Daily Business Report-Oct. 31, 2019
Kara Fan explains her first aid liquid bandage project. (Photos courtesy of 3M and Discovery Education)
Westfield High’s Kara Fan, 14,
named America’s top young scientist
3M and Discovery Education have named 14-year-old Kara Fan, a ninth-grader at Westview High School in the Poway Unified School District, the winner of the 2019 3M Young Scientist Challenge.
Kara invented a first aid liquid bandage using nano-silver technology to reduce the risk of superbug infections caused by antibiotic overuse.
Using the biosynthesis method—a multi-step, enzyme-catalyzed process where substrates are converted into more complex products in living organisms—Kara created a nano-silver (AgNP) solution using lemon leaf and silver nitrate to effectively kill and prevent the growth of bacteria. Her solution was tested using the Kirby-Bauer Method against Staphylococcus epidermidis, E. coli K12 and Bacillus subtilis on a Petri plate to measure the zone of inhibition (the circular area around the spot of the antibiotic use in which bacteria colonies do not grow). Finally, Kara mixed the nano-silver solution with a water-soluble polymer (PVP) to create the liquid bandage.
Kara formulated a nano-silver liquid bandage to replace the use of more commonly used over-the-counter antibiotics ointments and first aid treatments. With her invention, Kara hopes to reduce the number of incidents related to drug-resistant infections.
Kara competed against nine other finalists during a live competition at the 3M Innovation Center in St. Paul, Minn. Oct. 28-29. As the winner of this year’s 3M Young Scientist Challenge, Kara was awarded the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist” as well a $25,000 cash prize and a surprise destination trip.
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EPA selects East County Water Purification
project to apply for $342 million in funding
The East County Advanced Water Purification project has been selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to apply for $342 million in funding from the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) loans.
The project is one of only 38 projects selected across 18 states to apply for loans totaling approximately $6 billion to help finance over $12 billion in water infrastructure investments and create almost 200,000 jobs.
The East County Advanced Water Purification Project will create a new, local, sustainable and drought-proof drinking water supply using state-of-the-art technology to purify East County’s recycled water. Scheduled to be complete in 2025, the project will generate up to 11.5 million gallons per day of new drinking water, which is approximately 30 percent of current drinking water demands for residents in East County.
Once complete, the program will use four advanced water purification steps to produce water that is near-distilled in quality. After treatment, the purified water will be blended with water in Lake Jennings and treated again at the R.M. Levy Water Treatment Plant before being distributed as drinking water. In addition to providing a new local water supply, the program will eliminate the need to send most of East County’s wastewater to the city of San Diego’s Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant, where it is currently treated and then discharged into the ocean.
In July, the program progressed closer to completion with the program’s partner agencies – Padre Dam Municipal Water District, the city of El Cajon, Helix Water District and the county of San Diego – approving a $9.4 million Interim Funding Agreement to ensure that the project was funded through 2020.
The next steps for the program include forming a Joint Powers Authority between Padre Dam Municipal Water District, the city of El Cajon and the county of San Diego to serve as the governing body for the $528 million program. The East County Joint Powers Authority will host its initial formation meeting on Nov. 5, 2019.
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BioMed Realty announces 204,000-square-foot
long-term lease at APEX in University Towne Center
BioMed Realty, a Blackstone portfolio company, has executed a long-term lease with a Fortune 50 company for the entire 204,000-square-foot ground-up development project known as APEX, to be built in University Towne Center.
The four-story building will target LEED certification and offer state-of-the-art amenities, including a fitness center, conference rooms, an indoor/outdoor café and terrace space with expansive views. Construction has started and the building is scheduled for delivery in 2021.
“We are very excited to introduce another modern, world class property to UTC, a top- tier location for companies seeking innovative workspaces to attract talent,” said Kevin Tremblay, senior director of BioMed Realty. “As a result of this project, BioMed’s San Diego portfolio will encompass 3.0 million square feet.”
“Leading innovation companies gravitate towards urbanizing markets like San Diego to gain access to the pool of highly educated and skilled workers,” said Tim Schoen, president and CEO of BioMed Realty. “Our investments in California are creating centers of excellence in both San Diego and the Bay Area and helping companies grow their workforce and expand the life science and tech industry in the state.”
BioMed Realty recently completed another project in the UTC area and opened the Center for Novel Therapeutics on the campus of the University of California San Diego..
With the APEX transaction, BioMed Realty now leases over 6.5 million square feet of space to 135 companies throughout 47 properties in the State of California.
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Gig worker firms unveil initiative
to keep drivers as freelancers
Dan Morain | CALmatters
What could become a $100 million-plus campaign over gig workers began Tuesday, as Uber, Lyft and DoorDash unveiled their initiative to keep drivers classified as freelancers, not employees.
The companies’ “Protect App-Based Drivers and Services Act” is intended for the November 2020 ballot. The initiative would exempt drivers, who deliver people or packages, from the bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that would turn hundreds of thousands of gig workers into W-2 employees.
The initiative would not apply to independent contractors such as handymen, musicians or physical therapists.
California Labor Federation leader Art Pulaski denounced the measure: “No corporation should be above the law, no matter how much they spend on political campaigns to rig the rules in their favor.”
Some provisions:
- Drivers would be guaranteed 120 percent of the minimum wage when they are driving. • They would not be paid when they are waiting for fares.
- They could get stipends to cover health insurance, 30 cents a mile, and access to insurance.
- Drivers would undergo criminal-background checks.
- The Legislature would need to muster a seven-eighths vote to alter the measure.
Money matters: Uber, Lyft and DoorDash have donated $90 million to the campaign.
The threat of an initiative could be leverage. Campaign spokesman Brandon Castillo said the companies remain open to negotiations with lawmakers. The deadline for withdrawing the measure, he said, is June 25, 2020.
Worth noting: The state would be required to cover legal expenses if the voters approve the measure and elected officials refuse to defend it in court.
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San Diego Hardware’s HardwareSource.com
named best online shop of 2020 by Newsweek
HardwareSource.com, an online shop for every kind and size of hinge, has been recognized as one of the best online shopping sites by Newsweek.com. Owned and operated by San Diego Hardware, HardwareSource.com offers more than 4,000 hinges for everything from 3,000-pound doors to jewelry boxes, all in-stock for immediate shipping.
Newsweek selected HardwareSource.com from among 10,000 online shopping sites. The hinge specialty shop, boasting the widest selection of hinge styles and finishes anywhere, was included in the survey’s top 1,000 shops and listed in the “Garden and Craft,” Spare Parts category.
Offering everything from plain steel butt hinges to flip-flop table hinges, antique icebox hinges, modern refrigerator hinges architectural hinges in a full range of finishes, as well as specialty hinges for storm doors, card tables, sewing machines, jewelry boxes, pianos, glass doors, mirrors, and drop-leaf tables, the company also sells the hard-to-find Hoosier hinge, also known as “invisible” hinges.
“We have always been proud of our excellent in-store customer service and wide product selection, and we are honored to have Newsweek recognize these same strengths for our online customers as well,” said Bill Haynsworth, co-owner, San Diego Hardware. “It’s gratifying to be recognized as a leader in online shopping on a national level and be listed alongside large national chains.”
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Woman-owned tech developer firm joins
Microsoft for Startups program
Lead Inclusively Inc., a San Diego diversity and inclusion app developer and consulting firm, has joined the ranks of Microsoft for Startups. Microsoft’s global startup program is designed to help startups quickly build and market their solutions.
Lead Inclusively, founded by CEO Denise Hummel, is one of a handful of women-owned startups to be accepted, out of thousands of applicants. The program provides world-class resources to top-ranked ventures.
Based on Hummel’s decades of diversity and inclusion enterprise consulting, Lead Inclusively developed and launched its new Inclusion Virtual Coach app, which leverages
machine learning, principles of neuroscience, AI and real-time nudge messaging to deliver next-gen, just in time, leadership training that enables real behavior change in the workplace.
Lead Inclusively’s Virtual Coach app seeks to fill a market need of $520 billion in losses resulting from employee disengagement and regrettable attrition.
Founder Hummel began her career as an employment discrimination attorney before becoming a diversity and inclusion consultant to some of the largest organizations in the world. She developed a successful methodology for teaching inclusion in the workplace, but saw that while leaders found the material interesting, they struggled to make sustainable behavior changes. Hummel and her team researched the neuroscience of behavior change and leveraged technology through the Inclusion Virtual Coach app to seamlessly and permanently help leaders to embed inclusion in their teams.
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Cubic subsidiary wins potential
$325 million Marine Corps contract
GovCon Wire
A Cubicsubsidiary has won a potential 10-year, $325 million contract to supply the U.S. Marine Corps with communications systems designed to process beyond-line of-sight microwave signals.
GATR Technologies will manufacture 172 troposcatter systems and support testing, fielding and sustainment activities as part of the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, the Department of Defense said.
The IDIQ includes the delivery of technical, logistics and training data to support GATR antennas.
Marine Corps Systems Command received two offers for the contract through a solicitation on FedBizOpps and will obligate $28.8 million on the initial delivery order.
Contract work is slated to take place in Hunstville, Ala., through October 2029.
According to Cubic, its GATR Tropo antenna is designed to send and receive signals up to 200 miles through the Earth’s troposphere without relying on satcom technolog
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Southwest Airlines extends flight
schedule for Hawaii destinations
Southwest Airlines Co. has extended its flight schedule through early June 2020, putting two destinations in Hawaii within quicker reach for the carrier’s San Diego customers. Once daily service between San Diego and Kahului on Maui begins April 14, 2020. Once daily service between San Diego and Honolulu on Oahu begins April 20, 2020.
In celebration of new nonstop service between San Diego and the Hawaiian Islands, Southwest is offering fares as low as $129 each way on both those routes, on certain days of week, for travel between April 14 (for Maui service) and June 4, 2020, and for Honolulu service between April 20 and June 4, 2020.
“We’re grateful for the steadfast loyalty of our San Diego customers and we’re adding a Southwest heading to their compass of nonstop options,” said Andrew Watterson, executive vice president and chief revenue officer for Southwest Airlines.
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Californa law nudges NCAA
into action into athlete pay
CALmatters
As California’s new student-athlete compensation law continues to spark a nationwide movement, the NCAA Tuesday agreed to allow college players to sign paid endorsement deals, but left itself room to define the terms of those agreements.
The decision, which even in its limited form represents a dramatic shift for college sports economics, could ease the fears of California universities that their students might be barred from NCAA tournaments if the association did not change its own rules. And it’s a sign that the NCAA is feeling the heat as at least 10 other states consider passing bills similar to California’s.
“We must embrace change to provide the best possible experience for student athletes,” NCAA board of governors chair Michael Drake said in a statement released at the board’s meeting in Atlanta, where members voted unanimously to break with existing policy and let student athletes profit from the use of their name, image and likeness “in a manner consistent with the collegiate model.”
It’s that last phrase that has observers in California wondering. The state’s Fair Pay to Play Act, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September, does not allow student athletes to earn salaries, but places few restrictions on their ability to market themselves to potential sponsors; they must only avoid conflicting with universities’ existing endorsement deals.
But on Tuesday, the NCAA board said any rule changes will be guided by eight principles, including that they will “reaffirm that student-athletes are students first” and “protect the recruiting environment.”
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