Daily Business Report-July 6, 2020
Photo Credit: iStock.com
Buzz Woolley pledges $1.6 million
to prepare young adults for
engineering and tech careers
UC San Diego News Center
Longtime University of California San Diego supporter Buzz Woolley has pledged $1.6 million over the next three years to fund an innovative new initiative that will significantly expand the region’s engineering and technical workforce.
Woolley’s support will help initiate a partnership between UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering and UC San Diego Extension to meet the growing need for a talent pool of workers with advanced technical and engineering skills. Woolley is a retired venture capitalist and entrepreneur, with a focus on supporting K-12 programs in San Diego. This philanthropic gift contributes to the Campaign for UC San Diego.
The initiative, provisionally titled Problem-Solving and Skill-Building for the Technical Workplace, promises to increase youth success in entry-level jobs in technical and engineering industries, as well as better prepare them for postsecondary university engineering degrees.
With this support, the Jacobs School and Extension at UC San Diego will develop an immersive course for high school students and first-year undergraduates offering foundations for success in the workplace of the future and in advanced engineering education based on doing, failing and succeeding. Simultaneously, the effort will create professional development opportunities for secondary teachers to support a pipeline of skilled problem-solvers who are ready-to-work, ready-to-learn high school graduates.
____________________________
Who will redraw California’s electoral map?
Eight selected will pick final six by Aug. 15
CalMatters
Eight of the 14 people who will redraw California’s electoral map — carving its legislative and congressional districts and thus affecting state politics for the next decade — were randomly selected last week by state Auditor Elaine Howle. As former state Senate President Kevin de León pointed out, none were Latino, though Latinos make up about 40 percent of California’s population. Diversity is a stated goal of the independent California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission, but its applicant pool skewed largely white and male.
Of the eight commissioners chosen, four are female and four are male. Three are white, three are Black and two are Asian/Pacific Islander. Three are Republican, three are Democratic and two have no party preference. Four are from Southern California, two from the Bay Area and two from the Central Valley. These eight commissioners will select the final six from a predetermined list by Aug. 15.
____________________________
San Diego biotech cuts breast cancer
treatment time from hours to minutes
San Diego biotech Halozyme and Swiss pharma giant Roche have devised a way to give breast cancer patients a treatment in eight minutes that previously took 2 1/2 hours to administer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved the treatment, which uses a Halozyme technology and will give Halozyme royalties as part of the partnership.
____________________________
Bumble Bee makes $40 million commitment
to accelerate ocean sustainability efforts
Bumble Bee Seafood Company has committed $40 million over the next five years toward protecting the oceans. The fund will focus on ensuring the abundance of tuna stocks, reducing the impact of fishing on other species and working to remove plastics and other waste from the ocean.
____________________________
Startup Koji raises $10 million to help non-techies
create games, memes and other content for social media
San Diego startup Koji, which has developed a template-based platform so non-techies can easily create interactive memes, games and other user generated content to post on social media, has raised $10 million in an initial round of venture capital funding.
The 12-employee company, headed by former Google and Veoh Networks executive Dmitry Shapiro, has assembled a collection of games templates, images, sound effects, icons, color palettes and other content for what it calls “remixing.”
____________________________
San Diego Legion and Ballast Point
Brewing introduce Legion Lager
San Diego Legion, a Major League Rugby (MLR) franchise, is joining forces with Ballast Point to release Legion Lager. The special release beer is available in pints, crowlers and growlers at Ballast Point locations in Southern California, including Home Brew Mart, Little Italy, Long Beach and Miramar.
“San Diego is the ‘Capital of Craft Beer,’ and we wanted to partner with a local craft brewery to create a delicious beer that lives up to this accolade,” said SD Legion president and CEO Ryan Patterson. “Much like Ballast Point is regarded as one of the brewing industry’s pioneers, our team and the rest of the MLR are paving the way for professional rugby in the U.S. We’re proud to call them our ‘official craft beer partner’ for the 2021 season.”
Brewed in celebration of the newly established partnership between Ballast Point and San Diego Legion, the specialty beer will be available now and throughout the 2021 season of Major League Rugby.
____________________________
USS Fitzgerald returns home after 2+years
of restoration following 2017 collision
The guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald arrived at its homeport in San Diego, July 2, following more than two years of restoration and modernization after the warship was damaged during a collision in 2017.
“Returning Fitzgerald to the Fleet has truly been a team effort,” said Cmdr. Scott Wilbur, Fitzgerald’s commanding officer. “I’m incredibly proud of what this crew has done over the last few years, bringing our ship back to the Fleet. We’re happy to be home in San Diego to continue our training. I’m excited for what lies ahead.”
The Fitzgerald crew completed multiple training and certification events, such as Navigation Assessment and Light Off Assessment (LOA), to ensure the crew was at peak readiness to operate the ship. The crew also completed 140 simulator hours prior to starting Basic Phase. Additionally, Fitzgerald already completed three of the 23 certifications, Search and Rescue, Medical, and Anti-Terrorism, which are required for all naval surface ships prior to operational tasking.
____________________________
ReAlign completes acquisition of National
Lloyds and American Summit Insurance companies
ReAlign Insurance Holdings LLC of San Diego announced the completion of its acquisition of National Lloyds Insurance Company and American Summit Insurance Company — collectively, the “Carriers” — from Align NL Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Align Financial Holdings LLC.
The Carriers are Texas-based admitted insurance companies that write specialty personal property insurance including: homeowners, low-value dwelling, mobile and manufactured homes.
As part of the transaction, Align and its affiliates have entered into various agreements to provide program and claims administration services to the Carriers.
