Daily Business Report: Dec. 29, 2021
Biden signs $770 billion defense bill that
includes 13 new ships for the Navy
By Chris Jennewein | Times of San Diego
President Biden signed into law Monday the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2022, which authorizes $770 billion in defense spending.
The NDAA includes funding for 13 new ships, including two John Lewis-class fleet oilers to be built by NASSCO in Barrio Logan.
Earlier this month, the Senate and the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly for the defense bill with strong support from both Democrats and Republicans for the annual legislation setting policy for the Department of Defense.
The new ships include three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, two Virginia-class attack submarines, the first of a new class of frigates, two Expeditionary Fast Transport vessels, two John Lewis-class fleet oilers, two Navajo-class towing, salvage and rescue ships, and one T-AGOS(X) ocean surveillance ship.
TOP PHOTO: A fleet oiler under construction at NASSCO in Barrio Logan. (Photo courtesy NASSCO)
Large energy storage project
coming to San Diego
A portfolio of 44 battery storage systems across San Diego County aimed at adding more emissions-free energy to California’s electric grid is about to roll out, with one location in Chula Vista and another in El Cajon poised to break ground within the next month.
EnerSmart Storage, a renewable energy company based in San Diego, will design, construct and operate the systems.
When completed, 12 sites across the county will enhance grid reliability and increase energy efficiency. The entire portfolio will account for 165 megawatts and 336 megawatt-hours of battery storage electricity — enough to power 110,000 homes for two hours.
Kratos receives $50 million contract option
award for 65 aerial target drones from U.S. Navy
Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems has been awarded a $50,917,490 contract modification to a previously awarded contract option to procure 65 aerial target drones, 50 for the Navy, seven for the government of Japan, and eight for the government of Saudi Arabia, as well as associated technical and administrative data. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
We are excited that 15 of these drone aircraft will support the U.S. government’s foreign allies,” said Steve Fendley, president of Kratos Unmanned Systems Division. “ Throughout the challenges of the last two years, Kratos has remained focused on developing, producing, and delivering target and tactical drone systems to support the established and forecasted customer needs.”
SDSU benefactor/instructor sets up
endowment to honor Fowler lecturer
Jeff Glazer’s ties to San Diego State University run deep, and he has touched the lives of many students, faculty members, and administrators over the past 40 years.
Glazer began his affiliation as a graduate student in the Fowler College of Business, where he earned his MBA in 1981. Since then, Glazer funded and helped to establish SDSU’s Jeffrey W. Glazer Center for Leadership and Service in 2015.
It was Glazer’s career as a finance lecturer — and later, a management lecturer — in the Fowler College of Business for more than four decades that prompted his commitment to honoring some of the college’s best instructors through the Glazer Outstanding Lecturer Fellowship Endowment.
Funding for the endowment will total $1 million and will be matched by a gift from Ron and Alexis Fowler, the namesake of the Fowler College of Business. This is the second gift from the Glazer family to be matched by the Fowlers. Jeff and his wife established the Jeffrey and Lisa Braun Glazer Study Abroad Endowed Scholarship, which provides support for Fowler College of Business students participating in study abroad programs.
Botox injections may reduce anxiety
No matter where toxin is injected
Botox, or Botulinum toxin, a medication derived from a bacterial toxin, is commonly injected to ease wrinkles, migraines, muscle spasms, excessive sweating and incontinence. Researchers at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of California San Diego, in collaboration with two physicians from Germany, may have found a new use thanks to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Adverse Effect Reporting System database, in which nearly 40,000 people reported what happened to them after Botox treatment for a variety of reasons.
The study, publishing Dec. 21, 2021 in the journal Scientific Reports, found that people receiving Botox injections at four different sites — not just in the forehead — reported anxiety significantly less often than patients undergoing different treatments for the same conditions.
Frederik Spiess joins Balestreri & Holmes law firm
Frederik P. Spiess has joined the law firm of Balestreri Potocki & Holmes as a senior attorney.
Spiess focuses his practice on general liability matters and civil litigation, business and contract disputes, professional liability matters involving insurance and real estate professionals, legal malpractice defense and ethics, construction and real estate disputes and insurance litigation.
In addition to successfully prosecuting and defending complex and large loss matters, Spiess’ varied and extensive experience includes acting as outside general counsel for various businesses, serving as a legal ethics and law practice management consultant, handling insurance defense matters, serving as cumis counsel, and representing businesses and individuals in contentious and high stakes disputes and litigation.
Ellen Schmeding elected to first-ever California
Elder and Disability Justice Coordinating Council
Ellen Schmeding, vice president and chief operating officer of St. Paul’s Senior Services, has been elected to the first-ever California Elder and Disability Justice Coordinating Council (EDJCC), by the California Commission on Aging, a position elected by her peers.
The EDJCC is a key component of the Master Plan for Aging’s (MPA) Goal Three: Equity & Inclusion, Not Isolation.
The Department of Aging, with partnership from the Department of Justice, will convene this Coordinating Council comprised of leaders from governmental, advocacy, and community organizations across the state to increase coordination and develop recommendations to prevent and address the abuse, neglect, exploitation, and fraud perpetrated against older adults and adults with disabilities.
Schmeding was also reaffirmed as the chair of the California Commission on Aging for another year term, which began at the start of the year.
She was first appointed to the Commission by Gov. Jerry Brown in December 2018.
The EDJCC’s first meeting will convene on Jan. 28, 2022 from 1 to 4 p.m.
Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation
resumes Visitor Center Art Program
The Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation (MTRP will present its first exhibit of works by local artists at the MTRP Visitor and Interpretive Center in nearly two years, opening on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2022.
The exhibition will highlight five award-winning artists: Ray Khalife, Wendy Kwasny, Ken Roberts, Amy Schindler, and Tara Sood. The works will be available for sale with a percentage of the purchase benefiting the park through the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation.
The public is invited to a reception to honor of the artists and celebrate the exhibit on Jan. 2 from 2-4 p.m.. The MTRP Foundation Art Program is coordinated by artist Vicky DeLong, and a call for artists for the exhibits takes place each summer for the next calendar year.
A genetic data matchmaking service for researchers
Several years ago, Patrick Short assessed direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing companies and found serious flaws. “I felt there were many ways that DTC genetic testing could be improved, such as giving people more ownership over how their data was being used,” Short explained.
At the time, he was working on his PhD in Mathematical Genomics and Medicine at the University of Cambridge and Wellcome Sanger Institute. During his studies, he realized there was also a need for researchers to have faster and better access to individuals willing to share their genetic data for research. In 2017, Short and fellow classmates William Jones and Charlotte Guzzo decided to fill these critical gaps and create their own company, Sano Genetics.
Today, Sano Genetics is matching thousands of people and their genetic data with research projects in the UK and Europe. Customers can upload their genetic data from other sources to the Sano Genetics platform. They can then decide if, and when, they want to share their information with researchers. Scientists, in turn, can access this treasure trove of genetic and health information, all with the user’s consent.
Cajon Valley Unified School District
gets funds to replace five old diesel trucks
Cajon Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) has received $304,500 to replace five old diesel trucks, with three battery electric trucks. The funds are from over $14 million in Diesel Emission Reduction Act grants awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agendy.
These projects will be implemented through a partnership between CVUSD, a California school district serving El Cajon and Rancho San Diego, First Priority Group, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Nuvve. The funds will be combined with $542,659 in cost-share funds from CVUSD including $119,211 in voluntary cost-share funds.
The Old Globe to present the eighth
annual Powers New Voices Festival
The Old Globe announced it will present the eighth annual Powers New Voices Festival, a weekend of readings of new American plays by some of the most exciting playwrights writing for the American theatre today.
The free festival returns live and in person from Jan. 14 to 16, 2022 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Globe’s Conrad Prebys Theatre Center.
New works to be featured include readings of two Globe-commissioned plays: “Crime and Punishment,” a Comedy adapted by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen and directed by Greenberg, and “Regular” by Ngozi Anyanwu and directed by Patricia McGregor.
The festival will also present readings of “Exotic Deadly: or The MSG Play” by Keiko Green and directed by Jesca Prudencio, and “The Red and the Black” by Keelay Gipson and directed by Steve H. Broadnax III.
Citizens Redistricting Commission delivers
final maps to California Secretary of State
The California Citizens Redistricting Commission delivered California’s final congressional, State Senate, Assembly and Board of Equalization district maps to the California Secretary of State on Monday, finalizing a process that was impacted by the pandemic and which sought to balance the interests of millions of state residents.
Monday was the deadline set by the California Supreme Court for the commission’s final maps.
“I want to thank the redistricting commissioners for their hard work under challenging circumstances. We will now send these maps to the Legislature and to all 58 counties for implementation,” said California Secretary of State Dr. Shirley N. Weber.
Every 10 years, with the completion of a new census, California must redraw electoral district boundaries to ensure the state’s population is even distributed among the new districts.
The 14-member commission — including five Democrats, five Republicans and four members who are unaffiliated — drew four Board of Equalization districts, 52 congressional districts, 40 Senate districts and 80 Assembly districts, which determine how funding and other resources are allocated to communities.
