Daily Business Report: Nov. 25, 2024
San Marcos manufacturing firm hires over 10 graduates
from MiraCosta College’s Technology Career Institute
A San Marcos-based high-tech manufacturing firm is among the many local companies benefiting from the skilled graduates of MiraCosta College’s Technology Career Institute (TCI) Engineering Technician program. Creative Electron Inc., a leader in building X-Ray inspection systems, has hired over ten employees from TCI’s rigorous 16-week program.
The San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation’s 2023 Talent Demand Report highlights the urgent need for engineering technicians, noting approximately 7,200 available positions in the region with an average monthly hiring rate of 258 and an average annual salary of $67,000. Notably, TCI boasts an impressive 89 percent employment rate for its graduates.
Chris Ing of MiraCosta College’s Community Education and Workforce Development emphasizes the strong relationship between Creative Electron and the college, including student scholarships that benefit both parties. “We are a go-to source for the workforce pipeline, potentially saving thousands of dollars in talent acquisition costs,” he said.
Alan Galicia, now a service manager at Creative Electron, began his journey with the company even before graduating in August 2019. “Having that experience through TCI lets me know what they’ve been trained on,” he said. “We’ve hired a really good pool of candidates.”
Creative Electron executives, including General Manager Mariem Ortiz, connect closely with TCI. Another TCI graduate, David Bettencourt recalls how Ortiz’s visits motivated students. “Her showing up motivated me that they were interested in what we were doing,” he said.
Bettencourt, a 25-year U.S. Marine veteran, found that while the military prepared him for specific tasks, TCI taught him industry standards. “At TCI, they’re adhering to the standards and showing you what the standards are,” he noted.
California’s slow vote count sows doubt. Here’s
how one group is trying to fix that
By Yue Stella Yu | CalMatters
California has a notoriously slow ballot counting process — one that Kim Alexander describes as “a pig in the python.”
“This giant wad of ballots that all arrive at once, that all have to move through the process, and you can’t speed it up,” said Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation. “You have to do every single step, otherwise you lose the integrity of the process.”
To help voters understand and trust that process, Alexander’s group launched a tracker this election that is monitoring the vote count in California’s close contests between Election Day and certification of county results.
Dubbed the Close Count Transparency Project, the tracker — which debuted as a pilot program in 2022 — provides daily updates on the results of 11 competitive U.S. House races and seven state legislative races, as well as the statewide vote count status. The tool tracks candidates’ vote share, votes counted and the number of unprocessed ballots in each county the districts cover.
As of late Tuesday, Nov. 19, an estimated 570,500 ballots statewide were yet to be counted, according to the Secretary of State’s office. More than 126,000 ballots needed to be “cured” — they had been rejected for missing or mismatched signatures and voters have time to submit a form to verify their signatures.
A total of eight key contests remained uncalled by the Associated Press as of late Tuesday (Nov. 19), including two congressional races, five legislative races and one statewide ballot measure. (CalMatters and other news outlets use AP to declare winners while the vote count is ongoing.)
San Diego County Water Authority purchases
an Escondido industrial building for $8.76 million
Water Authority awaits construction of a second building for the Escondido Logistics Center
San Diego County Water Authority has purchased an 88,552-square-foot industrial building in Escondido for $38.76 million that was part of a larger planned two-building industrial development known as the Escondido Logistics Center at Citracado Parkway and S. Andreasen Drive. The second building, currently under construction, is available for lease or sale and scheduled to be completed in January 2025.
The property is located in the master planned Escondido Research and Technology Center, adjacent to the Palomar Hospital and several retail, shopping and dining amenities and outdoor leisure.
The seller was RPG, a privately held, full-service commercial real estate investment firm that acquires, owns, and develops industrial, mixed use and office properties.
“Escondido Logistics Center is the first speculative industrial development to be completed in Escondido over the previous five years. It is also one of only a handful of new industrial development options that remain available in the North County, which the buyer was able to seize on this rare window of opportunity,” said Cushman & Wakefield’s Aric Starck who, with Drew Dodds, represented RPG in the transaction. They’re handling leasing for the 58,502-square-foot second building.
The Escondido Logistics Center represents a modern and efficient new industrial development featuring 28-foot clear heights, heavy power, a large truck court, and abundant loading positions,
according to Starck.
Cubic Defense participates in UK Cobra Warrior exercise
San Diego’s Cubic Defense recently participated in the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) Cobra Warrior exercise, a three-week large force employment consisting of multiple nations with various aircraft types operating out of several UK RAF bases. Cubic’s Simplified Planning Execution Analysis and Reconstruction (SPEAR) has been part of this exercise since 2022.
“SPEAR is a revolutionary common data model software tool used for multi-domain operations to evaluate training effectiveness and to design future exercises,” said Paul K. Averna, vice president and general manager of Advanced Training Solutions for Cubic Defense. “The UK MOD and their business partners: Draken, Inzpire, and Cubic continue to push the envelope on the utilization of SPEAR.”
Renovations completed at La Jolla Elementary School
Renovations at one of La Jolla’s most historical elementary schools are officially complete.
La Jolla Elementary School (LJES) students joined teachers, families, and San Diego Unified School District leaders on Tuesday, Nov. 19, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony with a patriotic performance and speeches. Construction on the school’s Whole Site Modernization project began in the winter of 2020, during the pandemic, at the 2016 National Blue Ribbon and three-time California Distinguished School.
Funded through Propositions S & Z, and Measure YY, the project included a new student services and classroom facility, new kindergarten facilities, classroom modernizations, new collaboration spaces, an outdoor learning area, security upgrades, food service improvements, campus technology upgrades, exterior improvements, and an expanded parking lot with a student drop-off and pick-up area.
Oceanside to pay $1.5 million for sewage spill
The city of Oceanside has agreed to pay $1.5 million for illegally discharging almost 2 million gallons of sewage during what water regulators called a record-breaking storm in April 2020 that overwhelmed a sewage lift station and a water reclamation facility.
The city released the sewage into several creeks, one of which flows into the Buena Vista Lagoon, a wildlife refuge home to a number of endangered species, eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean. The spill affected waters also used for recreational and fishing purposes.
The fine is part of a settlement with the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board.
The spill is one of several sewage system failures brought on by the increasing intensity of weather events affecting the region more broadly.
The storm that flooded Oceanside’s sewer system brought over 5 inches of rain, also flooding and closing both sides of U.S. Highway 78. At the time the storm hit, the San Luis Rey Water Reclamation Facility was undergoing renovations required to accommodate San Diego County’s first reclaimed potable water project.
The Brigantine to acquire The Fish Market
The Brigantine Inc., the restaurant group behind The Brigantine Seafood and Oyster Bar, Miguel’s Cocina, Ketch Brewing, Ketch Grill & Taps, Topsail, and Portside Coffee & Gelato, is in the process of purchasing The Fish Market’s two San Diego locations and adding the brand to the Brigantine family of restaurants.
and Mike Morton, Sr., opened the first Brigantine restaurant in Point Loma in 1969, followed by Coronado, Del Mar, Escondido, La Mesa, Poway, Imperial Beach, and Portside Pier—all established between 1973 and 2020.
The Brigantine, Inc. group operates 20 restaurants over six concepts, with The Fish Market bringing it to seven. Fred Duckett and Robert “Bob” Wilson opened The Fish Market’s first location in Palo Alto in 1976. At one point, they operated multiple locations across California and Arizona, but today, the only remaining locations are in downtown San Diego and Del Mar.
John E. Solis rejoins Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani law firm
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani welcomes back John E. Solis as a partner in the firm’s San Diego office. Previously an associate with the firm in 2020 and 2021, Solis now with the Employment Law practice group. Solis is an experienced labor and employment litigator with an extensive history of representing and defending employers in all manner of single-plaintiff, class, and representative actions. He provides client-focused advice and counseling to employers on critical same-day executive decisions, routine employee handbooks, policy audits, and wage and hour practice evaluations, helping countless public and private sector employers navigate high-risk litigation.
He is admitted to practice in California and the U.S. District Court for California’s Eastern, Southern, and Northern Districts. He earned his law degree from Indiana University Maurer School of Law and his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from San Diego State University.
Karl Strauss Brewing Company’s
Downtown brewpub to close Between Thanksgiving and Christmas
Karl Strauss Brewing Company’s downtown brewpub at 1157 Columbia Street is closing between Thanksgiving and Christmas for renovations. San Diego’s first craft brewery was founded in the building in 1989, and the company completed its acquisition of the property last fall. The overall design of the interior will be updated, and it will include artifacts and accolades throughout the space to pay homage to the brewery’s almost 36-year history. A group events space will also be added, and the brewing equipment will be restored.
Rady Children’s Invitational tournament field announced
Sports San Diego officials announced that the 2025 Rady Children’s Invitational tournament field include the Kansas Jayhawks (Big 12) Florida Gators (SEC), Providence Friars (Big East) and the Wisconsin Badgers (Big 10). The third annual tournament will be held November 27-28, tipping off Thanksgiving Day. Each day features two games, with the championship and third-place games taking place on November 28. Tip times will be announced at a later date. All tournament games will air nationally on either FOX or FS1.
All 2024 ticket holders will receive first access to secure tickets to the 2025 tournament. New ticket purchasers can join the Sports Sand Diego ticket presale list by visiting www.RadyChildrensInvitational.com. Tickets will go on sale in spring of 2025.
$5 from every ticket sold will go to Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego.
