Daily Business Report-April 25, 2017
Local San Diego kids working hand-in-hand with members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) to construct a working solar car charging station. (Photo by Baker Electric Solar)
San Diego Solar Day Ignites
Kids’ Interest in Renewable Energy
Baker Electric Solar and Cleantech San Diego, a nonprofit trade organization supporting the region’s cleantech economy, hosted the second annual San Diego Solar Day on Saturday, April 15, at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM).
“In sunny San Diego, solar energy has been a key part of our cleantech story since day one, and we are proud to rank No. 1 in the nation for solar installations,” said Cleantech San Diego President and CEO Jason Anderson. “San Diego Solar Day is an exciting way to not only celebrate our region’s solar strengths, but to inspire and mentor the next generation of renewable energy champions, innovators, and workers.”
This Earth Month celebration was the first solar-intensive middle and high school event of its kind in San Diego. Following the debut of four kid-produced “Rock the Sun” renewable energy short films and remarks from community leaders, kids ages 10 to 18 took part in a variety of solar science challenges. The activities included: working hand-in-hand with members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) to construct a working solar car charging station; building and racing mini solar race cars; watching Aurora Solar photovoltaic design demos; creating solar grasshoppers; and taking part in an interactive “sun-inspired” social media display. The kids also received education and clean energy job tips at college and career readiness booths staffed by community and industry professionals.
“San Diego Solar Day is intended to motivate kids to shape the future of renewable energy within their communities now and into the future. We’re not standing by as the world debates climate change and ways to encourage job growth,” said Baker Electric Solar President Mike Teresso.
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UCSD Amazonian Center Receives
$8.3M Grant for Malaria Research
The Amazonian Center of Excellence for Malaria Research, headed by Joseph Vinetz, professor of medicine and tropical disease specialist at UC San Diego School of Medicine, will receive up to $8.3 million over seven years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
The Amazonia center is one of 10 International Centers for Excellence in Malaria Research programs established in 2010, comprising a global network of research centers in malaria-endemic settings, including Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands and Latin America. The new grant builds upon efforts of the previous seven years in Amazonia.
Except for cases contracted elsewhere and brought here, malaria has largely been eliminated in the United States. In other parts of the world, however, the disease remains persistent. While progress has been made over the past decade in reducing the global disease burden from malaria, more than 3 billion people — almost half the world’s population — remain at risk, primarily in parts of Africa, Asia and South America.
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San Diego Home Prices Keep Rising,
Stifling Upcoming Sales
Times of San Diego
San Diego home prices rose 1 percent between January and February, but the rapidly rising cost of a home is slowing sales.
The widely-followed Case-Shiller Index released Tuesday morning showed a 6.5 percent increase for the past year, well above the national average of 5.8 percent.
But high costs are slowing sales, with pending transactions in San Deigo down 5.6 percent in March following a 5.1 percent decline in February, the California Association of Realtors reported on Monday.
The Realtors said “a shortage of available homes and robust price growth that’s eating away at affordability stifled pending home sales for the third straight month” across California.
S&P CoreLogic, which produces the Case-Shiller index, agreed with that assessment.
“There are still relatively few existing homes listed for sale,” said David M. Blitzer, managing director. “Housing affordability has declined since 2012 as the pressure of higher prices has been a larger factor than stable to lower mortgage rates.”
Nationwide, the price increases were highest in February in Seattle, San Francisco and Dallas, with the Denver and Portland markets cooling off.
The Realtors said Southern California remained something of a bright spot within California, with the smallest decrease in pending sales in March.
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BNBuilders Selected for $7.3M
Buildings Renovations at UCSD
BNBuilders has been selected as the general contractor by the University of California San Diego for the Tuolumne Apartments renovations on campus. Designed by Heritage Architecture & Planning, the $7.3 million renovation will take into account state historic preservation objectives.
Located in Muir College, the Tuolumne Apartments were built in 1975, and consist of nine concrete interconnected buildings ranging from three to five stories totaling approximately 89,000 square feet. They are home to student residences, student lounges, laundry facilities, utility rooms, and the Muir Residential Life Office.
The primary objective is to provide code-compliant fire and life safety systems, exterior structural repairs, new balcony rails, mechanical/electrical/plumbing upgrades, new roof system, and ensure ADA compliance for the safety of the students who reside in the facilities. The project will be built in 10 weeks while the students are on summer break.
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‘SoccerCity’ Plan for Mission Valley
May be on November Ballot
The group behind the SoccerCity development proposal in Mission Valley turned in more than 100,000 petition signatures Monday to the county Registrar of Voters office. The signatures are in support of an initiative that calls for replacing Qualcomm Stadium with a hybrid professional soccer-college football stadium, residences, office space, parkland and an entertainment district. City News Service
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When a Gigantosaurus Invites You, You Go
Cutting-edge 21st century technology puts a new twist on prehistoric creatures in “Ultimate Dinosaurs,” a highly interactive exhibition that has opened at the San Diego Natural History Museum.
Using augmented reality technology, the exhibit features 16 free-standing dinosaur skeletons from unusual locations in the Southern Hemisphere. The exhibition will be on view at the NAT all spring and summer through Sept. 4. San Diego is the exhibition’s fourth North American stop, and the first on the West Coast.
Based on new, groundbreaking research from scientists around the world, “Ultimate Dinosaurs” reveals a new group of dinosaurs that evolved in isolation in South America, Africa, and Madagascar — dinosaurs unfamiliar to popular imagination. The exhibition seeks to answer the question: why are Southern Hemisphere dinosaurs so unique and bizarre, and why are they so different from their North American counterparts?
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Personnel Announcements
Doneca Delmundo Joins Cavignac & Associates
Doneca Delmundo has been hired by Cavignac & Associates to serve as an account administrator within the agency’s Commercial Department.
In her new post, Delmundo provides support and assistance to the agency’s commercial insurance account managers and ensures the firm’s clients are well served. She is responsible for processing endorsements, policies and certificates of insurance; handling billing and cancellation issues; administrative follow-up; reconciling audits; and contract review.
Prior to joining Cavignac & Associates, Delmundo was a paralegal for Dostart Hannink & Coveney LLP in La Jolla, where she was employed for 15 years There, she worked her way up from a receptionist to a legal assistant and, ultimately, paralegal. In her role as a paralegal, she drafted pleadings, filed documents with the U.S. District Courts and other California Superior Courts, assisted in the facilitation of class action settlement administration, communicated with clients and class members, and performed legal research, among other duties.
Delmundo earned her Paralegal Certification from the University of San Diego.
