Daily Business Report-April 5, 2019
Gun magazine with ammo (Credit: iStock photo. Dmytro Syneinychenko)
High-capacity magazines
return to California
By Dan Morain | CALmatters
For the first time in almost 20 years, firearm manufacturers are selling high-capacity magazines into California.
Citing the Second Amendment right to bear arms, U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego last week struck down a 2000 California law banning the sale of magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition, as well as a 2016 voter-approved initiative promoted by then-Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom banning possession of large magazines.
Gun maker Beretta declared on its Facebook page and via Twitter that it was offering a 20% discount on magazines of more than 10 rounds:
“You don’t even have to be a California resident. Just give your fellow California Second Amendment supporters a shout out, and welcome them back.”
Brownells, Inc., an Iowa gun maker that sells 75- and 100-round magazines, declared: “Now sending freedom back to California.”
Chuck Michel, a Long Beach attorney who sued the state on behalf the California Rifle & Pistol Association: “There was a huge pent up demand for these magazines….
“Who knows how many have been bought, but a lot. There has been a lot of chatter since Friday afternoon from everywhere, from buyers and sellers.”
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra urged that Benitez stay his decision pending the appeal. By day’s end Wednesday, Benitez’s order remained in place, meaning people could buy, sell and possess large-capacity magazines.
Former Sen. Don Perata, an Oakland Democrat who carried the 2000 legislation banning sales of high-capacity magazines: “I don’t feel a bit safer.”
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Scripps launches Polar Center
Center draws from several disciplines to focus on
Earth’s most rapidly changing regions
Researchers at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have been visiting Earth’s poles for more than 60 years, but only now are those Arctic and Antarctic researchers being assembled in one collective. The new Scripps Polar Center brings together scientists from disciplines that investigate everything from ocean physics to ice sheet and glacier dynamics to the ecology of the organisms that live at the poles. Polar Center leaders say that a cross-disciplinary approach is what’s needed to understand polar regions in all their complexity at a time when climate change is destabilizing the Arctic and Antarctic regions faster than anywhere else on Earth.
“The questions that are at the frontier of our knowledge are really all at intersections between disciplines,” said center member Jennifer Mackinnon, a physical oceanographer whose own recent work has followed the pulses of ever-warming water that penetrate the Arctic Ocean and speed up the melt of sea ice. “For us, there is a ton of value in having a whole that is more than the sum of its parts.”
The idea of a polar center had been on Helen Amanda Fricker’s mind for more than a decade. Fricker is a glaciologist at Scripps who has spent several decades documenting changes in Antarctic ice sheets using ESA and NASA satellite data. She had lobbied for funds to create such a center for several years before succeeding. With a $30,000 grant, the center formally launched Jan. 24, 2019 with a half-day Town Hall meeting that drew 57 researchers and students from across Scripps.
“Polar Science is a cross-cutting theme through the three research sections of Scripps (Earth, Oceans and Atmosphere, and Biology), and there are a large number of principal investigators involved; we needed a way to bring us together in a more formal setting,” said Fricker.
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May 22 Women in Leadership event to feature
Chelsea Clinton, Sylvia Acevedo, Jedidah Isler
First daughter Chelsea Clinton, Girl Scouts CEO Sylvia Acevedo and astrophysicist Jedidah Isler will share insights with an expected crowd of 900 when the University of California San Diego presents Women in Leadership May 22 at 6:30 p.m. Hosted by Sally Ride Science at UC San Diego and moderated by journalist Lynn Sherr, the event is free and open to the general public with pre-registration.
The influential panelists all have a passion for inspiring girls and women to succeed. Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation and New York Times best-selling author of several children’s books including the “She Persisted” set, has introduced young readers to barrier-shattering women, from courageous abolitionist Harriet Tubman and pioneering scientist Marie Curie to America’s first woman in space, Sally Ride. Acevedo—a former NASA scientist who now leads Girl Scouts of the USA—is an enduring champion of women’s causes who is committed to helping girls cultivate the skills they need to excel in life. Isler is an astrophysicist at Dartmouth College studying blazars, supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies; she is also a passionate advocate of inclusion and empowerment in science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) fields.
The 2019 Women in Leadership event will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Price Center on the campus of UC San Diego. Everyone must register to attend. To sign up, visit the Sally Ride Science website. At 3:30 p.m., prior to the event, Sylvia Acevedo, Chelsea Clinton, Tam O’Shaughnessy and Lynn Sherr will be at the UC San Diego Bookstore for a public book signing. To purchase a book, visit this Bookstore webpage.
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San Diego construction craft team wins record
number of medals at national championships
San Diego-based construction craft apprentices and journeymen brought a record six craft medals and two safety awards home from the 2019 Associated Builders and Contractors National Craft Championships competition held at the Long Beach Convention Center.
This prestigious competition brings together the top apprentices, trainees, and journeymen in the United States, who battle in a test of their skills to determine the top apprentices in 13 different trades. The wins extend San Diego’s multi-year winning streak to 10 consecutive years, with 30 total medals won.
Craft Competition medalists for 2019 include:
Electrical: Silver Medal: Tyler Tarr, Laser Electric
Electrical: Bronze Medal and the Safety Award: Alexander Willeford, Rowan Electric
Plumbing: Silver Medal: Miko Martinez, Collins Plumbing
Sheet Metal: Silver Medal: Alexis Uribe, WR Robbins Co.
San Diego teams won Silver and Bronze Medals in the Commercial Project team competition. It was the first time the San Diego chapter entered journeymen teams.
Journeyman Team 2 won the Silver Medal. The winning team members are Joey Burke, Helix Electric; Trevor Burnett, Lusardi Construction; Colin Villarino, HR Plumbing; and Scott Vorarach, WR Robbins Co.
Journeyman Team 1 won a Bronze Medal and the Safety Award. Team members: David Blickenstaff, Mason Blick Electric; Clayton Courter, Southcoast Heating & Air Conditioning; Daniel Fortini, Alpha Mechanical; and Rolf Wachter, Interpipe Contracting.
The San Diego chapter received the prestigious “Charles Mullan Award,” which recognizes ABC chapters demonstrating membership and dues revenue growth.
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Zovio acquires TutorMe,
a leading online tutoring platform
San Diego-based Zovio announced it is expanding the scope of services it offers through its acquisition of TutorMe, a provider of instant online tutoring services. TutorMe aligns perfectly with the education services at Zovio, and provides a platform through which Zovio will be able to offer additional products in the future, the company said.
Powered by a smart matching engine, TutorMe provides its tutoring services 24/7 across more than 300 subjects, along with robust analytical dashboards for administrators.
“TutorMe is a strong and seamless fit into our education technology services ecosystem, with a common vision of serving today’s learners in the way they want to be served and a commitment to creating positive student outcomes,” said Zovio CEO Andrew Clark. “We see many immediate opportunities to leverage the TutorMe platform to serve additional higher education institutions and employers, who can use this on-demand network to coach learners through their course progression.”
As part of Zovio, TutorMe will maintain its operating model, brand, and purpose. The transaction is expected to close in early April, subject to customary closing conditions.
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Personnel Announcements
Qualcomm chief financial officer
to become CFO at Intel
George Davis, Qualcomm’s chief financial officer for the past six years, has left the San Diego company to become CFO at rival Intel. Qualcomm announced Davis’ departure on Tuesday, shortly after Reuters reported that Davis was expected to re-unite with Bob Swan in the executive suite of Intel, citing an unnamed source.
In January, Swan became Intel’s chief executive after serving as CFO of the chipmaker since 2016. He and Davis worked together previously at Applied Materials, where Davis was CFO and Swan was a member of the board of directors.
Intel confirmed in a statement that it hired Davis, 61.
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John Pope joins STM Brands
as senior mechanical engineer
STM Brands, a maker of innovative bags, cases, and accessories for consumer electronic devices, announces the addition of John Pope as senior mechanical engineer.
Pope is an electro/mechanical engineer with over 30 years experience in design and manufacturing of products ranging from military electronic enclosures at Hughes Aircraft to offshore oil drilling tools to lead designer at Mitsubishi Electronics, developing the design of DLP and flat screen TVs to project engineer/senior design engineer with Safran Aerospace, leading a team of design engineers in the development of airline cabin interior products for major airline companies. Pope attended California State University-Fullerton where he studied mechanical engineering.
STM Brands is the parent company of two global brands: STM Goods (backpacks, briefs, and cases for digital gear) and Element Case (premium cases for wireless phones).
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Kristina S. Kim joins Business Department
of Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek
The San Diego-based law firm of Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek announced that Kristina S. Kim has joined the firm’s Business Department as of counsel.
Kim’s practice focuses on international and cross border investment, trade, tax and corporate matters, with special attention to compliance with regulations regarding supply chain security, customs documentations, tariffs and duties, international trade agreements, including CTPAT; ISA; free trade zone matters; focused assessments; antidumping and countervailing duty investigations and administrative reviews; trade benefits; seizures; detentions; and notices of action. Kim has represented clients before the Department of State, US Citizenship and Immigration Services and US Customs and Border Protection.
Prior to joining SCMV, Kim worked as general counsel for Samsung International Inc. and Samsung Mexicana S.A. de C.V, where she headed the legal departments in the U.S. and Mexico, overseeing all legal affairs including international trade, business transactions and litigation. While at Samsung, Kim also oversaw the Government, Public and Trade Relations Department, the Mexico Public Affairs Team and the Compliance Department, while serving as Chief Compliance Officer.
Kim received her J.D. from the University of San Diego, School of Law and her B.A. from University of California, Santa Barbara.
