Daily Business Report-Oct. 9, 2018
Photo courtesy of San Diego Tourism Authority
World premiere of National Geographic
series on Balboa Park and San Diego
Wednesday event to showcase multi-million dollar initiative to highlight San Diego to national and international travelers
The San Diego Tourism Authority has partnered with National Geographic on a multi-million dollar initiative to promote the city and Balboa Park to national and international audiences. The partnership, which includes a four-episode miniseries that will air on National Geographic’s broadcast channel, is designed to highlight the city’s rich cultural heritage, diversity, creativity and its commitment to innovation and sustainability, with a special focus on Balboa Park.
The VIP event on Wednesday will premiere the first episode of the series as well as show previews from upcoming episodes and showcase the larger multichannel partnership with National Geographic, which also encompasses print, digital and social media. The first episode of the miniseries will air on Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. on the National Geographic Channel’s new travel block. Subsequent episodes will air at 7 p.m. on Oct. 25, Nov. 1 and Nov. 8.
Wednesday’s premiere will be from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the San Diego Natural History Museum, the Sefton Atrium and Charmaine and Marcus Kaplan Theater.
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Early voting begins in San Diego
County for the Nov. 6 general election
Voters interested in casting their ballots early for the Nov. 6 Gubernatorial General Election can now do so at the County Registrar of Voters office, located at 5600 Overland Ave. on the County Operations Center campus in Kearny Mesa. Early voting began Monday and will continue from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and until the polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day. The office will also be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3 and Sunday, Nov. 4 for weekend voting.
Over 1.1 million mail ballots were sent out through the U.S. Postal Service Monday, and voters could find them in their mailboxes as early as that same day. For the Nov. 6 election, voters will receive a two-card ballot. Contests will be listed on the front and back of each page. The two-card ballot also weighs a bit more, so it will take 71 cents in postage. Considering the length of the ballot, voters who requested their ballot by mail are urged to act early.
“If you know how you want to vote, grab that mail ballot when you get it, mark it and send it back in right away,” said Registrar Michael Vu. “The sooner we get the ballot back, the sooner we can start processing it so it will be counted right when the polls close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 6.”
Mail ballots are convenient for voters who’d rather not make a special trip to the Registrar of Voter’s office to cast their ballots or wait for the polls to open on Election Day. Registered voters can request a mail ballot until Oct. 30.
Meantime, the Registrar is still looking for poll workers, especially bilingual poll workers. For more information, call (858) 565-5800 or visit devote.com.
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San Diego State named a top 10
Production design school
San Diego State University is among the top 10 schools in the United States for learning the craft of production design, according to a new guide from The Hollywood Reporter. The list was released by the entertainment industry publication, which also publishes periodic rankings of the nation’s best film, music, drama and theatre schools, as well as guides to individual crafts, such as costume design.
Others on the Top 10 production design schools list include the American Film Institute’s AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles, La Femis in Paris and the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
SDSU offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees that allow for the study of production design, and the School of Theatre, Television, and Film is one of the few programs in the California State University system with a dedicated production design curriculum, led by prominent practicing professionals.
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Construction starts on new
Otay Mesa industrial project
Sunroad Enterprises and Majestic Realty Co. have started construction on Majestic Sunroad Center, a new Class-A, three-building, industrial development located in Otay Mesa.
Majestic Sunroad Center will encompass 227,000 square feet of industrial space across three buildings. By providing three separate buildings of unique sizes, Majestic Sunroad Center offers needed adaptability to accommodate a range of businesses, from small to large, that represent a variety of local industries.
The partnership has designed Majestic Sunroad Center to include leading–edge and function design features including 30-foot clear height, cross-dock loading, LED lighting, ESFR fire protection and secured truck courts among others to attract top-tier tenants.
Majestic Sunroad Center is located on a16-acre parcel at the southwest corner of Otay Mesa Road and Otay Mesa Center Road, San Diego 92154.
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Scripps Researcher receives
Outstanding Investigator Award
Scripps Research chemical biologist Benjamin Cravatt has received a National Cancer Institute Outstanding Investigator Award to support the development of advanced technologies for discovering and advancing new cancer targets and drugs.
The prestigious award, given to only a handful of scientists each year who have demonstrated particular promise and innovation in cancer research, will support the Cravatt laboratory with $7.8 million over seven years.
Cravatt and his laboratory in recent years have developed powerful enabling technologies for the discovery of new drugs against cancers and other diseases, including drugs that effectively couldn’t have been discovered by traditional methods.
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Northrop Grumman to launch
ICON spacecraft on Oct. 26
ExecutiveBiz
Northrop Grumman plans to launch the Ionospheric Connection Explorer spacecraft aboard the Pegasus rocket on Oct. 26, NASASpaceflight.com reported. The rocket will launch from the Stargazer L-1011 aircraft that will take off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
ICON was originally scheduled to launch in June, but Northrop postponed the take-off after Pegasus sent off-nominal data during the ferry flight of Stargazer. The new scheduled launch came four months after engineers from Northrop’s innovation systems business addressed contamination issues with the rocket’s actuator control units.
Northrop finalized the fourth flight simulation and started encapsulation work on the spacecraft on Oct. 4. The company will connect the rocket to Stargazer on Oct. 14 and then ferry flight the aircraft from California to Florida to perform additional tests prior to launch later this month.
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Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego
changes name, hires new general manager
Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego has changed its name to Jamul Casino following a rebranding in May, and has hired Mary Cheeks as its new president and general manager. The changes stem from actions occurring over the past year.
Jamul Indian Village Development Corp. is the new owner of the casino. The former financial backer of the casino, Penn National Gaming Inc., cut ties to the tribe last March, claiming the tribe was in default of a $48.5 million loan, according to documents filed Feb. 27 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cheeks has 30 years of experience in casino management and casino finance. One of her career highlights includes her pivotal role in transforming Harrah’s Casino in Atlantic City, N.J. into a resort that became one of the most profitable gaming establishments in Atlantic City. Prior to joining the Jamul Casino team, she was general manager for Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady, N.Y., one of four new casino licenses outside of Tribal Gaming and Racinos.
The tribe also announced members of its Executive Management Team:
Allison Owen, vice president of human resources; Josh Ford, vice president of business intelligence; Raman Natarajan, vice president of food and beverage; Scott Bauer, vice president of marketing; Tony Ventura, vice president of gaming operations; Cathy Behnen, chief financial officer.
Erica M. Pinto is chairwoman of Jamul Indian Village Development Corp.
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Housing Our Heroes initiative
receives national award
The Housing Our Heroes initiative, which helped 1,000 homeless veterans in the city of San Diego secure rental housing, has been selected as one of only 22 programs nationwide to receive an Award of Excellence this year from the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. A collaboration between the San Diego Housing Commission and the city of San Diego, Housing Our Heroes launched on March 1, 2016, when the San Diego City Council unanimously approved funding for the initiative.
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Personnel Announcements
Stanley Lewis, Connie Lu join Ansun Biopharma Inc.
Ansun Biopharma Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel broad spectrum anti-viral biologic therapeutics to combat severe viral infections, announced two key appointments to its executive management team. Stanley Lewis, MD, joins Ansun as its chief medical officer. Connie Lu joins the company as its vice president of quality.
Lewis will oversee the clinical development of DAS181, Ansun’s lead experimental product. DAS181 is a biologic anti-viral therapeutic compound that is positioned to enter a global Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of parainfluenza virus infection in hospitalized immunocompromised patients.
Lewis came from TaiMed Biologics, where as chief medical officer he spent the past 10 years successfully leading the development of Trogarzo from an early stage compound to FDA approval. In March of 2018, Trogarzo was approved by the FDA for the treatment of multi-drug resistant HIV.
Dr. Lu joins Ansun from Genentech, where she spent the last 10 years working in analytical development and quality control for Genentech’s clinical and marketed products. She brings over 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry to Ansun.
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Stephen Shekhar joins Kidder Mathews
Stephen Shekhar has joined Kidder Mathews’ Carlsbad office as an associate vice president, where he will specialize in brokerage and consulting services for hospitality properties.
Shekhar has been in the commercial real estate industry for over 10 years and has been involved in more than $200 million in property sales.
Prior to joining Kidder Mathews, he was with Marcus & Millichap.
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Daniel Warren joins Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek
The San Diego-based law firm of Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek announces that Daniel Warren has joined the firm’s Family Law Department as an associate.
Warren’s practice primarily focuses in family law. A certified specialist in family law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, his experience also encompasses civil litigation, anti-SLAPP, contract, bankruptcy and criminal law. Warren has argued matters before all four Superior Courts in San Diego, Riverside County, Federal Bankruptcy Court and the 4th District Court of Appeals.
Warren previously owned and operated his own civil litigation firm where he handled many different types of matters. He then joined Goldberg Jones LLP, where he was a family law litigator.
Warren serves as a contributing member, legal counsel and board member for Project Love Out Loud (LOL), a nonprofit dedicated to making a difference in the lives of young adults and teens through developmental programs designed to cultivate self-efficacy, creativity and empowerment.
