Daily Business Report-May 31, 2019
Morgan Holdings leadership: from left, Ronnie Morgan, Ryan Morgan and Blake Morgan
Morgan Holdings celebrates 60 years in business
San Diego development company is 3 generations strong
Morgan Holdings is celebrating its 60th year in business spanning three generations of Morgans. The multifamily development company is the keystone of a real estate realm based in San Diego County with projects across the country built upon one strong principle: family is the foundation.
The patriarch, Bill Morgan, is a Holocaust survivor who escaped a Polish ghetto when he was 16 with Christian identification papers from a close friend. He was the only survivor of some 600 Jews in his village. After the end of World War II, he changed his name again, came to America and started building and renting homes.
By the early 1980s his company had amassed a multi-million-dollar portfolio. His sons grew up working on construction sites or collecting rent and eventually took over the operation. “I was very pleased to see my sons follow in my footsteps and continue the family business,” said Bill Morgan, who is now 94. “It fills me with so much pride today as I watch my grandsons do the same.”
His oldest son, Ronnie Morgan, helped grow the business into one of the top 50 private apartment developers in the nation before expanding into other real estate ventures. Over the past 35 years, Ronnie Morgan has been involved in the development of some 15,500 apartment units with a total value exceeding $2 billion.
“My father taught me the importance of hard work, integrity and building quality at a young age,” Ronnie Morgan said. “It was a natural progression to stay in the development business. My sons have the same passion for creating beautiful living environments, and I am gratified they are keeping the Morgan family tradition thriving.”
Ronnie Morgan’s two sons Ryan and Blake are part of the Morgan Holdings leadership team, bringing the third generation of developers into the family business.
After graduating from the University of Southern California in 2010, Ryan Morgan co-founded Alegria Real Estate, which bought foreclosed homes in the aftermath of the recession and rented them to families who needed a home, much like the original Morgan did after the war. With over 400 transactions, Alegria became one of the largest buyers of single-family homes in San Diego County.
Ryan Morgan not only plays a leading role in the family’s current multifamily businesses, he also co-founded Broken Arrow Spirits, a grain-to-bottle bourbon distillery. His entrepreneurial forte is that of inspiration.
“I believe in crafting A+ lifestyles for the people living in the apartments and townhomes Morgan Holdings develops,” said Ryan Morgan. “I’m always looking for AAA locations where we can build imaginative and relevant lifestyle experiences.”
The younger son, Blake Morgan, is now in charge of an infill project in San Diego with nine custom homes he is taking from concept to completion. “I enjoy every aspect of real estate development,” said Morgan, who also is an experienced surfer and professional musician with a private pilot license. “Building unique design features into affordable family living is always my priority.”
As Morgan Holdings marks 60 years of the family business, there is a strong foundation to build for the next generation. At the helm is the passionate and creative third wave of Morgans who aspire to set a new industry bar for tomorrow’s unique and innovative multi-use, multifamily developments.
___________________
City Heights to host inaugural
Business Expo on June 29
The City Heights Community Development Corp. (CDC) will hosts its first-ever City Heights Business Expo on Saturday, June 29, to highlight small businesses and micro-enterprises that have received technical and financial assistance from local nonprofits in order to start up, grow and thrive in this unique mid-city neighborhood.
The project is supported by the City Heights Economic Development Collaborative (CHEDC), comprised of long-time advocates of economic growth in the area, including the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association, the Fair @44 and the City of San Diego.
The event aims to showcase a diverse mix of local entrepreneurs, promote innovative business concepts and educate community members on the services and resources available to aspiring business owners. In addition to informational booths, there will also be a variety of local food and product vendors, multi-cultural dance and music performers, and VIP guest speakers.
Representatives from each participating organization will be available to offer hands-on technical support to aspiring new business owners as well as those looking to expand their established businesses. Micro-business lender Accion San Diego will also be on site to provide information about financing options. All resources are being offered free of charge.
Local business owners that have benefitted from these community resources are available to share their stories, including Dojo Café (who received technical support from the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation) and Sabor Piri Piri (a pop-up business serving Mozambique cuisine that received technical support from the City Heights CDC).
Event Details:
- Where:Fair@44, 4350 El Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92105
- When:Saturday, June 29, 2019 from 4-8pm
- Who:City Heights Community Development Corporation and other community partners
- What:Coaching, resources and support for hundreds of current or potential business owners
- Why:To support a community-oriented local economy in City Heights
___________________
Breakthrough in predicting
Dengue Fever outbreaks
Two researchers have devised a method that can be used to forecast outbreaks of dengue–a sometimes fatal mosquito-borne disease–as much as four months in advance.
George Sugihara, a mathematical biologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, and mathematicianMartin Rypdal at UiT the Arctic University of Norway, found that the size of human populations susceptible to contracting dengue fever during peak seasons of the year can be related to the stability of cases during off-seasons.
“Minor dengue infections occurring in the period between outbreaks contain hidden information about how many people will be susceptible to the infection in the next outbreak,” said Sugihara, who is also a founding faculty affiliate of the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute at UC San Diego. “Being able to predict dengue outbreaks this far in advance has immediate public health significance.”
There are an estimated 390 million human cases of dengue fever worldwide every year. The viral disease prevalent in tropical latitudes produces a range of symptoms including fever, headaches, and a distinctive rash. For most, symptoms disappear after a week but in some cases, dengue can progress to dengue hemorrhagic fever, which can cause severe bleeding and platelet damage. The disease causes the deaths of 10,000 to 20,000 people each year worldwide.
The factors influencing dengue fever outbreaks are numerous and, as Rypdal and Sugihara admit, are practically impossible to measure. Estimating the magnitude of outbreaks through traditional direct measurements requires knowledge of the different immune-types in the local human population, the viral strain that will be active in the next outbreak, the number of mosquitoes, the weather conditions and physical environment that enable mosquitoes to breed, and more. Thus, prediction of outbreaks using traditional measurements is not practical.
__________________
JetBlue to relocate its flights to Terminal 1
at San Diego International Airport
JetBlue Airways will relocate its flights to Terminal 1 at San Diego International Airport next week. The move is part of the Airport Development Plan to support future growth and current airport operations by shuffling the locations of several carriers that service the airport.
In January, Alaska, Spirit, Allegiant and Sun Country airlines all moved their operations between the airport’s two terminals. Eventually, the airport plans to replace Terminal 1, which has been in operation for 51 years.
JetBlue is the seventh-largest airline at San Diego International, offering year-round flights to Boston, New York and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, out of Terminal 2. The airline has been active at San Diego International since 2003.
JetBlue will move to Terminal 1’s west wing, using gates 11-18. Spirit, Allegiant and Sun Country will also share the gates with JetBlue. The move is effective June 5, according to the airport.
__________________
Battle of Midway veterans to enlist new recruits
at 77th Battle of Midway Commemoration ceremony
Three living legends, all veterans of the historic Battle of Midway which turned the tide of WWII in the Pacific, will “pass the torch” to three local San Diegans, who will enlist in the Navy on the decks of the USS Midway Museum Saturday, Jun. 1 at 7 p.m. during a ceremony commemorating the 77thanniversary of the battle.
Following the enlistment ceremony, Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Adm. John C. Aquilino will deliver remarks. Survivingveterans, families and loved ones attending in remembrance of those who have passed will be the honored guests at the reception.
The formal ceremony will begin at 7 p.m.
__________________
Sycuan in partnership with Live Nation
for its new Heritage Events Center
Sycuan Casino Resort announced that the organization has partnered with Live Nation to secure top entertainment for its new Heritage Event Center as of Feb. 14, 2019. The Heritage Event Center has over 1,200 seats, features state-of-the-art audio visual technology and recently opened as part of Sycuan’s $260M expansion project.
Sycuan and Live Nation said Grammy-nominated comedian and actor Ron White will be the first of several upcoming acts that will be performing at The Heritage Event Center. Best known as the scotch-drinking funnyman from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, Ron White will be performing at Sycuan for two shows on Thursday, June 20.
Sycuan has partnered with Live Nation since 2016. The sponsorship at Live Nation’s North Island Credit Union Amphitheater includes several on-site activations, signage and exclusive party deck seating known as Sycuan’s Party Pit.
“We are thrilled to partner with an organization like Live Nation to bring premier talent and one-of-a-kind experiences to Sycuan,” said John Dinius, general manager at Sycuan Casino Resort. “We look forward to growing our partnership and taking our live entertainment and events to the next level in 2019.”
__________________
Former federal prosecutors join Barnes & Thornburg
Eric J. Beste and Charles “Chuck” G. La Bella, both former federal prosecutors and veteran trial lawyers, have joined Barnes & Thornburg’s San Diego office as members of the firm’s Litigation Department and White Collar and Investigations practice.
Beste, who joins as a partner, most recently served as senior litigation counsel in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, and previously supervised the office’s Major Frauds Section and the entire Criminal Division. At Barnes & Thornburg, he handles sensitive white-collar matters involving securities fraud, corporate malfeasance, domestic and foreign corruption, government contracting offenses, health care fraud, and financial institution crimes.
La Bella, joining as of counsel, focuses on white collar defense, complex business litigation, and internal corporate investigations, as well as enforcement and privacy work. Previously, La Bella practiced at Bartko Zankel Bunzel & Miller, a California-based boutique law firm, and was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California.
“Eric and Chuck are well-known and well-regarded when it comes to large-scale investigations and prosecutions of civil and criminal wrongdoing,” said Troy Zander, San Diego managing partner. “As we grow our litigation bench strength in Southern California, I can’t think of a better team to help us accelerate those efforts while strengthening our brand nationally.”
Beste and La Bella are the latest prominent former government attorneys to join Barnes & Thornburg, which has added several since 2015, including Roscoe Howard, Michael Battle and William “Billy” Martin in Washington, D.C., and Patrick Miles, Jeff Davis and Aaron Lindstrom in Grand Rapids.
__________________
Commentary
U.S. can’t ignore the economic threat of a rising China
By Joel Kotkin | Orange County Register
In the aftermath of the Communist victory in the late 1940s, the question often asked in Washington was: “Who lost China?” That fueled the McCarthyite inquisition that followed. The question our children might ask is: “Who lost America?”
The long-running side-show around Russian “collusion” focused on the nasty but largely inconsequential ties between some of Donald Trump’s more sleazy aides and their equally disreputable Russian or Ukrainian counterparts. Yet, compared to China, Russia represents at most a pesky but fundamentally second-rate power; Russia’s GDP is smaller than that of South Korea and barely a tenth of China’s.
In the 21st century, how we cope with China will determine the future of American economic and political pre-eminence. One does not have to approve of President Trump’s haphazard diplomacy to support a tough policy. Historically many Democrats, including senators Sherrod Brown, Charles Schumer and Bernie Sanders, have backed measures to curb China’s economic assault.
America’s China faction
Until Trump, many influential voices tended to be soft on China. Some have seen China’s capitalist growth as a confirming the efficacy of market systems, and means to encourage some semblance of liberal democracy to the Middle Kingdom. This logic has collapsed given the increasingly obvious mercantilist and authoritarian nature of the regime.
China’s wealth has won it many prominent allies from both parties, including former GOP Speaker John Boehner, who have signed up to defend China’s interests. Wall Street investors and many of our leading manufacturing companies — notably Apple — have benefited massively from China’s inclusion in the World Trade Organization in 2001. Since 1990 the United States deficit in trade goods with China has ballooned from under $10 billion annually to $419 billion last year. China’s ratio of imports to exports was four to one in 2018.
This trade, one can argue, has benefited American consumers. But it hasn’t come without costs, including the loss of an estimated 3.4 million jobs in the U.S. since China’s admission to the WTO.
It has also hurt many companies, particularly in technology. American firms in China, either as part of their entry fee to the country’s market, or through surreptitious means, have been forced to surrender the historic advantages of our innovative economy; the Chinese government, as one observer noted, encourages its large companies to work as “patriotic thieves.”
Like Stalin’s liberal apologists in the 1930s, some like The Atlantic’s Peter Beinart even deny that China’s economy engages in “cheating,” particularly on the theft of technology. Even people who should know better, like former Vice President Joe Biden, whose own family has benefited from close business ties with Beijing, have minimized the Chinese threat to our economy. Biden recently claimed, incredibly, that “You know, they’re not bad folks, folks. But guess what? They’re not competition for us.”
Noah Feldman, writing in the left-leaning Democracy, labels our conflict with China a “cool war” as opposed to the Cold War that ensued after 1945. Unlike the Soviet Union, China’s economy has become globalized, increasing the risks from a too drastic break in trade tries.
But China’s pragmatic nationalism, exemplified by expansion into the South China Sea, its Belt and Road initiative and stated desire to dominate virtually all high value-added industry, could threaten the very core of American prosperity if not challenged.
With China’s economic and population growth rate slowing, its bloated real estate markets showing signs of implosion, and industrial production at the lowest level since 2004, this may be the time to strike.
The country faces enormous internal problems as hundreds of millions of ordinary Chinese remain excluded from a system that favors both the very rich and the government-funded clerisy. China, notes one observer, itself is now developing “something resembling a permanent caste system.”
To gain back the initiative, we need to alter, as Trump suggests, not only current trade agreements, but also such things as the Paris Accords, which have exempted China, a larger GHG-emitter than the U.S. and the European Union together, from reducing reduce emissions until 2030. As Western countries de-industrialize, China can use coal, oil and gas to fuel its economic drive for predominance while the West engages in ever more drastic virtue-signaling. We need to make China focus on solving its own environmental and social challenges rather than seek to solve them at our expense.
Additionally, we certainly would be far better off returning jobs to developing countries like Mexico that have been lost industrial employment to Beijing, both for our neighbors’ sake and for the security of our own border.
Liberal economists like Paul Krugman fear that Trump’s actions threaten “Pax Americana,” but that assumes China isn’t playing Sun Tzu’s Art of War. We now face a powerful and highly nationalistic adversary that does not share a commitment to the rule of law and human rights. If unchecked, China’s rise to global supremacy could usher in a new authoritarian Dark Ages, shaped by Mandarins and supported by their intellectual and economic satraps, both here and around the world.
This piece originally appeared in The Orange County Register.
Joel Kotkin is the Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University, director of the Chapman Center for Demographics and Policy and executive director of the Center for Opportunity Urbanism in Houston, Texas.
