Daily Business Report-June 26, 2020
Photo: iStock.com/SDI Productions
Skewing the Vote
Voter ID laws discriminate against racial
and ethnic minorities, new study reveals
New research from the University of California San Diego provides evidence that voter ID laws disproportionately reduce voter turnout in more racially diverse areas. As a result, the voices of racial minorities become more muted and the relative influence of white America grows.
In a study published in the journal Politics, Groups, and Identities, researchers focused on turnout changes across the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections in states that had recently passed strict photo voter ID laws: Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia and Wisconsin and compared those changes to other states with similar racial compositions that had not passed laws. They found the turnout gap between white counties and racially diverse counties grew more within states enacting new strict photo ID laws.
Such results lead to “an already significant racial skew in American democracy growing even more pronounced,” according the authors.
Contrary to previous studies on voter ID laws, the researchers used actual voter turnout data, rather than surveys gauging attitudes towards voting.
“By using official turnout data, we eliminate concerns over inflated or biased turnout patterns from self-reported surveys,” said co-author Zoltan Hajnal, a professor of political science at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy. “This analysis provides more precise evidence that strict voter ID laws appear to discriminate.”
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San Diego airport preps for resuming
air travel with new health precautions
As businesses reopen from the pandemic and air travel slowly picks up, San Diego International Airport is being outfitted to handle the increase without compromising public health.
The airport is currently serving around 9,000 departing passengers daily, up from just 2,000 during the worst of the pandemic, but still well under the 40,000 a day at this time last year.
New health precautions at the airport include a mask requirement, cough barriers, extensive signage with health advisories, floor signs urging travelers to stand “one surfboard apart,” and an aggressive program to disinfect all surfaces, from elevator buttons to bathrooms to escalator railings.
“Any things that people touch are cleaned and sanitized on a continuous basis,” said airport spokesman Jonathan Heller.
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Tandem Diabetes Care acquires Sugarmate,
mobile app for people with diabetes
Tandem Diabetes Care Inc., an insulin delivery and diabetes technology company in San Diego, announced its acquisition of Sugarmate, a popular mobile app for people with diabetes who use insulin. Sugarmate will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Tandem Diabetes Care, and will continue to be led by its founder, Josh Juster, who has joined the company as vice president, Sugarmate. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
The Sugarmate app is designed to help people with diabetes visualize diabetes therapy data in innovative ways. It allows users to log glucose data and health and nutrition information, and can provide notifications and alerts to users, their family, and their caregivers.
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Wedding venue owner launches new
mini-wedding business concept
When Gov. Gavin Newsom banned large events and weddings because of the coronavirus pandemic, Cathie Ransom was forced to shut down Paradise Falls, her Oceanside wedding venue that enjoyed a record year in 2019.
“Certainly, when a business is failing it is easy to close the doors due to necessity, but when a business is thriving, it becomes undoubtedly hard,” Ransom laments.
Undeterred, Ransom has started offering mini wedding packages through Los Willows, another wedding venue she owns nearby.
The Mini Wedding packages provide engaged couples looking to get married during the government’s shutdown of large weddings with a smaller wedding concept filled with the right amount of flowers, cake and decorations for 2-10 people.
To get the word out, Ransom employed the assistance of wedding business website designer and SEO specialists at BrianLawrence.com, as well as the wedding marketing experts at the Bridal Marketing Group. Within 45 days, the entire mini wedding concept was developed and launched.
Now, Ransom fills her days booking smaller weddings at her San Diego Wedding Venue area locations in Fallbrook, Los Willows, Vineyard Hills, a luxury villa perfect for destination weddings, and Shadybrook, with a lovely country farmhouse setting.
Because of her quick action, Ransom was able to move and reschedule most of the large weddings she had previously booked for later dates at Los Willows, and refunded deposits of others who had canceled their big wedding bookings.
“It’s been a wild ride, but I believe that when life throws you curves, you reinvent yourself and take time to hear your customer and what they are asking for,” says Ransom.
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Poseida Therapeutics raises
$110 million in Series D financing
Poseida Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in San Diego,
announced the closing of a Series D financing round, raising $110 million. The financing was led by funds advised by Fidelity Management Research Company LLC, with participation by Adage Capital Management and Schonfeld Strategic Advisors. A number of current investors also participated in the financing.
“This financing supports the approach we are taking to leverage our broad proprietary gene engineering platform technologies, including the piggyBac DNA Modification System and Cas-CLOVER site-specific gene editing system, for the creation of numerous differentiated cell and gene therapy product candidates,” said Eric Ostertag, M.D., CEO of Poseida.
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Genentech Foundation grant provides
financial relief to MiraCosta College students
MiraCosta College students trying to make ends meet during the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic are receiving immediate cash payments funded through a $50,000 grant from the Genentech Foundation to the MiraCosta College Foundation’s Student Emergency Response Initiative.
The grant is providing payments of up to $500 to students in need, many of whom are among the 15 percent of San Diego County residents who are now unemployed. A small portion of the grant will also help fund a student worker in the MiraCosta College CARE program, which has been addressing an array of needs during the coronavirus crisis.
“The Genentech Foundation is proud to partner with MiraCosta College, which is among the leading workforce training providers in the region and shares our commitment to equity in education,” said Kristin Campbell Reed, executive director, Genentech Foundation. “Even before the coronavirus pandemic led to widespread job loss and economic uncertainty, a large population of community college students at MiraCosta and throughout California were already struggling financially. We are honored to help make a difference in these students’ lives.”
Last year the Genentech Foundation donated $20,000 for scholarships for students in the MiraCosta College Biotechnology Program.
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Kim Stratman named new administrator
for St. Paul’s Plaza in Chula Vista
St. Paul’s Senior Services announces the promotion of Kim Stratman as the new administrator for St. Paul’s Plaza in Chula Vista.
Stratman joined the St. Paul’s Senior Services team in 2011, and has grown within the organization, serving a number of roles, including manager of supportive housing, center director, and now general manager/administrator.
Stratman is described by her colleagues as person of great integrity with a high level of “can-do” energy. “She gets the job done,” said Marketing Executive Amanda Gois, who has worked with Stratman for nine years. “She is wonderful with the residents, she’s a great listener, and then she turns around and takes action, that’s why she has been so successful in her career.”
The administrator is responsible for leading the day-to-day operations, including evaluating, planning and implementing all aspects of operations, including recruiting, training and supervising all team members, as well as maintaining high customer service for all residents and patient families.
Stratman has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Degree with a concentration in Healthcare Management and her Masters of Science in Management (MSM) with a concentration in Healthcare Management from the Colorado Technical University.
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Insurance chief says insurance companies
will provide $1.2 billion in premium savings
In response to Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara ordering premium relief to policyholders affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, California automobile insurance companies have agreed to provide $1.21 billion in savings to drivers, according to Lara.
That figure includes $1.03 billion in premium relief for more than 18 million policyholders for the months of March, April, and May while Californians struggled during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and an additional $180 million in future rate increases that insurance companies reduced in response to the commissioner’s orders.
“More than $1.2 billion in premium relief and reduced future premiums represents actual savings for California policyholders, many of whom have been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis,” said Lara. “We are still seeing fewer accidents and insurance claims during the pandemic, and I expect the savings to keep growing. The Department of Insurance will continue our review to ensure that premium relief is adequate and fair.”
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California taking Uber, Lyft to court
to force employee reclassification
CalMatters
California is taking Uber and Lyft to court — again — to force the companies to reclassify independent contractor drivers as employees within weeks, a move the ride-hail giants said could lead to a shutdown of services or a massive price hike, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The move comes a month after Attorney General Xavier Becerra and three city attorneys sued Uber and Lyft for failing to comply with AB 5, a new state law making it harder for companies to classify workers as independent contractors. This new legal action would force the companies to treat their workers as employees while the original lawsuit plays out.
Voters will have their say in November. Last month, a measure championed by Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart and Postmates that would allow drivers to remain classified as independent contractors qualified for the November ballot.
