Daily Business Report: Wednesday, June 9, 2021
Citadel Defense secures new San Diego
headquarters as growth accelerates
Citadel Defense, a signal intelligence and electronic warfare technology company, is moving into a new corporate campus in San Diego, claiming demand for its Titan counter drone solutions tripled for the third straight year.
The new headquarters, to be located in Mission Valley, is scheduled to be completed in August. The expansion will support the exponential growth achieved through contracts received from the U.S. military and federal agencies.
The company said Citadel’s footprint in the San Diego region will double over the next 12 months to 60,000 square feet of office and production space. The new space will include a customer training center, increased production capacity, a UAS development garage, unmanned integrated solutions floor, and AI-Center of Excellence.
The improved facilities and expanded manufacturing capacity will match Citadel’s responsiveness to customer’s needs and the rapidly evolving unmanned systems market as military and government customers entrust Citadel Defense as the Prime Contractor for new contracts, according to CEO Christopher Williams.
“The combination of successful contract performance, unprecedented customer satisfaction, and trust that servicemen and servicewomen place in our solutions was critical to making this infrastructure investment,” said Williams. “Our new Innovation Center helps accelerate innovation, increases production capacity, and supports even greater collaboration with our end users – all of which positively impacts mission outcomes.”
PHOTO: Citadel Defense’s new headquarters will be completed in August.
Public agencies spending more on PR
to boost their reputations
By Sofia Mejias Pasco | Contributor to Voice of San Diego
In a promotional recruitment video for the San Diego Police Department, the camera flashes between scenes of SWAT officers bursting out of a tactical vehicle. Cops on four-wheelers speed across a beach, a camera overhead focuses on a passing crowd and police sirens blare as a patrol car races by.
“This is not the next job. This is next level,” the opening words of the video read.
The intense 15-second video is the product of a $350,000 marketing contract between the police department and a private marketing firm with a division devoted to PR work for government agencies. The recruitment campaign was a success, according to the people who made it. The Loma Media website says the video “helped SDPD welcome its largest Academy class in a quarter century,” all through an aggressive branding campaign, targeted outreach and elaborate communication plans.
That was a year after former SDPD police chief Shelley Zimmerman blamed the media for the department’s recruiting challenges in a City Council meeting in 2017. With PR and marketing professionals, police departments can produce an expertly tailored image of themselves for the public.
New Wave Soda announces retail expansion
into Kroger Co. and other specialty grocery stores
San Marcos-based New Wave Soda, the makers of healthy alternative soda options, announced that its “politely caffeinated” beverages are now available for purchase at Kroger Co. stores in Arizona, and across the Pacific Northwest, Northwest, and Southeast markets. This expansion spreads the brand’s retail presence and allows for the company to reach health-conscious consumers seeking to curb their traditional soda addiction.
Founder and CEO Nat Noone set out to find a way to kick his diet soda addiction. Unable to find any healthy options, Noone created New Wave Soda, made of natural ingredients and delicious flavors. Launched in 2017, New Wave Soda became a sparkling water brand to replace traditional soda options. New Wave Soda’s expansion into further retailers will aid the brand in its mission to provide consumers with a better-for-you soda alternative.
All New Wave Soda flavor options are made with 85 percent sparkling water and 15 percent fruit juice for a politely caffeinated, refreshing beverage that is far better for you compared to traditional soda options, according to the company. Flavors include Apple, Blackberry, Blueberry, Cucumber, Mango, and Tangerine. Each flavor option contains no added sugar, no preservatives, no high-fructose corn syrup, and no Stevia or other artificial preservatives.
Healthpeak Properties to build new
life science development in Sorrento Mesa
Healthpeak Properties Inc. of Denver announced it will commence construction of its Sorrento Gateway development located in the Sorrento Mesa area of San Diego.
The Class A development will consist of a five-story building totaling approximately 163,000 square feet located adjacent to Healthpeak’s fully-leased three-building, 196,000-square- foot Sorrento Gateway campus.
The company said the purpose-built lab building will feature cutting edge design, expansive views, excellent I-805 freeway accessibility, flexible and efficient floor plates, and access to fitness and dining amenities.
Sorrento Gateway will be Healthpeak’s third ground-up development in San Diego since 2020, following the successful pre-leasing of The Boardwalk and Callan Ridge campuses in the Torrey Pines submarket. The project is expected to break ground in Q3 2021 and is anticipated to be delivered for initial occupancy in Q1 2023.
Stabilizing gassy electrolytes could make
ultra-low temperature batteries safer
A new technology could dramatically improve the safety of lithium-ion batteries that operate with gas electrolytes at ultra-low temperatures. Nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego developed a separator—the part of the battery that serves as a barrier between the anode and cathode—that keeps the gas-based electrolytes in these batteries from vaporizing.
This new separator could, in turn, help prevent the buildup of pressure inside the battery that leads to swelling and explosions.
“By trapping gas molecules, this separator can function as a stabilizer for volatile electrolytes,” said Zheng Chen, a professor of nanoengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering who led the study.
The new separator also boosted battery performance at ultra-low temperatures. Battery cells built with the new separator operated with a high capacity of 500 milliamp-hours per gram at -40 C, whereas those built with a commercial separator exhibited almost no capacity. The battery cells still exhibited high capacity even after sitting unused for two months—a promising sign that the new separator could also prolong shelf life, the researchers said.
The team published their findings June 7 in Nature Communications.
Barnhart-Reese Construction awarded five contracts
renovation and construction projects in the county
Barnhart-Reese Construction has been awarded five new contracts totaling $37.7 million. The announcement comes as BRC approaches its thirteen years in business.
For the City of Carlsbad, BRC has been awarded a contract to build a replacement for its Fire Station No 2. The $11.2 million project will include the demolition of the existing fire station located at 1906 Arenal Road in Carlsbad, and construction of a new fire station at the same location.
The Balboa Park Auto Museum will soon be receiving a much-awaited restoration. BRC was awarded a $637,165 contract from The Committee of One Hundred to re-create decorative elements of the museum. The work is expected to begin in March.
A $15,899,658 design-build contract was awarded to BRC by the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton for internal and external repairs to the Bachelors’ Enlisted Quarters.
Also, at Camp Pendleton, BRC was awarded an $8,120,000 design-build contract for renovation and repairs to Mess Hall Building 2403. All work is expected to be completed by November 2021. The Design-build partner architect is Delawie.
The San Dieguito Unified High School District appointed BRC a $1,900,000 contract for the modernization of its 17,690-square-foot, two-story district offices.
JuneShine accelerates nationwide growth
with Series A led by celebrity investors
JuneShine, a kombucha brewery in San Diego, has raised a Series A from a number of the United State’s leading early stage investors and celebrity ambassadors as it aims to accelerate its nationwide growth and inspire people to rethink the way they drink by brewing an organic, transparent and sustainable hard kombucha made with real ingredients, and low in sugar.
The funding round was completed through celebrity investors led by musical artist Diplo (Thomas Wesley Pentz), comedian Whitney Cummings, YouTube star Cody Ko, U.S. Women’s National Team’s Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger, Outdoor Voices’ founder Ty Haney, and Singer / Songwriter Ashe. Additional investment from existing investors was led by Litani Ventures, Peter Rahal and Amberstone Ventures.
The company said the funding will facilitate accelerating growth across the U.S., and increase production capacity and innovation.
Blooma raises $15 million in Series A funding
San Diego-based Blooma, an AI-powered digital underwriting platform for commercial real estate, announced the close of a $15 million Series A investment round. Canapi Ventures led the round with participation from existing investor Nyca Partners.
The Series A funding will be used to drive continued execution of Blooma’s product roadmap and support the hiring of key personnel to enable Blooma to better serve its quickly-growing base of commercial bank, private bank and broker customers in the CRE segment.
Calidi Biotherapeutics announces partnership
with GenScript ProBio for tech distribution
Calidi Biotherapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company at the forefront of stem cell-based delivery of oncolytic viruses, announced its partnership with GenScript ProBio, the biopharmaceutical contract research organization and contract development and manufacturing organization segment of the global biotechnology company, GenScript, Inc., for assistance in the advertisement and distribution of Calidi’s proprietary technology platform: SuperNova-1 (SNV-1).
The SNV-1 platform is composed of allogeneic, adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells) loaded with an oncolytic agent such as the vaccinia virus. Calidi’s research has shown the potential ability of the SNV-1 platform to shield the viral payload from the immune system, supporting efficient delivery to tumor sites and effectively potentiating oncolytic viruses.
