Daily Business Report-Feb. 21, 2018
The clerk’s office will no longer take walk-in customers starting March 5.
County Now Offering Appointments
for Passport Applications
The county’s passport application service is now offering appointments and will soon be switching to appointments only. Applicants can make appointments online up to six weeks in advance. Customers can cancel and reschedule appointments online as well. In addition, they can receive text reminders for their appointment.
The service is provided by the County’s Clerk of the Board of Supervisors. The office will no longer take walk-in customers starting March 5.
To make an appointment, visit the Clerk of the board’s web page. Click here
In addition, the office extended its service hours. New hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding county holidays. The office is on the fourth floor of the County Administration Center at 1600 Pacific Highway in Downtown San Diego.
“The Clerk of the Board office is one of the busiest passport acceptance facilities in the county. It accepted 26,980 passport applications last year,” said Clerk of the Board David Hall. “The change will increase customer service and decrease wait times for passport applicants.”
A passport book is required for international air travel or for those who cross the international borders into Mexico or Canada. A passport card is often used in communities where crossing the border is a daily occurrence but can also be used at U.S. land and sea ports-of-entry for travelers arriving from Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda.
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Laurie Berman of San Diego Appointed
Director of California Department of Transportation
Laurie Berman, 57, of San Diego, has been appointed director of the California Department of Transportation by Gov. Jerry Brown. She had been District 11 director since 2009 and has served in several positions since 1983, including chief deputy district director of project delivery, State Route 125 south toll road corridor project manager, design manager and senior transportation engineer.
Berman began her career as a junior civil engineer in bridge construction in Santa Barbara after earning her Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering at Michigan State University in 1983 and has more than 30 years of experience with Caltrans.
Berman is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Women’s Transportation Seminar.This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $190,333. Berman is a Democrat.
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Qualcomm Raises Offer for NXP to $44 Billion;
Broadcom’s Bid for Chipmaker Hinges on Deal
RCR Wireless News
After extending its tender offer to NXP shareholders earlier this month, Qualcomm has now increased its offer on the company to $44 billion from $38 billion or $127.50 per share from $110 per share. Qualcomm’s initial offer faced resistance from shareholders in the Dutch semiconductor firm that specializes in automotive and other IoT solutions. Broadcom’s Bid for Qualcomm hinges on the NXP deal.
Qualcomm said it has reached “binding agreements” with nine NXP shareholders that collectively control 28 percent of outstanding shares.
Qualcomm Inc. CEO Steve Mollenkopf said in a statement, “Qualcomm’s leading SoC capabilities and technology roadmap, coupled with NXP’s differentiated position in automotive, security and IoT, offers a compelling value proposition…We are working hard to complete this transaction expeditiously. Our integration planning is on track and we expect to realize the full benefits of this transaction for our customers, employees and stockholders.”
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Samsung Patents a Drone
That’s Controlled by Your Eyes
Samsung has filed a patent for a UAS with an integrated display that’s able to detect a person’s face and pupils, as well as their hand gestures and position. The patent describes a UAS that can include a camera and observation system to “transmit information to the main control unit.” In real time, the system can track the users’ eyes, head, hands, or fingers.
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State Controller Betty T. Yee Coming to San Diego
to Discuss 2018 Economic Climate for State
California State Controller Betty T. Yee and a panel of military and local experts are coming to the North San Diego Business Chamber’s annual, State of the Region on Feb. 23, to weigh in on the issues that can potentially impact businesses in the state and San Diego region this year. Topics include:
- Fiscal outlook for state and local economies
- Regional issues that impact all
- Navy’s rebalance to the Pacific and growth in San Diego
Besides Yee, others featured in the program are Rear Adm. Yancy B. Lindsey, commander of Navy Region Southwest, and Erik Bruvold, economist and CEO of the San Diego North Economic Development Council.
The event will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Sony Electronics, 16535 Via Esprillo, San Diego 92127. Admission is $59 for chamber members and $79 for nonmembers. Tickets are available to the public. Lunch is included.
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University Police at SDSU to Open
New Substation on Monday
To expand police presence on the east side of campus, the San Diego State University Police Department will open a substation at College Square on Monday, Feb. 26. Renovation of the two-story College Square building at College Avenue and Lindo Paseo prompted the Office of Housing Administration and University Police Department to collaborate on a police substation.
Students, faculty, staff, and campus community members can visit the new substation for police services and general information about trainings and safety resources. The goal of the substation is to promote the safety and well-being of campus visitors.
“Thanks to the Office of Housing Administration, the new police substation will allow us to further our efforts in providing superior law enforcement services,” said SDSU Police Chief Josh Mays. “As the on-campus population increases, we will continue to engage and cultivate relationships with the community.”
The substation consists of a reception area staffed by a community service officer, several volunteer workstations and an office for the community resource officer.
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Personnel Announcements
Chassis Plans Names Elliot Schroeder
Director of Business Development
As part of its ongoing expansion into new markets and territories, San Diego based Chassis Plans (http://www.chassis-plans.com) has selected Elliot Schroeder as the new director of business development. He is responsible for establishing Chassis Plans as the computer maker of choice for DoD equipment manufacturers, integrators and organizations.
Schroeder’s expertise includes business development efforts for new payloads and weapons for new business opportunities and expansion of existing business opportunities for the MQ-1C Gray Eagle. This has included future weapons efforts such as the Universal Ground Control System, JAGM, NERO, and Hellfire upgrades.
A West Point graduate (1997), with an MBA from University of California, San Diego, Schroeder has nearly 18 years of experience working with some of thencountry’s most important and critical defense systems equipment suppliers and manufacturers, including General Atomics, Apogee Engineering, Sumaria Systems and Thales-Raytheon. In addition to his military experience in Operation Iraqi Freedom, he has served in the U.S. Army Reserve since March 2005 and is currently a lieutenant colonel and an engineer battalion commander.
Chassis Plans, established in 1997, is a manufacturer of computers, LCD displays, storage arrays that are designed and assembled in the U.S. for military and industrial applications.
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‘Cookies on Tap’ Pairs Craft Beer
and Girl Scout Cookies this Weekend
Adult fans of Girl Scout Cookies will enjoy them with San Diego’s best craft beers during National Girl Scout Cookie Weekend (Friday-Sunday, Feb. 23-25).
Girl Scouts San Diego’s official partners for the fourth annual “Cookies on Tap” are AleSmith Brewing Company, Mike Hess Brewing and Stone Brewing. The three breweries will donate a portion of their event proceeds to Girl Scouts.
“Cookies on Tap proceeds will help fund innovative programs in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), the outdoors, life skills and entrepreneurship,” said Girl Scouts San Diego CEO Carol M. Dedrich.
Cookies on Tap customers will have a chance to write notes of support to accompany cookies donated for Operation Thin MintSM. A Girl Scout service project founded in San Diego in 2002, Operation Thin MintSM allows San Diegans to send “a taste of home and a note to show we care” to deployed military troops and local veterans organizations. During 2018, the three millionth box of Operation Thin MintSM cookies will be shipped overseas.
Pairings
AleSmith Brewing Company’s tasting room at 9990 AleSmith Ct. in Miramar will pair shortbread Trefoils with Spezial Pils, lemon Savannah Smiles/X-Extra Pale Ale, peanut butter sandwich cookie Do-Si-Dos/Nut Brown, Thin Mints/Decadence 2017 – Imperial Oatmeal Stout, and chocolate and coconut Samoas/Hawaiian Speedway Stout.
Mike Hess Brewing, which returns to Cookies on Tap for a fourth year, will vary its pairings by location:
- The North Park Tasting Room (3812 Grim Ave.) will feature Thin Mints/Steel Beach Lager, Trefoils/Festivus Altbier, lemon Savannah Smiles/Grapefruit Solis IPA, Do-si-dos/Habitus Double IPA, and Samoas/Tangerine A-Fair IPA.
- The Miramar Tasting Room (7955 Silverton Ave.) will pair Do-si-dos/Claritas Kolsch, S’mores/8 West Orange Honey Wheat, Trefoils/Grazias Vienna Cream Ale, Savannah Smiles/Habitus Double IPA, and Thin Mints/Umbrix Stout.
- Ocean Beach Tasting Room (4893 Voltaire St.), visitors can try Savannah Smiles/My Other Vice Berliner Vice, Trefoils/Hooligan Irish Stout, Thin Mints/Tangerine A-Fair IPA, Samoas/Umbrix Stout, and gluten-free Toffee-tastic/Grazias Vienna Cream Ale. (All Hess beers are crafted to reduce gluten.)
Stone Brewing has four locations participating in Cookies on Tap: 1202 Kettner Blvd. in Downtown San Diego, 310 N. Tremont St. in Oceanside, 1999 Citracado Pkwy. in Escondido, and 2816 Historic Decatur Rd. at Liberty Station.
Stone’s Cookies on Tap customers will enjoy Savannah Smiles/Stone White Ghost Berliner Weisse, Samoas/Stone Exalted IPA, Trefoils/Stone Scorpion Bowl IPA, and chocolate and peanut butter Tagalongs with Drew Curtis/Wil Wheaton/Greg Koch Stone Farking Wheaton w00tstout (2016).
For details about Cookies on Tap, click here
