Daily Business Report-Nov. 26, 2013
China Launches Monopoly Probe Against Qualcomm
A Chinese regulator is investigating mobile chip maker Qualcomm in connection with the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law, Qualcomm said on Monday.
In a statement, the company said it would cooperate with the investigation by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Qualcomm said it wasn’t aware of any charge by the NDRC that it had violated the antimonopoly law. The NDRC told Qualcomm that the substance of the probe was confidential.
The NDRC has investigated or punished both foreign and domestic companies in the past on antitrust and other issues. In January, it announced fines totalling about $56 million against LG, Samsung and four Taiwanese companies for price-fixing on LCD panels.
Qualcomm supplies chips for many smartphones and other mobile devices and also licenses much of the patented technology behind 3G and LTE technologies. In 2009, the Korean Fair Trade Commission fined the company, saying discounts and rebates it offered some South Korean customers violated the country’s competition laws. Later that year, the European Commission closed down an antitrust probe of Qualcomm after Ericsson, Nokia, Broadcom, Panasonic and other companies dropped complaints that Qualcomm had charged them too much to use its patents on 3G and emerging 4G mobile technologies.
China is among both the largest and the fastest growing mobile markets in the world, accounting for one-third of all smartphone shipments in this year’s third quarter, according to IDC. China Mobile, the country’s largest mobile operator with more than 700 million subscribers, will launch commercial 4G service on Dec. 18, according to a report on Monday by China’s official Xinhua news service. The launch will follow vast and lengthy LTE trials.
— IDG News Service
Barona Resort & Casino Installing Air Cleaning System
Barona Resort & Casino has begun the installation of a multi-million-dollar air filtration and purification system to enhance indoor air quality at the Lakeside casino. The system features a V-PAC Photo-catalytic Air Cleaning System manufactured by Ultra Violet Devices Inc. that is being engineered and installed by Synergy Environmental. Once the installation is complete in December, Barona will have the cleanest air of any casino in the country, said Rick Salinas, general manager.
Barona has been testing the air cleaning purification system for the past several months in the casino’s Off-Track Betting Room. An independent air quality testing company, Western Environmental Services, was brought in to measure the results and confirmed that the V-PAC system was effective in reducing Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) concentrations to extremely low levels and also highly effective in handling spikes caused by cigarette contaminants.
Mayoral Candidates Address Jewish Community
San Diego mayoral candidates David Alvarez and Kevin Faulconer will address the San Diego Jewish community at a Dec. 3 Chanukah Breakfast Forum at Congregation Beth El, 8660 Gilman Drive, in La Jolla. The event is hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Center of the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, and Jewish Family Service. The forum will be moderated by Rabbi Phillip Graubart of Congregation Beth El, with a welcome from Interim Mayor Todd Gloria. Admission is $15. To reserve, phone (858) 737-7148.
Candidates to Hold Six Debates
The campaigns of Alvarez and Faulconer announced that they will holdsix debates before their runoff election next year. City officials are planning on holding the runoff election in February — likely Feb. 11. The debates are to be held between Jan. 1 and election day. The campaigns asked prospective debate hosts to contact them by Dec. 13. They also want the forums to be broadcast on major media outlets, and asked that questions focus on the following areas: open government and transparency; the U.S.-Mexico border region; city finances and budget; environment and sustainability; neighborhoods and community planning;economy and jobs; and a vision for San Diego. — City News Service
Angela Jae Elected to Korean American Bar Association
Angela M. Jae, an associate attorney with San Diego-based CaseyGerry, has been elected an at-large board member of the Korean American
Bar Association of San Diego, established to help advance Korean American attorneys and law students in the legal profession. Her work will involve promoting Korean Americans in the legal profession and helping the association partner with other organizations to give back to the community.
Jae joined Casey Gerry in 2012, specializing in personal injury and products liability litigation. She is a member of the Korean-American Bar Association, San Diego chapter, and Consumer Attorneys of San Diego and Consumer Attorneys of California.
John Williams to Head San Diego County Bar Association
Jon Williams, an appellate attorney and partner at the law firm Boudreau Williams LLP, will be sworn into office as the president of the San Diego County Bar Association for 2014 on Dec. 6. Williams specializes in civil appeals and writs at both the state and federal court levels. He is certified as an “Appellate Specialist” by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization, and regularly partners with other law firms and trial counsel to handle complex appellate matters.
Association treasurer Richard Huver has been elected to the position of president-elect, and will serve as president in 2015. Current president Marcella McLaughlin will serve on the 2014 board as immediate past president.
Attorneys Dan Bacal, Lizzette Herrera Castellanos, Andy Cook, Loren Freestone and Kristin Rizzo have just been elected to serve three-year terms on the Board. Ilona Antonyan, Lawrence Campitiello, James Crosby, Ray Estolano, Bob Gaglione, Danielle Hickman, Laura Miller, Stacie Patterson, and Heather Riley will continue their service on the Board through 2014.
Alanna Whittington, incoming president of the association’s New Lawyer Division, will serve a one-year term on the association board.
Joseph Greenblatt Receives Apartment Association Award
Joseph J. Greenblatt, president/CEO of San Diego-based Sunrise Management, was honored with the San Diego County Apartment Association’s Industry Achievement Award at its Mark of Excellence Awards event – which annually recognizes excellence and leadership in the rental housing industry — last week. Greenblatt was reently elected president of the Institute of Real Estate Management.
Greenblatt has been involved in the acquisition, lease-up and management of income producing multifamily properties since 1984 and joined Sunrise in 1989, climbing the company ranks from property manager to vice president and executive vice president.
He is a member of the board of the nonprofit Bobby Jo Lewis Foundation, the National Apartment Association and NAA’s San Diego chapter.
centrexIT Announces Board of Advisors
centrexIT, a San Diego information technology management company, announced its new Board of Advisors, a nine-member group that advises its senior management team.
The board members are:
Jackie Townsend Konstanturos, CEO of Townsend Advisors; Patrick Monroe, principal of Monroe Law, APC; Jerry Morris, founder and CEO, NextLevel Internet Inc.; Amanda Scott, founder and president of Solution Harbor Inc.; Ed Lazarski, CYBERHIVE Application Selection Committee chair, U.S. Navy, retired; Ed Sternagle, principal, Creative Professional Services; Jared Aaker, director, San Diego Economic Development Corp.; Sean Puckett, vice president, Regents Bank; Joyce R. Grosvenor, founder and CEO, the TRIDAK Group LLC.
Union Bank and KPBS Honor 18 Local Heroes
Union Bank joined KPBS to honor 18 inspirational individuals at the 16th annual Local Heroes celebration at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego on Nov. 13. The host for the evening was Elsa Sevilla, host of San Diego’s Historic Places on KPBS-TV.
The 2013 Local Heroes: Professor Chuck Ambers and Dr. Carrol Waymon (Black History Month); Candace Bahr, Ginita Wall and Amina Sheik Mohamed (Women’s History Month); Elmer Bisarra and Sophak Yem (Asian Pacific American Heritage Month); Sy Brenner and Yale Strom (Jewish American Heritage Month); Carolyn Bolton, Max Disposti and Vincent “Vinnie” Pompei (LGBT Pride Month); Fabiola A. Navarro and Andrea Skorepa (Hispanic Heritage Month); Linda Bounds and Al Kovach, Jr. (Disability Awareness Month); and Jane Dumas and Rose Margaret Orrantia (American Indian Heritage Month).
EDF Renewal Energy Acquires Wind Project in Texas
EDF Renewable Energy of San Diego announced it has acquired the 200-megawatt Hereford 1 Wind Project in the Texas Panhandle from Lincoln Renewable Energy and construction has commenced.
Encompassing approximately 15,000 acres in Deaf Smith County, southeast of the town of Hereford, the project will take advantage of the CREZ (Competitive Renewable Energy Zone) transmission lines connecting the wind generating capacity of the Texas Panhandle to high electricity demand areas in the state. EDF Renewable Energy has also secured a long-term, fixed-price hedge agreement for the expected energy production.
EDF Renewable Energy has 561 megawatts of wind capacity either in construction or ready-to-build in the State of Texas.
5BARz Opens San Diego Innovation Center
5BARz International Inc. announced the opening of its new state-of-the-art innovation center in San Diego. The center will house the 5BARz’ engineering division as it expands operations to accelerate development of the 5BARz technology. 5BARz is a cellular network infrastructure device for use in the small office, home or for when users are mobile.
“Our new innovation center is located in the Sorrento Valley which is in the heart of the wireless technology industry in the United States,” said Naresh Soni, chief technology officer. “This ideal location has facilitated the recruitment of key engineering positions that we have filled in the last 30 days. In addition to our new facility and increasing our engineering team internally, we have contracted engineering firms in India and China in order to accelerate the development and delivery of our technology solutions as soon as possible.”
