Daily Business Report-Dec. 27, 2019
Mike Hess Brewing intends to open Seaport Village location in 2020.
Mike Hess Brewing to build at Seaport Village
North Park-based business to expand to Downtown tourist area
By Brandon Hernandez | West Coaster
In 2017, a commercial-property broker saw promise in building a biergarten at downtown’s popular Seaport Village retail establishment. The plan was to have a half-dozen or so local breweries share space around a communal courtyard, and he solicited Mike Hess Brewing’s (MHB) eponymous founder to help get the word out and bring in potential tenants.
Due to complications involving licensing and logistics, the project died, but that broker’s belief in beer at Seaport Village did not wane. He has since teamed with the San Diego Unified Port District—which now owns and operates Seaport Village—to select quality tenants to raise the property’s long-term viability as a tourist destination.
“I got a call asking if I wanted to take another run at Seaport Village, to which I replied, ‘only for the right space and only if it has outdoor seating, preferably on the water,” says Mike Hess. “And it turns out the space is the best spot in Seaport Village. It has everything we were looking for. I looked at the space, brought down some of my key leadership team and, three weeks later, we had a deal and a lease.”
MHB was an early adopter of the satellite tasting room. The company is headquartered in North Park, but operates four off-site venues in Miramar, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach and Northern California’s Walnut Creek communities. Hess says a relatively uncomplicated build-out should result in an opening sometime in the first half of 2020.
_____________________
General Dynamics NASSCO delivers
lead ship of Matson Kanaloa Class
General Dynamics NASSCO on Thursday delivered Lurline, the lead ship of the two-vessel Kanaloa Class, built for Honolulu-based shipping and logistics company, Matson. Lurline is the largest combination containership/roll-on, roll-off vessel constructed in the United States.
The 870-foot-long Lurline provides the capability to transport containers, automobiles, trailers and rolling stock. NASSCO partnered with DSEC Co., Ltd., to provide a state-of-the-art ship design and material package that incorporates liquefied natural gas-capable main and auxiliary engines, compliant with Tier III emission requirements.
“We are proud to deliver the lead ship of the Kanaloa Class,” said Dave Carver, president of General Dynamics NASSCO. “It is an honor for our design and production teams to work on the latest Jones Act vessels that will support our customers and the communities they serve.”
The Lurline will join the Jones Act fleet, requiring ships to be built in a U.S. shipyard and crewed by U.S. citizens and permanent residents, further protecting hundreds of thousands of jobs in the domestic American maritime industry.
The second Kanaloa Class vessel for Matson is currently under construction at NASSCO’s San Diego shipyard with delivery expected in the third quarter of 2020.
_____________________
San Diego small business owners
awarded for community heroism
San Diego Community Newspaper Group
San Diego County’s growing community of small businesses recently gathered in North Park to celebrate local business owners going beyond their bottom line to invest in the livelihood of their employees and the health of their community.
Assemblymember Todd Gloria and Councilmember Chris Ward joined Business For Good San Diego, the nonprofit uniting small business owners to drive policy that improves communities, at its annual celebration to introduce the five awardees.
According to Business For Good, the awards recognize outstanding social responsibility within the business community and demonstrate the role that local business owners play in making San Diego County a more equitable and sustainable place.
“Tonight, we celebrate the contributions of some dynamic business owners who have committed to changing the narrative about the voice of business in San Diego,” says Mikey Knab, Business For Good board chair and director of operations of Ponce’s Restaurant in Kensington and Del Sur. “These heroes have given their time and leveraged their reputations to support the long term health of their employees and their communities.”
The 2019 Business For Good Annual Awards went to the following:
• Housing and Homelessness Hero Award: Brad Keiller, owner of Nomad Donuts (North Park). Keiler showed his employees, customers, and community how businesses can treat all people with dignity when he stood up for a homeless man outside his store in response to a negative Yelp review.
• High Road Employer Award: Jay Buys, owner of Visceral (Hillcrest). Buys demonstrated his commitment to his employees by covering 100 percent of their healthcare, matching California-state parental leave, supporting 40 hours of volunteer time, and matching charitable donations made by his team.
• Immigration Advocate Award: Lindsay LaShell, owner of Diamond + Branch Marketing Group (North Park). LaShell’s digital marketing agency created the Welcoming San Diego website to support the city of San Diego’s initiative to advance the civic, social, and economic integration of immigrants and refugees.
• Environmental Champion Award: Dr. Cindy J. Lin, CEO, and co-founder of HOVE Social Good Intelligence (San Diego). Lin’s innovative approach to data and design empowered her company to measure the tangible impact of local efforts to improve public health and create a more sustainable environment.
• Environmental Champion Award: Michael Torti, vice president of C&M Motors, Inc. (National City). Torti exemplified the role businesses play in creating a more sustainable home by advocating for the city of San Diego’s single-use plastics ordinance and expanding the Ocean Friendly Restaurant program, which he co-created in 2014.
_____________________
Julian Hard Cider celebrates a decade in business
Julian Hard Cider in Julian is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. The “American to the Core” drink was the country’s first craft hard cider when it launched a decade ago and has since grown its presence from the original Julian-based tasting room to stores, bars and restaurants across the nation.
Paul Thomas launched Julian Hard Cider in the spring of 2009 as a tribute to his grandfather. He noticed the increasing popularity of craft and artisanal breweries serving multiple beer flavors and wondered why only a handful of hard ciders at the time produced apple flavored ciders.
As a result, Julian Hard Cider – the first U.S. company specializing in a variety of apple-based hard cider flavors – was born. Starting in Julian, Thomas incorporated cherry, blackberry and raspberry natural flavors into his products, first creating Cherry Bomb, Black and Blue and Razmatazz. He set the stage for all the flavored ciders that followed in the industry.
Over the years, the company grew to offer 12 flavors and opened its second production facility at Apple Lane Orchard – which produces locally sourced, specialty batches of hard cider for the company’s tasting room – the Julian Hard Cider Miners’ Saloon – as well as regional bars and restaurants.
_____________________
Gafcon Team and project
recognized for excellence
Three members of Gafcon, Inc.’s leadership team and one of its recent projects have been recognized with awards for excellence. The San Diego-based program, project and construction management firm manages and directs complex projects both nationally and internationally.
Yehudi “Gaf” Gaffen founded Gafcon in 1987 and has been named one of San Diego Metropolitan Magazine’s San Diego County 2019 Men of Influence. As CEO, Gaf has worked with owners on hundreds of projects including the $2.4 billion Seaport San Diego proposed project at the Port of San Diego, the $12 billion Zizhu Purple Bay master plan in Shanghai, the $135 million AltaSea project at the Port of Los Angeles, the $100 million redevelopment of the Los Angeles Forum and $46.25 billion in California education bond programs.
Paul Najar, vice president, general counsel and corporate Secretary of Gafcon, was recognized with a 2019 San Diego Business Journal Leaders in Law Award. Najar was honored in the Private Company category among San Diego’s top lawyers and in-house general counsel attorneys.
Tiffany LaBruno, director of professional services at Gafcon, was named one of Construction Business Owner Magazine’s 2019 Outstanding Women in Construction. LaBruno has been with Gafcon for six years. She manages a team of 10, eight of whom are women.
_____________________
Instructions for Nonpartisan registered
voters wanting to vote for President
Memo to all Nonpartisan registered voters, from San Diego County Registrar of Voters:
If you vote by mail and want to vote for president, you need to inform the Registrar of Voters which mail ballot you want by Jan. 6. Otherwise, your nonpartisan mail ballot will not show any presidential candidates.
Several weeks ago, the Registrar sent the county’s nearly 350,000 Nonpartisan mail ballot voters a pre-paid return postcard requesting their selection of ballot options for the March 3, 2020 primary election. If you’re Nonpartisan and just signed up to become a mail ballot voter, you can expect a postcard outlining your options.
So far, nearly 37,000 Nonpartisan voters have returned their postcards or re-registered. If your postcard became lost among all the holiday mail, here is what you need to know.
The American Independent, Democratic and Libertarian parties are allowing Nonpartisan voters to take part in their presidential primaries. But Nonpartisan voters must request one of these ballots to vote for that party’s presidential candidate. Your status as a Nonpartisan voter will not change.
Without the postcard, you can still go to sdvote.com to fill out the application and email it. Make sure you are registered to vote and listed as a Nonpartisan mail ballot voter before filling it out.
The Green, Peace and Freedom and Republican parties are not allowing Nonpartisan voters to take part in their presidential primaries. Nonpartisan voters wishing to vote for one of these parties’ presidential candidates must re-register to do so.
All voters can check their registration, re-register and register to vote at sdvote.com. The Registrar’s office urges you to do so well before the Feb. 18, 2020 registration deadline to avoid long delays on Election Day. For more information, call (858) 565-5800 or visit sdvote.com.
