Daily Business Report: Thursday, March 9, 2023
New cost estimate for high-speed rail puts
California bullet train $100 billion in the red
By Ralph Vartabedian | CalMatters
When Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled his scaled down blueprint for the California bullet train four years ago, he proposed building a 171-mile starter segment in the Central Valley that would begin operating in 2030 and cost $22.8 billion.
Today, the blueprint is fraying — costs now exceed future funding, an official estimate of future ridership has dropped by 25 percent, and the schedule to start to carry people is slipping. That’s raising fresh concerns about the future of the nation’s largest infrastructure project.
New cost figures issued in an update report from the California High-Speed Rail Authority show that the plan to build the 171-mile initial segment has shot up to a high of $35 billion, exceeding secured funding by $10 billion.
The cost of that partial system is now higher than the $33 billion estimate for the entire 500-mile Los Angeles to San Francisco system when voters approved a bond in 2008.
What’s worse, that full system cost is set at up to $128 billion in the update, leaving a total funding gap of more than $100 billion for politicians to ponder.
Ethan Elkind, who watches California transportation issues as director of the climate change program at UC Berkeley’s law school, said the mounting problems cloud the project’s future.
“It is in jeopardy,” Elkind said. “It is dicey. There is no path forward for the full Los Angeles to San Francisco system. It is important that they get something done.”
Top photo: Construction on the High-Speed Rail over a ramp above Highway 99 in south Fresno on March 3, 2023. (Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)
CBRE raises hotels outlook for 2023;
strong growth for San Diego market
CBRE is raising its forecast for hotel performance in San Diego and nationally on the heels of industry gains in Q4 2022 and the expectation of a positive GDP growth in 2023.
“A shift in the drive-to leisure demand that came with the pandemic boosted San Diego as a highly desirable location,” said CBRE’s Executive Vice President Michael DiPrima. “That trend, along with strong government business, growing biotech and life sciences, and its convention center activity, has driven San Diego to surpass pre-pandemic hotel activity. In fact, San Diego was the sixth fastest market in the U.S. to recover, according to CBRE research.”
In San Diego, revenue per available room (RevPAR) in 2023 is expected to increase to $157.26, up 6.3 percent year-over-year and an increase of $4.21 from CBRE’s previous forecast issued in November 2022. This is due to a 10-basis-point increase from the previous forecast. The average daily rate (ADR) is expected to increase by 3.3 percent to $203.43 in 2023.
Nationally, CBRE has revised its forecast for 2023 RevPAR to $97.46, up 5.8 percent year-over-year, and an increase of $0.43 from its previous forecast.
In 2024, CBRE is forecasting San Diego’s RevPAR is expected to increase an additional 3.5 percent to $163.26. CBRE has also indicated that San Diego’s ADR will increase by 2.5 percent to $208.52 in 2024, increasing by 28 percent from pre-pandemic levels.
Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman named president
of Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, M.D., chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine, has been named as the 2023 president-elect of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM).
SMFM is the leading society and national voice for more than 5,500 highly qualified maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) subspecialist physicians, as well as scientists, nurses, genetic counselors, ultrasound technicians and administrators, with expertise in high-risk pregnancy and collaboration for optimal and equitable perinatal outcomes.
Recognized worldwide with dual board certification in obstetrics and gynecology and maternal-fetal medicine, Gyamfi-Bannerman, perinatologist at UC San Diego Health, specializes in obstetric complications with a primary focus on preterm birth prevention.
She became chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences in 2021 and was named Samuel SC Yen Endowed Chair.
Viasat employees using their bandwidth
to connect with students in rural Mexico and Uganda
By Aly Faucett | Viasat’s internal communications manager
Carlsbad-based Viasat employees are using their bandwidth, literally and metaphorically, to connect with students in rural Mexico and Uganda.
In rural communities across the globe, having internet access can unlock new opportunities. Whether it’s access to online education, communicating with people in far-off places, or googling the answer to a question, connectivity breeds opportunity.
Village Book Builders is a nonprofit organization that shares that belief and works to create global communities of learners through access to a variety of learning methods, including a monthly speaker series, online mentoring, and digital resources.
Viasat donates laptops and internet service to power Village Book Builders sites in rural Mexico and Uganda. Currently, 11 Viasat employees are also volunteering with the program to mentor students in those locations. To further Viasat’s vision of powering connections that matter, skills-based volunteering provides support for education-focused community organizations around the world.
AI chatbot ChatGPT mirrors its users to appear intelligent
The artificial intelligence (AI) language model ChatGPT has captured the world’s attention in recent months. This trained computer chatbot can generate text, answer questions, provide translations, and learn based on the user’s feedback. Large language models like ChatGPT may have many applications in science and business, but how much do these tools understand what we say to them and how do they decide what to say back?
In new paper published in Neural Computation on Feb. 17, 2023, Salk Professor Terrence Sejnowski, author of The Deep Learning Revolution, explores the relationship between the human interviewer and language models to uncover why chatbots respond in particular ways, why those responses vary, and how to improve them in the future.
According to Sejnowski, language models reflect the intelligence and diversity of their interviewer.
“Language models, like ChatGPT, take on personas. The persona of the interviewer is mirrored back,” says Sejnowski.
Carlsbad lithium-ion battery firm to double
headcount as it expands production in next 18 months
Carlsbad’s American Lithium Energy, a battery research shop largely for the defense sector, has landed $13.2 million in grants from the California Energy Commission to build a pilot lithium-ion manufacturing facility aimed at zero-emission vehicles.
The funding will bulk up American Lithium Energy’s production capabilities to 20 cells per minute. It hopes to produce 1.5 million high-performance batteries over the next 18 months for electric vehicles and other uses.
While that’s low volume compared with battery giants in Asia such as Panasonic, it’s up from American Lithium’s current production for research, military and medical device projects, which is about 8,000 cells per year.
Procede Software appoints industry
analytics leader to a top position
SAN DIEGO — Procede Software, a leading heavy-duty commercial vehicle dealer management system and solutions provider, announced it has appointed Carroll “Scooby” Barbre as senior director of business intelligence. The appointment reflects the company’s commitment to accelerating the business intelligence product development lifecycle, so its growing customer base has even greater access to the comprehensive information they need to make data-based decisions about their businesses.
Smartville deploys MOAB energy
storage system at UC San Diego
SAN DIEGO — Smartville, a leading developer of reliable second-life energy storage systems, has deployed its first commercially available product, the MOAB energy storage system, at the University of California San Diego’s Library Annex. MOAB is the first second-life energy storage system to integrate and control repurposed electric vehicle battery packs from different manufacturers at varying levels of health in one unified system.
Teradata helps customers unlock
true value of their data
SAN DIEGO — Teradata announced the integration and general availability of Teradata VantageCloud, the complete cloud analytics and data platform, with Microsoft Azure Machine Learning (Azure ML). VantageCloud’s scalability, openness and industry-leading analytics — ClearScape Analytics — combined with Azure ML’s ability to simplify and accelerate the ML lifecycle helps customers unlock the full value of their data, even in the most complex and demanding environments.
Netradyne’s seasonal launch unveils technologies
addressing fleet management challenges
SAN DIEGO — Netradyne, an industry-leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) and edge computing solutions focused on safety and driver coaching for commercial fleets, announced its seasonal launch, which introduces new solutions and updates to its existing product suite. Amid current economic uncertainties, efficiency and visibility into every aspect of a commercial fleet’s business have never been more crucial. Netradyne’s new features, Recommended Coaching, Collision Management, Fleet Safety Progress Report, and Fleet Tracking, help commercial fleets of all sizes address these challenges and better adapt to the ever-changing economic and industry climates.
Ivy Fertility completes executive leadership
team with chief growth officer hire
SAN DIEGO — Ivy Fertility announced that its executive leadership team is now complete with the hiring of Constance Rapson as the company’s chief growth officer. Rapson will report to Lisa Van Dolah, the company’s chief executive officer. Rapson comes to Ivy from CCRM Fertility, where she served as chief marketing officer with responsibility for advertising, sales, brand, communications and patient experience. She previously served in strategic leadership roles with advertising agencies in New York and Colorado.
New Bespoke Partners service delivers
quick access to private equity executives
SAN DIEGO — Bespoke Partners, a leading provider of retained executive search and leadership advisory services for private equity backed software companies, has launched a service giving curated access to the industry’s most comprehensive network of executives for private equity. The Strategic Resourcing Group (SRG) proactively provides vetted slates of actionable executives to private equity firms to accelerate recruiting of leadership talent for their portfolio companies. The SRG service draws from Bespoke’s unmatched network of seasoned software and SaaS executives, built over a decade of working with thousands of candidates and 90 percent of the most active private equity software investors.
BRIDGE appoints Erica DeLorenzo
as SVP of operations and chief of staff
SAN DIEGO — BRIDGE, the only independent DEI trade organization to serve the global marketing industry, announced the appointment of Erica DeLorenzo, an industry leader with over two decades of organizational leadership experience, as senior vice president of operations and chief of staff. DeLorenzo reports directly to BRIDGE founder and CEO Sheryl Daija. DeLorenzo has more than two decades of leadership experience and most recently served as COO for the Brand Safety Institute (BSI). DeLorenzo also served in key senior roles at MMA Global, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Wild Tangent.
Qualcomm increases quarterly dividend by 7 percent
SAN DIEGO — Qualcomm Inc. announced that its board of directors has approved a 7 percent increase in the company’s quarterly cash dividend. The quarterly cash dividend will increase from $0.75 to $0.80 per share of common stock and will be effective for quarterly dividends payable after March 23, 2023. This dividend increase will raise the annualized dividend payout to $3.20 per share of common stock. “We remain committed to returning capital to stockholders through a balanced capital return policy, including a baseline of anti-dilutive stock repurchases,” said Cristiano Amon, president and CEO.
San Diego No. 18 in nation with the most coworking spaces
San Diego made the top markets with the most coworking spaces as No. 18 in the nation and No. 21 in terms of total square footage covered by its coworking inventory, according to a report by CoworkingCafe. According to coworking supply data, the San Diego market logs 97 flexible workspaces, while Los Angeles is the second U.S. market for this category, with 265 spaces. As for the surface covered, the San Diego market registers 1.57 million square feet, as compared to 6.76 million square feet in Los Angeles.
Registration deadline is Friday
for Drug Discovery Chemistry conference
Registration deadline is Friday for the April 10-13 Drug Discovery Chemistry conference at the Hilton Bayfront San Diego. The conference is for medicinal and biophysical chemists working on pharma, biotech, and academia. The event provides many opportunities for scientists to create a unique program to hear presentations most suited to one’s personal interests. New for 2023 is coverage of targeting transcription factors, plus greatly expanded coverage of protein degraders, molecular glues, and artificial intelligence for early drug discovery.
