Daily Business Report-March 2, 2021

Vista’s Flux Power, maker of lithium-ion batteries for products such as this walkie palet jack, grew staff and revenue in 2020. (Courtesy of Flux Power)

New study says North County’s manufacturing

industry poised for recovery and growth

Innovate78’s newly-released industry study, The Future of Manufacturing in North County, finds the industry will continue to prove its resiliency and positive economic impact in the region—even amid trends in automation, globalization and COVID-19 ramifications.

According to the study, manufacturing accounts for $18 billion annually (or 7 percent) of the area’s economy, and while many of the 813 local manufacturing firms were impacted by coronavirus, 58 percent of survey respondents are looking to increase their space.

The study analyzes trends in employment, which is concentrated in high-value goods like computer and electronic product manufacturing. This sub-industry specifically accounts for nearly one-third of all manufacturing jobs in North County, with 12,746 employees of the total 40,151 jobs reported in the study. This number is expected to grow nearly 6 percent in the next five years—continuing to position manufacturing as a key driver of North County’s economy.

Flux Power, a company represented in the study that manufactures advanced lithium-ion battery for industrial and commercial equipment, increased both their staff and revenue in 2020 amid the pandemic. With more than 100 employees, the Vista-based company is now looking to increase both its production and nonproduction space within the region.

 

State leaders present $6.6 billion budget

package to reopen California Schools

Governor Gavin Newsom, Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon on Monday highlighted an agreement on a $6.6 billion budget package to accelerate the safe return to in-person instruction across California and empower schools to immediately expand academic, mental health and social-emotional supports, including over the summer.

All public schools would be required to offer in-person instruction to grades K-2 for all students and for high-needs students in all grades by the end of the month, losing 1 percent of eligible funds every day thereafter if they do not. Schools in the state’s Red Tier or better would be required to offer in-person instruction to all students in all elementary grades and at least one middle or high school grade, or risk the same penalty. Together, these requirements help ensure schools begin to reopen as soon as possible, in order to build trust and confidence to continue phased reopenings.

 

$44.4 million in MetropolitanWater District

overcharges to be returned to local agencies

The San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors today announced a plan to distribute a rebate of $44.4 million to its 24 member agencies across the region after receiving a check for that amount from the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to pay legal damages and interest.

The money resulted from the Water Authority’s decade-long rate case litigation in state Superior Court seeking to compel MWD to set legal rates and repay overcharges. The Water Authority won several critical issues in cases covering 2011-2014 and was deemed the prevailing party, which means the agency is also owed legal fees and charges in addition to the recent damages and interest payment from MWD.

According to the Water Authority board, the $44.4 million will be returned to member agencies in proportion to their overpayments between 2011-2014.

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Katherine Johnston hired as first executive

director of San Diego Parks Foundation

Katherine Johnson has been hired as the first executive director of the San Diego Parks Foundation. Johnston currently serves as the chair of the City of San Diego’s Parks and Recreation Committee and Balboa Park Committee. Most recently, she served as vice resident of Presidio PAG Inc., where she managed a portfolio of nonprofit and corporate clients.
Prior to her work at Presidio, Johnston served as a senior policy and communications advisor to former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer. In this role, she managed the development and legislative approvals of the city’s annual $3.3 billion budget, oversaw the administration’s economic development and workforce development initiatives, and spearheaded major capital and environmental projects.

 

Caroline Johnson:

Adventure in a Navy flghter jet

Caroline Johnson will share her experiences as a woman in the military, and how she is helping to empower the next generation. Caroline was one of two female aviators in her 230-person unit, and one of the only 1.7 percent women flying fighter jets in the Navy.

She deployed in 2014 aboard the USS George HW Bush and saw combat action in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria and was the first woman to employ weapons on ISIS in Iraq from her F/A-18.

Join Caroline Johnson on her adventures flying F/A-18 fighter jets in the US Navy.

You’ll experience: the precision of landing on an aircraft carrier, the courage of going behind enemy lines in combat, and the strength to succeed as a woman in a male-dominated profession.

Johnson is one of the featured speakers at the 2021 San Diego Women’s WeekMarch 15-19 sponsored by the North San Diego Business Chamber

 

Cubic wins $92 million contract to

update Navy courseware

GovCon Wire

Cubic will design, develop and test training materials for the U.S. Navy’s Relevant Ready Learning program under a potential four-year, $92.4 million contract.

The company will also help the service branch prepare course pilot and train-the-trainer programs as part of the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, the Department of Defense said.

The Navy intends to use modernized courseware for training personnel such as minemen, fire control technicians and aviation structural mechanics.

Five offers were submitted to the Naval Air Warfare Center for the contract via a competitive bidding process. Work will take place in Orlando, Florida, through February 2025.

 

SDG&E purchases more than 40 percent

in goods and services from small suppliers

San Diego Gas & Electric sustained small and diverse suppliers by buying more than 40 percent in goods and services from them, according to the company’s newly released 2020 supplier diversity annual report.

Overall, SDG&E injected more than $2 billion into the economy last year, the highest level of expenditures on goods and services in the company’s 140-year history. The company invested $872 million on small and diverse suppliers, representing 41.6 percent of the total expenditures – far exceeding the 21.5 percent goal set by the California Public Utilities Commission’s. Last year also marks the eighth consecutive year that SDG&E’s supplier diversity spending surpassed 40 percent.

 

MiraCosta College Brew Tech program recognized

MiraCosta College’s craft brewing program has been recognized as the only community college certificate program of its kind in California meeting the standards set by the Master Brewers Association of the Americas.

Certification by the Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MBAA) assures that the BrewTech Program at MiraCosta College meets an array of standards, such as preparing students for entry-level positions at either large-scale or craft brewing business, employing a lead faculty member with extensive experience as a leader of an operating brewery, allows for industry internships, and provides adequate facilities needed to hone techniques and skills.