Daily Business Report: Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Undoing the past: Lawmakers seek to mend
California neighborhoods sliced by highways
By Wendy Fry | CalMatters
A new select committee in the California Legislature will explore ways the state can reconnect neighborhoods that decades ago were torn apart by interstates and highways.
During the nation’s interstate highway construction boom in the 1950s and ’60s, numerous urban neighborhoods were sliced through, often isolating residential areas largely populated by minorities and low-income residents from surrounding communities — and from economic opportunity.
More than 1 million people lost their homes, researchers have estimated. Federal transportation officials noted that in the first 20 years after the 1957 Federal Highway Aid Act launched nationwide highway construction, more than 475,000 households were displaced.
Now local and state governments across the nation are exploring ways to undo some of that harm by finding ways to re-link some of those neighborhoods. On Thursday, California’s Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon appointed Assemblymember David Alvarez, a Democrat from San Diego, to chair a new Select Committee on Reconnecting Communities.
Photo: The I-980 freeway in Oakland on Feb. 24, 2023. (Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters)
California bill would ban tobacco
sales to all born after 2006
By Benjamin M. Adams
The strongest and wildest approach yet to deter teen tobacco use at the state level is taking shape. A new California bill would ban all tobacco sales for any resident born on Jan. 1, 2007 or later. Under Assembly Bill 935, current smokers would be able to continue buying tobacco products, but anyone younger than 16 years old today would not be able to buy tobacco — ever. It would essentially phase out tobacco use in California for an entire new generation.
Instead of punishing tobacco consumers, the bill would target retailers instead. It would do this by including a series of financial penalties and license suspensions for retailers who break the proposed law. Specifically, the bill would add Article 6 to Chapter 1 of Part 3 of Division 103 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to tobacco sales.
The ban, however, would not apply to cannabis sales. Lawmakers reasoned that the compulsive nature of nicotine compels youth to become addicted.
City of San Diego leases former motel
in Barrio Logan for unhoused families
The City of San Diego as signed a lease agreement and taken possession of a former motel in Barrio Logan to create a new shelter for unhoused families. The bridge housing program will provide families with children experiencing homelessness with a stable place to stay and diverse on-site supportive services, including meals, mail services, security, housing support and case management. The 42-room site will serve up to 164 individuals and provide an administrative office, laundry room, break room and parking lot. The lease is for an initial seven-month term, with two one-year extension options.
This project adds to the list of non-congregate shelter options the city’s Homelessness Strategies and Solutions Department has added in the past two years. Non-congregate shelters allow for individualized service and increased engagement on the participant’s part to help resolve their homelessness.
IRS now gives San Diegans until
October to file their taxes
San Diegans now have until Oct. 16 to file their federal income taxes. The extension broadly impacts other tax deadlines, including quarterly estimated tax payments and IRA contributions.
Residents of multiple California counties, as well as parts of Alabama and Georgia, have also been granted the extension.
The change, announced Friday by the Internal Revenue Service, is meant to offer “relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in these three states.”
Two SDSU buildings to be renamed in honor
of Ellen Ochoa, Charles B. Bell Jr.
Two prominent figures in San Diego State University history — veteran astronaut Ellen Ochoa and mathematician Charles B. Bell Jr., — will be honored this spring in the renaming of the West Commons and East Commons buildings.
Mary Bell, whose husband taught at San Diego State College from 1958 to 1966 and at SDSU from 1981 to 1992, will attend the April 3 dedication ceremony for the Charles B. Bell Jr. Pavilion, currently East Commons, with three of their children and additional family members. Bell, the first Black faculty member to achieve tenure, died in 2010. Community members are invited to RSVP to attend and honor Bell.
Ellen Ochoa, who earned an undergraduate degree in physics at SDSU in 1980, is scheduled to return to campus May 5 for the dedication ceremony of the Ellen Ochoa Pavilion, currently West Commons. Community members are invited to RSVP to attend and honor Ochoa.
USD School of Law receives nearly
$3 million to provide legal training
to Mexican professors and students
The University of San Diego (USD)’s School of Law received nearly $3 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of State to train Mexican law professors and students on effective trial and mediation skills – with a goal of preparing the next generation of Mexican lawyers for a successful career in criminal justice.
The three-year grant, ending in December 2025, will also prepare the professors to develop internal competitions at each university and USD will host a national mediation and mock trial competition for law students throughout Mexico.
The Mexico Law Student Litigation and Mediation Initiative is a part of the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) rule of law initiative. It focuses on building capacity across Mexico’s criminal justice system. INL works with diverse partners in the U.S. and Mexico to improve the Mexican justice system by contributing to the education of future attorneys. One of INL’s goals is to improve the rule of law in Mexico.
Super STEM Saturday science festival
Build and launch a rocket, view the surface of the sun, and discover how chemistry is better than magic! These are just a few of the more than 75 hands-on, interactive activities and demonstrations that will engage thousands of attendees at Super STEM Saturday, March 11 at California State University San Marcos (CSUSM). This rain-or-shine science festival is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Children of all ages are invited to attend.
“Super STEM Saturday is a powerful event,” said Jackie Trischman, Dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics at CSUSM. “I want our community to see someone who looks like them having fun doing science. It’s also an opportunity to bring our community together and celebrate what science does for us on a daily basis.”
Crisis Stabilization Unit opens
at Paradise Valley Hospital
NATIONAL CITY — A partnership between Paradise Valley Hospital and the County was celebrated Monday with an official unveiling of the Crisis Stabilization Unit at the Bayview Campus. This hospital-based CSU provides immediate behavioral health care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for anyone in crisis. Clients can be dropped off or walk up to receive the services and support they need.
Online county property auction
registration closes on Thursday
SAN DIEGO — Bidder registration for the 2023 county online property auction closes Thursday. A total of 404 properties are currently for sale. Anyone around the world can bid during the online property tax auction from March 10-15. To participate, bidders must register before March 2 at the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s tax auction website, sdttc.mytaxsale.com. They must also submit a refundable $1,000 deposit and a non-refundable $35 processing fee (some parcels may require a larger deposit).
Pacific Sky School receives award for
excellence in school facilities design
SAN DIEGO — obrARCHITECTURE’s design of Pacific Sky School in Del Mar has received an Award of Merit in the New Built category by the Coalition for Adequate School Housing and American Institute of Architects, California, for its excellence in school facilities design.
Interior highlights include 20 classrooms, three after-school classrooms, three STEAM+ classrooms, an Innovation Center that features reading nooks and an area for robotics, and a performing arts stage. The outdoor site includes kinetic play structures, blacktop play areas, and a natural decomposed granite walking track surrounding a play field. The school site is also home to a new modern central cafeteria.
Presidio Residential Capital celebrates
successful 2022 in homebuilding
SAN DIEGO — In 2022 San Diego real estate development management company Presidio Residential Capital and its building partners closed 811 homes – up from 572 in 2021, sold 628 homes and acquired five new projects. Presidio’s portfolio today includes 3,300 homes and lots for sale, under construction or in the entitlement or development process and has 19 western U.S. communities with active sales. In 2023 Presidio hopes to fund $100 million in joint venture equity to residential homebuilders throughout California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and Utah. There are currently 15 projects totaling 2,900 lots that are approved or under due diligence and planned to close escrow by the end of 2023.
Foursight Capital selects Point Predictive’s
AutoPass to streamline auto loan process
SAN DIEGO — Point Predictive, the San Diego-based company that provides artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, announced that Foursight Capital, a specialty automotive finance company, has implemented AutoPass, the FCRA-compliant scoring solution that automates automotive loan decisions based on the likelihood of fraud or material misrepresentation, to improve risk differentiation and enhance customer experience. AutoPass uses historical fraud risk patterns to make accurate determinations of early payment default risks due to fraud or material misrepresentation. This data enables AutoPass users to automate approval and decline decisions in a streamlined process that provides faster funding for borrowers.
Wildfire Systems ranks No. 7 on Inc.
5000’s list of fastest growing companies
SAN DIEGO — Ink Magazine revealed that San Diego’s Wildfire Systems is No. 7 on its third annual Inc. 5000 Regionals: Pacific list, the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing Pacific region private companies, based in Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, and Washington. Born of the annual Inc. 5000 franchise, this regional list represents a unique look at the most successful private companies generating sustainable growth and jobs. Wildfire provides an innovative fintech platform that powers white-label reward programs and shopping companions to the financial services and technology sectors.
App store Koji launches new e-book app
SAN DIEGO — Koji, a leading app store for social media, announces the launch of its updated e-book and audiobook capability. Koji now makes it easier than ever to sell and share any e-book, PDF or audiobook from directly inside your link in bio. Koji’s e-book app offers powerful sharing features as well as new preview, description and design options in order for sellers to properly showcase books and entice prospective buyers. Customers can view or download their purchase instantly and the apps built-in reader and player allows both ebooks and audiobooks to be read or listened to interchangeably.
Linewize launches Linewize Pulse
to improve student wellbeing
SAN DIEGO — Linewize, a division of Family Zone, a rapidly growing education technology company, announced the launch of Linewize Pulse, a new platform that provides schools with real-time insights on individuals’ wellbeing and overall school culture and health. Leveraging 60-second weekly check-ins comprised of a wellbeing question and five experience questions, the platform offers a snapshot into students’ mental health and anonymously gathers school trend-level data. Linewize Pulse equips students with a safe and easy way to ask for help, while giving educators a clearer understanding of who needs help the most.
Platform Science adds Luma Brighter
Learning apps to fleet solutions catalog
SAN DIEGO — Platform Science, a leading connected vehicle platform based in San Diego, and Luma Brighter Learning, an award-winning instructional design and learning company, announced a new collaboration that will bring Luma eNugget Learning and Luma Emerge learning management solutions to Platform Sciences industry-leading solutions catalog. Luma Brighter Learning provides engaging online and blended learning programs and has been making a measurable difference in learning outcomes for the trucking industry for almost a decade. Platform Science’s innovative transportation solutions make it easier for fleets to develop, deploy, and manage mobile devices and applications on commercial vehicles.
Evofem’s Phexxi contraceptive gel
added to SimpleHealth product offering
SAN DIEGO — Evofem Biosciences Inc. announced that reproductive telehealth leader SimpleHealth now offers Phexxi (lactic acid, citric acid and potassium bitartrate), the first and only hormone-free vaginal gel approved by the FDA for contraception. “This partnership with SimpleHealth will increase awareness of Phexxi and provide access to the only non-hormonal birth control women use on demand,” said Saundra Pelletier, chief executive officer of Evofem. “This beneficial alliance ‘meets’ women where they are and delivers on our strategy to expand access to Phexxi.”
SDI Presence LLC welcomes Senior
Sales Executive Lawrence Gryseels
SAN DIEGO — SDI Presence LLC, the IT consultancy and managed services provider, announces the addition of West Coast public sector executive Lawrence Gryseels to its regional sales team. Gryseels brings extensive experience to SDI and is excited to join the growing IT services firm, which closed 2022 with its highest revenue year in firm history. A self-described deal hunter, Gryseels comes to SDI following his tenure as a senior sales director for business intelligence firm HEXstream LLC. Gryseels is based in San Diego and leads public sector sales for SDI’s West Coast division.
Term Labs raises $2.5 million to build
safer crypto lending for institutions
SAN DIEGO — Term Labs Inc., a blockchain R&D company, announced it has raised a $2.5 million seed round led by Electric Capital with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, Robot Ventures, MEXC Ventures, and with angel investment from DeFi founders from Aura, Balancer, Hashlow and Llama. The funds raised will be used to develop Term Finance, a decentralized lending protocol that utilizes a unique auction model to support scalable fixed-rate/fixed-term lending, a first in DeFi. Term Finance will bring transparent, low-cost, and crypto-native solutions for borrowers and lenders at an institutional scale when it launches on Ethereum.
