Daily Business Report: Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022
SDSU seeks founding director
to lead new Cybersecurity Center
By Mario Sevilla
With a rise in cyber attacks and the growing demand for cybersecurity professionals, San Diego State University is seeking a founding faculty director to lead the university’s new Cybersecurity Center for Academic Excellence.
The new center will offer cybersecurity workforce development and research on topics including offensive and defensive cyber operations, digital privacy, and secure software design. The founding director will appoint the center’s first cohort of faculty and an executive director with an expected grand opening fall 2023.
The center will be a critical component in SDSU’s strategy to be proactive in cybersecurity training and education. Cyber threat intelligence from Check Point Research reported in July 2022 that the education/research sector experienced more than double the number of average weekly cyberattacks than other industries.
Illustration courtesy of SDSU.
MG Properties acquires Kearny Mesa apartments
MG Properties, a private San Diego-based real estate investor, owner, and operator, has purchased the multifamily community Domain San Diego in Kearny Mesa in a joint venture with Rockwood Capital.
Domain San Diego is a 379-unit community that offers renovated studio, 1 & 2 bedroom apartments, competitive community amenities, and easy access to the 163 and 52 freeways.
The seller of this multifamily community was Magnolia Capital, represented by Joseph Smolen, Geoff Boler, Mark Peterson, Jonathan Merhaut, and Eugene Chong of Eastdil Secured.
Judge orders city to refile Hughes lawsuit
By Lisa Halverstadt | Voice of San Diego
A Superior Court judge last week ordered the city to refile its lawsuits against a former city real estate adviser after concluding that the city’s settlement with its ex-landlord didn’t clearly exclude the broker its landlord paid millions of dollars.
Judge Timothy Taylor ruled Friday that settlement language made it necessary for the city to clarify in new complaints that it isn’t arguing that broker Jason Hughes was an agent of ex-landlord Cisterra Development, which paid Hughes $9.4 million for his work on the city’s 101 Ash St. and Civic Center Plaza leases.
The city has accused Hughes of violating a state conflict-of-interest law barring officials from financially benefiting from contracts they work on. Cisterra and its lenders were also named in the two civil lawsuits until the City Council approved a controversial settlement in July allowing the city to buy out the two leases and collect some of Cisterra’s net profits.
The cases now focus on Hughes, and his attorneys are attacking the suits ahead of planned April trials. Hughes’ attorneys asked the court to rule on its argument that the city settlement released Hughes from liability by not specifically excluding him from a list of possible Cisterra entities.
UC strike could stretch on despite tentative deal
By Emily Hoeven | Calmatters
Friday evening, the University of California and the negotiating team representing 36,000 striking academic workers approved a tentative agreement to end the five-week work stoppage — thought to be the largest-ever labor action by U.S. university employees — that disrupted classes, grading and research at the nation’s premier public university system.
But 15 of the 40 members of the bargaining team voted no on the tentative deal. They’re now leading a campaign to persuade the rank-and-file members, who are spread across two unions, to reject the proposed agreement in ratification votes through Friday evening. All of the 12 bargaining members representing three campuses — UC Merced, UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz — shot down the proposal.
Officials break ground today on
new microgrid with energy storage
Labor leaders, City Council members and a SDG&E representative today st 1 p.m. will kick off construction of a new microgrid with energy storage at SDG&E’s Clairemont substation.
Slated for completion in 2023, the new 9 MW facility will help the state meet high energy demand, particularly on hot summer days and in the peak evening hours after renewable power from the sun and wind dissipates. The microgrid can operate independent of or parallel to the larger regional grid to help keep critical community facilities powered during unexpected outages.
During emergencies, the Clairemont Microgrid will have the ability to power Fire Station 36, the Balboa Public Library/Cool Zone and local schools such as Lafayette Elementary, Sequoia Elementary, Innovation and CPMA Middle Schools and Madison High School.
Rick Francis named VP and chief operations officer
for San Diego County Regional Airport Authority
Rick Francis, former assistant director at John Wayne Airport, has been appointed vice president and chief operations officer for the San Diego Regional Airport Authority.
Francis is responsible for setting the strategic direction for terminal and airside operations, aviation security and public safety, ground transportation, and facilities maintenance functions at San Diego International Airport.
Francis comes to San Diego after serving as assistant director at John Wayne Airport for almost six years, including nearly one year as interim airport director.
In that role, Francis was responsible for oversight of the overall operations of the airport including operations, maintenance, business development, finance, government affairs, noise abatement, facilities development, and airport rules and regulations.
Before his work at John Wayne Airport, Francis was assistant city manager for the City of Costa Mesa where he provided leadership and supervision of the city’s executive management team.
Airport and brewery partner to release
beers made from purified condensate
San Diego International Airport and The East Village Brewing Co. celebrated the release of two beers made with purified condensate collected through the airport’s water stewardship program. Hoppy Travels IPA is a West Coast IPA with flavors of grapefruit and guava and Pre-Flight Pils is a German-style pilsner with bready and lemon zest flavors. The beers are currently on tap at The East Village Brewing Co. and will be available at San Diego International Airport’s Terminal 2 in the coming weeks.
The water used in the beers is the condensate that dripped from the bottom of air conditioning units attached to jet bridges at SAN. The captured condensate was then purified using reverse osmosis and ozone disinfection and transported to The East Village Brewing Co. for its use. The condensate water has a pure water profile with little mineral content, making the reclaimed water an ideal base for brewers. In addition to making beer, the water is used to clean equipment and vehicles at SAN as well as in the cooling towers that control the temperature in the terminals.
Misfolding proteins bring bring caution
for gene therapies for haemophilia
Researchers from Sanford Burnham Prebys, US, led by Dr Randal Kaufman, have found misfolded proteins in liver cells contribute to the development of liver cancer also link to haemophilia. The findings, published in the journal Molecular Therapy, could also help improve the safety of certain gene therapies for haemophilia. “There is still a lot of mystery about what causes liver cance to develop, and our findings show for the first time that misfolded proteins in liver cells play a key role. This effect needs to be taken into account when developing therapies that help the liver produce proteins, such as those for haemophilia A,” said Kaufman. Read more…
Mayor Todd Gloria chosen to lead
California’a Big City Mayors coalition
The Big City Mayors has selected San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria to lead the statewide coalition in 2023 and 2024. The influential bipartisan group is composed of the mayors from the 13 largest cities in California by population: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach, Oakland, Bakersfield, Anaheim, Stockton, Riverside and Irvine. In assuming this new role in statewide leadership, Gloria has opted not to seek the chairmanship at the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) and supports County Supervisor Nora Vargas to take up the role.
Angiocrine Bioscience awarded $15 million
for AB-205 Phase 3 clinical trial
Angiocrine Bioscience Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company in San Diego, announced that the California Institute for Regeneration Medicine (CIRM) has approved investing $15 million in the Phase 3 registration study AB-205-301 (E-CELERATE), a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of AB-205 in adults with lymphoma undergoing high-dose chemotherapy (HDT) and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT). AB-205 is an intravenous investigational engineered cell therapy product being developed for multiple indications.
Say It Now launches mission to ignite
1 million expressions of gratitude
Say It Now, a movement founded by San Diegan Walter Green that is dedicated to shifting the paradigm of how people honor those who have had an impact on their lives, has launched a year-long initiative to empower 1 million expressions of gratitude. From inspiring real-world stories to tips on how to share a message of gratitude, people of all ages can visit www.justsayitnow.org to access free resources to make it easier to jumpstart their gratitude journey. Walter Green was chairman of the board and CEO of Harrison Conference Services for 25 years, during which time it grew into the leading conference center management company in the United States.
Genome Insight develops ‘StreamSeq’ technology
for high-speed whole genome analysis
Genome Insight, a precision medicine whole genome platform company, announced it has been granted a patent for its “StreamSeq” technology. The “StreamSeq” technology received a patent registration decision from the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and applications have been completed at the U.S. and European patent offices. “StreamSeq” is a groundbreaking technology that can analyze whole genome information in just a few hours. It takes its name from the concept of streaming as a way to watch or listen to content while downloading the file.
Road repair projects underway in City of San Diego
The City of San Diego continues to repair and resurface roads through its slurry seal program. Over the next few weeks, resurfacing is scheduled for streets in and around Balboa Park and North Park, along with Otay Mesa, College Area and eastern parts of the city. Slurry seal is a cost-effective, pavement preservation method consisting of asphalt emulsion, sand and rock. This mixture is applied to the street surface at an average thickness of a quarter inch and extends the life of streets that are already in good condition.
5-Ronin purchases industrial property
in Poway for $8 million
Dekel Capital has arranged $8 million in equity capital for 5-Ronin’s purchase of a 2.78-acre land parcel in Poway that will be used as an industrial outdoor storage facility. 5-Ronin is an Orange County-based real estate development firm focused on the acquisition of industrial and life sciences opportunities in Southern California. Dekel Capital is a Los Angeles-based real estate merchant bank with expertise in capital market advisory and private equity in commercial real estate.
San Diego Hunger Coalition awarded $100,000
San Diego Hunger Coalition has been chosen as one of the initial organizations supported by Save the Children’s Rural Child Hunger Research and Innovation Lab, which seeks to bolster community groups working to address child food insecurity in the rural and hardest-to-reach regions of the country. As part of the support process, the Coalition has been awarded a $100,000 grant to facilitate its Hunger Free Kids Mountain Empire program in rural San Diego County. Hunger Free Kids is an initiative that aims to end nutrition insecurity among children through school breakfast and lunch programs, after-school suppers, summer meals, CalFresh support and more.
Kratos receives $13 million
electronic warfare system contract
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. has recently received an approximate $13 million contract for electronic warfare-related system products and solutions. The contract is expected to be incrementally funded over the relative periods of performance. Kratos is a technology company in the national security and commercial market areas, providing hardware, products, systems and solutions for hypersonics, ballistic missile defense, space and satellite communication, engine and propulsion, unmanned aerial drone, cyber warfare and other areas. Work under this program award will be performed at secure Kratos engineering and production facilities.
