Daily Business Report-Sept. 15, 2020
Rendering of the Comic-Con Museum’s exterior. (Photos courtesy of Comic-Con Museum)
Comic-Con Museum reveals
major renovation plans
for summer 2021 opening
The Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park, reaching the halfway mark in its $34 million fundraising goal, has released renderings and other details about it major renovation project, scheduled for completion in summer 2021.
A few of the museum’s features outlined in its Long-Range Comprehensive Plan include:
- 25,000 square feet of space for rotating exhibits.
- A year-round schedule of programs and experiences such as panels, creator meet-and-greets, experiential cinema, watch parties, eSports, cosplay shows, concerts, and more.
- More than 6,000 square feet of classroom space in the Education Center to serve area educators, community groups and museum visitors seeking additional hands-on enrichment.
- A café with a changing menu of dishes and beverages that are creatively inspired by the themes of the rotating exhibit and program offerings.
- A gift shop with comics and graphic novels, branded souvenirs, art, t-shirts and other collectibles.
- A 4K video theater and presentation space.
Renovations will begin with the Education Center, creating space for learning-focused labs, classes and seminars. A division of the nonprofit San Diego Comic Convention, the Museum aligns with Comic-Con’s mission of advancing the general public’s awareness of and appreciation for comics and popular art. One unique aspect of the museum is its approach to programming, which involves integrating the ideas and creative energy of Comic-Con fans through fan sourcing.
The announcement also introduces the 19 members of the museum’s steering committee including Chair Patti Roscoe. Members consist of local San Diego region leaders and representatives of the pop culture community.
“The Comic-Con Museum brings an exciting and innovative new attraction to Balboa Park and San Diego, for residents and visitors alike,” said Roscoe. “Cultural tourism is on the rise, and we want to contribute to the city’s standing as a leader in popular culture, the creative arts, and Balboa Park’s overall resurgence.”
In 2018, the Museum kicked off its funding campaign, with contributions and sponsorships from stakeholders such as: the City of San Diego; David C. Copley Foundation; DC Entertainment; AT&T; SDG&E; Legler Benbough Foundation; U.S. Bank; ebay, and the Mandell Weiss Charitable Foundation. Most recently, Cox Communications has contributed $175,000 for the Education Center’s Cox Innovation Lab.
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Erratic schedules hardly working
for these stressed employees
SDSU NewsCenter
The barista serving your cappucino may be missing an important exam, and the supermarket courtesy clerk bagging the ingredients for tonight’s dinner could be stressed to the max from lack of sleep.
Unpredictable job schedules — constantly changing hours, 10 hours or less between shifts — can have deeply negative impacts on workers’ health and personal lives, a new study at San Diego State University shows.
Scheduling practices such as short advanced notice and on-call shifts “may be convenient for employers, but come at a tremendous cost to workers,” the study said, with students particularly impacted. Workers left “at the beck and call of their employer,” it reports, are unable to plan social engagements, medical appointments, class attendance, and other important life obligations.
SDSU sociology professor Jill Esbenshade’s findings, published today by the Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) and SDSU’s Center for Community Research and Engagement, highlight the need for policies that support employees’ rights to fair work scheduling practices.
“Employers are shifting all of the risk onto workers by scheduling them at the last minute or assigning them on-call shifts,” said Esbenshade, lead researcher on the report. “The result for workers is that they have no control of their non-work time.”
The study looked at nearly 2,800 hourly workers in San Diego County, mostly in the retail and food-service sectors and drawn heavily from students at SDSU and San Diego City College with off-campus jobs, to examine how employee scheduling practices affect health, family life, financial stability, and academic pursuits.
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UC campuses pilot Google-Apple
notification technology to help
prevent virus outbreaks
The state of California approved a new voluntary pilot program that uses Apple and Google smartphone technology to help rapidly control COVID-19 outbreaks. The pilot is designed to quickly notify individuals when a COVID-19 exposure may have occurred. The program will launch on the campus of UC San Diego, followed by UC San Francisco for any students and employees who decide to opt in.
“The Google Apple Exposure Notification (GAEN) Express tool offers a high-tech, privacy-preserving solution that automates the work of notification for you — without sharing who you are or providing unnecessary digital details that could compromise privacy,” said Christopher Longhurst, M.D., chief information officer for UC San Diego Health. “If the pilot is successful, it will set the foundation for the state to offer voluntary exposure notifications to all Californians using smartphone-based technology.”
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Virtual reality startup and Fujitsu
bring drug design software to Japan
San Diego–based virtual reality startup Nanome Inc. has entered into an agreement with Fujitsu to bring their signature product—an immersive scientific design and collaboration platform—to the Japanese market. The software is already used by more than 15 of the top US-based biopharmaceutical companies.
Nanome became the first VR software company to launch an immersive real-time collaboration platform for scientific discovery in 2015. The software environment accelerates scientific decision making by allowing users to visualize, modify, and simulate biological and chemical compounds, facilitating effective communication of data and integrating with existing computational chemistry workflows.
“Our software enables the analysis of complicated structures in 3D space,” said Nanome COO Keita Funakawa. “It can help gain insights into data that were not accessible using 2D tools.”
Beginning this month, Fujitsu, a multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, will sell Nanome software licenses to Japanese pharmaceutical companies. This places Nanome in one of the largest markets in the world. The startup hopes to expand the partnership to address the needs of chemical engineering and materials science companies.
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New CBD samples box helps
consumers in confusing market
CBD products are on the rise, but with over 3,000 CBD brands in the marketplace, consumers may be confused as to which products to buy. That’s why Darrin Chase of San Diego created CBD Samples Club (https://cbdsamplesclub.com).
Chase’s business provides an opportunity for those across the nation who are interested in the world of CBD to test a variety of brands, products, and delivery methods to discover what works best for their personal needs. From tinctures, to gummies, to infused lotions — and more, these exclusive samples are delivered quarterly to subscribers with each box containing new products to try.
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Foundation for Women Warriors
expands services for women vets
The Foundation for Women Warriors has acquired a warehouse in North County to collect and distribute diapers, baby wipes, formula, car seats, cribs, school supplies, and other essential household goods for women veterans and their families.
The foundation is looking for support from the community through the following:
- Join their team of volunteers and help get them settled into the new warehouse. They could use some extra muscle, attention to detail, and organizational skills. You can sign up here: http://foundationforwomenwarriors.org/join-our-tribe/.
- Collect new and unused items locally. For a list of essential items and to schedule a drop off appointment please email our Operations Manager, Mariana Sosa at msosa@f4ww.org.
- Make a donation. https://foundationforwomenwarriors.org/donations/.
- Purchase an essential item on our Amazon Wishlist https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1CMB85VFZK3VA
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Elion Partners acquires El Cajon
industrial building for $16.3 million
Real estate investment firm Elion Partners has acquired a 110,663-square-foot industrial distribution building located at 1111 Pioneer Way in El Cajon.
The $16.3 million acquisition marks the firm’s official entry into the West Coast real estate market. The firm announced its expansion to the West Coast in April with the addition of James Lambert as its senior managing director of industrial investments. Lambert joined the firm from Amazon Logistics and is heading its acquisitions in the region.
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Scripps Health forms COVID-19
Vaccine Committee
Scripps Health has established a COVID-19 Vaccine Committee to recommend which COVID-19 vaccine or vaccines to consider offering for Scripps patients, employees and physicians.
The team of Scripps’ medical, pharmaceutical and vaccine experts will begin meeting this week. They will review and analyze the leading COVID-19 vaccines from an evidence-based perspective.
“It’s our responsibility as a health care provider to be the voice of science and truth,” said Chris Van Gorder, Scripps president and CEO. “There is a strong potential for public opinion to differ on which COVID-19 vaccine is best, with some people lacking faith in any of them. Our goal, through this committee, is to provide recommendations on a vaccine or vaccines based on an objective review of the available medical data and clinical information.”
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General Atomics’ SeaGuardian
concludes set of maritime tests
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA‑ASI) concluded a set of maritime test flights over the sea-lanes off the coast of Southern California on Sept. 11, using the MQ-9B SeaGuardian Remotely Piloted Aircraft System. This was the first MQ-9B configured for surveillance operations over open-water, and served to demonstrate MQ-9B capabilities in the maritime environment.
“The SeaGuardian’s debut demonstrated persistent situational awareness in the maritime domain for our customers,” said Linden Blue, CEO, GA-ASI. SeaGuardian is an MQ-9B SkyGuardian configured for maritime ISR mission.
The Southern California test flight demonstrated how SeaGuardian can be used for a variety of maritime missions, including surface search, subsurface search, littoral surveillance, anti-piracy and search and rescue.
