Daily Business Report-May 15, 2020
Faculty and mentors from the Rady School and across UC San Diego will provide virtual advice and insights to businesses seeking support. (Photo courtesy of Rady School of Management)
Rady School of Management launches
COVID-19 Business Recovery Coalition
The Rady School of Management at the University of California San Diego has launched the Rady School Business Recovery Coalition to help businesses in the San Diego region navigate the unprecedented challenges faced by COVID-19.
This new initiative draws on expertise from the UC San Diego community to provide immediate pro bono assistance and guidance to San Diego businesses during these extraordinary times.
“We recognize the incredible hardships businesses have faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “The Rady School was founded in conjunction with local business leaders who envisioned the school as a catalyst of economic development. Today, that goal is more crucial than ever, and the Rady School is ready to respond.”
Faculty and mentors from the Rady School and across UC San Diego will provide virtual advice and insights to businesses seeking support. The services of the Rady School Business Recovery Coalition will be managed by the school’s Beyster Institute and the California Institute for Innovation and Development (CIID). Businesses will receive support from the Rady School Business Recovery Coalition in several key areas:
- Today’s response — such as financial planning, resource challenges, and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) evaluation.
- Tomorrow’s recovery — focused on navigating safe and successful reopening and operations.
- Future innovation — including branding and re-establishing consumer confidence, business strategy, and identifying growth opportunities.
UC San Diego student teams will also be engaged to support businesses, offering students the opportunity to give back to the community while gaining real-world consulting experience.
“The Rady School Business Recovery Coalition is the next evolution of why the school was founded,” said Rady School Dean Lisa Ordóñez. “It’s in our DNA to help businesses with innovative ideas. We want to be at the forefront of the recovery effort in the San Diego region.”
Businesses that want a consultation with a Rady Business Recovery Coalition associate should click here.
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California cracks down on rogue bars
California bars are on a highball hijinx alert.
The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is proposing emergency powers to shut down bars and restaurants if they disobey the state’s public health order by serving mojitos and manhattans to patrons in an establishment.
California bars are on a highball hijinx alert.
The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is proposing emergency powers to shut down bars and restaurants if they disobey the state’s public health order by serving mojitos and manhattans to patrons in an establishment.
Not only could the alcohol cops suspend licenses, the owners would have to appeal to a Superior Court, a more difficult hurdle than the usual process of challenging the ABC’s appeals board. The department is stepping up enforcement as some local jurisdictions defy the governor’s order.
“Many businesses and citizens have demonstrated an unwillingness to abide by the public health orders and have instead opened for business, increasing risks to the public health, safety, and welfare,” the state wrote in justifying the rule change.
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San Diego County health officer opposes
Casinos’ early reopening plans
San Diego County’s Public Health Officer said Wednesday plans by several tribal casinos to reopen in the coming week create a health risk amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Opening up casinos will cause a risk to our public’s health. That is very clear,” said Dr. Wilma Wooten at the county’s daily briefing.
She said health officials are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and talking with the casinos in an effort to reduce the risk of infection.
Viejas Casino & Resort in Alpine has announced plans to reopen May 18, while Sycuan Casino Resort plans to reopen May 20. Pechanga in nearby Temecula is targeting June 1.
The casinos have committed to enforcing social distancing guidelines and other safety practices, with guests and employees required to wear masks and agree to temperature scans before entering. For example, Sycuan plans to turn off every other slot machine and limit the number of players at table games.
As operations of tribal governments, the casinos have significant independence from county requirements.
Wooten said that if the casinos do reopen, the county will demand “they put stringent practices in place” to protect the health of patrons and employees.
“We do not agree with the reopening. I think I cannot be more clear than that,” she said.
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Probolsky Research poll: local school
bonds have majority support
The generic test for local school bonds shows majority support among likely California voters, according to a poll by Probolsky Research.
“We conducted this poll in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and voters are still expressing support for funding local schools through school bonds,” said Adam Probolsky, pollster and president of Probolsky Research. “We did not put a dollar amount in the question which could change the results, favorably or negatively, but voters are clearly open to school bonds, even in the face of the pandemic.”
The biggest opposition comes from older, Republican, and white voters.
The biggest support comes from younger, Democratic, and non-white voters.
Parts of the state, like Southern California (outside of Los Angeles), will find passing local school bonds more challenging, while voters in Los Angeles and Bay Area school districts show more of an appetite for paying more for schools.
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Is California aquaculture over before it really began?
It turns out that trying to develop a shellfish farm more than twice the size of Central Park in federal waters off the coast of California is an extremely complicated endeavor. This week, legislation stalled that would have given the Ventura Port District authority to build a 2,000-acre sea farm in federal waters.
The fledgling aquaculture industry is still reeling from the failure of the nation’s first sea farm in federal waters off Huntington Beach, which attempted to provide a national model for sustainable aquaculture but suffered when broken equipment caused the death of a 70-year-old man last year, CalMatters’ Julie Cart reports.
Diane Windham of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: “Until we get something permitted and in the water we can’t validate our assumptions. It has to start on a small scale — get a farm in the water and monitor the heck out of it. We need that leap of faith.”
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San Diego’s RAR Hospitality acquired
by Hostmark Hospitality Group
RAR Hospitality, a San Diego-based hospitality management group, has been acquired by Hostmark Hospitality Group of Chicago.
The combined company will now own and operate both limited-service and full-service as well as branded and independent hotels across the United States with a portfolio of 40 hotels totaling over 5,000 rooms as well as successful restaurants.
Operations of RAR’s portfolio will continue under the Hostmark brand in their San Diego office.
“RAR Hospitality has exhibited the breadth and depth of experience that is required in successfully managing boutique and independent hotels. The company’s entrepreneurial spirit and proven track record drive their mission of experience-focused hospitality,” said Hostmark President and CEO Jerome Cataldo.
RAR is an independent hotel management company owned and helmed by Chairman and CEO Robert A. Rauch and President Cameron Lamming. The company’s executive team has an average of 25 years of hospitality experience and has been involved in more than $2 billion of real estate transactions in California, Arizona and Colorado.
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Prestigious international award created to
honor SANDAG trailblazer Pam Scanlon
The International Association of Chiefs of Police Criminal Justice Information Systems Committee announced the creation of the annual “Pamela L. Scanlon Excellence in Criminal Justice Information Sharing Award” in honor of the executive director of the SANDAG Automated Regional Justice Information System (ARJIS) for more than two decades. Scanlon died earlier this year.
The award was created to honor people who have dedicated their careers to the advancement of criminal justice information sharing in the public safety community. The committee will recognize the first recipient of the new award at its 2021 conference.
“SANDAG and ARJIS lost a great leader in January,” said SANDAG Chair and Poway Mayor Steve Vaus. “We are honored to learn of this extraordinary new award in honor of Pam Scanlon, a great person whose work continues to live on.”
Some of Scanlon’s notable recognitions include:
- A 2001 issue of Business Week magazine featured her as a “Hero of the New Internet” for her pioneering work in the use of the Internet to fight crime.
- The British government hosted her as a delegate to their Security and Policing Program
- Scanlon earned a variety of awards as a trailblazer, including the FBI Director’s Award and awards from every federal law enforcement agency.
- Scanlon was honored by the San Diego Police Foundation in 2012 at their annual “Women in Blue” luncheon.
- In 2015, Scanlon received the national Integrated Justice Systems’ Shumate Award.
- In 2019, Scanlon received the (inaugural) National Law Enforcement Information & Technology G. Thomas Steele Excellence in Law Enforcement Information and Technology Recognition.
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Brandi Taylor joins Eversheds Sutherland
firm in its San Diego law office
Eversheds Sutherland announces that Brandi A. Taylor has joined as counsel in its San Diego office. As an experienced attorney in two growing areas of regulatory practice, Taylor’s addition to the firm expands both the data privacy and education service offerings of the Litigation Practice Group.
Taylor counsels businesses in the complex areas of data privacy and cybersecurity, with a particular focus on assisting businesses in their compliance efforts with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Her experience includes counseling clients on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and California privacy laws protecting minors, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, among other laws.
Her regulatory practice includes advising companies engaging with U.S. federal and state regulators, including the U.S. Department of Education, the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general. Taylor’s experience includes counseling one of the largest social media and technology companies on CCPA and other privacy laws, including partnering with EU counsel to advise on the European Union General Data Protection Regulation.
In addition to her data privacy and cybersecurity work, Taylor advises EdTech companies, investors, and colleges and universities on transactional, regulatory and litigation matters.
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BNBuilders hires and promotes
three new project executives
BNBuilders in San Diego has hired and promoted three new project executives. Carmen Vann joins the BNBuilders team as a regional project executive, while Jay Jadeja and Nick Reikow have been promoted to project executives.
Carmen Vann, a 20-year industry veteran, joins BNBuilders after working with Principal Jamie Awford, BNBuilders’ SoCal leader, at another general contractor. Previous projects under her leadership include the San Diego Central Library, Sempra Energy Headquarters, Ten Fifty B, and Stella & Bluewater. Vann brings an expertise in complex, multi-family, affordable housing, K-12, and urban high-rise projects.
Jay Jadeja, promoted to project executive, has more than 20 years of construction experience. He joined BNBuilders in September 2017 and has a lengthy portfolio of technical projects in the life science field. Originally from Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Jadeja is bilingual in English and Hindi. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Bombay and master’s degree from the University of Florida.
Nick Reikow, with 15 years of experience, earned his bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo in 2006, and began working at BNBuilders in Seattle in 2007. Reikow joined BNBuilders’ San Diego office in 2011, shortly after its opening.
His early San Diego projects included a $40 million project for Celgene (later acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb) and Illumina.
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A Thank You to Top Attorneys
SD METRO would like to give thanks to those attorneys who also were named Top Attorneys for 2020:
Rodney Hatley
Hadley Law Group
Myra Chack Fleischer
Fleischer & Ravreby
G. Scott Williams
Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek
Joe von Meier
Crosbie Gliner Schiffman Southard & Swanson (CGS3)
Lois Kosch
Wilson Turner Kosmo
Jason Hartley
Hartley LLP
Susan Hack
Higgs Fletcher & Mack
Mary Robberson
Higgs Fletcher & Mack
Timothy Miranda
Antonyan & Miranda
Sara Neva
Procopio
Stephen Schreiner
Soloman Ward
Marissa Lyftogt
Wilson Turner Kosmo
Gary Rudolph
Sullivan Hill
George Kindley
The Kindley Firm APC
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Remote Working is the Future of Work
By Ellie Begum
The concept of remote working or telecommuting is no passing trend. In fact, it’s been around for decades. Physicist Jack Niles coined the term “telecommuting” in the 1970s when he was remotely developing a complex communications system for NASA. Niles went on to write the book on The Telecommunications-Transportation Tradeoff, a timely read at a time when the ’70s oil crisis was coming to a head —with obvious parallels to the crises of today. Later in the 1980s, IBM started experimenting with remote terminals in some of their employees’ homes. This decision laid the foundations for IBM’s seminal role in developing the remote work model, as by 2009, 40% of the company’s 386,000-strong staff had the option to work from home. A year later, the Telework Enhancement Act was passed by the government, realizing the value of making remote work a secure and viable option for federal workers as well.
Over the last 20 years, remote work has grown tremendously. Between 2005 and 2017, HP reveals that the number of remote workers and telecommuters has grown by 159% in the US. Furthermore, the tech giant also notes that more and more younger employees are demanding remote working options from their companies. Much of this is due to the fact that whatever your job is or whichever industry you come from, there are a number of remote working options that can fit your needs and requirements. This access to greater work flexibility is a big part of why remote work is becoming more popular not just in the US but around the world.
A Thriving Work Model
During the last decade, remote work has evolved to the point where people no longer just work at home, but also travel to different places like cafés, coworking spaces, and even different countries. Right here at home, San Diego County saw a 25% increase in the number of coworking spaces that sprang up in the area just last year. From 1.2 million square feet of dedicated coworking spaces in 2018, to 1.5 million square feet in June of 2019, this new and remote workspace model is becoming part and parcel of the county’s business ecosystem. These include private offices, fully equipped meeting rooms, and special members-only events for networking. Not to mention, coworking spaces are often thoughtfully designed for anyone ranging from business owners, people who frequent coffee shops and entrepreneurs.
The Bright Future of Remote Working
If you can do your job on a laptop with an Internet connection, there’s bound to be a remote working option that can cater to your needs, especially considering the rapid innovation in the industry today. One company called Selina is subverting the coworking space model and attracting digital nomads who want to combine travel and work. Through contracts with companies looking to tap the increasing pool of skilled digital nomads, Selina provides flexible global travel opportunities alongside traditional office work, all while ensuring that their coworking spaces in hip locations around the world are supplied with everything working nomads need to thrive.
Similarly, We Heart Magazine details how an emerging Asian trend combines coworking spaces with coliving residences. In this case, dedicated coworking spaces cater to digital nomads to encourage collaboration and business-to-business partnerships. As these remote working models continue to innovate and develop, it will become easier for everyone from solo freelancers to big companies to reap the benefits of tech-based flexibility, an increasingly crucial factor in the ever-changing global business landscape.
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