Daily Business Report-June 27, 2016
An Atlas V launch vehicle carrying the U.S. Navys fifth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) communications satellite lifts off from Space Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. (U.S. Navy photo)
Navy’s 5th Communications Satellite
Successfully Launched from Cape Canaveral
The Navy’s fifth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite was successfully launched on Friday from Cape Canaveral, an Internet Protocol-based system designed to provide improved communications capabilities to users around the world, regardless of where they are in relation to a satellite, and will provide greater than 10 times the bandwidth capacity compared with the current ultra-high frequency constellation.
“MUOS-5 will be transitioning over the next nine days to reach its test slot 22,000 miles above the earth in a geosynchronous orbit,” said Cmdr. Jason Pratt, principal assistant program manager of MUOS. “Once it has reached its location and deployed its arrays and antennas, on-orbit testing of the satellite will begin.”
MUOS is a system consisting of five satellites, four ground stations across the globe and a network management system. The first four MUOS satellites are already operational.
__________________________________________________
Economic Impact of Cybersecurity
Industry in San Diego Put at $1.9 Billion
A new study puts the economic impact of San Diego’s cybersecurity industry at $1.9 billion — an amount greater than hosting four Super Bowls or 14 Comic-Con events each year.
That’s the conclusion of an economic impact analysis and workforce report done by the Cyber Center of Excellence, an entity supported by the San Diego Regional EDC, CBRE Research and BW Research Partnership.
“We are seeing strong momentum in the cybersecurity industry, as companies continue to expand their operations in the region,” said Michael Combs, research manager at CBRE in San Diego. “Companies are becoming more global and working with a more diverse mix of customers beyond government and tech, increasing the positive economic impact on the region’s economy.”
The report said more than 100 firms in the region are focused exclusively on cybersecurity while local colleges and universities annually graduate 3,000 students in the computer science and engineering fields fields and recently launched two new cybersecurity masters programs at University of San Diego and California State University San Marcos
San Diego’s Navy’s Space & Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), directly employs nearly half of all the cybersecurity jobs in San Diego (3,400) and its presence in San Diego is a huge contributing factor for many cyber companies to remain located in San Diego, according to the report. SPAWAR’s total budget in FY15 was $6.8 billion, with $5 billion (74 percent) going to private industry contracts, with the San Diego region receiving over $1.1 billion.
Other Key Findings:
• 13 percent projected cyber employment growth in the next year compared to projected 2 percent overall regional job growth.
• 18.8 percent growth for tech professional from 2011-2015, three times the average occupation in San Diego
Click here, for the full study.
Scripps Research Institute Professor
Wins 2016 Blavatnik National Award
Chemist Phil Baran of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) has won a 2016 Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists.
The Blavatnik National Award includes an unrestricted cash award of $250,000 — the largest unrestricted cash award given to early-career scientists.
Baran was cited for his “transformative research in the field of natural product synthesis and his development of new synthetic methodology that enables chemists to design scalable, efficient, economically viable synthetic routes to potential new drugs. One of the recent successes in the Baran laboratory is the synthesis of the plant-derived ingenol, derivatives of which have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat skin cancer.”
Baran is Darlene Shiley Professor of Chemistry at TSRI. A graduate of New York University, he joined the TSRI faculty in 2003 after a National Institutes of Health-funded postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate E. J. Corey.
Baran is the author of more than 170 papers and an interactive textbook “The Portable Chemist’s Consultant: A Survival Guide for Discovery, Process, and Radiolabeling.” His many awards and honors include a MacArthur Fellowship, commonly known as a “genius grant.” He is also co-founder of Sirenas Marine Discovery and Vividion Therapeutics.
Funded by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and administered by The New York Academy of Sciences, Blavatnik National Awards are granted to only three individuals each year, one in each of the fields of physical science/engineering, chemistry, and life science. In addition to Baran, the other 2016 winners are David Charbonneau, professor of astronomy at Harvard University, and Michael Rape, professor of cell and developmental biology at University of California, Berkeley.
Nordstrom Shutting Doors at Horton Plaza;
180 Employees to Lose Jobs
By City News Service
The Nordstrom department store in Downtown’s Horton Plaza will close in August, affecting 180 non-seasonal employees, store officials announced Friday.
The store, which opened in 1985, will close permanently on Aug. 26.
“We’ve been in business at Horton Plaza for 31 years and we’ve loved serving our customers here. These are always tough decisions to make, but in taking a look at the store’s performance and our business needs into the future, we believe this is the best direction to take,” said Jamie Nordstrom, president of stores.
“We look forward to serving our loyal Horton Plaza customers at our other San Diego stores,” Nordstrom said. “Fashion Valley is right down the road and we’re excited that our University Town Centre store in La Jolla, where we’ve served customers since 1984, will relocate to a new space in the mall next year and re-open with our latest store design.”
Nearby Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack stores will have some jobs available for displaced employees who want to stay with the company, according to the company. Employees who do not move to another store but stay at their current position until their last scheduled shift will receive a severance package.
There are three Nordstrom and four Nordstrom Rack locations in the area – – Nordstrom University Town Centre, Nordstrom Fashion Valley, Nordstrom North County, Nordstrom Rack Mission Valley, Nordstrom Rack Carmel Mountain Plaza, Nordstrom Rack Plaza Bonita and Nordstrom Rack Grand Plaza.
The Nordstrom Rack at the Shops at La Jolla Village is scheduled to open in October.
Almighty NRA is All But Paper Tiger in California
• Democrats fight to carry gun legislation.
• Democratic politicians see little downside to challenging the NRA.
• The NRA is a major force elsewhere but seems to have written off California. The Sacramento Bee
Downsized One Paseo Project
Goes Back to the City Council
Times of San Diego
The One Paseo project in Carmel Valley, a mixed-use development approved by council members last year but overturned after opponents collected 60,000 petition signatures, goes back before the San Diego City Council this afternoon.
The development was planned for an empty 23.6-acre lot south of Del Mar Heights Road, between El Camino Real and High Bluff Drive. But opponents, who were concerned that the project’s density would worsen traffic in an already congested part of town, collected enough signatures to force the approval to be rescinded.
Developer Kilry Realty says the new design would attract half the daily vehicle trips of the original plan, increase setbacks from main roads and improve landscaping. The plan incorporates 608 housing units, 280,000 square feet of office space and 95,000 square feet of retail.
The number of housing units is the same as the original project, but proposed office and retail space is down by more than half.
“I am encouraging residents in Carmel Valley and the surrounding area to participate in the council hearing on June 27,” council President Sherri Lightner said. “This project is important to the community, and we would like to make sure all the voices are heard.”
The hearing is scheduled to begin at the unusual time of 1 p.m., and will take place at Golden Hall to accommodate an expected large crowd.
Listen to Our Veterans Project
The Listen to Our Veterans Project, a first-of-its-kind digital listening campaign, is designed to quickly give veterans and interested citizens the opportunity to share their feedback on the various veteran programs/services available. The entire process can take less than a minute.
Click here.
The Listen to Our Veterans project was established by a group of veterans, media, business and technology organizations with the goal of providing veterans and other interested parties an easy way to share their experiences and opinions, and ultimately aggregate that feedback into large-scale usable insights that can be used for good.
The project is brought to you by Donovan’s Steak and Chop House, NBC7 in San Diego and HundredX’s Expressit.
Your responses will provide stories and valuable data on the effectiveness of current programs supporting our veterans today. Thanks for taking the time to participate in this important initiative.
