Daily Business Report: Aug. 17, 2021
Vegan fast-food chain opens second college
campus location at UC San Diego
Plant Power Fast Food opened its newest location in the North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood development on the campus of UC San Diego. This new location marks the ninth restaurant currently open and the second to be included on a college campus.
This is Plant Power Fast Food’s first foray into a mixed use commercial residential development on a university campus. The location features indoor and outdoor dining, mobile ordering and pick up and will offer Uber Eats and Postmates third party delivery services to the local community.
Co-Founder and Co-CEO Mitch Wallis spoke about the strategic intention to offer plant-based fast-food to the students at UC San Diego: “Gen Z’ers are the most educated college students in history and it’s only natural that they would demand a plant-based, sustainable, and cruelty free diet which has proven to be best for both human health and our eco-system.”
Plant Power Fast Food has experienced unparalleled growth since opening its first restaurant in 2016. According to Co-Founder and Co-CEO Jeffrey Harris, “We are on track to our goal of 15 restaurants by the close of 2022.” The C\company opened in Sacramento in May of this year and has six new locations in active development including its first location outside of California in Las Vegas, Hollywood near the Paramount Studios, San Clemente, and in the Carmel Mountain area of San Diego.
PHOTO: Plant Power Fast Food at UC San Diego
California’s complex unemployment picture
CalMatter
California’s unemployment situation is looking iffy. Even as desperate businesses beef up benefits to attract workers — offering everything from yoga classes to therapy to 401(k)s — nearly 69,000 Californians filed new jobless claims for the week ending Aug. 7, federal data show. That’s an increase of more than 6,000 from the week before and the state’s highest total in nearly three months — a stark contrast from the nation overall, which saw new claims drop by 12,000. And although California’s problem-plagued Employment Development Department is making progress on its claims backlog, more than 216,000 claims had been stuck in the logjam for at least three weeks as of Aug. 7.
Further complicating matters, the federal $300 weekly unemployment supplement and a host of other federal jobless programs are slated to expire on Sept. 4, throwing millions of Californians into limbo. Experts say this could push some low-wage workers to reenter the job market, though opportunities in other sectors remain scarce.
Scripps Health requiring employees to be
fully vaccinated to continue to be employed
Scripps Health said that to comply with the state’s public health order, all of its employees must be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30 or qualify for a religious or medical exemption to continue being employed.
This month, California mandated coronavirus vaccination for all health care workers, affecting more than 2 million people. The order the Department of Public Health references the delta variant, a new version of the virus that is more contagious and can “cause more severe illness.”
“Increasing numbers of health care workers are among the new positive cases, despite vaccinations being prioritized for this group when vaccines initially became available,” said Dr. Tomás J. Aragón, California’s public health officer.
Oceanside 208-unit multifamily property sold
for $110 million to Property West Residential
Capella at Rancho del Oro, a 284-unit multifamily property in Oceanside, has been sold for $110 million — which equates to $387,324 per unit — to Property West Residential, a local family office.
“The total sales price is the highest on record for an apartment transaction in Oceanside,” said Christopher J. Zorbas, Institutional Property Advisors (IPA) executive managing director investments.
Zorbas, Tyler Martin, vice president, and Alexander Garcia Jr., IPA executive managing director investments, represented the seller, FPA Multifamily, and procured the buyer.
Pacific Building Group completes
law office remodel for Knobbe Martens
General contractor Pacific Building Group has completed a full office remodel for Knobbe Martens, an intellectual property and technology law firm. Located at 3579 Valley Centre Drive in Del Mar Heights, the reimagined office space spans nearly 49,000-square-feet across three floors. The nearly $3.5 million tenant-improvement project marks the seventh law office remodel Pacific Building Group has completed in San Diego county over the past three years.
Pacific Building Group started the project with select demolition work on the second and third floors, and completely demolished the first floor and patio. The construction team then refreshed the firm’s offices, reception area, conference rooms and breakrooms, and completely built out the first floor and patio.
Part of the build-out included two large steel trellises on the patio and a large conference center and catering kitchen on the first floor.
Pacific Building Group worked with the design team at ID Studios. Other key participants on the project included CBRE, Kilroy Realty, Coffman Engineers and H+W Engineering. Pacific Building Group team members on the project included Butch Miller, Deena Isa, Yan Melentyev and Spencer Knapp.
Viasat makes Internet service access easier
for Mexico consumers and businesses
Communications company Viasat says it has made accessing its Internet service easier for consumers and businesses across Mexico by offering new simplified payment options — now available at OXXO’s 21,000 convenience stores across Mexico.
According to PYMNTS.com “Global Cash Index Americas Edition,’ cash spending by consumer and small and medium businesses make up approximately 90 percent of all transactions in Mexico. With Viasat’s new payment options, consumers and businesses who were previously unable to engage in non-cash financial transactions due to lack of credit, access to bank accounts and credit cards, will now have the ability to make cash payments for Viasat’s Internet service at participating OXXO convenience stores.
Claudia Escala and Ray Varela promoted to
co-president positions at Carrier Johnson + Culture
Gordon R. Carrier, chairman and CEO of Carrier Johnson + CULTURE, an architecture firm in San Diego, announced the promotion of Claudia Escala, principal, and Ray Varela, design principal, to positions as co-presidents of the firm.
In their new roles, Escala and Varela will lead collaboratively in conjunction with Carrier. Both bring to Carrier Johnson’s leadership team a solid business acumen, creative design thinking, and unique ability to connect with people while mentoring colleagues. The duo will be responsible for overall firm vision, project leadership, as well as design and business development strategy across all three of the firm’s offices.
As design principal, Varela has worked alongside Carrier for 23 years. He has been an integral part of the firm’s most high-profile corporate office developments and higher education buildings. Escala is a principal and project leader for numerous high-profile mixed-use developments while leading the firm’s establishment and growth of Carrier Johnson’s Seattle office.
Carrier will continue as CEO and chairman of Carrier Johnson + Culture.
Connie Cooper Shepherd joins Bumble Bee
Seafood Company as a senior vice president
The Bumble Bee Seafood Company is adding Connie Cooper Shepherd to its senior leadership team as senior vice president of strategy and business development.
Shepherd will be responsible for overseeing the company in its efforts to drive forward new revenue streams, sales, marketing and organizational strategy, and product innovation.
Shepherd’s 30 years of experience building high-profile organizations includes working with industry-leading consumer and retail brands including executive-level positions at Starbucks, Procter & Gamble, The Hershey Company, and Kellogg.
Shepherd joins the Bumble Bee leadership team this month. In February, the company announced the addition of Leslie Hushka, senior vice president of global corporate social responsibility, to oversee sustainability and social responsibility efforts for the 120-year-old seafood company.
Living Coast Discovery Center raises
$110,000 at 12th annual Farm to Bay event
The Living Coast Discovery Center, a nonprofit zoo/aquarium located on San Diego Bay in Chula Vista, raised $110,000 in net proceeds at its 12th annual Farm to Bay event on Saturday, Aug. 7. The funds, which will be used to support coastal wildlife conservation, education and sustainability programs throughout the year, were raised through a combination of sponsorships, ticket sales, auction proceeds, and Raise the Paddle donations.
The success of this year’s event was especially notable given the challenges presented by COVID-19. Guest capacity had to be significantly reduced to allow for social distancing and measures were taken to ensure safe handling of event materials while maintaining sustainability goals. In 2020, the event was held virtually due to the pandemic.
In keeping with the organization’s environmental mission, the Living Coast Sustainability Team reported that 84 percent of event waste was diverted from the landfill, with a total of 186 pounds of material recycled or composted.
San Diego Foundation awards historic $3.4 million
in scholarships to local college students
The San Diego Foundation announced the historic awarding of more than $3.4 million in college scholarships – the highest annual amount ever – to 1,025 local students for the 2021 – 2022 academic year.
Among the scholarship recipients, 69 percent are first-generation college students, or the first in their immediate families to pursue a higher education, and 96 percent are considered low-middle-income students based on their Earned Family Contribution data.
The Community Scholarships Program helps foster equity of opportunity for San Diegans, a priority of The San Diego Foundation strategic plan.
Applications were submitted by more than 2,600 local high school, community college, graduate and adult re-entry students studying a variety of subjects, including science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); health sciences; business; and arts and education, among others.
Regional Airport Authority accepting
applications for advisory committee positions
The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority is accepting applications from members of the public to serve on the Airport Authority’s Advisory Committee. There are two vacancies, the term of office for each vacancy is two years beginning October 2021.
The Authority Advisory Committee was established to assist the Airport Authority Board in its responsibilities related to airport planning and development activities. It serves as a sounding board and catalyst for the development of recommendations to the Airport Authority Board.
Authority Advisory Committee meetings are held several times each year as determined by the president and CEO. The meetings include a briefing on airport development activities and programs. Additional information about the Authority Advisory Committee can be found here.
To apply, individuals must fill out an application form and send it via email to clerk@san.org by 5 p.m. on Aug. 20.
Stos Partners acquires retail/restaurant
property in San Clemente
Stos Partners, a San Diego privately held commercial real estate investment firm, has recently acquired a 4,058 square-foot retail/restaurant asset in the Orange County submarket of San Clemente in an off-market transaction.
“This acquisition is ideally aligned with our proven strategy to purchase value-add properties located within in-demand Southern California submarkets with strong potential for upside, which we are well positioned to unlock based on our experience and deep expertise in market trends,” says CJ Stos, Principal at Stos Partners. “We were able to draw upon our strong broker network and proven track record of rapid closings to secure this property off market.”
During escrow, Stos Partners was successful in securing a long-term lease on the entire building with The Alchemists, a successful restaurant group operated by Leonard Chan.
Election workers still needed for Sept. 14 recall election
The Registrar of Voters still needs temporary election workers for the California Gubernatorial Recall Election on Tuesday, Sept. 14. Election workers can earn up to $20 an hour.
There is a particular need for election workers to manage the operations of mail ballot drop-off locations and site managers for in-person voting locations around the county.
The mail ballot drop-off locations will be open for nearly a month and in-person voting locations will be open for four days instead of one. The Registrar’s office will hire election workers rather than use volunteer poll workers because training is more extensive for the expanded time period.
The Registrar is seeking people who are team players, exhibit strong leadership skills and display flexibility, patience, and the highest level of integrity at all times. Election workers must represent the Registrar of Voters in a professional, nonpartisan manner.
English speakers who are bilingual in Spanish, Filipino, Vietnamese or Chinese are also needed. If you are fluent in one of these languages, be sure to indicate it on your application.
