Daily Business Report-Oct. 14, 2016
2016 Orchid & Onions Award Winners
Grand Orchid Awarded to St. Thomas More Catholic Church
The St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Oceanside was awarded the Grand Orchid last night at the San Diego Architectural Foundation’s 2016 Orchids & Onions Awards ceremony at Horton Plaza Park and Spreckels Theatre.
Over 160 nominations in various categories were considered.
The awards:
ARCHITECTURE
Grand Orchid:
St. Thomas More Catholic Church
Orchids:
Point Loma Nazarene University Science Center – Sator Hall and Latter Hall
UCSD Spanos Athletic Performance Center
Mr. Robinson
Onions:
Sunset Plaza – Ocean Beach
Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve Ranger Station
Cesar Chavez Campus, Barrio Logan
Hilton Garden Inn San Diego/Downtown Bayside Hotel
HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Orchids:
Liberty Public Market
Shepherd YMCA Firehouse
INTERIOR DESIGN
Orchids:
Madison
Ironside Fish & Oyster
Kindred
Underground Elephant
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
Orchid:
Qualcomm Pacific Center
PEOPLE’S CHOICE
Orchid:
Sempra Energy Headquarters Building
Onion:
Hilton Garden Inn San Diego/Downtown Bayside Hotel
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UC San Diego Students Initiate
Ambitious Get Out the Vote Effort
Voter registration efforts are underway at the University of California San Diego, as students from the nonpartisan Student Organized Voter Access Committee (SOVAC) race to register 4,000 students by the California deadline on Oct. 24.
SOVAC has registered more than 1,400 students since the campus’s move-in weekend in mid-September and the organization has been making additional efforts through tabling, outreach events and debate parties. For the first time in UC San Diego history, it will also conduct door-to-door voter registration from Oct. 17 to 21.
SOVAC’s effort will culminate with a “Voterpalooza” event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 24 on campus at Library Walk in one last push to register as many students as possible.
“All students, new and returning, need to make sure they are properly registered to vote because it’s important to register every time you change your address,” said SOVAC executive director Liam Barrett. “We are trying to stress that students cannot only have a voice in the presidential election, but they are likely to have a big influence on state and local races.”
Barrett, a political science major, said SOVAC is on target to register as many as 4,000 students by the California Oct. 24 deadline, in large part because of its new ability to do door-to-door registration, which has proven to be an effective method on other college campuses.
Thad Kousser, professor and chair of UC San Diego’s Deartment of Political Science, said the youth vote could have significant influence on this year’s election.“Young voters have a huge impact on this election if they don’t show up at the polls,” Kousser said. “We are not seeing the same kind of enthusiasm that we had with both of President Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns, but the future that young voters will inherit is just as at stake as it was during those previous elections.”
More info…
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Mayor Names San Diego’s
First ‘Homelessness Czar’
Mayor Kevin Faulconer is continuing his efforts to reduce homelessness in San Diego with his most recent hire, Stacie Spector. Spector will be a senior advisor on housing solutions, working to unify existing efforts in San Diego’s longstanding struggle with homelessness.
Faulconer brought in the longtime strategy consultant after his efforts to mitigate homelessness saw little improvement. In November 2014, the county launched Housing First – San Diego, the San Diego Housing Commission’s three-year Homelessness Action Plan. Despite its initiatives, the region saw less than a 1 percent decrease of homelessness last year, with an increase in street homelessness. At nearly 8,700, San Diego’s homeless population is the fourth largest in the country.
Bob McElroy, president and CEO of the Alpha Project, has been working with San Diego’s homeless for over 30 years and has expressed the need for a focused plan. “It is the best course to finally giving our homeless population a real chance for a better life,” McElroy said.
As senior adviser, it’s expected that Spector will collaborate with groups like Alpha Project to create a cohesive and more effective strategy for reducing homelessness. The newly created position follows recent appointments of similar “homelessness czars” in Los Angeles, Orange County, Seattle and San Francisco, and Faulconer hopes the position and its mission will endure beyond his term as mayor.
Spector’s background in strategic planning and project management spans over two decades. She served in the White House during the Clinton-Gore Administration as deputy communications director before becoming associate vice chancellor for UC San Diego.
Spector was the chief communications officer at the Salk Institute and most recently served as the vice president of strategy and external relations for the Nutrition Science Initiative. She has not previously worked with homelessness or public housing.
— By Kristen Henderson | Independent Voter Project
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Cal State San Marcos Election Activities
Initiative Aims to Inform, Encourage Voters
Democracy depends on it.
That’s the message from Dr. Scott Gross, Associate Vice President of Community Engagement, and Dr. Kim Quinney, Assistant Professor in History and campus coordinator of the American Democracy Project, who are spearheading the Cal State San Marcos Election Activities initiative to engage the university and the surrounding community in the Nov. 8 local, state and presidential elections.
“The job of a public institution of higher education is to help inform the community about the issues and where to find resources,” said Quinney, who noted that CSUSM will be the site of a precinct polling booth. “This is our duty and part of our responsibility.”
The Election Activities initiative is a wide-ranging effort anchored by a CSUSM webpage chock-full of information and links ranging from registering to vote to posting election-related events online. Other highlights include an e-version of the Easy Voter Guide published by the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund, along with Countable, a link that makes it quick and easy to understand the laws Congress is considering. And among the resources for faculty and staff are strategies in dealing with difficult dialogues in the classroom and helping students surmount political cynicism.
“Democracy doesn’t just happen,” said Quinney, who has become the point person running the project. “You have to make it happen.”
More info…
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Decision on Seaport Village Future Delayed
By City News Service
The Port of San Diego Board of Commissioners on Thursday put off a decision on the future of the Seaport Village property, but selection of a developer could be made at an upcoming meeting.
Port staff asked for direction on how to proceed with a proposal for a major overhaul of the Downtown tourist attraction, but commissioners continued the item to a future meeting — the date of which hasn’t been set.
The commissioners asked that the public be notified that a developer for the site could be selected at that time, port spokeswoman Tanya Castaneda told City News Service.
In July, the commissioners selected one of six submitted proposals for further evaluation.
The $1.2 billion Seaport San Diego plan calls for three hotels encompassing more than 1,000 rooms, a 151,000-square foot aquarium, 480-foot-tall observation tower and a charter school focused on marine studies and music.
There would also be about 165,000 square feet of shopping space, 141,000 square feet of restaurants, 69,000 square feet of space devoted to entertainment venues, specialty cinema and meeting spaces, and 19,000 square feet for offices.
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Renovation Completed at Valhalla
High Main Building and Theater
Grossmont Union High School District announced the completion of renovation and modernization work on the main building and theater at Valhalla High School in El Cajon. A re-dedication event was held on Oct. 12 to unveil the new facility to the community.
With a construction cost of $33 million, the 14-month project modernized the 40-year-old main building and the theater, while preserving some of its historical elements.
The project included the round, four-story main building, with academic classrooms and teaching spaces; Level 200, featuring the renovated theater, choral room, food services, CTE classrooms and special education suites; and Level 300, housing student support services, including administration, guidance and health services.
Modernization work also included new technology upgrades, and electrical, plumbing, HVAC and fire safety updates. Other improvements included LED lighting, solar carports over student parking, and other energy-saving measures, which are expected to offset 90 percent of the main building’s anticipated electricity usage.
The general contractor for the project was C.W. Driver, with architectural design by Platt/Whitelaw Architects Inc.
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Fortune Ranks Hughes Marino as
No. 7 Best Place to Work in the Nation
San Diego-based Hughes Marino, a corporate real estate tenant-only advisory firms, was just ranked No. 7 in the nation by Fortune for the best small workplaces.
Out of thousands of companies evaluated, Hughes Marino is the only San Diego-based company to be in the top 25 best rated companies. Hughes Marino has ranked in the top 10 consistently for best places to work in San Diego and Orange County, and recently was ranked No.1 in Los Angeles by the area’s respective Business Journal publications.
Hughes Marino’s emphasis on building an award-winning culture by investing in its team members, beautifully designed offices, a family-like environment, company events, community involvement, and a major focus on its highly cherished core values all contributed to the strong performance in the rankings.
Specific benefits offered by the firm include 100 percent coverage of employees’ health-care premiums, matching 401k, a minimum of 25 paid days off each year, company retreats, and eye-popping office space.
“We are extremely proud to have been named one of the top workplaces in the nation by Fortune,” said Jason Hughes, president and CEO of Hughes Marino. “Our team’s personal and professional success and well-being is our highest priority, so there is nothing more rewarding than being named No. 7 on a list of the country’s great places to work that is based completely on our own employees’ evaluation.”
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‘Anti-Housing’ Environment Seen
as Hurdle to San Diego Job Growth
Times of San Diego
An “anti-housing” environment in California is one of the biggest hurdles to keeping the San Diego economy growing.
That was the conclusion of a panel on Thursday organized by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce as part of its new regional jobs strategy.
Matthew Adams, vice president of the Building Industry Association of San Diego County, said the problem is that “we’re not building enough houses to meet the demand.”
He said regulation, community opposition, and the high cost of land and labor are combining to create the problem.”We have an anti-housing environment from Sacramento on down,” he said.
Sue Reynolds, CEO of the nonprofit housing developer Community Housing Works, agreed that there is effectively an anti-housing environment in the state. While her organization is helping low-income workers, she said there’s little being built for middle-income families.
“We can’t produce a new unit that a $50,000- to $60,000-a-year family can afford just by taking the profit out,” she said.
Both Reynolds and Adams said that what housing is being built now in San Diego is primarily for high-income buyers.
Panelists also discussed challenges in workforce development, citing a low participation rate among women and difficulties faced by veterans and youth.
“Veterans are natural leaders,” said Sean Mahoney, a retired Coast Guard officer who is executive director of the Zero8Hundred veterans organization. “At the same time, they’re really focused on the team…They are not good at blowing their own horn.”
Angela Titus, executive vice president of the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, said San Diego women often don’t fit into traditional, male-dominated workplaces because of the need for flexibility with children and care giving.
“They’re leaving the traditional workforce but going to the gig economy,” she said.
The San Diego Workforce Partnership is funding programs to help “disconnected” youth at risk because they lack work experience.
“Jobs are the solution,” said Peter Callstrom, president and CEO of the partnership.
He said his organization is encouraging companies to hire interns to provide work experience for youth, with every position helping to make a difference. “If you’re a small business, just bring on one person,” he said.
Last year the chamber began an initiative, with over 50 organizations participating, to coordinate efforts to increase employment in the region.
“This really brings us to a shared vision of job creation in the region,” said Jerry Sanders, president and CEO of the chamber. “And we’re talking about all the way from Baja to North County.
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Downtown San Diego Partnerships
Present 54th Annual Alonzo Awards
The Downtown San Diego Partnership gave out 10 Alonzo Awards last night at its 54th annual awards ceremony honoring people, projects and programs during 2016.
The event, hosted at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina and sponsored by SDG&E, honored the following winners:
- The new San Diego Central Courthouse (Rudolph and Sletten Inc.) received the Downtown on the Rise Award.
- The San Diego Padres Baseball Club received the Sustainable Business Practices Award, sponsored by Republic Services.
- Mayor Kevin Faulconer, City of San Diego, and Chairman Ron Roberts, San Diego County Board of Supervisors, received the Vic Kops Humanitarian Award, sponsored by U.S. Bank.
- The San Diego Union-Tribune received the Build Your Business Alonzo Award, sponsored by Holland Partner Group.
- FRED San Diego, a partnership between the City of San Diego, Civic San Diego, and The Free Ride Inc., received the Made to Move Alonzo Award, sponsored by Bosa Development.
- Horton Plaza Park, a collaborative effort between the City of San Diego, Civic San Diego, and Westfield, LLC, received the Create the Vibe Alonzo Award, sponsored by EMMES Realty Services.
- The Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina received the Make Your Place Alonzo Award, sponsored by Carrier Johnson + CULTURE.
- Solar Turbines received the Innovation Alonzo Award, sponsored by General Dynamics NASSCO.
- Mike Madigan received the Volunteer of the Year Award.
- Sherm D. Harmer received the Founders Award, sponsored by Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP.
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Personnel Announcements
Kelly Commerford Joins Kona Kai Resort & Spa
Noble House Hotels & Resorts Ltd. announced the appointment of Kelly Commerford to director of sales and marketing for Kona Kai Resort & Spa. Commerford holds the title of a Certified Hospitality Marketing Executive with over 30 years of hospitality experience.
At the resort, he will be responsible for overseeing the topline revenue as well as driving customer acquisition through strategic sales and marketing efforts, including social media engagement.
Prior to joining Kona Kai Resort & Spa, Commerford held the position of director of sales and marketing at The Commons Hotel in Minneapolis, Minn., a sister property also part of Noble House Hotels & Resorts. Commerford increased the hotel’s revenue from $12.4 million to $17.1 million since joining The Commons in 2013, and also significantly increased revenues in food and beverage operations and group bookings.
His accomplishments include the 2015 Director of Sales/Marketing of the Year & Catering Team of the Year at Noble House Hotels & Resorts.
