Daily Business Report: Friday, Oct. 29, 2021
California’s legal weed market is worth $5 billion,
but there’s a catch
By sheer numbers, California is easily the nation’s largest market for legal marijuana — which means the state is the biggest bonanza for cannabis sales on the planet.
Once legal commercial sales of recreational cannabis begin sometime next year, California will play host to a $5 billion legal marijuana market, according to a recently released state-sponsored study from UC Davis.
That’s big! Huge, even, when you consider Colorado’s cannabis economy — as of now the model for the rest of us to follow — is a “mere” $1.2 billion a year.
But! It’ll be even bigger if regulators can figure out how to keep regulations manageable and costs low. If they can’t, California will still have a marijuana black market worth billions more — it currently accounts for about 75 percent of all sales in the state: California rings up about $2 billion in annual legal marijuana sales, which accounts only for roughly 25 percent of the weed bought in the state.
The rest, $5.7 billion worth, is all black-market pot.
TOP PHOTO: A cannabis greenhouse. (Credit: Richard T |The CBD (http://www.thecbd.co)
North Carolina company acquires nine-property
development in Sorrento Mesa for $315.4M
to convert into life sciences campus
Longfellow Real Estate Partners, a North Carolina company, has purchased a nine-property, 371,281-square-foot office development in Sorrento Mesa for $315.4 million and intends to redevelop it into a state-of-the-art life sciences campus.
JLL represented the seller, PS Business Parks, and procured the buyer.
The development includes properties located at 6150, 6160, 6370, 6440, 6450, 6540, 6640 and 6650 Lusk Blvd. and 10225 Barnes Canyon Road. All nine properties are two-story buildings that are zoned for office, light industrial and other commercial uses, including life sciences.
The JLL Capital Markets team representing the seller was led by Managing Directors Lynn LaChapelle and Bob Prendergast, Senior Director Sach Kirpalani and Senior Managing Director Michael Leggett.
“This was a rare opportunity to acquire a life sciences redevelopment opportunity of scale in one of San Diego’s hottest emerging life sciences and innovation hubs,” LaChapelle said. “We received tremendous investor interest in the offering and are really excited to see Longfellow take ownership and transform the property into a modern life sciences campus.”
Kearny Mesa distribution center sells
for $64.25 million after renovations
Realterm Logistics, a Maryland-based real estate company, has purchased a newly renovated 104,510-square-foot distribution facility in Kearny Mesa for $64.25 million. Lincoln Property Company completed capital improvements on the property before putting it on the market.
The property was originally built in the 1980s. It has one tenant, an e-commerce company,
and is located at 7995 Armour Street off Kearny Mesa Road.
Bryce Aberg, Jeff Chiate, Jeffrey Cole, Ed Hernandez, Mike Adey, and Zach Harman of Cushman & Wakefield’s National Industrial Advisory Group represented the seller in the transaction.
Financial relief available to qualified
small business employers
Reservations will be available for the 2021 Main Street Small Business Tax Credit II, which provides COVID-19 financial relief for qualified small businesses, beginning Nov. 1 at 8 a.m., according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA).
CDTFA’s online system will be accepting applications for qualified small business employers to reserve tax credits of up to $150,000. Tax credits will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis through Nov. 30 or until the $116 million in available credits runs out.
“These tax credits will continue to support small business owners as they hire,” said California Department of Tax and Fee Administration Director Nick Maduros. “California businesses have faced real challenges during this pandemic, and this Main Street Tax Credit is designed to help.”
The credit applies to California small businesses that:
• Employed 500 or fewer employees as of Dec. 31, 2020.
• Experienced a decrease of 20 percent or more in income tax gross receipts by comparing specified periods.
Cash-strapped schools in California turning to TikTok
Desperate times call for desperate measures — and with California public schools running out of money amid declining enrollment and soaring rates of chronic absenteeism, some are leveraging unorthodox methods to draw students and teachers back to their districts.
Among them: TikTok. As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, a Lodi school district created a TikTok account with posts featuring a high school class caring for ducklings and a therapy dog roaming an elementary school. Other districts are pouring tens of thousands of dollars into glossy postcards, revamped websites, professional videos and and social media ads. Because each student brings $10,000 or more in state funding, a district could recoup $30,000 in marketing costs if its ads convince at least three students to transfer.
San Diego County’s new demonstration
garden opens at County Operations Center
Hoping to help sow the seeds of sustainable, nutritional living, County Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher, Vice Chair Nora Vargas, master gardeners and County staff opened a new demonstration garden at the County Operations Center Wednesday.
Fletcher and Vargas marked the event by planting the first plants — Italian parsley and chrysanthemums — in the garden that was developed by the master gardeners and the County’s Live Well San Diego Food System Initiative.
The 400-square-foot demonstration garden was designed to be a working example of the Food System Initiative’s goals, to showcase “a little bit of everything” to promote home, urban and community gardening, and its connection to sustainability.
In addition to growing seasonal fruits and vegetables, herbs, citrus, a wide variety of popular plants, and even native Californian plants, the county plans to use the garden as an educational space. There will be classes and workshops to learn about gardening, composting and other topics connected to sustainability and nutrition.
UC San Diego launches mobility services
powered by Ford-owned Spin and TransLoc
Two Ford Mobility companies today announced a new five-year exclusive agreement with the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego). Spin, a micromobility provider, and TransLoc, a transportation software solutions company, are combining efforts to deliver and integrate sustainable transportation modes, improving how the university’s 75,000 students, faculty and staff move around campus.
Spin’s relationship with UC San Diego started in 2017 with 50 shared pedal-bikes on campus. This new agreement brings 600 shared e-bikes and e-scooters to the campus, enhanced through a network of Spin Hub charging stations that include digital screens showing riders real-time campus transit data to help them better plan their journey. During the first month of this fall quarter alone, the campus community took more than 63,000 trips resulting in more than 53,000 miles.
Lori Reynolds joins FS Design Group
as a senior interior designer
FS Design Group, a San Diego-based interior planning and design firm, has hired Lori Reynolds as a senior interior designer.
With more than 20 years of experience, Reynolds has worked on corporate, hospitality, health care, multi-family, education and civic projects throughout the U.S. and the world.
Her projects have earned honors and distinction in the form of LEED ratings, American Institute of Architects (AIA) design awards and Orchids from the San Diego Architectural Foundation’s Orchids and Onions competition.
“Lori has designed so many beautiful spaces but, more importantly, she understands how to listen to clients and motivate teams to deliver responsive, enduring and successful projects,” said FS Design Group President Bre’an Fox.
Reynolds has a bachelor’s degree in design from Arizona State University and is working toward a master’s degree in Applied Leadership and Management through an online program from ASU and Thunderbird Global Management.
In her role with FS Design Group, Reynolds will manage client relationships and coordinate teams, as well as lead commercial, medical and multi-family projects.
Cubic named among the 2021 healthiest
100 workplaces in the United States
Cubic Corporation was named 98 on the 2021 Healthiest 100 Workplaces in America by Healthiest Employers for itsinvestment in the health and well-being of its employees. This award honors the organizations that are demonstrating care for their people by investing in health and well-being solutions and initiatives.
Scoring is based on each organization’s Healthiest Employers Index — a metric based on six categories: Culture and Leadership Commitment, Foundational Components, Strategic Planning, Communications and Marketing, Programming and Interventions, and Reporting and Analytics.
“At Cubic, employee health and well-being are our top priorities, and we are honored to be named among the top 100 companies in the U.S. as it is key to caring for our people and enhancing the overall employee experience,” said Brad Feldmann, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Cubic Corporation.
SD Community College District
hosts a weeklong Veterans Day celebration
The San Diego Community College District (SDCCD), San Diego City, Mesa, and Miramar colleges and the College of Continuing Education will honor former and current military service members during the week of Veterans Day from Nov. 8-12, 2021. A variety of on-campus and virtual events will take place, including a postcard writing campaign for active duty and retired veterans, civilian transition workshops, and the soft opening of the new Mesa College Veterans Success Center.
In addition to Veterans Day events, City College will hold a month-long celebration in November, which includes a Salute to Service picture showcase and a virtual veterans’ library resource display. The college will honor and recognize veteran students during Scholarship Virtual Office Hours on Wednesday, Nov. 3 and again on Nov. 17 from 10 to 11 a.m. on ZOOM.
UC San Diego ranked nation’s No. 5 public
university by U.S. News and World Report
The University of California San Diego has been ranked sixth among the nation’s top public colleges, according to U.S. News and World Report’s 2022 Best Global Universities. Released Tuesday, the publication ranked UC San Diego as the No. 21 best university in the world.
Now in its eighth year, the annual rankings are designed to showcase how universities compare globally, focusing specifically on schools’ academic research and reputation overall. The Best Global Universities ranking evaluate universities on 13 indicators, such as global and regional research reputation, international collaboration, publications and total citations.
In total, the 2022 edition of the Best Global Universities rankings assessed 1,750 top institutions – up from nearly 1,500 last year – across 90 countries. Alongside overall ranking scores, the publication also spotlights 42 subject rankings across various academic areas.
Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air winner
of a Better Business Bureau ethics award
Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air in El Cajon was named one of four winners of the BBB International Torch Award for Ethics. The winners were announced by the Better Business Bureau’s foundation and the BBB Institute for Marketplace Trust.
Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air was founded in 1978 with the guiding principles of quality, integrity, service, and commitment to its community. The company’s tagline “Nobody wows clients like we do!” is its promise to deliver the highest quality experience to every client, every day, in every way. At Anderson, jobs are not considered finished until each customer has found their work to be more than satisfactory.
The company launched the Anderson Career Builder Institute in 2017 to help fill the need for qualified, skilled trade candidates and to provide additional training to its employees.
Dr. Kiana Aran of Cardea Bio Inc.
wins 2021 Nature Research Award
Nature, a scientific journal, announced that Dr. Kiana Aran, associate professor at Keck Graduate Institute, and chief scientific officer at San Diego-based Cardea Bio Inc., won the 2021 Nature Research Award for Inspiring Women in Science in the Scientific Achievement category.
Over her short career, Aran’s innovative work on harnessing the power of biology through modern electronics has significantly advanced the field of biosensing and enabled myriad applications in human health and beyond.
Aran’s efforts have been recognized through multiple awards in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), including the Clinical OMICs 10 under 40 Award and the Athena Pinnacle Award in science.
Earlier in 2021, The National Science Foundation awarded Aran the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. The NSF CAREER award recognizes promising early-career scientists who “have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.”
AHF to cut ribbon on new health center,
pharmacy and wellness center in Hillcrest
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) announced that it is opening a new AHF Healthcare Center in San Diego delivering state-of-the-art HIV/AIDS medical care and services to patients regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay.
To mark the occasion, AHF will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony, reception and preview of the new facilities today at 11 a.m. The site, at 3580 Fifth Ave., is in the Hillcrest neighborhood and is an all-in-one facility that will also include a full-service AHF Pharmacy, an AHF Wellness Center, providing free HIV and STD testing and treatment, as well as one of AHF’s ever-popular and award-winning Out of the Closet thrift stores.
