Daily Business Report-Feb. 21, 2020
Illustration courtesy of KPMG.
A study by KPMG Board Leadership Center Senior
Adviser Annalisa Barrett assesses the early impact
of California’s board gender diversity mandate
Senate Bill 826, California’s law mandating board gender diversity for public companies headquartered there, elevated the conversation about the importance of diversity in the boardroom.
With the first deadline under the mandate now in effect—public companies headquartered in California and traded on the NYSE or Nasdaq were required to have at least one female director by Dec. 31, 2019—we look at the law’s early impact by studying the women who were added to previously all-male boards of companies headquartered in the state. (For purposes of the report, “female directors” refers to the women who joined the boards of previously all-male California boards during 2019).
The mandate led to the addition of many female directors to the boards of companies headquartered in California. On the first deadline of Dec. 31, 2019, only 27 companies (4 percent) of California-headquartered companies had all-male boards. This compares to 29 percent that had all-male boards as of June 30, 2018.
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Local union sells Sherman Heights buildings
and buys Bankers Hill property for new HQ
UNITE Here Local 30, the hotel and hospitality workers’ union in San Diego, has sold a three-building property in Sherman Heights for $3.2 million, and subsequently purchased an office building in Bankers Hill for $3.38 million for its new headquarters.
The Sherman Heights property is located in an opportunity zone at 2436-2450 Market Street, one mile east of Downtown San Diego. The 12,165 square-foot property will be vacated by Local 30 after a short-term lease-back. The buyer of the building, a private investor, was represented by Andy Ewald and Erin Shean of CBRE.
Located at 1940 Fifth Ave., the Bankers Hill office property sits one block west of Balboa Park and one mile north of Downtown San Diego. Originally built in 1976, the 11,108-square-foot property features six suites and 31 parking spaces. The seller, a private investor, was represented by an outside firm.
The sale and purchase will facilitate the relocation of Local 30’s headquarters, member service center and meeting hall. Local 30 will continue to occupy the property on Market Street for a short time while improvements are made at Fifth Avenue. The official relocation will take place in the summer of 2020.
“Local 30 simply outgrew the property on Market Street,” said Marc Frederick of CBRE, who represented UNITE Here Local 30 in the transactions. “While slightly smaller, 1940 Fifth Avenue is a far more efficient building with better office and meeting hall space, and significantly more parking.”
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City of Oceanside starts work on
$67 million water recycling project
The city of Oceanside broke ground Wednesday on Pure Water Oceanside, a project that will purify recycled water to create a new local source of high-quality drinking water that is clean, safe, drought-proof and environmentally sound. Scheduled to be completed before the end of 2021, Pure Water Oceanside will be the first operating advanced water purification facility in San Diego County.
The $67 million project will source recycled water from the city’s San Luis Rey Water Reclamation Facility. Advanced technology will be used to replicate and accelerate the natural recycling process to provide 3 to 5 million gallons per day or more than 32 percent of the city of Oceanside’s water supply.
“Today we put Pure Water Oceanside on the map and are one step closer to achieving the goal of greater water-independence for our city, residents and businesses,” said Cari Dale, the city’s water utilities director. “This future-focused project will provide multiple benefits by reusing our water resources to their full potential.”
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Stacey Abrams to keynote Lawyers Club’s
annual dinner on May 14 Downtown
Former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams will be the keynote speaker for the Lawyers Club’s annual dinner on May 14 at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, 333 W. Harbor Drive in Downtown San Diego. Abrams is a political trailblazer, nonprofit CEO, New York Times’bestselling author, tax attorney, and recently added television producer.
The theme for this year’s dinner, “Driving Change,” is inspired by a combination of it being the 150th anniversary of ratification of the 15th Amendment and 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment; Abrams’ service as a trailblazing politician and founder of Fair Fight; and the work of Lawyers Club’s founders, leaders, and members to fight for gender equality.
In 2018, Abrams became the first black woman to become the gubernatorial nominee for a major party in the United States as the Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia.
Tickets are now on sale for both Lawyers Club members and the general public.
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National Park Service to improve Ballast View
Rest Area at Cabrillo National Monument
The National Park Service plans to improve the Ballast View Rest Area, a site near the Visitor Center at Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma. The Rest Area provides views of Ballast Point, where Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s expedition dropped anchor in 1542, becoming the first European expedition to sail to what is now California.
This project will provide expanded accessibility for all people to the Rest Area and create an enhanced space for interpretive programs and demonstrations.
Physical improvements include accessible routes to and from the parking lot to the Rest Area and the Visitor Center, introducing tiered group seating and a pergola style wood shade structure over the viewing area.
Programmatic improvements include improving and expanding the park’s interpretive programs and demonstrations by providing a formal outdoor seating area for park visitors. Designs include retaining historic Mission 66 landscape features of this area in tandem with the Visitor Center features.
Information on these facility improvements is available on the park website http://parkplanning.nps.gov/cabrballast. The public may comment on this proposal during a 30-day comment period ending March 21, 2020.
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Cathy Garcia joins GDX Studios as West
Coast director of business development
GDX Studios, a full-service experiential marketing studio, welcomes marketing veteran Cathy Garcia to the team as West Coast director of business development. Garcia is tasked with overseeing client partnerships for the new agency.
Garcia, a marketing veteran with more than 25 years in the industry, founded CG Activation, an event marketing agency that specializes in execution of activations and experiences, in 2011. Notable work includes campaigns with Syfy, USA Network, Warner Media, AMC Networks and major events such as SXSW and San Diego Comic-Con.
The new hire will not change affect CG Activation as the company will act as a joint venture partner to GDX Studios.
“Cathy’s extraordinary breadth of experience in business development and entrepreneurship, ability to execute activations flawlessly and connections with the entertainment industry makes her the perfect fit for our new type of agency,” said Aaron Gaeir, founder of GDX Studios. “Experiential marketing is an ever dynamic industry and it takes the creative and entrepreneurial intellect to keep up. Cathy fits the bill and we’re lucky to have her and a partner in CG Activation.”
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FASTSIGNS of San Diego takes home
Pinnacle Club Award at convention
FASTSIGNS of San Diego – Sports Arena, a local sign and visual graphics provider, was recognized as a top-performing center at the 2020 FASTSIGNS International Convention held in Phoenix, Ariz.
Owned by Michelle and Sean Cox, FASTSIGNS of San Diego – Sports Arena received the Pinnacle Club Award, which is given to centers ranked 26 to 125 in sales volume between Oct. 1, 2018 and Sept. 30, 2019. FASTSIGNS of San Diego has been recognized year after year for exceptional performance and customer service in the FASTSIGNS network.
“We are honored to be recognized as a top-performing center from over 700 locations in nine countries worldwide in the FASTSIGNS network for the 11th year in a row,” said Sean Cox, franchisee at FASTSIGNS of San Diego – Sports Arena. “This award reflects our team’s dedication to helping businesses and organizations solve their visual communications challenges in our community every day.”
In addition to this recognition, Sean and Michelle Cox also shared their entrepreneurial expertise as franchisees during the Secrets of Success Panel: Thriving in Challenging Times.
FASTSIGNS of San Diego – Sports Arena is located at 3166 Midway Drive, Suite 107 and is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
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New hires join Southwest Strategies’ San Diego office
Southwest Strategies announced the addition of five new employees to its San Diego office: Manager of Public Affairs Dustin Lawrence, Account Executive Rashid Binnur, Account Executive Daniela Gorrino, Account Executive Stefanie Tellez, and Graphic Designer Eddie Villanueva.
Dustin Lawrence joins Southwest Strategies from the Los Angeles office of SKDKnickerbocker, where he worked across political and public affairs clientele assisting in campaign strategy on congressional, state assembly, state superintendent and school board races. Most recently, he spearheaded public affairs strategy for People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), the largest homeless housing provider in California.
Rashid Binnur returns to Southwest Strategies where he was previously an intern. Prior to his role at Southwest Strategies, Rashid interned at Englander Knabe & Allen, a lobbying firm in Los Angeles, where he assisted agency partners with research, drafting materials and updating databases. He was also a public relations intern for Hylink, a Chinese advertising agency.
Daniela Gorrino comes to Southwest Strategies from the National City Chamber of Commerce, where she served on seven annual event committees, managed the 2019 Mariachi Festival, supervised the internship program. She was a virtual intern for the U.S. Embassy in Quito, Ecuador, where she created databases and communications for regional tradeshows.
Stefanie Tellez joins Southwest Strategies from SDG&E where she served as a customer outreach representative. Before SDG&E, Stefanie was a social media intern for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. She also interned for KM Strategies, a political fundraising firm, where she provided support on a number of local campaigns. Additionally, Stefanie managed her own social media consultant business.
Eddie Villanueva joins Southwest Strategies with a wealth of design experience ranging from inhouse design at the Competitor Group to working on a variety of design projects for Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon, VeloNews Magazine, Brooks Running, United Airlines and Westin Hotels. He also has an agency background, working as a UX/UI Designer at Made by Grizzly.
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San Diegan Works Aboard
the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
ATLANTIC OCEAN (Feb. 15, 2020) Aviation Ordnanceman Airman Karla Villareal, from San Diego, conducts tests on a rocket pod aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ike is conducting operations in the Atlantic Ocean as part of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brianna Thompson)