SD Metro Daily Business Report: Sept. 5, 2023
Pacific Beach-based startup
developing electric amphibious vehicle
By Dave Schwab | sdnews.com
A Pacific Beach-based start-up is developing a prototype for the first-of-its-kind, all-electric, climate-friendly amphibious vehicle.
Being promoted as the first electric land-and-water solution by Poseidon Amphibworks, the company is presently pioneering the development of its first Trident LS-1 model. It is an electric amphibious hydrofoil carboat intended as the forerunner of a new family of vehicles.
“I realized I wanted to get into a niche that would serve not only as a recreational boat and taxi ferry but also be amphibious,” said Steve E. Tice, Poseidon AmphibWorks CEO.
The model Trident LS-1 is being developed with multiple application functionalities with the capability of being used for transportation, recreation, camping, light hauling, and even flood rescue. The craft’s amenities include a reconfigurable rear deck, flexible windows, soft-tops, a camping kit, and electric clutches allowing “flat-towing” that no other EV today offers.
Photo: Rendering of the Trident LS-1.
Community College district awarded $1.8 million
grant to help disabled people earn a decent wage
The San Diego Community College District has been awarded a $1.8 million California Department of Vocational Rehabilitation grant focused on training people with disabilities so they are competitive for jobs earning at least the minimum wage. The three-year grant will allow the district to serve more than 100 disabled people who are now working in jobs that pay below the minimum wage.
The grant is the result of state legislation, SB 639, that requires workers with disabilities to be paid at least the state’s minimum wage by 2025. The law requires the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to create a plan detailing how the state can help disabled workers get the services and support they job for jobs paying at least the minimum wage.
Southwest Strategies, Katz & Associates merge
to create state’s largest public outreach firm
By Chris Jennewein | Times of San Diego
San Diego public affairs agency Southwest Strategies announced it will acquire Katz & Associates, creating what officials described as the largest firm of its type in California.
The combined company, with nearly 100 staff, will be the largest public outreach firm in the state focused on infrastructure communications, specifically in the areas of energy, transportation and water.
Clients of the two firms include SANDAG, Pacific Gas & Electric, Pure Water San Diego, BART, the Port of Long Beach and the City of Carlsbad.
“We have long admired the people, skillsets and services offered by K&A,” said Southwest Strategies CEO Chris Wahl. “This partnership provides an even larger platform to deliver exceptional service to our clients, and it creates the opportunity to tackle the largest infrastructure projects in California and beyond.”
The Katz team will continue to serve its existing clients as Katz & Associates, a Southwest Strategies Company.
Formerly shy student takes center stage
among San Diego County educators
By Michael Klitzing | SDSU
Amanda Ford came to San Diego State University as a self-described shy kid from Valhalla High School in nearby El Cajon. “Nobody knew me,” recalls Ford (’05, ’06). “I didn’t talk to anyone.”
Two decades later, Ford is well known — both by the hundreds of students she has impacted as an educator in the Cajon Valley Union School District, and now as a 2023-24 San Diego County Teacher of the Year. She is one of five recipients of the award, selected from a pool of 23,000 teachers countywide. The honor now puts her in the running for the California Teacher of the Year award.
Ford has taught in Cajon Valley for the past 18 years, starting as a 22-year-old fresh out of SDSU’s teaching credential program. She also did her student teaching in the district under a pair of guide teachers who would later become her colleagues.
For the past 10 years, Ford taught fifth grade and led plays at Rancho San Diego Elementary School, her own alma mater.
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Supervisors approve developing shared senior housing program
The Coast News Group
The county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Aug. 29 to develop a shared senior housing program for people aged 55 and older. Under the proposal by Supervisor Joel Anderson, the county’s chief administrative officer will explore partnering with an existing successful program that promotes shared living arrangements, funding sources and staffing. The CAO will return to the board in 120 days with a framework for implementing the program.
Anderson said the county started a shallow-rent subsidy program after a study showed the fastest-growing group of homeless people are those 55 and older, with a spike at age 65. The county has a pilot program addressing the problem, “but I don’t believe that’s enough,” Anderson said. “I think it’s really crucial that we end senior homelessness here in San Diego County.”
Margaritaville Hotel opening pays tribute to Jimmy Buffet
Margaritaville Hotel San Diego Gaslamp Quarter has opened in downtown San Diego, marking the brand’s first city-center location on the West Coast. Following a nearly $30 million property-wide reimagination, the property at 435 Sixth Ave. is a Southern Californian take on the Margaritaville experience and is now home to a rooftop pool deck, three dining and entertainment destinations, and flexible events spaces.
From the firm Dawson Design Associates in partnership with San Diego-based Rossi Architecture, the hotel’s design infuses island visuals with a California sensibility.
The hotel’s features are a tribute to the late Jimmy Buffet. The 235 guest rooms and suites have authentic surfboards hung on the walls alongside tropical accents and framed Jimmy Buffet albums. One of the hotel’s specialty suites is the Jimmy Buffet Suite.
City of San Diego speeds up process for
interior office tenant improvement projects
Design professionals can now receive same-day building permits for interior office tenant improvement projects, all thanks to the new Professional Certification Office Tenant Improvement Program. The City of San Diego’s Development Services Department launched the program as part of the department’s continued effort to reduce the city’s permit processing times. The initiative applies to projects that meet certain criteria, with no-plan review required for qualified projects up to 20,000 square feet.
Capstone Advisors sells properties in Arizona and Virginia
Carlsbad-based Capstone Advisors has sold My Florist Plaza in Phoenix, Ariz., to L&B Realty Advisors for $10.5 million, and The Shops at Wellesley in Richmond, Va, to Liberty Investment Partners LLC for $10.1 million. “Capstone Advisors has owned these retail centers for 10 years and sold them in alignment with our business plan at acquisition,” said Alex Zikakis, president of Capstone Advisors.
County achieves national Public Health reaccreditation status
The Public Health Services (PHS) department, in the County of San Diego’s Health & Human Services Agency (HHSA), received national recognition for its continued progress in keeping the region healthy, safe and informed about public health issues and concerns.
PHS achieved initial accreditation, in 2016, from the national Public Health Accreditation Board and was recently reaccredited on Aug. 21, 2023. This recognition demonstrates that the ounty continues to meet national standards and provide needed quality public health services to the community.
Water Authority earns national conservation innovation award
County breaks ground to build new courts, dog park at Waterfront Park
County officials broke ground on a sporty new look for the county’s popular Waterfront Park—the additions of a basketball court, pickleball courts, a dog park, exercise station, table tennis and more. Construction on the $3 million additions have already begun and the plan is to have the new amenities open for the public sometime in the spring of 2024. The new facilities are being built on a lesser-used portion of the park.
Roga secures $35 million partnership with Indian telehealth firm
San Diego neurotech startup Roga, which makes headphone-like devices emitting gentle electrical Peripheral Nerve Stimulation signals for stress management, signed a $35 million contract with India’s firs telehealth company GlobalSpace. Roga will create a new platform exclusively for India, a first step in its vision to make devices available to people outside the U.S.
Agtech firm GroGuru raises $2.3 million Series A
Co-led by Southern California VC funds Cove Funds and Impact Venture Capital, GroGuru raised $2.3 million in Series A funding to expand its strategic partnerships. The local AI-driven Agtech company deploys hardware and software technology for precision irrigation and soil monitoring to support farmers with sustainable water use and management.
ASML adds 55,227 square feet to San Diego operations
Drawbridge Realty has attracted its first tenant to an 80,720-square-foot office building under construction on spec in Rancho Bernardo. ASML, a semiconductor manufacturer based in the Netherlands, has signed a long-term lease for 55,227 square feet of Via Del Campo Court II at 16707 Via del Campo, taking the top two floors of the three-story building – the first new office building construction on spec in Rancho Bernardo in more than a decade, according to Drawbridge.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon G Series aimed at
starting new generation of handheld gaming
Qualcomm unveiled its latest Snapdragon G Series platform to power a new generation of dedicated handheld gaming devices. Qualcomm’s hope is to expand the biodiversity of gaming hardware with platforms that can be customized to different gamer solutions. While console and PC games continue to move up market, mobile gaming continues its expansion as the main source of year-on-year growth. Data shows that the overwhelming number of gamers are playing on some kind of mobile device.
Housing Commission announces $29 million
and 100 housing vouchers available to create housing
Up to $29 million in funding the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC) administers and up to 100 Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers are now available from SDHC to support the construction of new affordable rental housing in the City of San Diego, including units with supportive services for veterans experiencing homelessness. These funds are available at the same time the City of San Diego has made approximately $20 million available for affordable housing through the Bridge to Home program.
