Daily Business Report: Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022
Luxury car maker Ferrari taps Qualcomm
for digital transformation
By Chris Jennewein | Times of San Diego
Italian carmaker Ferrari announced Tuesday it will partner with Qualcomm to use the San-Diego company’s premium Snapdragon processor technology to accelerate the luxury automaker’s digital transformation.
The deal will involve both Ferrari’s road cars and its Formula One racing team and the first common projects, including the so-called digital cockpit, have been already identified, the Italian group said in a statement.
Ferrari’s new CEO Benedetto Vigna — a technology industry veteran — said in November Ferrari would seek technology partnerships as it moves ahead with transition toward cleaner mobility and in order to pivot technologies that require high investments.
“Innovation requires market leaders working together. Thanks to this agreement with Qualcomm Technologies, we expand our knowledge in digital technologies and Web 3.0 areas with great potential for automotive and motorsport,” Vigna said in the statement.
The Snapdragon logo will make its debut on the F1-75 racing model, the Ferrari single-seater which will be unveiled at the company’s headquarters in Maranello on Feb. 17.
TOP PHOTO: Ferrari prancing horse logo (Credit: Yahya S. via CC)
San Diego International Airport sees 69 percent
increase in passenger numbers in 2021
San Diego International Airport served 15.6 million passengers in 2021, a 69 percent increase over 2020’s passenger number of 9.2 million. The airport added 18 new routes to both domestic and international destinations and one new carrier.
Southwest Airlines continued to be the number one carrier in 2021 at 33 percent seat share. Southwest Airlines expanded its presence with service to three additional Hawaiian destinations and six new routes overall.
Alaska Airlines maintained the number two spot with 19 percent of total seats, growing five percent from their total seat share in 2019 and adding new service to five cities.
Allegiant Air had the greatest capacity growth out of all the carriers serving the airport. Allegiant Air grew by 77 percent, adding five new routes to its summer seasonal service.
Swoop, a Canadian-based carrier, began service at SAN providing nonstop service to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
“The aviation industry continued to be impacted by COVID-19, but we saw improvement in passenger numbers once vaccines were available and people felt more comfortable traveling by air again,” said Kimberly Becker, President & CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.
Despite the growth year over year, passenger traffic in 2021 was down 38 percent over 2019’s record-breaking year of 25.2 million total passengers. Detailed reports of SAN air traffic statistics are available at san.org/News/Air-Traffic-Reports.
Scale model of SoFi Stadium to be
built at Legoland California Resort
A month after Super Bowl LVI is held at SoFi Stadium, a 1:50scale Lego model inspired by the first indoor-outdoor stadium to be constructed will make its debut in Miniland U.S.A. at
Legoland California Resort in Carlsbad. The Lego stadium structure will join other top Southern California attractions featured in Lego form, including the Griffith Park Observatory, Hollywood Bowl and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
At more than 30 feet long, 15 feet wide and over 4 feet tall, the new SoFi Stadium is expected to be the largest Lego stadium in the world. It’s on track to break the Guinness World Record
for the largest Lego brick sculpture of a stadium, which is currently held by Legoland Deutschland Resort for a replica of Munich’s Allianz Arena.
San Diego Bike Coalition launches real-time crash tracker
This week, the San Diego County Bike Coalition, in partnership with the Los Angeles mobility organization Streets for All, launched a program called the San Diego Crash Tracker that will automatically report the details of every pedestrian and bicyclist-involved crash in San Diego in real time. Crashes will be reported through an automated Twitter account operated by the Bike Coalition.
This program scrapes data from the Citizen App, an application that monitors police scanners and reports on incidents in real-time, to tweet out the rough details and locations of crashes as soon as they occur. This automated reporting will hugely increase the speed at which community members, advocates and local media learn about crashes. It also provides better data on the many crashes for which no injury is reported that are not recorded in government databases.
Safety advocates have long had data to show that San Diego’s roads are dangerous. From 2016 to 2020, an average of 242 people walking and 80 people riding bikes were killed or seriously injured on the streets of San Diego County.
County auction in March could bring
in over $9 million in tax revenue
Bidder registration is now open for San Diego County’s 2022 online property tax auction. A total of 461 properties are for sale.
Anyone around the world can bid during the online property tax auction from March 11-16. To participate, bidders must register before March 3 at the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s tax auction website, sdttc.mytaxsale.com. They must also submit a refundable $1,000 deposit and a non-refundable $35 processing fee (some parcels may require a larger deposit).
“We have 42 residential or commercial properties, 325 timeshares, and 94 parcels of land for sale,” said county Treasurer-Tax Collector Dan McAllister. “The county stands to bring in $9,343,100 in tax revenue if all the properties are sold for the minimum bid.”
“The properties for sale have been in tax default for five or more years, in accordance with the California Revenue & Taxation Code, it’s time to get the properties back on the tax roll generating revenue for public services,” said McAllister. “Our online system makes it simple to research and bid on a variety of properties across San Diego County.”
General Atomics receives approval for
follow-on support for French MQ-RPA
The U.S. State Department has approved a $300 million sale to the Government of France for the continuation of MQ-9A Reaper Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) and related equipment. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI), developer of the MQ-9A Reaper Remotely Piloted Aircraft, is the principal contractor.
The follow-on support will enhance the French Air & Space Force fleet of MQ-9s and includes aircraft components, spares and accessories, training equipment and simulator software, as well as capability upgrades to the Predator Mission Aircrew Training System.
“The French Air & Space Force has been an outstanding customer for GA-ASI for many years,” said GA-ASI Senior Director of International FMS Programs Alan Peterson. “We’re pleased to deliver a new level of contractor support for the French MQ-9s.”
The CLS contract includes software and software support services, repair and return, U.S. government and contractor provided engineering, technical and logistical support services, and other related critical elements.
Eva Plajzer appointed director of operations and
maintenance for San Diego County Water Authority
Eva Plajzer, a 30-year civil engineering and management professional, has been appointed Director of Operations and Maintenance for the San Diego County Water Authority. She fills the position vacated by the retirement of Jim Fisher, whose 32-year career included nearly 10 years in a leadership role at the Water Authority.
Plajzer’s 30-year career spans private and public sectors where she took leadership roles in developing water resources and utility infrastructure for water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities.
Since 2016, Plajzer has served as assistant general manager at the Rancho California Water District in Riverside County. She led the Engineering and Operations Departments of Rancho California Water District with operating, non-operating, and capital budgets of more than $170 million.
Before working at Rancho California Water District, Plajzer was the assistant director of engineering at Moulton Niguel Water District in Laguna Hills for nearly six years, where she led the engineering functions for that district. Plajzer also served in technical capacities at the City of Carlsbad and County of Orange.
Craig Kimmel named director of agronomy
at Singing Hills Golf Resort at Sycuan
Singing Hills Golf Resort at Sycuan has named Craig Kimmel as the new Director of Agronomy. Kimmel comes to Singing Hills with more than 30 years of experience in the golf industry.
Previously, Kimmel was the superintendent at Redhill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga for more than two decades.
In his new role, Kimmel will oversee the daily maintenance and operation of the golf courses, facilities, resort-related landscape, staff and equipment.
His role will be an integral part in upcoming course renovation projects to include lake enhancements, new tee boxes and new state-of-the-art irrigation conversions to the golf courses.
“We are thrilled to welcome Craig to our growing leadership team at Singing Hills,” said Rob Cinelli, general manager at Singing Hills Golf Resort. “Craig’s vast knowledge and experience will be hugely important as we aggressively move forward with the many course improvements we have planned for 2022 and beyond.”
Suneva surpasses distribution of 1 million
syringes of Bellafill at close of 2021
Suneva Medical Inc. a San Diego medical technology company, announced that it reached a milestone of distributing more than 1 million syringes of Bellafill at the close of 2021. Bellafill, which has been available for regenerative aesthetic use since 2007, is Suneva’s five-year, FDA-approved filler for the correction of nasolabial folds and moderate to severe, atrophic, distensible facial acne scars on people’s cheeks.
Bellafill is one of the most studied dermal fillers on the market, with more than 1,542 patients enrolled across multiple clinical studies, demonstrating its safety and efficacy. In a 14-year post-market surveillance study, data shows Bellafill had a consistently low adverse event rate (0.11%) comparable to other injectable hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers.
Energía Sierra Juárez Phase II
wind farm begins operations
Sempra Infrastructure, a subsidiary of Sempra, announced that Phase II of its Energía Sierra Juárez (ESJ) wind farm in Tecate, Baja California began operations. ESJ, the first cross-border renewable energy project between Mexico and the United States, now provides 263 megawatts of zero-carbon electricity to the California electricity market.
The Phase II expansion of ESJ added 26 new wind turbines with a total incremental capacity of 108 MW. The increased production is equivalent to the annual energy consumption of over 180,000 homes and is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 170,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
The construction of the new facility created more than 1,700 direct and indirect jobs in Mexico. In addition, ESJ holds lease agreements with landowners who will continue receiving payments based on the company’s revenue from electricity sales, as well as other important social investment plans the company has in place as part of Sempra Infrastructure’s commitment to the communities where we operate.
U.S. Figure Skating partners with Engiven
to enable cryptocurrency donations
U.S. Figure Skating announced that it will begin accepting donations and gifts of cryptocurrency via a web-based platform powered by San Diego-based Engiven, creating a new path for supporters to contribute to the organization. Crypto donations will help fund several organizational projects, including Destination Beijing, which bring athletes’ family and friends together in celebration of major international competitions when travel to the event is not possible.
U.S. Figure Skating is partnering with Engiven, a company that powers an enterprise-level donation platform that more easily enables nonprofits to add cryptocurrency donations to help fund their causes. Engiven verifies donations on the blockchain, automatically exchanges the crypto for USD, and immediately transfers the funds to U.S. Figure Skating. U.S. Figure Skating is the first national governing body in the United States that will accept gifts in multiple cryptocurrencies.
Donors will still be able to choose which fund their gift will support.
Element Biosciences closes acquisition of Loop Genomics
Element Biosciences developer of a new and disruptive DNA sequencing platform, announced that the company has closed its acquisition of Loop Genomics, a long-read solutions company that enables short-read sequencers to obtain long range information. Loop Genomics’ chief executive officer and founder, Tuval Ben-Yehezkel will join Element Biosciences’ leadership team as senior irector, applications.
By combining Element’s highly accurate and cost-effective short-read platform with Loop’s easy and scalable long-read solutions, customers will be able to access both short- and long-read applications on the same platform with unprecedented performance, cost, and flexibility, according to the company.
Element’s inaugural virtual event on March 14, 2022, will provide more details on the Loop Genomics technology and its integration with the Element platform.
Will Mobile Gaming Continue to Boom in 2022?
Mobile gaming has become a recreational pastime that has become a go-to for millions worldwide. In 2021, mobile gaming continued to increase in popularity and profitability. In fact, Tech Crunch reported that mobile spending related hit record highs of almost $2 billion in the year’s first quarter. This represents a 40% difference from pre-pandemic numbers. However, as more establishments and activities begin to resume operations in 2022, is it game over for mobile gaming?
How Mobile Gaming Made it Big
A far cry from its first iterations (namely Nokia’s Snake and Bounce), mobile gaming has become the main draw rather than just a bonus feature among cellphone users. Recent reports have even shown that mobile gaming is now more popular than console or PC gaming, across the board. This is because of two primary reasons. First, unlike console or PC gaming, which require significant investments and are usually marketed for niche gamers, mobile gaming is equally accessible among older and casual gamers. As a matter of fact, mobile gamers aged 45 and older jumped by 17% over the past two years. This is credited to mobile gamers being easier to access, with less hardware and software investment.
Second, the diversity of mobile games has made them attractive to new and experienced gamers alike. Unlike before where mobile gaming was geared more towards the younger players and was often just for fun, newer mobile games target a much wider audience. Among the most popular games are ones that reintroduce classic titles with a modern twist. As shown on Gala Bingo, the classic bingo game is getting a new lease of life via mobile gaming as players can enjoy themed versions. This ranges from plays on the classic 75-ball game to bingo titles dedicated to popular TV shows like Friends. What’s more, a growing percent of the current 2.2 billion mobile gaming population is being drawn to these games where they can win real-life prizes. Another example of mobile gaming reinvigorating older games can be seen in Pokémon Go. Unlike console and PC versions, the mobile Pokémon game is more interactive. This had made it immensely popular as it earns more than $100 million monthly. All in all, mobile gaming’s ease of access and diverse game offerings have made it the most appealing and accessible.
What 2022 Has in Store
Critics of mobile gaming have doubted its longevity given that its success was largely hinged on people staying home. Since the fall of 2021, stay-at-home orders have been totally lifted and more local businesses have resumed operations. This includes many recreational concepts, including gaming halls which may attract back patrons who temporarily turned to mobile games. Aside from this, mobile gaming is also facing some decent competition in the form of old-school game boards. Since 2020, the board games market has grown by 13% as more people also look for offline entertainment options. This includes many local and homegrown brands, including The Broken Token. Since it was first established in 2015, the Vista-based company now makes $3.5 million in annual sales.
That said, the recent surge in infections may be a silver lining for mobile gaming. With the Omicron variant causing many establishments to rethink their re-opening plans, mobile gamers will likely continue to turn to their phones for fun. Plus, because smartphone penetration is expected to swell to over 300 million this year, those with access to mobile games are growing rapidly. Considering all these factors, 2022 will most likely end up being another winning year for mobile gaming.
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