Daily Business Report-Feb. 9, 2017
The Home Start Thrift Boutique at 3611 Adams Ave. in San Diego is one of the beneficiaries of the Social Enterprise Accelerator.
Three Agencies Launch Program to Fund
Job Training for Underserved Residents
The San Diego Workforce Partnership is partnering with two nonprofit organizations to invest $245,000 in funds and technical assistance to nine San Diego enterprises who have committed to training and hiring underserved residents.
The Workforce Partnership and its partners — Mission Edge and REDF — launched the Social Enterprise Accelerator that will directly support on-the-job training and wages of more than 100 San Diego residents who face barriers to employment. The beneficiaries could include at-risk youth, formerly incarcerated persons, the homeless, individuals with disabilities, refugees and others who are underrepresented in San Diego’s labor market.
The selected social enterprises are:
- Center for Employment Opportunities
- City Heights Coffee House
- Dreams for Change
- Goodwill Industries
- Home Start Thrift Boutique
- International Rescue Committee
- Kitchens for Good
- San Diego Coffee Training Institute
- Youth Campaigns
“In San Diego, we have great incubators and accelerators in the life sciences, biotech, and technology spaces. Why not social enterprises?” said Andy Hall, vice president and chief program officer for the San Diego Workforce Partnership. “The potential community impact makes it an attractive sector for public agencies and private foundations to invest in together.”
REDF is a venture philanthropy with a national reach that has long focused on investing and supporting social enterprises across the country, and looks to increase its commitment to the San Diego market in 2017 through the Accelerator.
Mission Edge will provide expertise in areas of finance, human resources, operations and leadership to the Accelerator members. The operational support will help turn the financial investment into impact and long-term business growth.
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City Councilman Chris Ward
To Propose Equal Pay Ordinance
San Diego’s newest councilman is expected to announce an equal pay ordinance this week.
In a press release, staff for District 3 Councilman Chris said he would proposed the ordinance “ensuring that city contractors affirm and verify that they provide equal pay regardless of gender and ethnicity to all employees prior to receiving public contracts, and the consequences of violations for pay discrimination.”
The announcement made Wednesday said Ward will be joined by state Sen. Toni Atkins, Assembylman Todd Gloria and his council colleagues Georgette Gómez and Barbara Bry.
The proposed ordinance comes at a time when women earn less than men.
“A woman who works full time in California makes a median salary of $42,486, compared to a median salary of $50,539 for a man, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data conducted by the National Partnership for Women and Families. That makes for a difference of about 84 cents to every dollar earned by a man or the equivalent of $8,000 per year, the average cost of six months of rent in the state,” read the press release.
Ward’s office says the problem is worse for women of color.
Ward represents San Diego’s third council district including communities of Downtown, Little Italy, Bankers Hill, Mission Hills, Middletown, Hillcrest, University Heights, North Park, Normal Heights, Old Town, South Park, and Golden Hill.
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Councilmen Sherman and Alvarez
To Address Housing Shortages
Councilmen Scott Sherman (District 7) and David Alvarez (District 8) will discuss their approach to changing how housing is delivered in San Diego during Citizens Coordinate for Century 3’s Breakfast Dialogue, Thursday, Feb. 23, from 7 to 9 a.m.
The event will be moderated by Joe LaCava, C-3 board member, principal of LaCava Consulting and a member of the executive committee for Housing You Matters. Sherman and Alvarez will talk about their ideas on getting regulations right, easing fees and permitting, using public lands, and more.
C-3’s monthly Breakfast Dialogues are held the fourth Thursday morning of every month at The Prado, 1549 El Prado in Balboa Park. The event is open to the public. Tickets are $30 for members, $40 for nonmembers and $25 for students. For reservations or more information, visit www.c3sandiego.org or call 858.633.3860.
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UC San Diego Innovation Efforts
Get $2.2 Million Boost from Legislature
Thanks to local and regional elected officials who helped assure passage of Assembly Bill 2664, the University of California San Diego has received $2.2 million from the UC system to help spur innovation and entrepreneurship on campus.
The $22 million investment from the state is propelling new innovation and entrepreneurship efforts across the 10 UC campuses through investments in infrastructure, incubators and entrepreneurship education programs.
Sandra A. Brown, UC San Diego’s Vice Chancellor for Research, said the funding would help strengthen the institution’s role as a University of the Future. “We are reaching out in new ways to a diverse community of problem-solvers, not only on campus but across our region,” she said. “This recent investment helps give those creative people the resources they need to move good ideas to market.”
Each of the campuses received $2.2 million in one-time funding from Assembly Bill 2664, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Expansion authored by Assembly member Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) and signed last fall by Gov. Brown.
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Lonnie Ali to Headline
Women Entrepreneurs Event
“Don’t let fear get in the way of your dreams.” That is the message business owner Karen Castles Gray wants all aspiring business women to hear. It’s why Castles Gray, a member of the Fowler College of Business Advisory Board and a San Diego State University parent, pledged $250,000 to create the Karen Castles Gray Women in Entrepreneurship Lecture which will host its inaugural WE Inspire event today.
“I wish that I’d had someone advise me as an entrepreneur in the fashion industry in New York City when I started,” said Castles Gray, whose athletic leisure company Authentic Lifestyle Products designs and manufactures apparel, footwear and accessories. “All you really need is someone to believe in you and to help you learn how not to let fear of the unknown get in the way of your dreams. This event will help accomplish just that.”
The Karen Castles Gray Women in Entrepreneurship Lecture aims to connect SDSU students with successful female entrepreneurs. It will take place at 2 p.m. today in Montezuma Hall at the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union. It is free for all students and the SDSU community.
Headlining the event is Lonnie Ali, an entrepreneur, philanthropist and the business woman who guided her late husband Muhammad Ali from successful boxer to his own brand.
The event begins with a panel discussion where Ali will be joined by Ann Marie Griffith and Margaret “Marjy” Stagmeier, women who each have more than a quarter-century of leadership experience.
Griffith is managing director for APG Asset Management, with more than 27 years of investment experience who worked her way from secretary to the boardroom.
Stagmeier is founder of TriStar Real Estate investment and president of TI Asset Management, with more than 25 years of experience. She recently received the Martin Luther King Community Service Award for her work helping address the affordable housing crisis in Atlanta. Read more
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San Diegan Moves Up at Governor’s
Office of Business and Economic Development
Sid Voorakkara, 46, of San Diego, has been appointed deputy director of external affairs at the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), where he has served as senior business development specialist since 2013.
Voorakkara has been a partner at Ten Page Memo LLC since 2012. He was statewide program officer and San Diego regional program officer at the California Endowment from 2005 to 2011, field director for public affairs at the United Nations Foundation from 2003 to 2004 and director of production and client services at Home Front Communications from 2000 to 2002.
Voorakkara was communications advisor in the Office of House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt from 1999 to 2000, western communications strategist for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 1997 to 1998 and was a staffer on several federal, state and local campaigns from 1993 to 1997.
The position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $110,004. Voorakkara is a Democrat.
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Chief Deputy of County Treasury Hired
San Diego County Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister has hired a new chief deputy of the treasury to oversee operations of the county’s $10 billion investment pool. Thomas Paolicelli comes to San Diego from the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority, where he has served as executive director since August 2008.
While in New York, Paolicelli directed operations of the authority’s $2.2 billion revenue and debt service budget and $50 million expense budget. He managed a portfolio of more than $30 billion in debt.
Originally a civil engineer by trade, Paolicelli also worked as a vice president and senior analyst for Moody’s Investors Service.
The County Treasury offers banking services to more than 200 public agencies in the San Diego region that invest their assets in the County pool. Those agencies include 42 public school districts, 5 community college districts, SANDAG, the San Diego Regional Airport Authority, the Metropolitan Transit System, cities and other special districts.
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Drought’s Not Over Yet — State Water
Board Urges More Conservation
California may be getting near-record rain and snow, but the state Water Resources Control Board isn’t ready to call an end to the drought.
The board on Wednesday extended its existing water conservation regulations, which prohibit wasteful practices such as watering lawns right after rain, until the next meeting in May.
“We are beyond happy that water conditions continue to improve this year, but the rainy season isn’t over yet and some areas of the state continue to suffer significant drought impacts,” said Chair Felicia Marcus. “So it is most prudent to wait a bit longer until close of the rainy season to take stock of the statewide situation and decide what to do next.”
The decision doesn’t affect San Diego, which has ample local supplies and has already declared the drought over. But many communities in the Central Valley continue to face drought conditions.
Last month, the San Diego County Water Authority declared the drought over in its region, ending all restrictions. There is enough water supply to cover the region’s needs for three years without additional rain.
California’s water use was down nearly 21 percent in December compared to December 2013, according to figures released by the state board. Cumulative statewide savings from June 2015 through December 2016 are enough to supply close to a third of the state’s population for a year.
