Daily Business Report-July 19, 2018
The Comic-Con International library card
City of San Diego offers exclusive
Comic-Con International library card
For the sixth consecutive year, the San Diego Public Library is offering a Comic-Con International library card at all 36 San Diego Public Library locations and at booth #5523 inside the Convention Center beginning today. The official 2018 Comic-Con library card is illustrated by San Diego cartoonist Lucas Turnbloom, co-creator of the
popular Dream Jumper graphic novel series.
The card features a dragon perched atop the San Diego Central Library and Max, a fan fiction character created by Turnbloom in 2007. Max is an American exchange student attending the fictional Hogwarts School of Wizarding and Witchcraft from the Harry Potter series of novels written by J.K. Rowling.
“What would be cooler than a dragon coming out of the top of the (Central) Library? The architecture of the Library is so interesting and just seems like something out of a storybook,” said Turnbloom. “I like the idea of a kid seeing this card and saying, ‘That’s what reading is all about, the adventure, the fun, sign me up, give me my library card!’”
Only 3,000 Comic-Con library cards are available this year and card registration policies apply. The card is free for qualified, first-time applicants. Current San Diego Public Library cardholders who want to change their existing active card will be charged a $1 replacement fee.
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Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise
coming to San Diego July 24
Greenpeace’s historic ship, the Arctic Sunrise, is scheduled to arrive in San Diego on the afternoon of July 24 to highlight the threat of plastic pollution to oceans, waterways, and communities. While in San Diego, Greenpeace will hold a beach cleanup and brand audit to help identify the corporations most responsible for plastic pollution in the region.
The Arctic Sunrise will be docked at the B Street Pier and will be open to the public for free tours of the ship from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, July 28 and 29.
Arctic Sunrise has a rich history. The Russian government seized the ship
and the 30 activists on board in 2013 when Greenpeace protested Arctic oil drilling by the Russian company Gazprom. The Arctic Sunrise was also the first ship to circumnavigate James Ross Island in the Antarctic. It has worked to stop Japanese whaling fleets’ attempts to pursue their so-called scientific whaling program, chased private vessels fishing illegally, navigated both the Congo and the Amazon, and performed independent assessment of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
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MiraCosta College launches
Sustainable Agriculture degree
Responding to a combination of industry demand for skilled workers and increased interest among area residents taking up a new interest, MiraCosta College’s Horticulture Department has launched a new Sustainable Agriculture degree and certificate program that can be completed in as little as a year.
The program comes as North County’s agritourism industry grows more popular and attracts city folk interested in visiting working farms, ranches and wineries to buy fresh produce, harvest organically grown crops or enjoy a true farm-to-table meal is gathering strength.
Sustainable agriculture isn’t the only new program offered by the MiraCosta College Horticulture Department. Also new this year is a Viticulture and Enology certificate and degree program, along with a Pest Control Advisor program. The trio complement previous Horticulture Department programs in Sustainable Landscape and Turf Management, Nursery/Horticulture Crop Management, Landscape Architecture, and Irrigation Technology.
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Littoral Combat Ship builder opens
200-person office in San Diego
Austal USA announced Tuesday the opening of an office in San Diego to support two new classes of multi-hull vessels that it is building for the Navy.
The Australian company is the supplier for the unique trimaran-hull Independence-class littoral combat ships, with all eight based in San Diego and more on the way, and the catamaran-hull expeditionary fast transport ships.
“Today’s opening is a direct reflection of the company’s commitment to provide the U.S. Navy, not only exceptional ships, but outstanding service and support the life of the ship,” said Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle.
“With nine expeditionary fast transport ships and eight Independence-variant littoral combat ships delivered to the Navy, and many more to follow, this expansion increases our ability to support our ships beyond delivery and as they deploy,” he added.
The San Diego office will employ over 200 and the company is hiring. Applications can be made online at www.austaljobs.com.
Austal builds the ships in Mobile, Ala., and also has facilities in Singapore and Washington.
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San Diego International Airport
wins innovation award
San Diego International Airport has been recognized as the 2018 Most Innovative Large Hub Airport by the American Association of Airport Executives. The award was presented Tuesday at the AAAE’s Airport Innovation Forum in Atlanta. The Airport Innovation Accelerator, which selects the award winners, was established to serve as a hub for business, aviation and regulatory stakeholders to drive creativity and help build the airports of the future.
Two of the airport’s unique environmental innovations are its air conditioning condensate water collection and its Good Traveler carbon-offset programs. The former captures water that dripped onto the airfield, posing safety and run-off risks, and recycles it for non-potable water uses. The Good Traveler program – which has already been adopted by other airports – allows the purchase of credits to offset air travel.
The Airport Innovation Lab is a working terminal space where pre-existing ideas can be tested and accelerated, potentially leading to contracts with the airport, as well as entrée to other airports.
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San Diego Christian College
suspended by state tax agency
inewsource
The state Franchise Tax Board suspended San Diego Christian College this month for failing to file a tax return. That means the private, nonprofit school in Santee can’t legally do business and has lost the right to use its name.
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San Diego advocacy group for Parkinson’s
Disease seeks path toward stem cell therapy
California Stem Cell Report
A San Diego patient advocate group for Parkinson’s Disease is making a major financial move as it heads toward creation of a for-profit company to develop a stem cell therapy for an affliction that affects about 1 million people in the United States. The group is the Summit for Stem Cell Foundation, which has been deeply involved in seeking funds from the $3 billion California stem cell agency. The Summit organization supports research being conducted by Jeanne Loring, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute.
Summit says it has raised $5 million as of this spring from a variety of sources. It estimates it will need $8 to $10 million to reach the stage where the federal government approves the beginning of a clinical trial. It also expects to raise more cash by avoiding the high administrative charges involving many research organizations.
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Synthetic Genomics aims to deliver
vaccine/meds more efficiently
The Digital to Biological Converter, dubbed the DBC by its creators, operates like a biological fax machine: In roughly 24 hours, the device turns digitized DNA code into synthetic biological material, such as proteins and viruses, with about 75 percent accuracy.
Read more…
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Deadline approaches for nominations
in Most Innovative New Product Awards
July 23 is the deadline for submitting nominations for the 2018 Most Innovative New Product Awards, a CONNECT program honoring innovative companies and their groundbreaking new products. Click here to see eligibility requirements
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Office vacancy dips below pre-recession levels
The San Diego office market continued to demonstrate mostly positive fundamentals throughout the second quarter of 2018 and saw vacancy dip below pre-recession levels, according to CBRE’s Research.
The San Diego office market improved from previous quarters in Q2 as absorption surpassed 500,000 square feet and vacancy dropped to a post-recession low of 10.6 percent. There was a large volume of sizeable deals with total leasing activity reaching almost 2.3 million square feet, the most since Q4 2016. A few of the large deals that triggered positive absorption were downsizes, from R&D spaces and into office, therefore they will hit the industrial market as vacant instead of office.
Click here for the full report.
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Port selects commercial real
estate broker for Seaport Village
As part of efforts to ensure Seaport Village remains a popular waterfront destination until the planned redevelopment of the Central Embarcadero, the Port of San Diego has selected RI Properties, Inc. (Retail Insite) to list and market vacant retail space at the shopping and dining complex. Retail Insite was selected among five complete proposals submitted in response to a Request for Proposals issued by the Port. Retail Insite will provide leasing services for a three-year term, with two potential options to extend by one year each.
The current lease for Seaport Village expires Sept. 30, 2018. Beginning on Oct. 1, Seaport Village will be managed on behalf of the Port by Protea Property Management Inc. Retail Insite’s services are on an as-needed basis to fill vacancies to keep Seaport Village operating as it is for the next several years.
It was in 2016, the Board of Port Commissioners selected 1HWY1 and its “Seaport San Diego” concept for the redevelopment of the Central Embarcadero, which includes Seaport Village and surrounding areas.
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Gubernatorial Appointments
Laurie Berman, 58, of San Diego
Appointed to the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council by Gov. Jerry Brown. Berman has been director of the California Department of Transportation since 2018, where she has served in several positions since 1983, including District 11 director, chief deputy district director of project delivery, State Route 125 south toll road corridor project manager, design manager and senior transportation engineer. She is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Women’s Transportation Seminar. The position does not require Senate confirmation and there is no compensation. Berman is a Democrat.
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Ricky S. Smiles, 56, of Vista
Appointed to the California Employment Training Panel by Gov. Brown. Smiles has been a field representative at the Southern California District Council of Laborers since 2018 and an independent real estate agent since 1995. He held several positions at Laborers Local 89 from 2010 to 2017, including president, vice-president and field representative. Smiles was a nuclear construction worker at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station from 2005 to 2010. He was a laborer and cement finisher at SSC Construction Company from 2004 to 2005 and at Bechtel Corporation from 1995 to 2001. He was a laborer at Blaine Wadman Construction Corporation, a laborer foreman at DyeCo Construction Corporation and a bird trainer for Ray Burwick from 1980 to 1990. Smiles is a member of Laborers Local 89. The position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Smiles is a Democrat.
