Daily Business Report: Friday, July 23, 2021
Housecall Pro joins forces with industry leaders to launch Trade
Academy, a resource for the next generation of tradespeople
Housecall Pro, a software platform used by home services companies to run their business, has launched Trade Academy (www.tradeacademy.com) to help secure the future of the next generation of tradespeople.
Founding sponsors of Trade Academy besides Housecall Pro are WD-40 and TrueWerk.
Trade Academy focuses on delivering value to trade school students, job seekers, and home service business owners alike. The site is a free resource that hosts industry-specific job boards where home service businesses can create an employer profile, post open job listings, and search resumes of qualified candidates in their area.
“When we talk to our customers, we consistently hear that hiring skilled tradespeople is their biggest pain point,” says Ian Heidt, president and cofounder of Housecall Pro. “We are committed to helping those looking for employment get training and find sustainable, high-paying careers. For many young people, the trades are a lucrative alternative to the traditional college path, and not enough people know that.”
“At WD-40 Company, we’re about solving problems, and we’re committed to giving trade professionals the tools and training they need to get the job done right,” says Garry Ridge, chairman and CEO of WD-40 Company.
In addition to the job board and hiring resources, Trade Academy is launching a trade school scholarship fund totalling $25,000 for the 2021-2022 school year. Initially open to candidates in the HVAC/R industry, students planning to enter HVAC/R trade school are eligible to win one of ten $2,500 scholarships to use toward their education.
Bullet train budget battle: should California spend
more on urban transit, not high-speed rail?
CalMatters
Thirteen years after California voters approved $10 billion to build a bullet train stretching from San Francisco to Los Angeles, it’s unclear whether the first section of track — a 119-mile stretch connecting the tiny towns of Madera and Shafter — will ever be finished.
That’s because Newsom and state lawmakers can’t decide whether to fund it: While Newsom proposed pouring $4.2 billion into finishing the first segment, some top Democratic legislators are wondering if more money should go toward improving public transportation in highly-populated areas like Los Angeles, CalMatters’ Marissa Garcia reports.
The Newsom administration, meanwhile, says high-speed rail offers good-paying jobs in the economically struggling Central Valley — though the project has only created about 20 percent of the jobs union leaders and politicians say it has.
City Cruises San Diego to host July 27 job fair
City Cruisessaid its San Diego location will host a job fair on Tuesday, July 27, offering free cruise vouchers for all interviewees. On the heels of the launch of City Experiences,
the new brand name for the company’s water- and land-based portfolio of offerings, City Cruises continues to double down on tourism recovery with a broad range of offerings for prospective candidates and guests alike. Whether working on deck or in the office, City Cruises San Diego offers an opportunity to find a fresh start, experience new things, gain new perspectives and build a new career journey with immediate job openings now available.
Location: The Abbey, 2825 Fifth Ave., San Diego. Time: Noon to 4 p.m.
All job seekers are invited to The Abbey to meet thecrew and explore full-time and part-time opportunities tailored for everybody including bartenders, servers, chefs, cooks, deckhands, officers, captains, mates and more. All interviewees will be eligible to receive a free cruise for two for a future City Cruise experience.
California payday loan activity significantly
declines during pandemic
During an historic pandemic, California’s payday lenders made fewer than 6.1 million loans in 2020, representing a 40 percent decline in loans from 2019 and a 30 percent decline in customers compared to 2019, according to the 2020 Annual Report of Payday Lending Activity Under the California Deferred Deposit Transaction Law. Payday loans are also down by half in terms of dollar volume since 2011.
Key findings include:
• The total dollar amount of payday loans in 2020 was $1.68 billion, down from almost $3.28 billion in 2011.
• Almost 61.8 percent of licensees reported serving customers who received government assistance.
• For the year, 49 percent of payday loan customers had average annual incomes of $30,000 or less, and 30 percent had average annual incomes of $20,000 or less.
• Respondent licensees collected $250.8 million in fees on payday loans in 2020. Of that total, 66 percent – or $164.7 million – came from customers who made seven or more transactions during the year.
Saad Shahzad takes chief revenue officer post at Carlsbad’s Airspace
Saad Shahzad, an executive in tech-enabled logistics, has been named chief revenue officer for Airspace, a logistics company based in Carlsbad.
As chief revenue officer, Shahzad will focus on integrating the company’s revenue-related functions and expanding its global footprint, which includes ownership of the commercial, marketing, and customer success teams in North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia.
Shahzad comes to Airspace with 15 years of experience across investment banking, venture capital, and operating roles. He started his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, and later served as an associate at Norwest Venture Partners. Most recently, Shahzad was general manager, enterprise solutions at Clutter, a tech-enabled logistics provider that operates over 3 million square feet of warehouses. Prior to that, he was head of sales at Gusto, where he scaled the payroll and benefits platform to serve over 100,000 businesses nationwide.
Shahzad holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance, Cum Laude, from University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business.
William A. Hall named interim CEO
of Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce
The board of directors of the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce has appointed William A. Hall as interim chamber CEO.
Hall takes over from Lisa Cohen, who announced her retirement earlier this month.
A graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a U.S. Navy officer from 1974 to 2007, Hall is former president of the board of the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce.
He has served as a Port of San Diego commissioner and as board member of the San Diego Port Tenants Association, World Trade Center San Diego, Scripps Mercy Hospital Foundation, and Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center.
Hall has a long and distinguished private sector career that includes positions as chief executive officer, chief operating officer, and technical director at several small and medium-sized businesses.
DermTech announces new San Diego headquarters
DermTech Inc. has leased a 95,997-square-foot building at 12340 El Camino Real as its new corporate headquarters and the site where the company will process its DermTech Melanoma Test to aid in the early detection of melanoma.
The property will undergo a significant transformation that will include conversion of approximately 30,000 square feet of office space to life science laboratory space, and will become available to the company in four phases.
The first portion of the new building is slated to open in the next couple of months and will include office space for the DermTech team. The next portion of the building is slated to open throughout 2022 and will offer a new state-of-the-art space for the DermTech Gene Lab, further expanding the company’s laboratory capacity to support expected growth in commercial diagnostic test volume.
The lease has a term of 126 months, with two options to extend the lease term for five additional years each. DermTech leased the new building from Los Angeles-based developer Kilroy Realty.
Brian Russell joins CBRE Capital Markets
Brian Russell has joined CBRE Capital Markets as an executive vice president in Southern California.
Russell will focus on office and life sciences investment sales in San Diego and Orange County.
Russell joins from Eastdil Secured, where as a managing director he advised clients on the disposition of the most iconic office assets in Southern California.
During a nearly decade-long commercial real estate career, he has been involved in over $30 billion in office, life sciences, multifamily, industrial and mixed-use transactions.
Prior to beginning his career in commercial real estate, Russell had a successful nine-year professional football career, playing for several teams in the National Football League.
SENTRE acquires Temecula Heights
industrial property for $40.75 million
Real estate investment firm SENTRE has closed on the $40.75 million acquisition of Temecula Heights, a 229,000-square-foot industrial facility located at 42301 Zevo Drive in Temecula. The building is fully leased, with 84 percent of the asset leased to a global leading Fortune 100 medical products company.
SENTRE acquired Temecula Heights at a cost of $178 per square foot. This deal marks SENTRE’s third purchase of industrial property in the Southern California region in 2021, following SENTRE’s purchase of the 75,000+ square-foot Azusa Center for $12.5 million in April, and the 140,000+ square-foot Rancho Bernardo Vista for $50 million in February.
Westcore acquires Camarillo warehouse building
Westcore, a San Diego industrial real estate acquisition, development and asset management firm, has acquired a 117,342-square-foot warehouse building at 201 Flynn Road, in Camarillo, Calif., from Southern California-based Decker-Goetsch Properties for $20 million.
Darla Longo, Barbara Perrier and Eric Cox of CBRE National Partners represented the seller in this transaction, while Westcore represented itself.
UK Ministry of Defence orders 13 more
Protector aircraft from General Atomics
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has ordered 13 additional Protector RG Mk1 Remotely Piloted Air Systems from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. The systems had previously been identified as options. Theinitial contract order was for three Protector RPAS, establishing 16 as the new total of Protectors to be delivered to the UK MoD.
“The contract for the additional 13 Protector aircraft, taking the total to 16, is a major milestone for the UK. When Protector enters service in 2024, UK Defence will take an enormous jump forward in capability, giving us the ability to operate globally with this cutting-edge, highly adaptable platform,” said Air Commodore Richard Barrow, senior responsible owner for the RAF Protector Programme.
