Daily Business Report: Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021
Commentary:
Gavin Newsom’s victory heralds
America’s new centrist ‘Silent Majority’
By Chris Jennewein | Times of San Diego
Nearly 52 years ago, a California politician popularized the term “silent majority” to refer to mainstream Americans whose centrist views were overshadowed by a vocal minority at a time of national upheaval.
That politician, Richard Nixon, was a Republican, but Gov. Gavin Newsom tapped a new Democratic silent majority in his victory Tuesday over the Republican-led recall.
Nixon was President at the height of the unpopular Vietnam War, and Newsom is Governor of the most populous state at the peak of the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Both sought a middle ground between the vitriol on both sides.
Newsom’s victory on Tuesday demonstrates that what most Californians want is competent government without a lot of drama. And it’s a warning to Republicans that continuing to embrace Donald Trump and right-wing conspiracy theories will be a dead end.
The fact is, the vast majority of Americans don’t watch Fox News, don’t listen to AM radio, and don’t obsess over critical race theory. They approve of COVID-19 vaccine mandates, don’t see looming communism and think the term “woke” is funny.
They aren’t seduced by the latest loudmouth media star. They’d rather have someone with actual experience in government. And that’s what Newsom offered.
No Governor expects a worldwide pandemic, or has prior training in handling one. And Newsom obviously made mistakes. But California’s lockdowns, mask mandates and vaccine efforts resulted in a death rate well below America’s other big states — Texas and Florida — where Republican Governors resisted what most Americans see as commons sense.
TOP PHOTO: President Biden campaigns with Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom in Long Beach on Monday. (Courtesy of the Newsom campaign)
Are recall system changes reforms or power grab?
By Dan Walters | CalMatters
Win or lose, could Gavin Newsom be the last California governor to face a recall election?
Critics of California’s recall system contend that it’s too easy to put a recall on the ballot and too easy for an unqualified candidate to become governor with only a relative handful of votes.
Former Gov. Gray Davis, who was recalled in 2003 and succeeded by action movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger, is one advocate of change, telling Politico, “This is a game of Russian roulette, and at some point, for sure, a governor who got more votes than his successor will have to leave office because he failed to reach the 50 percent threshold.”
Recent polling does indicate that there is fairly strong support among California voters for overhauling the recall system that has been a fixture — although only rarely invoked — of the state constitution for 110 years.
The latest indication of that sentiment is a new poll from UC-Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies, which found that a strong majority of Californians want to keep the recall in some form, but “also favor reforms that would impose somewhat higher hurdles in bringing future recall elections to the ballot.”
Encinitas approves permits for apartment
project at 3.4-acre Quail Gardens site
A proposal to build a 140-unit apartment complex on a plant nursery property at the corner of Encinitas Boulevard and Quail Gardens Drive in Encinitas has won unanimous permit approval from the Planning Commission. “This seems like a really good project for us,” Commissioner Steve Dalton said as he listed off elements of the project that he found extremely praiseworthy.
Plans call for the 3.43-acre Quail Gardens site to contain 76 one-bedroom units, 58 two-bedroom units and six three bedroom units. Out of the 140 total units, 21 will be set aside for low-come people. The apartment complex is proposed to be three stories tall and will surround a parking garage that’s technically considered a four-story structure, but its lowest level will be partially below ground.
County government to examine
job impacts of decarbonization
Recognizing things will change for workers in a decarbonized economy, the County of San Diego has undertaken a study to better understand how different policies may affect the region’s labor force and to identify tailored workforce development resources to adapt the skills of our region’s workers, including those from disadvantaged communities.
The study will help the County develop a coordinated regional strategy to address workforce needs, including the transition of any displaced fossil fuel workers.
The report will be presented to the Board of Supervisors early next year and is being led by Dr. Carol Zabin, a renowned UC Berkley professor who co-wrote California’s most comprehensive study on green jobs, and Betony Jones, a nationally recognized expert on the impacts of climate and energy policies on job quality and job access.
MiraCosta College’s brewing program
wins U.S. Open College Beer Championship
MiraCosta College’s BrewTech program recently earned the Grand National Championship title in the U.S. Open College Beer Championship. As a first-time contender in the championship, MiraCosta College won gold medals for their hefeweizen, pale ale, spring IPA and stout, plus a silver for their raspberry Berliner.
MiraCosta College received recognition as the only program of its kind in California meeting the standards set by the Master Brewers Association of the Americas. The 280-hour class includes an industry-relevant curriculum, brewing equipment and job placement assistance. Classroom material covers the chemistry and biology of beer production and an introduction to equipment used in breweries of all scales.
Chee Min Hong joins Manscaped grooming
company as VP of product development
Manscaped, a San Diego grooming company, announced the appointment of Chee Min Hong as vice president of product development, effective immediately.
Hong brings more than 20 years of experience leading solid, progressive, and successful product development and global sourcing initiatives.
In his new role – an inaugural position at Manscaped, Hong will report directly to founder and CEO, Paul Tran, and oversee the company’s global product development, from strategy and sourcing to regulatory and roadmap.
Hong was most recently director of consumer marketing and business development at Philips Personal Health. There, he led all facets of product development, including the launch of the Philips Norelco OneBlade. He held a consistent track record of implementing lean product development processes and leading teams to exceed sales, anchored by his dynamic understanding of customers, consumers, market opportunity, and growth.
“MANSCAPED is redefining the entire men’s grooming industry. I’m thrilled to join an incredibly innovative and disruptive brand that is setting a very high bar for all the players in the grooming and men’s lifestyle spaces,” said Hong. “Manscaped created its own category and has been the market leader ever since, and I’m looking forward to building on this success in my new role.”
BitTitan appoints Paul Nguyen as VP
of product and engineering for Perspectium
BitTitan has appointed Paul Nguyen as vice president of product and engineering for Perspectium. A Perspectium co-founder, Nguyen has spent eight years working in computer engineering and software development at the workflow integration company. Nguyen’s appointment comes following BitTitan’s acquisition of Perspectium in June. He will be based in BitTitan’s San Diego office.
In this new role, Nguyen will lead Perspectium’s product strategy and development. He will also oversee Perspectium’s delivery of efficient and industry-leading cloud software to global enterprises and managed service providers.
The recent acquisition by BitTitan means that he will have more resources, partnerships, and distribution methods available to help accelerate further growth of Perspectium.
As a co-founder of Perspectium, Nguyen was integral in the company’s evolution over the past eight years, helping it grow into a 75-person organization with its IT solutions reaching customers around the world.
Prior to Perspectium, Nguyen held a senior engineering role at EMC, which was later acquired by Dell. At EMC, he led global projects in the company’s Document Sciences division and focused on creating new technology in the enterprise content management space. In 2002, he earned a B.S. in computer science from the University of California San Diego before completing an MBA in entrepreneurial studies from San Diego State University in 2010.
UC San Diego named top 10 public
university by U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report has named the University of California San Diego among the best colleges in the country. The U.S. News & World Report 2022 Best Colleges rankings listed UC San Diego as the nation’s eighth best public university. The school also ranks 13th among best colleges for veterans, moving up two spots from last year.
Overall, UC San Diego was ranked No. 34 in the complete list of over 300 private and public universities in the nation, jumping one spot from the previous year.
SDSU programs continue to rank high
in U.S. News & World Report report
San Diego State University ranks No. 67 among public universities in the U.S. and maintains a top-10 international business program in the latest annual rankings of the nation’s colleges by U.S. News & World Report. The “2022 Best Colleges” rankings place SDSU at No. 148 among all national universities.
SDSU is No. 8 in the nation for undergraduate international business, a joint program of the Fowler College of Business and the College of Arts and Letters, matching the ranking in the publication’s 2021 edition. The overall undergraduate business program is ranked No. 74, up seven positions from the previous year.
In a first-ever ranking of undergraduate nursing programs by the publication, SDSU is No. 76.
Pacific Western Bank announces
credit facility to Truvian Sciences
Pacific Western Bank has provided a $25 million debt facility to existing client Truvian Sciences, a San Diego-based health care company in the blood testing industry with its automated diagnostic system that provides lab-accurate results at point-of care. The company will utilize the facility to accelerate growth initiatives and to further advance the development of its automated benchtop blood testing system.
Truvian offers routine health testing that requires one small blood sample and delivers results in minutes. With the company’s automated blood testing system, patients receive accurate health insights, allowing for informed health care decisions.
The company was founded in 2015 and is backed by Domain Associates, GreatPoint Ventures and several other venture funds.
Scientist.com announces acquisition of
InsideScientific, online educational platform
San Diego-based Scientist.com announced that it has completed the acquisition of InsideScientific, an online educational platform for life science researchers. The acquisition enables Scientist.com to offer a full suite of science-based content and event production services—such as webinars, virtual events, podcasts and training programs—to its existing global network of researchers and service providers.
Scientist.com operates online marketplaces for 24 of the world’s top 30 pharmaceutical companies, over 80 biotech companies and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). The company was recently recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States for the fifth consecutive year.
San Diego Housing Commission launches
online tool to help residents looking for housing
Households looking for affordable housing in the City of San Diego can find helpful information about locations, such as their proximity to transit and schools, on a new online tool the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) created and launched today on its website.
The Affordable Housing Dashboard includes a map searchable by ZIP Code and property-specific information, as well as a high-level overview about affordable housing throughout the city.
The Affordable Housing Dashboard is available on SDHC’s website, www.sdhc.org, in the “Housing Opportunities” section under the heading “Affordable Rentals” on the pages “Rent from SDHC” and “SDHC Partnership Developments.”
The landing page of the dashboard presents an Affordable Housing Overview. A drop-down menu allows the user to choose the data they want to see and how it is organized. The data can be viewed by specific City Council Districts or by ZIP Code.
Users can also view all of the affordable housing properties in the City of San Diego, or only the 4,115 affordable rental housing units that are owned or managed by SDHC, including its nonprofit affiliate, Housing Development Partners.
California COVID-19 Rent Relief
Program hits major milestone
California’s COVID-19 Rent Relief Program has reached a significant milestone – more than $1 billion in funding will be obligated – meaning the money has either been paid or approved for payment and awaiting disbursement – and will assist over 74,000 additional households.
More than $526 million of the $1 billion in rental and utility assistance has already been distributed to 44,432 low-income California households who suffered financial hardship because of the pandemic.
The milestone represents a 638 percent increase since June 28, when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 832, which increased the level of assistance to 100 percent for both back rent and prospective rent. More than 243,000 applications have been received, and more than $2.2 billion in rent and utility assistance is currently requested and is pending eligibility verification and fraud prevention screening.
Northrop Grumman demonstrates connectivity
for long-range command and control
Northrop Grumman Corporation successfully demonstrated a data link for connecting aircraft in highly contested airspace for long-range command and control through an open architecture network. This experiment is a critical milestone in the evolution of a distributed multi-domain battle management command and control architecture that maintains decision superiority for the U.S. military and allies.
The flight demonstration is the first integration of a new mission-specific military transceiver, multi-level security data switches, and open architecture wide-area networking, utilizing commercial technology into the observe, orient, decide and act loop – the decision-making chain for threat engagements.
The flight demonstration linked the Scaled Composites Proteus, a high-altitude, long-endurance research aircraft, with a Firebird, an unmanned air vehicle with the capability to be flown manned, through an advanced line-of-sight data link with low probability of intercept/low probability of detection characteristics that includes anti-jam properties.
The aircraft established a link, performed a simulated ISR mission, and connected back to a cloud-based 5G network testbed through a novel prototype multi-level security switch.
