Daily Business Report-Oct. 7, 2019

San Ysidro Port of Entry. Photo from GSA.gov.

Commentary

California-Mexico relations are strong.

This bill can help make them stronger

By Jerry Sanders and Alfredo Pedroza | Special to CalMatters

California shares more than 140 miles of our border with Mexico, and the flow of goods and people across the border is critical to the state’s success.

Gov. Gavin Newsom can help improve that vital relationship by signing Senate Bill 558. It’s a bill that will grant official recognition to the importance of our close proximity and shared values, which have resulted in one of the strongest economic, cultural, and social regions in the world.

Nowhere is this relationship stronger than when discussing the economic realities of the California-Mexico border region. Each day, thousands of Mexico-residing visitors cross over to California to shop for groceries or back-to-school supplies, and California-residing travelers visit Mexico for dinner or to see their dentist.

In fact, every month 5.9 million people cross our border into California to spend millions of dollars in our stores and visit our parks and beaches. The economic impact isn’t felt solely in the border region. A growing binational economy has enormous implications across the state.

In 2018, California’s exports to Mexico totaled $30.7 billion. Mexico purchases 17 percent of all California exports, making it the state’s No. 1 export market. Trade with Mexico supports 566,000 jobs in the state.

However, the benefits of a partnership with Mexico are not yet fully realized. We are far behind other states, especially other border states. Texas’ exports to Mexico in 2017 outdid ours by more than $70 billion.

Sharing our border with Mexico comes with a unique set of challenges.

The San Ysidro Land Port of Entry is the busiest land border crossing in the Western Hemisphere. An average per day of 70,000 northbound vehicle passengers and 20,000 northbound pedestrians cross through it into California.

Unfortunately, this high volume of traffic has caused our border wait times to increase, and the idling cars are having a huge impact on the air quality in the region.

This is only one of many challenges impacting our relationship with Mexico. From pollution at the Tijuana River Valley and New River, to students who are forced to split their educational careers between California and Mexico, California cannot and should not have to wait to address these issues and activate the full potential of California and Mexico’s shared production platform.

Unfortunately, the more negative attention the border region receives, the harder it becomes to address these and other issues.

The worsening of these problems can partly be attributed to red tape and a federal government that lacks a common understanding of the border region dynamics.

This lack of understanding is compounded by slow-moving and politically-driven government agencies that seem to be buried in protocols that have become less about solving problems and achieving goals, and more about reflecting a defensive posture.

Indeed, the federal government and the state are missing something that the San Diego-Tijuana region knows very well. To address cross-border issues, you need constant and ongoing conversations with the people of Mexico, and plans developed by community members on the front lines of our relationship.

All this brings us back to Senate Bill 558, by Sen. Ben Hueso, San Diego Democrat. The Legislature approved it with overwhelming bipartisan support. This bill would establish a commission on California-Mexico affairs to help us realize the full set of benefits that come with a strong California-Mexico partnership.

By deputizing members of the public into commissioner roles, we can lead these ongoing conversations, create a strategy for California-Mexico relations and make community-driven policy recommendations.

Community organizations, nonprofits and private businesses have led efforts to work with the people of Mexico to address cross-border problems.

But California needs to invest in our relationship with Mexico by giving strong community leaders tools to ensure that our economic interests are prioritized, and to address the Trump Administration, which is more focused on scoring political points than helping the people of our state.

As individuals with broad experience working with Mexico, we know how imperative strategic long-term planning is to solving some of these problems. SB 558 will accomplish that while ensuring that the government acts in the best interests of those most impacted by this binational relationship.

Jerry Sanders is president and chief executive officer of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, jerry@sdchamber.org. Alfredo Pedroza is president of the Latino Caucus of California Counties, alfredo.pedroza@countyofnapa.org. They wrote this commentary for CalMatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s Capitol works and why it matters.

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Orchids & Onions awards present the

best and worst architectural projects

The San Diego Architectural Foundationrecognized this year’s best and “not so best” projects throughout San Diego County at the 43rd annual Orchids & Onions Awards Ceremony held at the historic US Grant Hotel on Thursday. The ceremony was emceed by State Assembly Member Todd Gloria.

The projects awarded Orchids and Onions were nominated by the design community and

the public. A jury made up of architects, landscape architects, interior designers, a historic preservation architect, a developer, a visual artist, an architecture professor and a student conducted a day long tour of short listed projects, followed by deliberations. This process resulted in this year’s awards. Along with the jury selected awards there are the People’s Choice awards. One Orchid and one Onion were selected by the public through an online voting process.

A total of 14 projects were awarded Orchids or Onions in the architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, public art, place making and architectural detail, including these:

• Palomar College Maintenance Operations Complex, Malone Grand Orchid for Architecture. 1140 W. Mission Road, San Marcos. Owner/developer: Palomar College. Architect: BNIM Architects.

• Borrego Springs Library, Park and Sheriff’s Office, Orchid for Architecture. 2580 Country Club Road, Borrego Springs. Owner/developer: County of San Diego. Architect: RNT Architects.

• Millennium Mission Valley, Onion for Architecture. 5080 Camino del Arroyo, San Diego. Owner/developer: Dinerstein Companies. Architect: TCA Architects.

Click here for all the winners

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San Diego employers commit

to addressing region’s affordability crisis

In an effort to address San Diego’s soaring cost of living, San Diego Regional EDC and its Inclusive Growth Steering Committee of 40 employers officially endorsed a regional goal to create 75,000 newly thriving households by 2030. Driven by the findings in EDC’s latest study release, this regional goal and accompanying set of recommendations aim to address key factors (housing, transportation, and childcare) impacting San Diego’s affordability crisis – the last of three main goals of a regional Inclusive Growth agenda.

In its new study, EDC found that the majority of household incomes in San Diego do not meet the region’s expected cost of living ($96,000 annually for owner-occupied households and $61,000 annually for renter-occupied households). The cost of housing – twice the average among U.S. metros – is the primary driver of the region’s growing cost of living, pushing residents further away from job centers and resulting in longer commute times and increased cost of transportation.

Additional key findings include:
• Affordability: San Diego is 47 percent more expensive than the average U.S. metro.
• Housing: Half of all homeowners do not earn enough to cover their cost of living, and nearly 60 percent of all renters fall thousands of dollars short each year.
• Transportation: The average household spends more than $14,000 on transportation and travels nearly 20,000 miles over the course of a year.
• Child care: There are now nearly twice as many children under the age of six with working parents as there are licensed childcare spaces available.

With the fifth highest median home price, staggering commute times for its poorest residents, and substantial childcare shortages, San Diego’s high cost of living not only impacts the region’s existing workforce, but also the pipeline of future talent.

Click here to read the full study.

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County’s Edgemoor Facility

ranked best in county and state

The County Health and Human Services Agency’s Edgemoor Skilled Nursing Facility has been named the best in the county and the state by Newsweek magazine.

The magazine analyzed more than 15,000 nursing homes in the Unites States and chose 406 award-winners in 20 states.

Edgemoor, a 192-bed facility, offers long-term care for patients with complex medical needs. Edgemoor patients receive 24-hour skilled nursing care, physical rehabilitation, as well as recreational, occupational and speech therapy. Patients at the 192-bed facility require specialized interventions from highly trained staff.

This is not the first time Edgemoor has been recognized at the national level for providing top-quality treatment and services. In 2017, Edgemoor received the 2017 Gold Excellence in Quality Award presented by the American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living, becoming one of one of only 37 skilled nursing facilities to have earned this honor since its inception over 20 years ago.

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Experiences for Mankind appoints new

leadership team; relocates headquarters

Experiences For Mankind (EFM), a San Diego-based advertising agency, announced the appointment of a new leadership team, a relocation of their corporate headquarters and a restructure effort to create an employee-first culture and better align with client demand.

EFM is transitioning Javier Iniguez to majority partner and appointing Morgan Graham as a minority partner, doubling its office space and is refining its service structure for optimal customer experience.

As part of the new structure, Javier Iniguez will take on the role of CEO, and Morgan Graham will take on the role of CXO. Through this creative and customer experience-focused leadership team at the helm, the agency is bringing a new mindset to the traditional advertising agency model.

Iniguez joined EFM in 2003 as a senior art director. Most recently, he has served as president and chief creative officer overseeing strategy and creative for clients including Siemens, GE, Kaiser Permanente, The Seany Foundation, and continually nurturing his team’s professional development.

Graham has spent 11 years at EFM, developing her client-centric skillsets to become CXO. In her new role, she will advocate for the clients’ success and continuously improve that experience – for both the clients and the clients’ customers.

In August, EFM relocated its headquarters to a 4,200 square-foot-space in East Village.

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Water Authority wins national

2019 WaterSense Excellence Award

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized the San Diego County Water Authority with a 2019 WaterSense Excellence Award for advancing water efficiency through its Qualified Water Efficient Landscape program, known as QWEL. The Water Authority received one of 25 WaterSense awards at the national WaterSmart Innovations Conference in Las Vegas.

This is the second consecutive year the Water Authority has achieved the Excellence Award for the QWEL program, which is certified by EPA to significantly increase water management skills and knowledge among landscape professionals. Program curriculum includes 20 hours of classroom and hands-on training on principles of plant care, irrigation system design, maintenance, programming, operations and troubleshooting.

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San Diego author releases

new book on childhood loss

By the time Madonna Treadway was eight years old, both of her parents had died. She moved in with family members and went on to lead a successful life, but always felt a void. That void was not only from the loss of her parents at such a young age, it stemmed from the absence of processing her grief. No one talked about her sadness, anger, or sense of abandonment.

Still, as an adult, Treadway finds that people feel uncomfortable talking about death. “I get it. Talking about death can be difficult,” says the author of the recently published self-help book SIX HEALING QUESTIONS :A Gentle Path to Healing Childhood Loss of a Parent.  “Part of the reason it’s hard is that we have little experience having these conversations. When I was a child, adults spoke in hushed tones about death or never spoke of it at all. I wondered if there was something shameful, or morally questionable, about dying. And no one ever asked me about my feelings of loss, guilt, and anger over my parents’ deaths.”

 

These feelings can be exacerbated during the holiday season when everyone else seems to be joyously celebrating with their loved ones.  “Loss is always difficult for children, but can be especially emotionally challenging during the holiday season,” says Treadway.

Treadway says she wrote her book with two readers in mind: those who experienced loss of their own parents during their childhood, and people who want to support children who have experienced loss. “I hope that the years of research I have done offer comfort and guidance to people struggling with loss,” she says. “The loss of a parent leave deep wounds, but that doesn’t mean we have to experience grief for the rest of our lives,” she says. “There are ways to honor, commemorate, and celebrate our loved ones in a way that empowers and heals us.”