Daily Business Report-Nov. 16, 2018
Entrepreneurs Alexander Adler, left, co-founder of Puesto, and Shake Smart founders Kevin Gelfand and Martin Reiman.
Three San Diego entrepreneurs
make Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list
for risk-taking achievements
Alexander Adler, a co-founder of Puesto, and Kevin Gelfand and Martin Reiman, founders of Shake Smart, have been named to Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list for 2019, a group of 600 young innovators, entrepreneurs and risk-takers who are putting a new twist on what it means to be a leader for the next generation.
The Forbes class of 2019 “30 Under 30” list, eighth annual edition, includes 30 honorees for each of the 20 categories.
Adler is a cofounder at Puesto, a Mexican restaurant chain that is taking California by storm. Diners appear to agree: they’ve voted it an OpenTable Diners’ Choice 2016-2017, and Eater has named it one of the Essential Restaurants in San Diego from 2016-2018.
Self-funded (through family money), Puesto pulled in $25.4 million of revenue for its most recent fiscal year. By 2019, Adler says, Puesto will be in six locations throughout California with more than 1,200 seats and on pace to break the $40 million revenue mark.
Kevin Gelfand and Martin Reiman founded Shake Smart in 2011 to bring freshly blended protein shakes and healthy on-the-go foods to college recreation centers across the country.
The company now has over 200 employees with locations at San Diego State University, the University of Texas, the University of Florida, the University of Arizona and the University of Oregon.
The 2019 list features a diverse and unique panel of honorees, with more than 19 percent identifying as immigrants and more than 38 percent identifying as first-generation citizens. Thirty-four percent of these list members live and work on the East Coast and 33 percent on the West Coast. More than 5 percent of the list are founders or cofounders and the group has collectively raised well over $1 billion in funding.
“After nearly a decade, the Forbes ‘30 Under 30’ list has become the most trusted index identifying the next generation of entrepreneurs, visionaries, and game-changers throughout the world,” said Randall Lane, chief content officer at Forbes and creater of the Forbes Under 30 franchise. “Our honorees have already begun implementing fundamental change in their respective industries, and they’ve only just begun.”
_________________________
Public input sought on
unmanned aircraft systems
Online survey allows community feedback for drone use in the region
The San Diego Regional Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Integration Pilot Program (IPP) is asking community members to complete an online survey to provide feedback for drone testing in the San Diego region. Last May, San Diego was selected to participate in a new program by the U.S. Department of Transportation to test advanced uses of UAS technology.
The city of San Diego was designated the lead organization for the IPP in San Diego, and was selected by the Federal Aviation Administration to test the safe deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones over the next two years.
San Diego’s local program includes projects that enhance public safety by deploying drones to incident scenes in advance of first responders, transport medical samples from UC San Diego Health for expedited results and costs savings and deliver food from restaurants to consumers with Uber. The IPP is an opportunity for state, local and tribal governments to partner with private sector innovators, operators and manufacturers to accelerate the development of drone technology. There are more than 20 regional organizations participating in the San Diego IPP, including the city of Chula Vista, the Port of San Diego and the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation.
Click here for the online survey
_________________________
Construction begins on Beacon Apartments
Construction is underway on The Beacon Apartments, a new urban infill development that will create 44 affordable apartments in Downtown San Diego for formerly homeless individuals. When it opens next year, residents will have access to both onsite and offsite services to help them live stable, productive lives.
The Beacon Apartments will be a modern, five-story building with 44 homes, onsite parking for staff and a spacious community room. The property will have lightwells that deliver natural illumination and ventilation to residents and neighbors to the east side of the building, as well as a generous setback that allows for a tree-landscaped courtyard.
The Beacon Apartments will be a modern, five-story building with 44 homes, onsite parking for staff and a spacious community room. The property will have lightwells that deliver natural illumination and ventilation to residents and neighbors to the east side of the building, as well as a generous setback that allows for a tree-landscaped courtyard.
_________________________
Report: Conventions generate $1.1 billion
to San Diego regional economy in FY18
A total of $1.1 billion in regional impact was generated into the San Diego economy as a direct result of conventions, meeting and events held at the San Diego Convention Center from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018, according to the center’s fiscal year 2018 annual report.
A total of 785,460 attendees contributed $651 million in direct spending as a result of the 133 events that were held at the Convention Center. A total of $24.7 million in hotel and sales tax revenues were generated directly benefitting the city of San Diego’s general fund, the report said.
Of the total 133 events, 13 were medical meetings, the core business of the Convention Center. Seven of those meetings landed in the year’s top 10 economic generators. Comic-Con International sits at the top of the list, contributing $147 million alone over the four days it was hosted during FY18.
_________________________
Tim Scott to head CONNECT
Board of Directors on Dec. 1
Executive committee member Tim Scott will become chair of the CONNECT board of directors on Dec. 1, succeeding current chairman Stath Karras. Karras will continue to serve on the executive committee while fellow executive committee member James Mackay will become vice chair of the board.
Scott has served on the CONNECT board for six years, currently serving on both the executive committee and as the head of the Springboard Accelerator committee. He is a prominent leader in the San Diego life sciences community, currently serving as the CEO of TEGA Therapeutics, after the acquisition of his company, Pharmatek Laboratories, by Catalent in 2016.
Mackay joined the CONNECT board in 2014, and previously headed the finance committee. He is a scientist and experienced entrepreneur having led the development of six drugs through to regulatory approval. Mackay is currently the president and CEO of Aristea Therapeutics, which he founded.
Karras has been on the board of CONNECT for 12 years and a member of the executive committee for the last eight years, serving as its chairman the past four years. He is the executive director of the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego.
_________________________
Rice Family Foundation receives
Bill and Judy Garrett Civic Leadership Award
A foundation that has provided more than $1 million in donations to Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges has been honored with the second annual Bill and Judy Garrett Civic Leadership Award. The award was presented to the Rice Family Foundation at a dinner honoring donors to the Foundation for Grossmont & Cuyamaca Colleges.
The award was accepted by Lisa Wilson, niece of the Rice Family Foundation’s creator, Morgan Rice, and her daughter Jessica, also a foundation board member. Wilson said her uncle, who died in 2004, believed in the transforming power of education.
“We love both of these colleges,” Wilson said. “They are the basis of our community. We’re proud of everything that Grossmont and Cuyamaca colleges have done.”
The Rice Family Foundation was created in 1993 by Morgan Rice, an El Centro native who made his fortune by investing in San Diego real estate, particularly on Mount Miguel near Spring Valley. The emphasis of funding and grants from the foundation is on education, particularly programs that benefit the economically disadvantaged in San Diego County. Some beneficiaries of the foundation’s largesse include Balboa Park museums, the San Diego Zoo, K-12 educational programs, literacy programs, and programs related to music and the arts.
_________________________
Personnel Announcements
Eric Tran promoted at McCullough Landscape Architecture
McCullough Landscape Architecture announced the promotion of Eric Tran to studio team leader. Tran first joined McCullough in 2014 as associate, not long after graduation. He briefly left and returned in 2017.
As studio team leader, Tran will be the key liaison between the principal/CEO and the technical staff of the firm, communicating and setting clear expectations to the team for office standards and productivity.
With a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from Cal Poly, Pomona, Eric began his career as a lead landscape designer for a design/build construction company and furthered his master-planned community-design experience working with a firm in Orange County.
Tran is currently working toward his professional license as a landscape architect. His project involvement at McCullough includes design development, client meetings, and construction document development.
_________________________
Matthew Pfrommer joins Cubic Corporation
Matthew Pfrommer has been appointed vice president of strategic capabilities for Cubic Corp.’s mission solutions business. Pfrommer is responsible for implementing strategic initiatives; creating and operating a CMS innovation center; supporting CMS general manager strategic initiatives; as well as developing and incubating advanced technology solutions to create growth options for the business.
Pfrommer has 24 years of experience in the military and defense industry. Prior to joining Cubic, he was a senior DoD Acquisition Corps member serving in multiple roles for U.S. Army acquisition relating to project management; engineering; science and technology; as well as test and evaluation. Pfrommer has also held several roles in the aerospace and defense industry relating to the design, development and operational deployment of national asset mission systems.
Pfrommer earned his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.
