Daily Business Report-April 23, 2019

Student loan debt is $1.4 trillion nationally. (Photo: CALmatters)

State legislators seeking

protection for student borrowers

By Dan Morain | CALmatters

Once more, the California Legislature is preparing to step in where the Trump administration has retreated, this time to protect people who take student loans.

Student loan debt is $1.4 trillion nationally, including $142 billion held by 3.8 million Californians, reports the Student Borrower Protection Center, a nonprofit organization that is pushing fo the legislation,  along with other consumer groups.

The bill by Scotts Valley Democratic Assemblyman Mark Stone would establish the Student Borrower Bill of Rights and:

•  Create a student borrower advocate within the Department of Business Oversight who would be responsible for reviewing complaints.

•  Authorize the state to collect more data about the student loan servicing industry.

•  Allow borrowers to sue if servicers fail to comply with the act.

Seth From an took the lead on student loan issues at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during the Obama administration, and quit last year, sending a scathing letter denouncing the Trump administration’s efforts to unravel protections.

Frotman established the Student Borrower Protection Center, and was to testify Monday at an Assembly Banking Committee hearing.

He predicted other states would follow California, and once Trump is out of office, “what is coming out of Sacramento will be the road map for the federal government.”

The bill’s one listed opponent is the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, which represents lenders and servicers, including Wells Fargo, Navient, Discover and Great Lakes Educational Loan Services.

Money matters: In Washington, the student lending industry spent $9.9 million on lobbying in 2017-18.

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Region’s first dedicated clinic for 

inflammatory breast cancer launches

Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center has launched San Diego County’s first dedicated clinic for patients who have inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), a rare and aggressive form of the disease. The specialized, multidisciplinary clinic, located at Scripps MD Anderson’s Torrey Pines Mesa facility, is geared specifically to diagnose, treat and monitor IBC patients. Physicians at the new clinic also will be active in educating the public and primary care physicians about the signs and symptoms of this often-misdiagnosed disease.

“IBC differs greatly from other forms of breast cancer in a number of ways, so it requires a dedicated approach that focuses on a unique set of challenges,” said Thomas Buchholz, M.D.,  medical director of Scripps MD Anderson and a lead physician in its IBC clinic. “It’s often hard to diagnose and it can spread fast, so it’s critical that patients receive prompt treatment from experienced specialists working together as an integrated team.”

Buchholz co-founded the world’s first IBC clinic, the Morgan Welch Inflammatory Breast Cancer Clinic at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston in 2006.

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Chelsea Investment Corp. ranked 

as 11th largest builder of new 

affordable housing in the nation

With 874 apartments started and 347 completed in 2018, Chelsea Investment Corp. is now ranked as the 11th largest developer of new affordable housing in the nation. Chelsea’s 2018 designation was published this month by Affordable Housing Finance magazine in its annual ranking of the “Top 50 Affordable Housing Developers.”

Also last year, Chelsea developed its 10,000th affordable home and was named San Diego’s Builder of the Year by the leadership of the Building Industry Association of San Diego County (BIA).

Founded in 1984 by CEO Jim Schmid, Chelsea’s portfolio includes housing for low-income families, seniors, farm workers, veterans and persons experiencing homelessness. The firm also works for developers and production homebuilders to provide inclusionary housing. 

This week, Chelsea adds 15 more units to that inventory when it breaks ground on Serenita in Brawley, Calif., where a total of 60 units for low-income families will be built. Also next week, Chelsea will begin construction of 60 new affordable homes for farm worker households. Next month, Chelsea celebrates the completion of 52 units for veterans experiencing homelessness at Alpha Lofts in San Diego.

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Cleaner diesel-electric locomotives now

in service on Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains

Fourteen new Siemens Charger locomotives are now operational on the Pacific Surfliner route, which carries nearly 3 million passengers a year to top destinations from San Diego to San Luis Obispo. The locomotives were originally unveiled by the Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency and the California Department of Transportation  in October 2018.
The new Charger locomotive is the first passenger locomotive to receive the stringent Tier IV emissions certification from the Environmental Protection Agency, making it one of the cleanest diesel-electric passenger locomotives in operation today. The state-of-the-art locomotive, manufactured at Siemens’ solar-powered plant in Sacramento, now powers the majority of 24 daily Pacific Surfliner trains traveling through Southern California.

Siemens built the Charger locomotives for transportation agencies across the United States as part of a multi-state procurement project. The 14 Charger locomotives used on Pacific Surfliner service were funded by Caltrans with approximately $100 million in state, federal and local funds, and replaced Amtrak-owned locomotives which were nearly 20 years old.

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San Diego Press Club

to discuss Instagram

The San Diego Press Club will present a program on effective ways to use Instagram from 6:30 to 8 p.m. today at its Downtown San Diego offices at the Spreckels Building, 121 Broadway, Suite 640. Cost to attend is free for members and $10 per person for nonmember members. The event is open to the public. For information, visit www.sdpressclub.org. The program is part of the Press Club’s “Nuts & Bolts” series.

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SDX presents program on

‘Surprise, You’re Getting an Intern’

SDX, formerly the San Diego Advertising Club, will host “Surprise, You’re Getting an Intern,” a program on how to how to maximize the benefits from a summer internship program for both your company and the intern, from 4 to 6:30 p.m., Thursday, April 25, at Red Door Interactive, 350 10th Ave., San Diego. Other topics will include how to develop a sustainable internship curriculum and how interns can work on client-sensitive projects. Speaking will be Micah Lomax, brand insight manager, Hewlett Packard. Lomax, with a background in teaching and research, specializes in marketing mix modeling and statistical analysis of marketing programs for HP. Admission is free for SDX members and $40 per person for nonmembers. The presentation is part of SDX’s ongoing “Inspire” seminar series. For more information, visit SDX at www.sandiegox.org.

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General Atomics awarded $99 million

Army UAS logistics support contract

GovconWire

General Atomics secured a potential five-year, $99 million contract to provide logistics support for the U.S. Army’s MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system.

Army Contracting Command solicited one bid for the cost-plus-incentive-fee contract and obligated the full value at the time of award, the Department of Defense said.

DoD expects the company’s aeronautical systems business in Poway to complete work by April 23, 2024.

Gray Eagle is designed to support reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition missions.

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TSA Construction awarded contract

for Salvation Army’s Rady Residence

TSA Construction Inc. has been awarded a contract for the new construction of The Salvation Army’s Rady Residence located at its existing Door of Hope campus at 2799 Health Center Drive. San Diego. The project will consist of the demolition of four existing 1-story buildings and construction of a new 37,900-square-foot, 4-story building that will provide 32 residential units (1, 2, and 3 bedrooms) with a 1-story Housing Services wing. The Housing Services Wing will consist of an activity room, playroom, offices, and a laundry room. TSA is scheduled to break ground in late May 2019.

The Door of Hope campus is home to programs serving homeless families of San Diego

The Salvation Army is represented by Bernard Porter Jr. as Rady project manager. M.W. Steele Group Inc. is the architect of record with Mark Steele as principle-in-charge, Michael Paluso as project manager, and Trupti Amin as designer. Other project team members include David Reed Landscape Architects, Nasland as civil engineer and KPFFas structural engineer. TSA’s representatives include Andrew Doyle as senior project manager, Todd Oakley as assistant project manager, Aaron Zieman as senior superintendent, and Chris Cherry as superintendent

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Homecoming

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Personnel Announcements

Jennifer Silva-Reis promoted to

accounts payable supervisor

Jennifer Silva-Reis has been promoted to accounts payable supervisor for the Bill Pay division of TAG, an accounting and financial reporting firm for affluent families and entrepreneurs. In her expanded role, Silva-Reis will manage a team of accounts payable experts and handle a complex portfolio of high-net-worth clients.

Silva-Reis was hired as an accounts payable lead and within her first year at the firm she was promoted to a supervisory role. Prior to joining TAG, she held accounting positions at a San Diego nonprofit organization and corporate advertising agency. She also served as a finance specialist at a local bank.

TAG Bill Pay is growing at a rapid pace with the onboarding of at least one new client per week. Silva-Reis has several internal AP teams that report to her, all working in conjunction to provide bill payment, manage wire transfers, perform account reconciliations and track expenses for clients.