Daily Business Report: Thursday, June 2, 2022
U.S. Navy’s 3rd Fleet command in San Diego
to lead massive international maritime exercise
San Diego is home to the U.S. Navy’s 3rd Fleet, whose command will lead this year’s Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), the world’s largest international maritime exercise taking place June 29 through Aug. 4 in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California.
Twenty-six nations, 38 surface ships, four submarines, nine national land forces, more than 170 aircraft and approximately 25,000 personnel will participate in the exercise, the 28th since the series began in 1971.
Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet will serve as the Combined Task Force commander of the exercise. That’s Vice Adm. Steve Koehler, a native of San Diego, who assumed his command in June 2021. Fleet headquarters are on Naval Base Point Loma.
The Navy says RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity designed to foster and sustain cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world’s interconnected oceans.
This year’s theme is “Capable, Adaptive, Partners.” Participating nations and forces will exercise a wide range of capabilities and demonstrate the inherent flexibility of maritime forces.
These capabilities range from disaster relief and maritime security operations to sea control and complex warfighting. The relevant, realistic training program includes amphibious operations, gunnery, missile, anti-submarine and air defense exercises, as well as counter-piracy operations, mine clearance operations, explosive ordnance disposal, and diving and salvage operations.
“During RIMPAC, a network of capable, adaptive partners train and operate together in order to strengthen their collective forces and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the Navy said in announcing the exercise. “RIMPAC 2022 contributes to the increased interoperability, resiliency and agility needed by the Joint and Combined Force to deter and defeat aggression by major powers across all domains and levels of conflict.”
Top Photo: Sailors slack out line during sea and anchor detail on the fantail of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. The carrier is pierside, preparing for future operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class David Rowe.)
Construction begins on East County
Advanced Water Purification Program
The East County Advanced Water Purification Program broke ground on Wednesday, marking an important milestone for the project, East County, the region and the entire water industry.
Program representatives, elected officials and water industry leaders gathered at the future site of the treatment facility in Santee to celebrate the program that will create a new, local, sustainable and drought-proof drinking water supply using state-of-the-art technology to purify East San Diego County’s recycled water.
Scheduled to be complete in 2026, the East County AWP Program will generate up to 11.5 million gallons per day of purified water— meeting approximately 30 percent of current drinking water demands for East County residents and businesses. The program will use four advanced water purification steps to produce water that is near-distilled in quality.
The program and is a collaborative partnership between four agencies: Padre Dam, the City of El Cajon, the County of San Diego and Helix Water District. The overall cost for the project is $950 million and estimated to create 2,500 jobs in the region.
Photo: Rendering of the East County Advanced Water Purification Program.
FS Design Group gets new owner
Longtime FS Design Group Senior Project Manager Amy Tobia Takes the Reigns from Founder Bre’an Fox
After 30 years in business under the leadership of Founder Bre’an Fox, FS Design Group has a new owner. Amy Tobia, a 10-years FS Design Group team member, purchased the firm from Fox.
For Fox, having Tobia step into this role was an obvious choice, as she and Tobia share philosophies in their work ethic and how they interact with people.
“That is critical to me because of the effort, time and energy that I put toward this business,” said Fox. “It’s so nice to see it being carried on in the same manner and maintaining the reputation that we’ve all helped build.”
FS Design Group provides interior design for corporate, health care, retail and multifamily properties.
Tobia, who is now principal of the firm, will oversee its increasingly diverse range of projects, clients and dynamic team. Fox will remain with FS Design Group for a year during the transition before retiring.
Tobia also will continue the firm’s unique cross-training program, ensuring all FS Design Group team members are well versed in every aspect of the business so they can take projects from beginning to end.
The cross-training business model increases efficiency for FS Design Group and its clients.
Heather Skaife appointed Gascon’s director
of project/construction management services
Gafcon Inc. announced the appointment of Heather Skaife as director of project management/construction management services.
Skaife is a construction and operations executive with over 17 years of industry experience. In previous roles, she has served as a program irector and director of operations overseeing project teams and all phases of large-scale construction and development programs.
Skaife holds a Bachelor of Liberal Arts from the University of Alaska and a Master of Science in Executive Construction Management from Northwestern University.
Active in the community, she serves as board secretary for the Construction Management Association of America San Diego Chapter and as chair for their Student Outreach Committee, as well as being a CMAA Foundation board member.
Additionally, Skaife is active in California’s Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH) and Community College Facility Coalition (CCFC).
Skaife will report to Robin Duveen, Gafcon president and chief operations officer.
USD’s School of Leadership and Education Services
welcomes new dean Kimberly White-Smith
The University of San Diego has named Kimberly A. White-Smith as the new dean of the School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES), whose nationally-accredited programs span the realms of leadership, teaching and counseling, both at graduate and undergraduate levels.
White-Smith comes to USD from the University of La Verne, where she served as professor and dean of the LaFetra College of Education. She currently serves as the independent, higher education sector’s representative to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. She is also vice president of the California Council on Teacher Education and member of the board of directors for the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education and WestEd.
SOLES seeks to make an impact far beyond the classroom. The school has a number of centers, institutes and programs that bring researchers, nonprofits, educators and students together to make an impact on people, communities and the environment.
Fortress Brand Group acquires
San Diego’s Taylor & Pond
New York’s Fortress Brand Group has acquired digital marketing agency Taylor & Pond, a San Diego company that specializes in the beauty, health, and wellness industry by offering a full spectrum of digital marketing services, including social media marketing, content creation, influencer marketing, paid digital media, creative development, email marketing, and website development.
The addition of Taylor & Pond enhances Fortress’s relationships with existing brand partners by being able to offer them additional creative and digital demand generation capabilities through an integrated growth platform.
“I am beyond thrilled with our new partnership and being part of the powerful Fortress Group,” said Siri Fomsgaard, president of Taylor & Pond. “ This new digital alliance will strengthen our 360-digital marketing services and Taylor & Pond clients will benefit immediately. I am particularly excited about the industry-leading Amazon and data analytics capabilities that our top beauty and wellness brands can now utilize to increase online sales both here in the U.S. and in Europe.”
Alliant International University launches
new Master of Social Work Program
Alliant International University, the leading professional practice university for mental health degrees, announced the official launch of its new online Master of Social Work (MSW) Program. Within the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP), students who hold a bachelor’s degree or higher will now be able to enroll in a Master’s in Social Work at Alliant.
Starting in January 2023, Alliant’s MSW program will be offered fully online with small class sizes, providing graduating college seniors or adults holding a bachelor’s degree or higher the opportunity to enroll in a flexible program. The program prepares students for a career in advanced social work and promotes the integration of classroom learning with real-world experiences in practicum settings to equip graduates for the tasks and responsibilities encountered in professional social work practice.
The MSW degree program is a 60-credit program and takes a minimum of two years to complete. For more information on the new program including prerequisites and qualifications, visit alliant.edu/schools/cspp or reach out to admissions@alliant.edu.
SDG&E launches new energy conservation incentive program
San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has launched a new energy conservation incentive program that rewards customers with bill credits for reducing their energy use on days when the grid statewide is stressed by high energy demand.
The Power Saver Rewards Program could be activated anytime between now and Oct. 31 whenever the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) issues an Energy Emergency Alert Watch and/or a Flex Alert. Customers enrolled in the voluntary and cost-free program will be notified via email or text messages (depending on their preference) a day ahead of the need to conserve, so they can plan and prepare accordingly. Those who are able to reduce energy use between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. below their typical energy use during these peak hours will receive $2 credit for each kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity saved. There is no penalty for not reducing energy use.
For reference, it takes about 2 kWh to do a load of dishes or use the oven for an hour. The average residential customer in SDG&E’s service territory uses about 400 kWh of electricity per month.
Epic Sciences raises $43 million in
first close of Series F financing
Epic Sciences Inc. a privately held diagnostics company in San Diego, has completed a $43 million first close of its Series F financing. The company will use the capital from this additional round of private investment to continue to advance its multi-omic platform and expand operations in areas such as single-cell sequencing and data analytics infrastructure.
Arsenal Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm specializing in building transformational health care businesses, led the growth investment, which included continued support from existing investors such as Blue Ox Healthcare Partners, Deerfield Management, and Labcorp.
DefineMBC,Epic’s novel blood-based test for comprehensively characterizing metastatic breast cancer, has been reporting patient results since April 2022.
Sunstone Hotel Investors to acquire part
ownership of Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel
Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc., the owner of real estate in the lodging industry, has entered into a definitive agreement with an affiliate of Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. to acquire Park’s 25 percent interest in the joint venture that owns the leasehold interest in the 1,190-room Hilton San Diego Bayfront.
As part of the transaction, Sunstone will pay Park $102 million in cash and will effectively assume Park’s $55 million share of the existing mortgage loan on the hotel, which is already fully consolidated as part of Sunstone’s financial statements. Following the acquisition, Sunstone will own 100 percent of the venture’s interests in the hotel.
The purchase price, including the in-place debt, implies a $628 million value for the hotel, or $527,700 per key.
The company currently anticipates closing the transaction by the end of the second quarter 2022 and expects to fund the acquisition primarily from borrowing on the company’s revolving credit facility.
