Daily Business Report: May 28, 2021
CEO and board are out at Volunteers of America Southwest
Following revelations of alleged fraud and mismanagement
By Will Huntsberry | Voice of San Diego
Major fallout continues at one of San Diego’s largest charitable organizations, Volunteers of America Southwest, following revelations of alleged fraud and mismanagement.
The entire board of trustees and CEO Gerald McFadden, who was implicated in the allegations, have left the organization, a spokesman for the national office of Volunteers of America said.
Volunteers of America Southwest is a local chapter of the national organization. But now, in the wake of the allegations, the national office is subsuming the local chapter. And the local chapter’s governing board of trustees has been dissolved.
Volunteers of America Southwest provides treatment and housing to veterans, the homeless and people struggling with addiction. In 2019, it brought in $23 million to help achieve this mission. Much of its money comes from local, state and federal government agencies.
But the organization was misusing public funds and committing potential fraud, according to auditors for San Diego County and two whistleblowers.
McFadden “allowed it to go on. He was presented with evidence of what was going on and he chose to allow it to continue. That was his decision,” said James McGowan, a former finance worker at the nonprofit who said he brought suspicious payments to McFadden’s attention. “I’m glad to see that finally some justice is getting done.”
PHOTO: Illustration by Adriana Heidiz/Voice of San Diego)
San Diego Workforce Partnership receives $310,000
grant to help locals secure quality jobs, launch careers
The San Diego Workforce Partnership has received a $310,000 grant from Together Toward Health, a program of the Public Health Institute, to fund a new behavioral health job training program. It is part of a statewide initiative to expand workforce development opportunities for Californians most impacted by COVID-19 and amplify outreach efforts to stop the spread of the virus.
Workforce Partnership’s newest paid training program is aimed at helping San Diegans launch meaningful careers in behavioral and mental health care.
The grant is in place from now until Dec. 31, 2021. Funding from the grant will provide 120 hours of paid behavioral health and job readiness training, stipends, supportive services and child care solutions to program participants. Workforce Partnership will prioritize the recruitment of women, refugees, youth, and Black and Latino community members for the paid behavioral health program.
People interested in participating can share their interest and be notified when program applications open.
Allegiant Air begins seasonal service to five
destinations from San Diego International Airport
Allegiant Air has begun seasonal nonstop service from San Diego International Airport to Mesa Ariz. via Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. The airline will begin seasonal nonstop service to Kalispell, Mont. via Glacier Park International Airport and Pasco, Wash. via Tri-Cities Airport today. Flights to all three destinations will be offered until Aug. 16. Beginning June 3, Allegiant Air will offer nonstop service to Bozeman, Mont. via Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport through Aug. 15. Beginning July 1, Allegiant Air will offer nonstop service to Des Moines, Iowa via Des Moines International Airport through Aug. 15.
“We appreciate Allegiant adding seasonal service just in time for the summer travel season,” said Kimberly Becker, president and CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. “These new destinations are gateways to recreational areas like Tonto National Forest, Glacier National Park, the Columbia Valley wine country, and Yellowstone National Park.”
The new routes join other seasonal nonstop flights already offered by Allegiant Air to Billings, Mont., El Paso, Texas, Eugene, Ore., Idaho Falls, Ida., Las Vegas, Nevada, and Medford, Ore. To view the latest schedules, fares, and flight times, please visit allegiantair.com.
General Atomics to provide mid-life update
to Italian Air Force MQ-9 RPA
The Italian Air Force has partnered with the U.S. Government and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) to provide a mid-life update to its fleet of MQ-9 Remotely Piloted Aircraft and Ground Control Stations as part of a foreign military sales agreement.
The Italian Air Force’s Mid-Life Modernization Program will include updates to the MQ-9s which will improve them from Block 1 to Block 5 configuration. The Block 5 system includes a significantly increased electrical power capability, improved landing gear and the latest versions of the GA-ASI Lynx Multi-mode Radar and Raytheon Electro-Optical sensors.
“The Italian Air Force has long been a leader in the utilization of MQ-9 RPA to support a wide range of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions in Italy, over the Mediterranean, and in support of NATO operations,” said GA-ASI European Regional Vice President Scott Smith. “These enhancements give Italian forces the ability to see better and more clearly than ever with their MQ-9 RPAs and we’re proud to work with the ItAF to update their existing fleet.”
New study shows how to boost muscle
regeneration and rebuilt tissue in older people
One of the many effects of aging is loss of muscle mass, which contributes to disability in older people. To counter this loss, scientists at the Salk Institute are studying ways to accelerate the regeneration of muscle tissue, using a combination of molecular compounds that are commonly used in stem-cell research.
In a study published on May 25, 2021, in Nature Communications, the investigators showed that using these compounds increased the regeneration of muscle cells in mice by activating the precursors of muscle cells, called myogenic progenitors. Although more work is needed before this approach can be applied in humans, the research provides insight into the underlying mechanisms related to muscle regeneration and growth and could one day help athletes as well as aging adults regenerate tissue more effectively.
“Loss of these progenitors has been connected to age-related muscle degeneration,” says Salk Professor Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, the paper’s senior author. “Our study uncovers specific factors that are able to accelerate muscle regeneration, as well as revealing the mechanism by which this occurred.”
Sunrise Management adds four multifamily
projects to San Diego County portfolio
San Diego-based Sunrise Management, which specializes in managing multifamily properties since 1978, has added four San Diego multifamily communities totaling 336 units to its portfolio.
The company will assume the marketing, leasing and day-to-day operations of the following San Diego properties:
Mellmanor, 170 units in La Mesa
Villa Morocco, 107 units in La Mesa
Cajon Villa, 34 units in El Cajon
Hillcrest Palms, 25 Units in Hillcrest
With these latest additions, Sunrise now oversees 139 properties and 5,455 units throughout San Diego County, said Greenblatt.
“These new properties expand our San Diego presence, where we have operated for more than 40 years, positioning us for further growth throughout the region,” said Joe Greenblatt, Sunrise CEO and president.
UC San Diego’s Rady School sees record enrollment
With a record enrolled class of students, the University of California San Diego’s Rady School of Management is adding a flex Master of Science in business analytics (Flex MSBA) to its highly sought after business degree programs. As the only part-time program of its kind in Southern California, the flex MSBA is designed to serve the region’s data-rich industries in medicine, technology and defense, among others.
Total enrollment at Rady for fall 2020 was up 34 percent compared to last year. The full-time master’s program in business analytics had an 80 percent jump in enrollment this year, while part-time programs, such as the flex weekend MBA, increased by 180 percent.
“The growing reputation of the Rady School as a data-driven, rigorous and analytical top business school continues to attract top talented students locally and internationally,” said Lisa Ordóñez, dean of the Rady School of Management.
Applications to the business school for fall 2021 are still open but are up 15 percent compared to this same time last year.
Petco announces pricing of secondary offering
Petco Health and Wellness Company Inc. announced the pricing of the previously announced underwritten secondary offering by the company’s principal stockholder, Scooby Aggregator LP, of 22,000,000 shares of the company’s Class A common stock at a price to the public of $24 per share. In addition, the selling stockholder has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,300,000 shares of its Class A common stock. The selling stockholder will receive all of the proceeds from the offering. The company is not offering any shares of its common stock in the offering and will not receive any proceeds from the offering, including from any exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares.
