Daily Business Report-Jan. 17, 2018
A view of the plastic disposable straws that currently clog our oceans at a rate of 500 million per day in the U.S. (Photo: Karen Lockhart /Two Oceans Aquarium)
Iron Pig Alehouse Bans Plastic Straws
Restaurant will offer customers biodegradable paper straws instead
Iron Pig Alehouse, a modern BBQ and craft beer joint in Pacific Beach, California, has stopped serving beverages with plastic straws in an effort to be more environmentally conscious. A recent study found that Americans use and toss around 500 million plastic straws every day, which equals around 12 million pounds of plastic waste over the course of one year. The resulting plastic waste ultimately ends up in landfills, rivers, lakes and oceans.
“By only offering paper straws upon request, we are hoping to reduce Iron Pig’s plastic waste and make a step toward changing our trash habits and awareness for the betterment of our community,” said Ryan Woldt, manager of Iron Pig Alehouse.
On a larger scale, restaurants and other food establishments have made the decision to go straw free as part of a nationwide movement. Campaigns like Be Straw Free and The Last Plastic Straw are encouraging business and consumers to take action.
“We were inspired by local environmental non-profits like Project Route and H2O Trash Patrol that have taken action to clean our beaches and waterways of the plastic, and to educate San Diego residents on simple ways we can positively impact the effect we have on the environment. As a local business we are trying to be conscious of where our waste ends up. We’re continuing to look for opportunities to reduce waste, and replace plastic with biodegradable or reusable options within Iron Pig,” said Woldt.
The decision to stop using plastic straws doesn’t mean Iron Pig Alehouse will eliminate straws altogether — the restaurant will offer customers biodegradable paper straws as a more eco-friendly alternative.
Two Oceans Aquarium sponsors a campaign against the use of plastic straws called “Straws Suck.”
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Port Approves Pilot Project for
Removing Debris from San Diego Bay
The Port of San Diego has contracted with Zephyr Debris Removal LLC for a one-year pilot project to demonstrate a system to remove marine debris from San Diego Bay.
Zephyr’s pilot project is to demonstrate the effectiveness and potential scalability of its custom-made, debris removing vessel in San Diego Bay. The vessel uses skimming technology and is designed to remove marine debris and solve a variety of logistical hurdles including efficient removal of small debris and access to shallow and/or rough water. The Port will contribute $100,000 and provide the use of Port-owned property for vessel docking and debris unloading in exchange for a five percent share of Zephyr’s revenue in connection with their debris removal technology and related equipment and services and other consideration.
Approved by the board on Jan. 9, the agreement with Zephyr is a result of a competitive selection process of the Port’s Blue Economy Incubator, which was established in 2016 to assist in the creation, development and scaling of new water-dependent business ventures.
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Friends of SDSU Submit 106,134 Signatures
to Qualify Stadium Issue for the Ballot
Friends of SDSU submitted 106,134 total signatures from San Diego voters to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters to qualify the SDSU West Initiative for a 2018 ballot. The Initiative, which directs the sale of the Mission Valley stadium site to San Diego State University (SDSU) for the development of a new campus, garnered nearly 50 percent more signatures than the required 71,646.
The university envisions a vibrant university campus that is appropriately sized for the Mission Valley community and designates more than half of the site as permanent, public open space, including a 50-acre River Park and a stadium.
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Report: Passengers Using Lyft Rides
Add $73 Million to San Diego Economy
The San Diego economy saw an additional $73 million in revenue generated in 2017 from passengers using Lyft rides, according to the 2018 Lyft Economic Impact Report released Tuesday.
The study conducted by the Land Econ Group showed that passengers in San Diego saved over 2.6 million travel hours in 2017 because of Lyft time valued at $95 million.
“The ability to connect people to the local businesses in their community is what makes Lyft so special,” said Lyft San Diego Market Manager Hao Meng. “Every day, people are accessing new areas of their city in ways they haven’t before, making their daily travels quicker, and are continuing to invest in their cities. Based on these survey results, passengers are saving time, spending locally, and reconsidering personal vehicle ownership when using Lyft in their daily lives, which leads to a tremendous long-term impact on our local economies.”
In San Diego, the study also found:
- 20 percent of Lyft passengers use Lyft to connect with public transit.
- 23 percent of passengers use Lyft to get around when public transit does not operate.
- 15 percent of drivers are veterans of the armed forces.
- 68 percent of drivers are the primary earners for their household.
- 95 percent of Lyft drivers drive less than 20 hours a week.
- 24 percent of rides start in low-income areas.
- 53 percent of passengers use their car less because of Lyft.
Additional information on Lyft’s 2018 Economic Impact Report can be found here.
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HUD Awards $20 Million in Grants
to County Homeless Service Programs
San Diego County homeless service programs have been awarded a record $20,187,970 in grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The funds will support 48 projects, of which nine are new, one is for planning and 38 are renewals of existing projects.
The funding announcement complements actions approved Jan. 9 by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors at the request of Supervisor Ron Roberts to transfer $241,000 in Neighborhood Reinvestment Program funds to the Regional Task Force on the Homeless. Roberts is chairman of the task force. The funds will be used for several purposes, including the development of Phase Two of the Strategic Community Action Plan to reduce regional homeless.
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Cubic Gets Go-Ahead for Full Rate
Production of Satellite Antenna System
Cubic Mission Solution’s GATR satellite antenna system has received approval for full rate production for the U.S. Army’s Transportable Tactical Communications program. The decision will enable the Army’s program office to procure and field Cubic’s GATR satellite antenna systems to Army units.
The GATR satellite antenna system’s inflatable feature allows it to provide a larger dish size in similar transit volume and weight compared to a traditional rigid dish, with increased capability and bandwidth efficiency.
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Cuyamaca College to Open Field
Operations Skill Yard Jan. 18
Cuyamaca College will officially open a new Field Operations Skills Yard at 1:15 p.m. on Jan. 18, a fully operational water and wastewater system that students will use to replicate the tasks expected of entry-level employees. It will be held the same day as a campus conference promoting career opportunities for women in the water industry.
The Field Operations Skills Yard is the first phase being built as part of Cuyamaca College’s Center for Water Studies, which will be the focal point of an upgraded and expanded Water & Wastewater Technology program at the Rancho San Diego campus.
The second component of the Center for Water Studies involves completely renovating the existing L Building and moving the Water & Wastewater Technology Program into the new building once the transformation is completed in time for the fall 2018 semester.
California Community Colleges Executive Vice Chancellor Van Ton-Quinlivan, a nationally recognized workforce development leader, will be the keynote speaker at the conference promoting job opportunities for women. “Women in Water: Exploring Career Pathways” is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Cuyamaca College Student Center.
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Midway Drive Shopping Center Sold
Midway Square, a single-level, multi-tenant shopping center at 3112 Midway Drive in San Diego has been sold for $5.25 million to Midway Square LLC. The seller was Winston Square LLC.
The center is 100 percent leased to Express Tire, Auto Serve Center, Suspension Plus and Smog Check.
CBRE represented the seller in the transaction. CIRE Partners represented the buyer.
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SDSU Study Finds Women Still
Largely Underrepresented in Hollywood
Women remain widely underrepresented in the film industry. According to the 20th annual Celluloid Ceiling report released by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, only one percent of 2017’s top grossing films employed 10 or more women in key behind-the-scenes roles, while 70 percent of films employed 10 or more men.
“The film industry has utterly failed to address the continuing under-employment of women behind the scenes. This negligence has produced a toxic culture that supported the recent sexual harassment scandals and truncates the careers of so many women,” said Martha Lauzen, executive director of the center.
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EIR Public Review Period Opens for
MiraCosta Community College District Plan
Public comments are now being accepted for the MiraCosta Community College District’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for implementation of the Facilities Master Plan for the Oceanside campus. The proposed plan would consist of the addition of 11 new buildings and the demolition of several existing facilities that are in poor or non-functional condition.
“The draft Environmental Impact Report outlines the likely and potential environmental impacts of implementing the Facilities Master Plan for the Oceanside Campus,” said Tom Macias, director of facilities for the district. “It’s important to us to be as transparent as possible with the public review process, and to encourage our community to provide comments and be engaged in the process.”
In addition to the identified construction and demolition work, the project would also include the addition of new parking spaces, infrastructure improvements, landscape improvements, miscellaneous site improvements, and sustainability features.
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Personnel Announcements
Flores Financial Services
Promotes Michelle Flores-Gonzales
Flores Financial Services announces the promotion of Michelle Flores-Gonzales from director of operations to vice president, director of operations.
Flores-Gonzales joined Flores Financial in 2002 while a student at the University of San Diego. Since joining the company, she has developed the company’s marketing division as well as creating a successful training and development program. She completed her Master’s in Business Administration at the University of San Diego in 2009.
Flores-Gonzales is currently heading up the operations of Flores Financial, helping it to build a quality, professional team that excels as industry leaders to provide the best services for the clients.
Michelle shares, “”I truly enjoy working for this company. It is a blessing to have the privilege to work with some absolutely amazing clients as well as my awesome team. I have worked at Flores nearly my entire career starting from the bottom up and I am excited for this new opportunity to help lead Flores Financial into continued years of success.”
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Yolanda Murphy and Alleace Gibbs to lead
Communications Teams at Northrop Grumman
Yolanda Murphy has been appointed vice president of communications for Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Technology Services sector, succeeding Alleace Gibbs, who will now serve as vice president of communications for the company’s Mission Systems sector.
In their new roles, Murphy and Gibbs will lead the communications teams of their respective sectors and will be responsible for the development, integration and implementation of a broad range of communications activities. Murphy will become a new member of Northrop Grumman’s Communications Council. Gibbs will remain a member of that leadership group.
Murphy was the director of enterprise communications for Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector and was previously the director of communications for the airborne C4ISR and space ISR systems division in the Mission Systems sector. Gibbs was the vice president of communications for the company’s Technology Services sector. Previously she was director of employee communications in the company’s former ES sector.
