Daily Business Report: Friday, Dec. 9, 2022
First-ever California offshore wind auction nets $757 million
By Nadia Lopez | CalMatters
The first-ever auction for leases to build massive wind farms off California’s coast netted final bids of $757.1 million on Thursday, signaling the beginning of a competitive market for a new industry producing carbon-free electricity.
The auction — the first on the West Coast — included five sites about 20 miles off Morro Bay and Humboldt County, totaling 583 square miles of deep ocean waters. The leases from the federal government are the first step in a years-long regulatory process that could culminate in the nation’s first commercial-scale floating wind turbines off California’s coast.
The results of the auction offer the first key signs for gauging how strong the market is for producing offshore wind energy off California.
The total amount — to be paid by five energy companies — was considerably smaller than the record-breaking $4.37 billion that companies paid for six offshore wind leases off New York and New Jersey’s coasts in February. That was the largest amount ever paid for U.S. offshore energy leases — including for oil and gas. The funds are paid into the U.S. Treasury’s General Fund.
Photo: Three offshore wind turbines operate off the coast of Rhode Island. The first leases off California will be auctioned off today. (Photo by Michael Dwyer, AP Photo, via CalMatters)
Three entrepreneurial UC San Diego faculty
members to join National Academy of Inventors
By Ioana Patringenaru, Katherine Connor, Debra Bass
UC San Diego’s ranks now include 18 fellows of the National Academy of Inventors. Three professors have been named 2022 NAI fellows, the highest professional distinction awarded to academic inventors. The NAI Fellows Program highlights academic inventors who have demonstrated a spirit of innovation in creating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.
This year’s inductees all hail from the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering: Yu-Hwa Lo, a professor of electrical and computer engineering; Nicole Steinmetz and Joseph Wang, both professors of nanoengineering. They are among 169 inducted into the 2022 class of fellows.
Nicole Steinmetz engineers plant-virus-based nanomaterials for human and plant health applications. She is the founding director of the Center for Nano-ImmunoEngineering.
Joseph Wang is an expert in both chemistry and engineering. His research group investigates how nanorobots and wearable sensors could be used to improve human health.
Yu-Hwa Lo, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering, is recognized as a leader in both the fields of biomedical electronic and optical devices, and nanoscale semiconductor devices.
Stos Partners completes $20 million industrial acquisition
Stos Partners, a San Diego-based commercial real estate investment and management company, has acquired an 86,690-square-foot industrial building in Escondido for $20 million. The acquisition brings the firm’s 2022 deal volume to nearly $300 million.
“With the industrial sector remaining our primary focus, our team has been able to successfully navigate this year’s market fluctuations, bringing our total 2022 acquisition volume to over $155 million among 15 purchases,” said CJ Stos, principal of Stos Partners.
In addition to the industrial acquisition, the firm also recently completed the $14.9 million sale of an 82,500-square-foot industrial warehouse in Phoenix, Ariz .
Stos Partners partnered with Apartment Worth on three multifamily property acquisitions totaling 46 units for $15.43 million.
The Escondido industrial property is located at 2425 Auto Park Way.
GSA awards $1.8 million contract
for project at Otay Mesa Land Port of Entry
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced its selection of OCS Construction Services, a small disadvantaged business and certified 8(a) contractor based in Riverside, to provide design-build services for a low-embodied carbon concrete project at the Otay Mesa Land Port of Entry (LPOE). The approximately $1.8 million contract was funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This is the first LPOE project to use the GSA’s new low-embodied-carbon concrete standard issued earlier this year.
Search begins for 2023 America’s Top Young Scientist
3M and Discovery Education announced the opening of entries in the 3M Young Scientist Challenge middle school science competition. Students in grades 5-8 are invited to compete for an exclusive mentorship with a 3M scientist, a $25,000 grand prize and the chance to earn the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist. Competition entries are accepted at YoungScientistLab.com until the April 27, 2023deadline.
To enter, students in grades 5-8 submit a one-to-two-minute video explaining an original idea using science to help solve an everyday problem. Videos can be recorded using a cell phone or digital camera and will not be judged on production skills.
The 2022 winner – 14-year-old Leanne Fan from San Diego, created Finsen Headphones, an antibiotic-free, low-cost option that detects and treats mid-ear infections using machine learning and blue light therapy. The use of Finsen Headphones could potentially reduce the number of children who suffer from hearing loss by up to 60 percent.
Seaport San Diego wins GOLD Award for design
Seaport San Diego has been honored with a design award, the latest milestone for the transformative redevelopment proposed for the Downtown San Diego waterfront within the Port of San Diego. The $3.6 billion project is currently preparing to enter the environmental review process, a critical step for any large development.
Now, the project team has been presented with the 2022 ICSC GOLD Award for Evolving Innovation and Aspiration in the New Developments category. ICSC highlighted Seaport San Diego’s design for dramatically increasing coastal access, recreational space, activities and water views of San Diego Bay while providing improved commercial fishing facilities and creating unique features including an iconic observation Tower, Aquarium, Learning Center and Blue Tech Innovation Center.
Jacob Goldschlag and Kyla Szubinski join
Finch, Thornton & Baird law firm
Construction industry law firm of Finch, Thornton & Baird, LLP announced the addition of attorneys Jacob W. Goldschlag and Kyla E. Szubinski to its legal team.
Goldschlag practices within the firm’s construction law, business and commercial litigation, and real estate departments. He received his juris doctor from the University of San Diego School of Law, from which he graduated cum laude. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Michigan.
Szubinski practices within the construction law and business and commercial litigation departments.
She received her juris doctor from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where she graduated magna cum laude. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in business management from Rollins College.
Zubin Meshginpoosh joins Senté as president and COO
Senté, an innovative specialty dermatology company based in Carlsbad, announced the appointment of Zubin Meshginpoosh as president and chief operational officer. As a mission driven thought leader and strategist, Meshginpoosh brings a unique blend of experiences to Senté from the aesthetic industry.
He spent several years as an operating partner for a private equity group running Enaltus, a business in the aesthetic space manufacturing specialty skin care products to physicians and consumers in the U.S. with a direct marketing and sales organization, and internationally with distributors and partners in over 50 countries around the world.
He also served as president and CMO at Weston Laboratories and Santus Labs.
Fresh Start Surgical Gifts expands to Texas
National nonprofit Fresh Start Surgical Gifts, a San Diego organization, is expanding south to San Antonio, Texas, to continue to provide children and families with free, life-changing medical care. In Texas, 20 percent of children live in poverty and 13 percent of children do not have health insurance. Fresh Start Surgical Gifts transforms the lives of disadvantaged infants, children, and teens with physical and cosmetic deformities by providing reconstructive surgery at absolutely no cost to patients or their families.
CUSO Financial Services to get
broker-dealer services from Westcom
CUSO Financial Services (CSF), a San Diego company, announced that Wescom Financial Services (WFS) of Pasadena will transition its broker-dealer services to CSF under a dual program model. CFS will continue to partner with WFS in a dual program service model in which CFS will provide the technology platform, investment products and solutions, training and compliance oversight for their investment program. Established in 1934, Wescom serves more than 200,000 members.
Crown Bioscience and ERS
Genomics sign licensing agreement
San Diego-based Crown Bioscience Inc. and ERS Genomics Limited have signed a global license agreement for access to the foundational CRISPR/Cas9 patent portfolio held by ERS, which provides the company full license to operate globally using CRISPR/Cas9 for gene editing. Crown Bioscience is a global contract research organization supporting drug discovery. ERS Genomics is a biotechnology company based in Dublin, Ireland.
Cymbiotika a silver winner in Best in Biz Awards
Cymbiotika, an innovative health and wellness brand based in San Diego, has been named a silver winner in Small Company of The Year in Best in Biz Awards, the only independent business awards program judged each year by prominent editors and reporters from top-tier publications in North America. Last year, Cymbiotika was named a gold winner on the fastest-growing companies list. Being awarded Company of the Year this year demonstrates Cymbiotika’s growth, both internally and externally. Cymbiotika is proud to be listed on this prestigious award. Shahab Elmi is CEO and co-founder of Cymbiotica.
Amity launches innovative NFT fundraiser
Amity Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to criminal justice reform and recidivism reduction, launched an NFT fundraiser on Dec. 7 to showcase and benefit staff members and individual artists who have graduated from their programs. The participating Amity staff and alumni artists will receive the majority of the proceeds from their sold art. Amity partnered with The Impact Collective, which helps nonprofits raise money through selling NFTs. The NFT drop is available on The Impact Collective’s user-friendly platform, which accepts credit cards and cryptocurrency.
Dexcom receives FDA clearance
for glucose monitoring system
Dexcom, the global leader in real-time continuous glucose monitoring for people with diabetes, announced the FDA has cleared the next-generation Dexcom G7 Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) System for people with all types of diabetes ages two years and older. Dexcom is working closely with its insulin pump partners to integrate Dexcom G7 into current and future automated insulin delivery systems as quickly as possible.
