Daily Business Report: Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022

San Diego Symphony to undertake major

renovation of Jacobs Music Center in Downtown

The San Diego Symphon announced an estimated $125 million renovation and restoration of the orchestra’s historic, indoor performing space – Jacobs Music Center in Downtown San Diego. 

Construction is slated to be finalized in 2023 and will give the symphony another state-of-the-art venue in addition to the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. 

The Jacobs Music Center will see modernizations and improvements to audience amenities,  support spaces for musicians and more. The transformation of the hall will significantly improve the overall concert experience, putting Jacobs Music Center on par with peer concert halls. The project will honor the history of the Jacobs Music Center’s building, which opened in 1929 as a legendary Fox Theater. 

                

The redesign of Jacobs Music Center will be spearheaded by architect HGA in collaboration with acoustician Akustiks and theater planners Schuler Shook

TOP PHOTO: Rendering of accessible balcony view of Copley Hall renovation. (Courtesy San Diego Symphony and HGA)

Employment Development Department

fraud saga faces key juncture

CALMATTERS: California lawmakers are facing a conundrum: Continue funding programs to crack down on unemployment fraud and potentially risk freezing benefits for legitimate claimants — or stop funding those programs and open the door to more fraud at the Employment Development Department, which has already acknowledged paying at least $20 billion in fake claims.

The Catch-22 was evident during a Tuesday legislative hearing, the Associated Press reports.

The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office recommended lawmakers reject the Newsom administration proposal to funnel $29.8 million into anti-fraud contracts, noting that most scams targeted now-expired federal programs while state efforts to crack down on fraud resulteed in hundreds of thousands of legitimate claimants wrongly losing access to their benefits.

Nancy Farias, whom Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed to lead EDD in January, said the state blocked $120 billion worth of fraut attempts in 2020 and 2021. The threat, she said, is not over: “Almost every person I know has either had some sort of scam sent to them during the pandemic. … I think that saying the fraud is over now … that’s a little bit dangerous.”

Two San Diego UBS Advisors named to the

Forbes/SHOOK Top Women Wealth Advisors list for 2022

Two UBS Wealth Management USA financial advisors in San Diego have been named to the Forbes/SHOOK Research Top Women Wealth Advisors list for 2022. They ae Courtney Liddy from the Downtown office and Kalyn Maher from the Carmel Valley office.

Courtney Liddy is a managing director at UBS. She and her team serve the diverse and dynamic needs of high-net-worth individuals, families, foundations, and businesses.

Courtney ranked #11 in California and #37 overall on this year’s list of top female advisors, up from #59 last year. She has been recognized by Forbes/SHOOK Research every year since 2019 for her commitment to clients.

Kalyn Maher and her team focus on advising families on multigenerational wealth planning. She ranked at #37 in California on this year’s list and has been recognized by Forbes/SHOOK Research every year since 2019 for her commitment to clients.

Kalyn holds Series 7 and 66 FINRA licenses, as well as the State of California Insurance license. She is registered in 21 states and holds the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®) designation

Levo strengthens leadership team

with key senior hires

Levo Mobility LLC, a joint venture of Nuvve Holding Corp., affiliates of Stonepeak Partners LP, and Evolve Transition Infrastructure LP that provides Fleet-as-a-Service  solutions enabling fleets to switch to electric vehicles rapidly, announced that it has added Maggie Clancy, chief commercial officer, and Walter Watson, chief operating officer, to its senior leadership team.

Maggie Clancy will lead all aspects of the joint venture’s customer acquisition efforts, driving relationships with school districts and other key decision makers related to fleet electrification. Before Levo, Clancy spent 23 years in executive leadership focusing on marketing, brand, and strategy. 

Walter Watson will oversee all operations for Levo, ensuring a smooth and effective process for customers to expedite fleet electrification and support decarbonization initiatives. Watson has spent 15 years in senior and executive positions in finance, maintenance, operations, commercial, and procurement at both a FTSE 250 and a Fortune 200 company. 

Steve Hughes, M.D., appointed chief medical

officer for Avidity Biosciences Inc.

Avidity Biosciences Inc., a San Diego biopharmaceutical company, announced the appointment of Steve Hughes, M.D. as chief medical officer. Hughes has over 20 years of experience building and leading clinical development and medical affairs teams at prominent biopharmaceutical companies.

Hughes has contributed to over 50 clinical trials for more than 25 drugs across multiple therapeutic areas including cardiovascular, neurology and several rare diseases.

He has been closely involved in multiple registrational regulatory filings, including playing a key role in the approval of three rare disease products in the last six years.

Hughes joins Avidity from Arcturus Therapeutics where he continues to be a strategic clinical adviser. Prior to that, he held the position of CMO where he provided leadership and direction to clinical operations, clinical development, clinical sciences, data management, biometrics, and drug safety.

Prior to Arcturus, he served as the chief medical officer of Organovo where he led the non-clinical and clinical development teams developing bioprinted tissues for the treatment of hepatic and renal diseases.

City of San Marcos and Vallecitos Water

District partner on hydration stations

The City of San Marcos and the Vallecitos Water District have teamed up to offer new hydration stations in local parks to encourage the use of refilling reusable bottles during outdoor activities instead of reaching for bottled water.

Five new hydration stations feature a quick-fill mechanism to encourage reusable water bottle use, a regular water fountain spout and a dog bowl. Vallecitos worked with the City of San Marcos’ Public Works Department to install hydration stations at Mission Sports Field Park, Woodland Park, Bradley Park, Connors Park and Buelow Park.

The hydration stations were made possible by the San Diego County Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which provided $25,000 in grant funding to cover the cost of the stations and signage. The educational signage installed on the stations highlight the benefits of tap water over bottled water while also informing the public of simple steps they can take to conserve our most precious resource.

CREtech brings its 2022 real estate technology

conference to San Diego March 22-23

CREtech, the largest international community of professionals devoted to technological innovation in the real estate sector, will hold its real estate technology conference March 22-23 at the San Diego Convention Center.

The in-person event brings together landlords, asset managers, brokerages, construction companies, tech startups, venture capitals, thought leaders and many more under one roof. This trade show offers strategic networking opportunities and world-class content covering every industry sector, including office, multifamily, single-family, construction, retail, logistics and hospitality. 

Industry leaders on the main stage will speak and discuss with peers topics such as the reduction of carbon emissions, the latest technology advancements, how to improve operations and efficiencies, and how leading companies are embracing technology and innovation in sectors across the industry, among others. 

HES Solar deploys BYD energy storage system

Energy Toolbase, a provider of energy storage software solutions,has commissioned a behind-the-meter energy storage project with HES Solar, a San Diego-based, full-service solar development and installation company. 

HES Solar installed a BYD Chess energy storage system, integrated with Energy Toolbase’s Acumen EMS controls software, alongside a SunPower solar photovoltaic system for a Fortune 100 food and beverage industry client.

The 435-kW solar system, paired with a 240 kW / 532 kWh energy storage system, was sited at a newly built, 125,000-square-foot distribution and warehouse facility in Lakeside.

The Acumen EMS-operated energy storage system was designed to reduce the host customer’s utility bill through a combination of both demand charge management and time-of-use energy arbitrage. HES Solar has forecasted that the combined project will capture over $6 million dollars of electric bill savings over 25-years of operation. 

Cymbiotika unveils longevity mushroom supplement

San Diego-based Cymbiotika, a nutritional supplement brand known for creating pure, clinically backed supplements, announced the launch of its Organic Longevity Mushrooms. The liposomal medicinal mushroom formula contains six powerful organic mushrooms with health benefits backed by trademarked clinical studies.

The formula has been enhanced by adding a powerful compound called EGCG, known to power the mitochondria, stimulate the brain, enhance the immune system, and increase metabolic function.  

“Our mission has always been centered on empowering individuals to lead a healthy life, and we understand that it’s not always easy to transform a wellness regimen,” said Cymbiotika’s CEO and co-founder, Shahab Elmi. “That’s why we’re dedicated to providing the most sophisticated formulations that contain the highest quality ingredients and are also convenient and delicious.” 

Plexium announces $102 million financing

Plexium Inc., a next-generation targeted protein degradation company in San Diego, announced the completion of an oversubscribed $102 million financing, led by BVF Partners L.P. and TCG X, with participation from new investors Softbank Vision Fund 2, RA Capital Management, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), and Pappas Capital. 

Existing investors The Column Group, DCVC Bio, Pivotal bioVenture Partners, Lux Capital, M Ventures, CRV and Neotribe Ventures also participated in the round. In connection with the financing, Cariad Chester, partner at TCG X, has joined the Plexium board of cirectors.

The proceeds from the financing will enable Plexium to accelerate its pipeline programs toward the clinic.

Stratos Wealth Partners acquires minority

equity stake in San Diego’s BWM Financial

Stratos Wealth Partners, a Stratos Wealth Holdings company and registered investment advisor that collectively oversees $18.61 billion in brokerage and advisory assets, announced it has increased its minority equity stake in San Diego-based BWM Financial with $1.5 billion in advisory AUM.

BWM Financial, founded by Jeff Brown, has been serving high-net-worth clients, including high-performing business professionals and founders, since 1996, and specializes in intentions-driven financial planning. In 2021, the firm acquired leading wealth manager and Stratos-affiliated Truuwater Financial, also based in San Diego.