Daily Business Report-May 13, 2020
Chart from Visual Capitalist, adapted from Information is beautiful
Globally, the curve of the new
COVID-19 cases is flattening
However, the results of individual countries vary, as new pockets of the world deal with outbreaks.
It’s been just over two months since New York declared a state of emergency, and global stock markets were hammered as the fears of a full-blown crisis began to take hold.
Since then, we’ve seen detailed, daily coronavirus coverage in most of the major news outlets. With such a wealth of information available, it can be hard to keep track of the big picture of what’s happening around the world.
Today’s graphic from Visual Capitalist, adapted from Information is Beautiful, is an efficient look at where the virus is fading away, and where new infection hotspots are emerging.
______________________________
ETHA Natural Botanicals delivers essential
packages to support grocery store workers
Many of the family-owned grocery stores across San Diego County have remained open during the Covid-19 stay at home public safety order. These businesses are often overwhelmed given the increased demand from consumers and health risk from coming into contact with the public. The public health situation is increasing stress on these workers, as they must weigh their need for income with the hazards of current working conditions.
ETHA Natural Botanicals, a San Diego-based manufacturer, created a care package campaign to provide supportive care packages for local grocery store workers. “By keeping stores operational, where residents can buy food, medicine and school supplies, local grocery store workers are a lifeline for local business and the community,” said Victor Chung, co-founder of ETHA Natural Botanicals.
The ETHA care package includes items that help essential workers take care of themselves both inside and out, plus a little something for pets who bring essential workers comfort during these heightened stressful times.
Janet, who is one of the three staff members, at The El Cajon Nutrition Center said, “It seems like all of the discounts and help are for health care and civil servants, this is a great thing you guys are doing for our center,” said Janet, one of three staff members at The El Cajon Nutrition Center. The Nutrition Center supports the Federal Nutrition Assistance for Women Infants and Children (WIC) program which provides nutrition assistance to vulnerable families.
ETHA selected Los Angeles Distillery to supply the spray hand sanitizer. LA Distillery is a Southern California company impacted by Covid-19 and has converted its products into potentially life-saving antibacterial commodity.
The company’s care package contains:
- Premium Hand Sanitizer by Los Angeles Distillery.
- Disposable respirators (mask) courtesy of private donations from Michael and Sharmeen Chapp.
- All-natural Kratom tablets by ETHA Natural Botanicals.
- Pet herbal supplements by Healing Pet Botanicals.
For more information on the company, click here
______________________________
California community colleges file federal
lawsuit over emergency student assistance
The San Diego Community College District has joined a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education to stop it from “placing arbitrary elegibility restrictions” on relief funds Congress approved to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lawsuit filed Monday against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos asks the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco, to declare the Department of Education’s eligibility requirements for emergency grants to students under the CARES Act unlawful and unconstitutional and to halt their implementation.
The lawsuit filed Monday against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos asks the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco, to declare the Department of Education’s eligibility requirements for emergency grants to students under the CARES Act unlawful and unconstitutional and to halt their implementation.
“The Department of Education ignored the intent of the CARES Act to give local colleges discretion to aid students most affected by the pandemic, and instead has arbitrarily excluded as many as 800,000 community college students. Among those harmed are veterans, citizens who have not completed a federal financial aid application, and non-citizens, including those with DACA status,” California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley said.
______________________________
Nordstrom to permanently shutter Escondido
store amid 16 closures sparked by COVID-19
The Nordstrom department store in Escondido is permanently closing its doors this summer, ending a 34-year tenure as an anchor tenant of the Westfield North County shopping mall.
Escondido is one of 16 Nordstrom stores forced to close permanently by August due to COVID-19’s squeeze on brick-and-mortar retail. Six of those stores are based in California, where retailers are expecting a slow awakening from the government-mandated shutdown.
______________________________
Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand opens new location
in San Diego and appoints VP of operations
Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand announces the opening of its newest major location in San Diego and the appointment of Daniel Dernbach as vice president of 0perations.
Located in the heart of San Diego’s biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, Azzur COD is poised to deliver best-in-class services tailored specifically to the needs of the area’s innovators and start-ups.
With more than 25 years of experience in life science and health care, Dernbach brings comprehensive operational expertise to Azzur COD’s San Diego location. He joins Azzur from Integrated DNA Technologies Inc. in San Diego. There, he served as general manager of West Coast operations for 14 years after nearly a decade of progressive roles of increasing responsibility at the company’s Coralville, IA site.
Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand San Diego is the firm’s second major location. Originally founded in Waltham, Mass., in 2018, Azzur COD’s hybrid model includes on-demand cleanrooms and related services for materials management, asset management, and supply chain.
______________________________
$55 million NIH grant advances clinical
and translational research at UC San Diego
The Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute (ACTRI) at University of California San Diego has received a five-year, $54.7 million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Center for Advancing Translational Science part of the National Institutes of Health. The new grant is the third such award since ACTRI opened in 2010, bringing total funding support to approximately $144 million.
The latest CTSA will refine the fundamental work of the past decade and provide new resources that will launch a new wave of discovery and transformation.
______________________________
Youngevity International breaks ground
on hemp grow project in Nicaragua
San Diego-based Youngevity International announced that its wholly-owned subsidiaries, CLR Roasters LLC and Khrysos Industries Inc. which are U.S. partners along with its Nicaraguan partners have officially broken ground on the hemp grow and oil extraction joint venture project taking place on the 2,200-acre Chaguitillo Farms in Sebaco-Matagalpa, Nicaragua.
The company announced the signing of the venture on April 21, 2020. The first phase of the development includes plans to run electricity that will power the 15,000-AMP electrical service that is necessary to power the project. The official electrical permits have been approved and the joint venture released a rendering of the project as an update to stakeholders and the community.
______________________________
Lawmakers told half-billion dollar mask
deal thwarted by suspicious bankers
CalMatters
Amid a global shortage of face masks that could help stem the spread of the coronavirus, California officials received an intriguing call on March 23. The caller said he had access to 100 million coveted N95 masks that were sitting at the Port of Long Beach. He’d sell them to the state of California for $4.76 each — a bargain compared to other vendors asking between $6 and $12 at the time.
That was the picture painted by Mark Ghilarducci, director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, as he explained to lawmakers why the state wired nearly half a billion dollars to Blue Flame Medical LLC, then quickly walked back the deal. Ultimately, he said, banks involved in the large wire transfer called state officials and alerted them that the transaction seemed suspicious, and the state got its money back.
“Of the multiple checks and balances, this was one that was identified ultimately by the bank,” Ghilarducci said. “The bank’s normal vetting process caught it, reported it to the state.”
California’s frenetic Blue Flame deal with a politically connected mask supplier was first reported last week by CalMatters.
