Daily Business Report: Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021
Ten San Diego small businesses take part
in Nov. 20 ‘Shop Local’ at Sparks Gallery
Amazon will host a two-day “Shop Local” event on Saturday, Nov. 20, to support 10 San Diego-based small businesses selling in Amazon’s store this holiday season.
The event will be held at Sparks Gallery, a locally owned art gallery, on Saturday and Sunday and will feature 10 local small businesses. Local residents are able to enjoy holiday favorites like hot cocoa and cookies as they discover and shop from each business which will showcase their brands and sell their products.
A preview of a few of the local small businesses that will participate in Amazon’s Shop Local event::
• Uncle Keith’s Gourmet Foods: Uncle Keith’s is a family-run business co-founded by husband and wife duo Keith and Crystal Fairley. The business – which sells seasonings, marinades, condiments, hot sauces, and more – has the unique distinction of being Black-owned, family-owned, woman-owned, and veteran-owned, as Keith is a retired Navy Chief and Crystal is an Air Force Veteran.
• PupLid: Tony Choi and Kathy Burnell founded PupLid after their dog Buddy’s sensitive eyes had issues with the sunlight. Tony, an engineer, and Kathy, a veterinarian, quickly got to work on a custom-designed trucker hat that protected Buddy’s eyes from the sun, which they are now selling as the PupLid and helping other dog owners protect their precious pups.
• Game That Song: Game That Song is a party game for music lovers that was created by Eric Richardson while he was coaching sporting events for his two kids. Early on, he would bring speakers and begin playing the game with the kids before games and on breaks. Eventually, he began manufacturing and creating spin-off versions, including games like Name That Puppy for younger children.
The seven other participating businesses are: Hips-sister; Ho Stevie!; Hair Craft Co.; Beard Reverence; H2O Audio; Cleer Audio; and VitaCup.
TOP PHOTO: The pup wears a custom-designed hat from PupLid, one of the San Diego small businesses taking part in Saturday’s shop local event at Sparks Gallery.
Size matters for bee ‘superorganism’ colonies
Scientists have carefully studied the intricacies of how individual organisms live and act together in groups known as biological collectives. In “superorganisms” such as bee colonies, the interactions of the individual members add up to benefit the entire colony.
Details have been elusive on how colonies make decisions in the face of changing conditions that are vital to their survival. Now researchers at the University of California San Diego studying honey bees have published a research study indicating that colony size is a key factor. The findings—led by researchers from UC San Diego’s Division of Biological Sciences and Institute for Neural Computation, along with a researcher from the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences in Germany—are published Nov. 10 in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.
Two San Diego companies awarded $900,000 each
by NASA in Entrepreneur’s Challenge program
Two San Diego startup companies — Nebula Compute and OAM Photonics – have been awarded $900,000 each from NASA under its Entrepreneur’s Challenge program. They were among seven companies awarded funds. The awards will advance new technology concepts ranging from novel materials with properties not found in nature to innovative technologies that will enable small satellite (SmallSat) science missions.
NASA partnered with Starburst Aerospace in San Francisco, California, to launch the
Entrepreneur’s Challenge, which seeks fresh ideas in technology that could advance the agency’s science goals to explore and understand the solar system and beyond. The challenge also seeks to increase the number of entrepreneurial companies participating in the agency’s technology portfolio.
Six exhibits to be featured at Comic-Con
Museum’s public opening on Nov. 26
The Comic-Con Museum, which will celebrate the magic of Comic-Con year-round, is announcing its soft opening to the public on Nov. 26 at noon.
Located in Balboa Park, the museum is featuring six diverse, entertaining, educational and interactive exhibits. Special programming, screenings and a variety of special nighttime activities will be offered leading up to the summer of 2022 grand opening.
The soft opening of the Museum will occur while Comic-Con Special Edition – the first in-person gathering for San Diego Comic-Con fans since July 2019 – begins at the San Diego Convention Center.
However, while Comic-Con Special Edition ends on Nov. 28, the museum experience will continue throughout the year. Tickets for the museum, available at https://museum.comic-con.org,will also be sold at the museum; reservations are encouraged as attendance may be limited.
The museum will open with six exhibits covering a range of the popular arts: Gene Roddenberry: Sci-Fi Visionary; Chas Addams… Family and Friends; Eight Decades of Archie; PAC-MAN Arcade; Cardboard Superheroes; Out of the Darkness: Comic Art in the Times of COVID.
Viasat receives 2021 HIRE Vets Medallian Award
U.S. Secretary of Labor Martin J. Walsh recognized Viasat Inc., a global communications company, as a Gold Award recipient of the 2021 HIRE Vets Medallion Awards during a virtual ceremony presented by the U.S. Department of Labor. The Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans Act (HIRE Vets Act) Medallion Program is the only federal awards program that recognizes job creators who successfully recruit, hire and retain veterans.
Viasat joins 848 other companies from 49 states, plus the District of Columbia, who have shown a commitment to hiring and encouraging a smooth transition for veterans from military service to the civilian work life.
Viasat was also recently recognized as a top employer for veterans by Military Times on its 2021 Best for Vets: Employers List, which was announced October 28, 2021.
Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel exhibition
The internationally acclaimed Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Exhibition, opens Friday, Nov. 19 at Westfield Mission Valley. Presented by SEE Global Entertainment family and CBF Productions, this is a presentation of museum-quality, near life-size reproductions of the iconic master’s frescoes that adorn the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
Martin Biallas produced this exhibit after his seeing the Sistine Chapel in-person. “I didn’t really enjoy the experience,” recalls Biallas, founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based SEE Global Entertainment. “There were long lines and you we were rushed through. This exhibit is the opportunity to see amazing art and enjoy a positive experience.”
The Sistine Chapel exhibit in San Diego allows visitors to take time to dive into each picture and experience one of the world’s greatest artistic achievements: Michelangelo’s renowned ceiling frescoes from the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, reproduced in a format that allows viewers to get face-to-face with the masterpieces. Through more than 30 artfully displayed reproductions, this innovative presentation includes world-renowned pieces like The Creation of Adam and The Last Judgement, bringing them just a few feet away from the audience.
“It’s like a sanctuary,” Biallas said. “You’re transformed into a completely different world.”
Tickets are on sale now at www.chapelsistine.com and will also be available at the door. Although this is a ticketed and timed event, all tickets will be honored as space allows.
PHOTO credit: SEE Attractions and Bridgeman Images
Realty Incomc Corp. completes
spin-off of Orion Office REIT
Realty Income Corporation announced it has completed the spin-off of substantially all of its office assets into a new independent, publicly traded REIT called Orion Office REIT. Orion is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “ONL.”
Under the terms of the spin-off, Realty Income stockholders received one share of Orion common stock for every 10 shares of Realty Income common stock held as of the record date of Nov. 2, 2021. Realty Income common stockholders will receive cash in lieu of any fractional shares they would otherwise have been entitled to receive in the distribution.
Roswell Biotechnologies unveils first
molecular electronic chip
Roswell Biotechnologies Inc., the molecular electronics company, announced the introduction of the first molecular electronics chip and the Roswell Molecular Electronics (ME) Platform for biosensing applications.
The company unveiled the technology along with an early development partnership program at its inaugural Molecular Electronics Day in San Diego, which also marked the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first microprocessor chip, the Intel 4004.
A peer-review paper, authored by Roswell scientists, and professors George Church of Harvard and MIT and James Tour of Rice University, is under review at The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
California gas prices hit new high
As the Thanksgiving travel season is inching closer, residents heading out of town via car may balk at what they’re seeing at the pump. Gas prices are hitting record prices across California, hitting an average price of $4.676 a gallon on Sunday, according to AAA.
That’s just 1 cent below the highest average ever recorded by AAA, in October 2012.
“Our data shows the California statewide average has actually been at a record for several days,” said Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, an app that helps people find gas prices.
Cougar Pantry at Cal State
San Marcos to open Thursday
The Associated Students Inc. Cougar Pantry at Cal State San Marcos has moved into a larger space that will enable it to offer expanded services. Associated Students Inc. which operates the pantry, will hold a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new space on Thursday, Nov. 18 at 5 p.m. in the University Commons building on campus.
At 1,200 square feet, the new ASI Cougar Pantry is six times as big as the previous version, which was located in the University Student Union. The additional space will allow the pantry to serve extra food items as well as menstruation products, hygiene products, diapers and school supplies.
The Cougar Pantry offers a variety of food options, both nonperishable and refrigerated. The food is supplied by community partners like the San Diego Food Bank and Feeding San Diego, and the pantry also receives donations from local grocery stores such as Albertsons, Ralphs and Sprouts.
SBA calls for nominations for 2022
National Small Business Week Awards
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2022 National Small Busiess Week (NSBW) Awards, which recognize the achievements of SBA-assisted small businesses and the contributions they have made to their communities and the nation’s economy.
All nominations should be submitted electronically by 3 p.m. EST on Jan. 11, 2022. The awards will be presented during the NSBW Awards ceremony in the first week of May 2022.
Nominations in these categories will be accepted: Small Business Person of the Year; Small Business Exporter of the Year; Phoenix Awards for Disaster Recovery; Federal Procurement Awards; Awards to SBA Resource Partners.
For contact information and other information, visit online at https://www.sba.gov/local-assistance.
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