Daily Business Report-Nov. 6, 2020
CalMatters illustration
Voters help big business override California lawmakers
Special interests that are thwarted in the California
Capitol attempt end run around new laws they don’t like
By Laurel Rosenhall | CalMatters
Jeff Clayton remembers the day, two years ago, when California passed a law that would put his industry out of business in the state. The ban on money bail — which Democrats advanced saying it would bring more fairness in the criminal justice system — would devastate companies in the American Bail Coalition that Clayton heads.
He phoned a political consultant in Sacramento, who told him: “You guys are the plastic bag guys now,” Clayton recalled.
Translation: If you want your industry to survive in California, do what plastic companies did after the state outlawed single-use plastic bags. Put up millions of dollars to ask voters to overturn the law on the ballot.
So bail companies spent $11 million on a campaign to overturn California’s ban on cash bail — a gamble that paid off this week when voters defeated Proposition 25.
“The California Legislature tends to go too far at times,” Clayton said. “As long as that stands, I think many businesses will be put in a position to have to do something like this.”
Asking voters to repeal or overhaul a law passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature is becoming a common strategy for corporations financially threatened by progressive policies coming out of Sacramento. Ride-hailing companies succeeded at it this week, too, convincing voters to pass Proposition 22 and exempt Uber and Lyft from state labor law.
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Public trust in science on the
rise during COVID-19 pandemic
Awareness and understanding among public increased, skepticism declined
When sweeping lockdowns changed nearly every aspect of daily life in March, the world sat up and took notice of the novel coronavirus. Since then, terms such as social distancing, aerosols, asymptomatic, and superspreaders have become common parlance.
And the general public has begun paying attention to news about testing and vaccine development and trusting science and scientists much more than the pre-COVID-19 era, a 3M report on the state of science found.
Surveying more than 1,000 people in 14 countries before the pandemic, then again in 11 countries during the pandemic, 3M researchers found that trust in science has increased to a three-year high. Skepticism has decreased well below pre-pandemic levels to 28 percent — politics notwithstanding.
Veteran scientists from different San Diego State University colleges found this to be largely true among their own circles of family and friends, and amidst the public. Each weighed in on how to build on this trust going forward.
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San Diego has the 11th highest percentage
of women employed in construction
Out of all large U.S. cities, San Diego has the 11th highest percentage of women employed in the construction industry, according to Construction Coverage. Here, 13.3 percent of all construction workers are women.
According to Construction Coverage for the San Diego area:
- Female employment share in the construction industry: 13.3 percent.
- Total female employment in the industry: 1,136,672.
- Total male employment in the construction industry: 27,919
- Medium earnings for full-time workers in the construction industry.
Women employed in construction tend to earn higher wages than women across all industries, which is not true for men. Researchers identified the cities with the largest female employment share in the construction industry and included total construction employment figures and median earnings in the industry for each location.
For the full report, click here
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Qualcomm CEO calls 2020 an ‘extraordinary year’
as company reports large fourth quarter
Reporting its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2020 results on Wednesday, Qualcomm Incorporated CEO Steve Mollenkopf reflected on an “extraordinary year” both in terms of transitioning the company’s 40,000-plus workforce to limit the need for on-site employees in response to the COVID-19 panic, as well as working with global partners to scale out 5G network availability and consumer adoption.
Qualcomm’s non-GAAP revenues hit $6.5 billion in the fourth quarter, up 35 percent compared to the same quarter last year; net income in the quarter was up 76 percent year-over-year to $1.67 billion. For full-year 2020, the San Diego-based company reported non-GAAP net income of $4.8 billion, up 11 percent from 2019.
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New Class A industrial development
in Otay Mesa capitalized
JLL Capital Markets announced that it has arranged a joint venture equity partnership and senior construction financing for the development of California Crossings, a to-be-built, two-building, Class A industrial facility totaling 449,680 square feet in the San Diego industrial submarket of Otay Mesa.
JLL worked on behalf of the developer, San Diego-based Sudberry Properties, to arrange a JV venture equity partnership with a global investment manager.
California Crossings will be situated on 28.99 acres on Otay Mesa Road in San Ysidro one mile from the U.S.-Mexico International Border, which will offer tenants the ability to store goods duty free and have direct access to international trade and an expanded labor force.
The buildings will have state-of-the-art industrial space and feature minimum clear heights ranging from 30 to 32 feet, concrete truck yards with ample turnaround space, a small mezzanine build out, 126 dock-high doors and nine grade-level doors.
The JLL Capital Markets Debt and Equity Placement team representing the seller was led by Senior Managing Director Aldon Cole, Managing Director Bryan Clark and Analyst Brad Vansant.
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‘Monster tumors’ could offer new glimpse
at human development
Finding just the right model to study human development—from the early embryonic stage onward—has been a challenge for scientists over the last decade. Now, bioengineers at the University of California San Diego have homed in on an unusual candidate: teratomas.
Teratomas—which mean “monstrous tumors” in Greek—are tumors made up of different tissues such as bone, brain, hair and muscle. They form when a mass of stem cells differentiates uncontrollably, forming all types of tissues found in the body. Teratomas are generally considered an undesired byproduct of stem cell research, but UC San Diego researchers found an opportunity to study them as models for human development.
Researchers report their work in a paper published Nov. 4 in Cell.
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Ginny Beneke elected
chair of the Chairmen’s Roundtable
Ginny Beneke has been elected as the first woman chair of the Chairmen’s Roundtable (CRT) in the nonprofit’s 20-year history. CRT is a San Diego organization that provides pro-bono mentoring to CEOs of private businesses in the greater San Diego area.
Beneke succeeds Paul Thiel, who will remain on the board as chairman emeritus and vice chair, mentor development.
Beneke has held executive positions as CEO, president/GM, and CMO in the fields of technology and education. Having spent half her career with top Fortune 100 companies (AT&T, Exxon, Xerox Corporation) and the other half with medium-size and start-up organizations, she brings a broad business perspective that helps CRT serve its clients.
The balance of its 2020 board of directors appointments: Malcom Bund – Chief Financial Officer; Paul Thiel – Vice Chair, Mentor Development; Frank Creede – Vice Chair, Program Development; Dennis Dillon – Vice Chair, Client Acquisition; David Grooms – Vice Chair, Client Satisfaction; Robert Hill – Vice Chair, Outreach; Greg Peiratt – Vice Chair, Sponsor Development; Rob Weinberg – Vice Chair, Marketing; and Kristi Cerasoli, Executive Director.
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Headline News: Botox injections may lessen depression
Botox, a medication derived from a bacterial toxin, is commonly injected to ease wrinkles, migraines, muscle spasms, excessive sweating and incontinence. Forehead injection of the medication is also currently being tested in clinical trials for its ability to treat depression.
Researchers at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California San Diego have mined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Adverse Effect Reporting System (FAERS) database to see what nearly 40,000 people reported happened to them after treatment with Botox for a variety of reasons.
In the study, published July 30, 2020 in Scientific Reports , the team discovered that people who received Botox injections — at six different sites, not just in the forehead — reported depression significantly less often than patients undergoing different treatments for the same conditions.
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16th annual Mama’s Pies
Thanksgiving Bake Sale Now open
Mama’s Kitchen’s annual Mama’s Pies Thanksgiving Bake Sale is now underway. The annual event helps raise critical funds for the nonprofit to provide nutrition services to San Diegans vulnerable to hunger due to HIV, cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and now chronic kidney disease.
Volunteers sell Thanksgiving pies baked and donated by local caterers, restaurants and bakeries. This year’s bake sale brings back beloved bakers, including Behind the Scenes Catering & Events, Sugar and Scribe, Twiggs Bakery & Coffeehouse, Wyndham Destinations, Jenny Wenny Cakes and more, as well as new bakers like Southside Biscuits.
San Diego’s top pastry chefs, caterers and bakeries will donate their time and talent to bake 3,000 traditional Thanksgiving pies to help Mama’s Kitchen reach its goal of raising $125,000 during the six-week sales period to fund 50,000 meals to benefit the organization’s clients.
Online pie sales continue through Nov. 21. Pie flavors include pumpkin, traditional apple, pecan and Dutch apple, and are available for $30 each. Buyers may select one of the 11 drive-through public pickup sites when placing their orders and can pick up their pies on Nov. 25.
For more information, call 619-233-6262.
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David Rainer named executive
chairman of Southern California Bancorp
Southern California Bancorp, the holding company for Bank of Southern California, N.A., announce that David I. Rainer has been named executive chairman of the board of directors of the company, and of the bank.
Rainer served as a founder, chairman and CEO of CU Bancorp and its wholly owned subsidiary California United Bank from 2005 through its sale in 2017. Prior to that, he served as EVP of Commercial Banking for the Western U.S. at US Bank. Previously, he was the president and CEO of California United Bank, through its sale in 1999.
After nearly 20 years as chairman, John Farkash will assume the role of chairman emeritus and director of Southern California Bancorp.
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Insurance commissioner issues
moratorium on policy cancellations
Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara issued a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance companies non-renewing or cancelling residential property insurance policies—helping 2.1 million policyholders, or 18 percent of California’s residential insurance market, affected to date by the record 2020 wildfire season. The Commissioner’s action implements a California law that he authored in 2018 while serving as state senator in order to provide temporary relief from non-renewals to residents living within or adjacent to a declared wildfire disaster.
The announcement also affects nearly 364,000 policyholders who were included in last year’s moratorium, giving these particular policyholders an additional period of protection.
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Art exhibition celebrates
Native American Heritage
An art exhibition celebrating Native American Heritage Month opens Friday at EC Galleries in Solana Beach.
The retrospective presents the extraordinary artwork and sculpture of world-renowned Native American Artists George Rivera, Raymond Nordwall, LX Lewis, Nacona Burgess and Jeremy Swentzell.
The works will be on exhibition both in-gallery and digitally and available for acquisition. A reception will take place at the gallery on Friday from 5-8 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 3 p.m.
Join Artist George Rivera & a Pop-Up Trunk Show with world-renowned jeweler Cody Sanderson in-person at EC Gallery. Attendance is complimentary and RSVPs are suggested at 800-599-7111 or pr@ecgallery.com. Visit http://ecgallery.com/ for more info.
EC Gallery is located at 212 South Cedros Ave. in Solana Beach.
