijuana District Council will host a breakfast meeting on Feb. 9 at 7:30 a.m. at the University Club atop Symphony Towers, 750 B Street, Suite 3400.
The program will address key infrastructure projects supporting the competitiveness and opportunity of Cali-Baja. The San Diego-Tijuana Mega Region is undergoing a fundamental change. Infrastructure projects such as the expansion and realignment of the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the financing and construction of the new Otay Mesa II Port of Entry and the completion of the Cross Border Xpress are improving the connectivity between San Diego and Tijuana while re-characterizing the relationships along the U.S. – Mexico border.
The program will be moderated by Bob Watkins of R.J. Watkins & Company and Chair of Cali Baja Bi-National Mega-Region. Panelists include Elizabeth Brown of Cross Border Xpress, Arturo Alemany of Pacific Imperial Railroad and Richard Sax of Distinctive Projects Company and Brown Field Municipal Airport.
Tickets for the program range from $40 to $70. Registration after Thursday, February 4 will be handled at the door and include a $10 fee.
For more information, click here.
Feb 16
Realtors to Learn About Instagram
The Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors will present “Reaching Millennial Homebuyers with Instagram,” a program for Realtors with step-by-step tips about using Instagram.
Two sessions will be held on Feb. 16, including from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the PSAR South County Service Center, 880 Canarios Court, Chula Vista, and from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the PSAR East County Service Center, 1150 Broadway, El Cajon.
Discussion topics will include tips on attracting first-time homebuyers, tracking traffic with custom links, using hashtags successfully and creating cool bios and contests that get you noticed. Instructor will be Mike Torres of Skyline Home Loans. Cost is free to PSAR members, $20 for nonmembers. For more information, call PSAR at (619) 421-7811, or visit www.psar.org.
Feb. 24
CONNECT Workshop Teaches
Start-Ups How to Attract Funding
Start-up companies looking to get seed money for their operations are invited to a CONNECT-sponsored workshop — Angel Investing Basics for the Start-Up Community — to be staged Feb. 24 at CONNECT’s headquarters in University City.
The event is part of the FrameWorks CapitalMatch education track of CONNECT and is the introductory workshop. It will provide content essential for start-ups seeking capital by the Angel Resource Institute.
“Presenting this new education series is a natural next step for us as we work to identify and create ways to support the fundraising efforts of start-ups in San Diego,” said Shawn Richardson, a senior director at CONNECT. “So many of our Springboard companies, mentors, and entrepreneurs in residence are in the program getting ready to raise capital, so we are proud to be able to provide relevant and instructive information to prepare them for the discussions and issues they will experience in their capital raising efforts.”
The introductory workshop will be presented by Troy Knauss and Susan Preston of the Angel Resource Institute. It is designed for entrepreneurs and their mentors who want to be prepared for raising early-stage investment capital. The full-day seminar provides a sweeping overview of how the angel investing process works. The workshop is an interactive classroom style format that includes presentations, a panel discussion, and case studies.
The workshop will be held from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at CONNECT, 4790 Eastgate Mall, Suite 125, San Diego, CA 92121.
To register, click here.
