Daily Business Report-April 27, 2021
California home prices take staggering leap
Emily Hoeven | CalMatters
Never has it cost so much to buy a house in California.
The median price for a single-family home shot up to a staggering $758,990 in March — a nearly 6 percent increase from the previous record of $717,930 set in December and a whopping 24 percent increase from March 2020, according to figures released Friday by the state Department of Finance. It’s at least the sixth time the Golden State’s housing market has broken its own record amid the pandemic — it did so five times in 2020 alone, cracking the $700,000 median price mark for the first time in August.
Meanwhile, housing production has strayed farther and farther from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s campaign goal of building 500,000 units annually as the state’s homeless population swells to record levels. California approved permits for 102,800 new housing units in 2020 — an 8.8 percent decrease from 2019, itself a 3.8 percent decrease from 2018. Lawmakers are currently considering a raft of billsto increase affordable housing production after similar efforts faltered in past years.
State Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat: “Until California gets it together and starts to massively build new housing, we’ll continue to see these inflated and unsustainable housing costs.”
State Department approves $1.65 billion remotely
piloted aircraft sale to Australia
The State Department has approved Australia’s request to buy General Atomics-built MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft, related equipment and services under a $1.651 billion foreign military sales agreement.
The transaction includes the purchase of up to 12 units of MQ-9B, Multispectral Targeting systems-D EO/IR sensors, Lynx AN/APY-8 synthetic aperture radars with ground moving target indicator, RIOTM communication intelligence systems, embedded GPS/inertial navigations systems with selective availability anti-spoofing modules and KMU-572 Joint Direct Attack Munitions tail kits for 500-pound bombs, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies and Leonardo will serve as principal contractors in the proposed sale, which will provide Australia with target acquisition and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities to counter existing and future threats.
The FMS agreement also includes government and contractor engineering, staff training and training equipment, aircraft and weapons integration and logistics support services, Leonardo SAGE 750 electronic surveillance measures system, ARC-210 radios and Hellfire training missiles.
Girl Scouts to honor ‘Cool Women of 2021’
Girl Scouts San Diego will honor its Cool Women of 2021 and introduce this year’s Emerging Leader Girl Scouts during an online gathering on Friday, April 30. A unique virtual event platform will allow guests to circulate to congratulate the Cool Women, meet the Emerging Leaders, reconnect with old friends, and make new ones.
A virtual networking session from 11:30 a.m. to noon will precede the program, scheduled for noon-12:45 p.m. A second networking opportunity will follow, from 12:45-1:30 p.m.
The Cool Women of 2021 pictured clockwise from top left):
Dr. Adela de la Torre, President, San Diego State University
Denise Pirrotti Hummel, Founder/CEO, RevWork, Inc.
Rachel Teresa Ivanovich, Founder/Chief Leadership Officer, Easy Life Management, Inc.
Marcella Lee, Anchor/reporter, CBS News 8
Summer Stephan, District Attorney, San Diego County
The Honorable Randa M. Trapp, Judge, San Diego Superior Court
The 42 Emerging Leader Girl Scouts are teens selected for their potential and the outstanding achievements that are already making the world a better place.
For tickets, visit www.sdgirlscouts.org/cw or call 619-610-0807.
Performance Designed Products acquired by Diversis Capital
Performance Designed Products LLC (PDP), a developer of video game accessories and peripherals, announced that it has been acquired by Diversis Capital Partners, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm focused on software and technology-enabled organizations.
Founded in 1990, PDP designs, engineers, and markets a full suite of video game accessories including headsets, controllers, chargers, and protective cases for Xbox, Nintendo, and PlayStation.
PDP sells hardware and software products under their own brands — PDP Gaming, Afterglow, Rock Candy and Victrix – which are sold worldwide, including at Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon, GameStop, and Best Buy. PDP is headquartered in San Diego.
McCullough Landscape Architecture announces
staff additions and promotion
McCullough Landscape Architecture welcomes new staff members: Justin Timko, associate; Kally Gaughan, junior associate; and Carolina Luna, accounting manager. Johanna Mall was recently promoted to associate.
Timko worked in Dallas, first in a support role and eventually as a project leader for a variety of project types and scales. He will be responsible for managing projects from concept to completion, client relations, creating design plans, renderings, construction details and administration.
Timko worked in Dallas, first in a support role and eventually as a project leader for a variety of project types and scales. He will be responsible for managing projects from concept to completion, client relations, creating design plans, renderings, construction details and administration.
Celebrating her second anniversary with McCullough after graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Mall has proven her project management skills, along with her bubbly, positive attitude, earning her the promotion to associate.
Gaughan earned her degree in landscape architecture with a minor in sustainable environments from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2018. She will learn the role of project manager while working with clients, agencies, and other team members.
Luna, a native San Diegan, began her career in the A/E industry about six years ago as an office manager and accounting assistant for an engineering firm. Prior to joining McCullough, she served as a project accountant at an architecture firm.
Researchers trace spinal neuron family tree
Spinal cord nerve cells branching through the body resemble trees with limbs fanning out in every direction. But this image can also be used to tell the story of how these neurons, their jobs becoming more specialized over time, arose through developmental and evolutionary history. Salk researchers have, for the first time, traced the development of spinal cord neurons using genetic signatures and revealed how different subtypes of the cells may have evolved and ultimately function to regulate our body movements.
The findings, published in the journal Science on April 23, 2021, offer researchers new ways of classifying and tagging subsets of spinal cord cells for further study, using genetic markers that differentiate branches of the cells’ family tree.
Port of San Diego to double shore power at cruise terminals
The Port of San Diego is doubling shore power capability at its B Street and Broadway Pier cruise ship terminals to improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on and around San Diego Bay.
The Board of Port Commissioners has approved $4.6 million in funding for the project as well as various agreements related to equipment purchasing, construction and installment of additional shore power equipment that will allow two cruise vessels calling on San Diego to connect to shore power outlets at the same time. This means the ships will not have to run their diesel auxiliary engines while in port.
The Port’s goal is to complete the shore power expansion by September 2022, four months ahead of recently updated California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulations that require essentially all cruise ships calling on California ports to use shore power beginning Jan. 1, 2023.
Having two shore power outlets at the cruise ship terminals will result in at least a 90 percent overall reduction of harmful pollutants such as NOx and diesel particulate matter as well as a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
