Daily Business Report: Monday, June 20, 2022
Port of San Diego named Best Cruise Port in the World
The Port of San Diego has been named Best Cruise Port in the World in the 10thAnnual Global Traveler Leisure Lifestyle Awards. The award is part of the publication’s annual readers survey that honors the best in the world of leisure and lifestyle travel and recognizes goods and services, destinations, hotels, airlines, and cruises.
Ten cruise ports made the list this year. They are in order:
Port of San Diego
Port Miami, Florida
Port Canaveral, Florida
Port Everglades, Florida
Cozumel, Mexico
Southampton, England
Port of Los Angeles
Philipsburg, St. Maarten
New York, New York
Venice, Italy
The Port of San Diego’s two cruise ship terminals on B Street and Broadway Piers are located downtown, offering a seamless transition from the cruise ship to city attractions.
The cruise business in San Diego is seasonal, usually beginning in September and running through May. The Port welcomed approximately 100 cruises this season and anticipates over 130 for next season.
Primary lines that call on the Port of San Diego are Holland America Line, Disney Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Line. Other cruise lines on the schedule include Regent Seven Seas, Viking Cruises, and Windstar Cruises.
Top Photo: Cruise ships lined up at the Port of San Diego’s two cruise ship terminals in San Diego Bay.
Back from the brink: A fire captain’s journey from
terror to trauma to recovery — and then more terror.
“I felt trapped.” For months, a firefighter kept reliving her colleagues’ screams when a Mendocino County wildfire encircled them. On the day she planned to take her life, she got help instead — just in time.
By Julie Cart | CalMatters
On the day that still haunts Noelle Bahnmiller, she was scheduled to be off work. But as a favor, she agreed to take another firefighter’s shift. It was early August, in the middle of a brutal fire season that already seemed endless. Lightning sparked the tinder-dry, remote wilderness in Mendocino County, and Bahnmiller, then a captain at Cal Fire, and her engine crew were dispatched to lay firehose across a ridgeline.
There was no hint that it would be anything other than a routine assignment. It was a beautiful day, she was in a forest, noisy with birds, she could see forever and she was hiking. All the best aspects of her firefighting job. “Heaven,” Bahnmiller said.
But a few hours later, her radio crackled with urgent voices: The fire blew up, a benign blaze suddenly exploded into a menacing giant. It burned its way to the tops of the trees, creating a crown fire, the most feared and volatile wildfire.
Possible deal could keep plastics initiative off ballot
CalMatters
A bill to reduce single-use plastics could toss a November ballot measure in the trash — if state lawmakers and proponents can finalize a tentative agreement by June 30.
In the latest development in a long-running saga, some environmental groups told the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday that a possible legislative deal could result in the already-qualified measure getting yanked off the ballot.
The potential deal comes after the Legislature in 2019 and 2020 rejected bills that would have forced manufacturers to significantly reduce the amount of single-use packaging and foodware ending up in landfills. State Sen. Ben Allen, a Santa Monica Democrat, reignited the effort in 2021.CalMatters
Tax credits will produce thousands
of new jobs in cutting-edge industries
Nearly $2 billion in new private investment over the next five years. Thousands of new private-sector jobs. That’s what is coming to California courtesy of more than $178 million in tax credits announced by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz.)
The money is being invested in industries that will shape the future. Space exploration. Artificial Intelligence. New farming technology to fight climate change. With private ingenuity and public backing, the future continues to be created in California.
The $178.2 million in CalCompetes tax credits will go to companies that will increase manufacturing in the state, and continue the state’s economic growth, which has been unmatched since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
San Diego County companies awarded tax credits include NuVasive Inc., Procore Technologies Inc., Chef Works Inc., Signature Analytics LLC, North Star Sensors LLC, Sentek Consulting Inc., Hunter Industries Inc., and Blazer and Flip Flops Inc. dba The Experience Engine Inc.
Kratos awarded contract to build monitoring system
for Japan Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
KratoDefense & Security Solutions Inc., a San Diego company, announced that it was awarded a contract to build a state-of-the-art C-band Geostationary Orbit (GSO) Satellite Spectrum Monitoring Facility. Kratos is implementing this solution as part of a joint project with Japan’s main satellite operator, SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (SKY Perfect JSAT), for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) in Japan.
The system will address MIC’s need to implement a new location for spectrum monitoring, protected from 5G interference, that will help in assuring the spectrum and reducing the potential for signal congestion, RF interference and illegal usage. Kratos is working closely with SKY Perfect JSAT, the prime contractor who is coordinating with the Japanese government to implement the project and to host the C-band antennas.
General Atomics gets task order to demonstrate
secure procedures for sub propeller disposal
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) announced that it has completed a task order from Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Divisionto develop and demonstrate secure, cost-efficient procedures to render obsolete Los Angeles-class submarine propellers and related hardware for disposal and recovery of essential metal elements for reuse. The task order is part of a broad contract previously awarded to General Atomics.
General Atomics has completed the demonstration of the procedures developed under the task order at its manufacturing facility in Tupelo, Miss., using several government-furnished propellers and components.
New Rady program will screen infants for genetic threats
A new initiative from the Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine hopes to screen newborns for nearly 400 genetic conditions. Working with a range of partners, the institute, part of Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, hopes to use rapid genetic sequencing of blood samples collected shortly after birth to identify diseases with genetic underpinnings before they begin producing symptoms, potentially providing time to take action.
The work builds on the institute’s existing work performing rapid genetic sequencing for babies hospitalized with unexplained symptoms, an effort that started in San Diego but that has since spread to about 80 hospitals nationwide.
Artiva Biotherapeutics celebrates opening
of San Diego corporate headquarters
Artiva Biotherapeutics Inc., an oncology company whose mission is to deliver highly effective, off-the-shelf allogeneic, natural killer cell therapies that are safe and accessible to cancer patients, announced the official opening of the company’s U.S. corporate headquarters and R&D laboratory facilities at the Alexandria Tech Center in San Diego.
The new 52,000-square-foot facility has research and process development laboratories and will include a multi-suite custom-built Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) manufacturing center to support NK and CAR-NK cell production for Artiva’s pipeline development and clinical trial supply.
Qualcomm acquires Israeli tech startup
Qualcomm has aquired Israeli startup Cellwize Wireless Technologies, a leader in mobile network automation and management. Cellwize’s 5G network platform capabilities will further strengthen Qualcomm’s 5G infrastructure to fuel the digital transformation of industries and support the growth of the cloud economy.
San Diego: Life. Changing. spotlights Molly He
As biotech booms, EDC spotlighted San Diego’s Molly He, CEO and co-founder of Element Biosciences, via its San Diego: Life. Changing. campaign. Hear Molly’s story to learn how the Element Biosciences team is democratizing genomics to empower scientists, how San Diego’s life sciences and tech ecosystems helps talent thrive, and what future se sees for other local entrepreneurs.
ResMed acquires German firm for $1 billion
Biotech giant ResMed has acquired German health care software developer MediFox Dan for $1 billion. The acquisition will strengthen ResMed’s cloud software footprint in Europe with subscription software including care documentation, personnel planning, administration, billing, and other services.s
Apple grows presence in Rancho Bernardo
Apple has in recent weeks quietly signed two new leases along West Bernardo Drive in Rancho Bernardo, increasing its footprint in the technology-centric office hub by 148,000 square feet, according to real estate tracker CoStar.
In April, Apple signed a lease for a single floor, or 52,800 square feet, in the recently renovated Rancho Vista Corporate Center located at 16409 West Bernardo Drive, where Intel and Labcorp Drug Development are also tenants. Apple has in recent weeks quietly signed two new leases along West Bernardo Drive in Rancho Bernardo, increasing its footprint in the technology-centric office hub by 148,000 square feet, according to real estate tracker CoStar.
In April, Apple signed a lease for a single floor, or 52,800 square feet, in the recently renovated Rancho Vista Corporate Center located at 16409 West Bernardo Drive, where Intel and Labcorp Drug Development are also tenants.
Entos moves into Torrey Pines life science campus
A Canadian pharmaceutical company — Entos Pharmaceuticals has moved its U.S. operations to a Torrey Pines life science campus after starting them in a nearby incubator. Entos has leased 9,600 square feet in The Muse for research and development and about 10,000 square feet in a second Torrey Pines building for manufacturing. Headquartered in Edmonton, Entos has offices in London as well as San Diego.
Kové to hold June 25 grand opening of its
Miramar brewing facility and tasting room
Kové will host a grand opening celebration on June 25 at its new brewing facility and tasting room at 9030 Kenamar Drive, Suite 309, San Diego 92121. Time is from noon to 10 p.m.
Guests can enjoy — at no cost — live music, on site activations, tasty food and the chance to try Kové’s core flavors along with specialty flavors created specifically for this location, as well as a new flavor that will be unveiled at the event. They can expect a unique visual experience that integrates the botanical brand elements into a physical space, adorned by hand-woven rugs and specialty curated artwork and installations.
