Daily Business Report: Monday, Dec. 13, 2021
Commentary:
Protect small business owners from lawsuit abuse
Legislators should look and see how small businesses are struggling and give them relief from shakedown lawsuits
By Victor Gomez | Executive Director, Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse
California’s atrocious legal environment coupled with the Legislature’s relentless pursuit of liability expanding principles has earned the Golden State the dubious honor of being named the “Top Everlasting Judicial Hellhole” in the nation by the American Tort Reform Foundation.
We have received this unfortunate honor, not once, but 16 times over the past 20 years. The result? Californians pay for lawsuit abuse and excessive tort costs in the form of an annual “tort tax” of nearly $575 per person. The costs of this litigation also result in nearly 210,000 jobs lost each year.
At a critical time when California small-business owners are trying to rebound from COVID-19, unscrupulous attorneys are unsympathetically filing suits in record numbers based on technical violations and fail to allow business owners to correct the problem even though the violation caused no harm.
Small businesses are being weighed down by unwarranted lawsuits related to the Private Attorney General Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. These suits have become a cottage industry for unscrupulous attorneys who turn California’s labor laws and protections upside down. What’s the main outcome? It’s not protecting workers or people who are disabled. It’s lining the pockets of these lawyers – all off the backs of small-business owners and consumers.
TOP PHOTO: Image via iStock
Construction starts today for replacement of
Terminal 1 at San Diego International Airport
The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority will hold a groundbreaking ceremony today at 9 a.m. for the construction of a new Terminal 1 — a $2.2 billion project. Construction will take place in two phases to maintain airport functionality throughout the project.
San Diego International Airport’s Terminal 1 opened in 1967, and this project will replace it with a new 1.2 million-square-foot structure with 30 gates. The new terminal will also offer expanded passenger seating areas, restaurant and concessions spaces, and additional security checkpoints with more lanes.
Redesigned taxiways and an underground fuel-delivery system will be included as energy-efficient features for the project, designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
City of San Diego opens negotiations with five
teams seeking to redevelop Sports Arena site
The City of San Diego has opened negotiations with each of five development teams angling to get the nod to redevelop the 48.5-acre site in the Midway District that includes the Sports Arena.
“This project will bring much needed affordable housing for San Diegans and will serve as a catalyst for revitalizing a neighborhood that has waited years for transformation,” said Mayor Todd Gloria. “With multiple responses to consider, we have confidence that this process will result in a success for the Midway community and for our entire city.”
The city intends to lease the site for a mix of residential, entertainment, office, and park uses. A 90-day good-faith negotiating period is now underway.
Negotiations are with the following:
• Discover Midway (Affirmed Housing, ASM Global, Brookfield Properties, National Core).
• Hometown SD (Monarch Group, Essex, Eden Housing, JMI Sports).
• Midway Rising (Chelsea, Zephyr, Legends, AECOM).
• Midway Village (Toll Brothers, Revitate, Bridge Housing).
• Neighborhood Next (Wakeland, Community Housing Works, The ConAm Group).
Two proposals, from The Panacea Group (C. Daniel Gallardo) and Cotterkey Investments, were deemed not to be responsive to the conditions outlined by the city.
Following negotiations, city staff will present the results to the Land Use and Housing Committee then the full City Council for input.
Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs renew support
for UC San Diego baseball and social sciences
Longtime UC San Diego champions Gary and Jerri-Ann Jacobs believe in the power of the next generation to make change for the better. And it is imperative, they say, to “create the opportunity for anybody who is eligible and wants to come to UC San Diego to do so.” With that in mind, they have boosted their support of education at the university with an additional $2 million in gifts to both Athletics and the Division of Social Sciences.
The couple has pledged $1 million more to the Jerri-Ann and Gary E. Jacobs Endowed Fellowship Fund, first established in 2006, for exceptional graduate students in Social Sciences—and $1 million more to the Jerri-Ann and Gary Jacobs Family Baseball Scholarship Endowment, first established in 2019 for remarkable scholar-athletes.
Sanford Burnham Prebys and Roche
fight back against antibiotic resistance
Researchers from Sanford Burnham Prebys have teamed up with prominent drug developer Roche Pharma to learn how bacteria develop antibiotic resistance.
Their new results, published in the journal mBio, are one piece of a long-standing collaboration between the two organizations, the goal of which is to mitigate the growing threat of antibiotic resistance by developing more “irresistible” drugs and by helping improve antibiotic prescribing practices.
Blue Sky Network providing tech answers to wide
variety of commercial, government customers
San Diego-based Blue Sky Network provides technology solutions to a wide range of commercial and government customers located in over 50 countries, specializing in satellite-based communications and fleet management for aviation, maritime, land mobile, and IoT application.
With international customers representing more than 40 percent of its total sales, exporting is crucial for Blue Sky Network’s growth and resilience.
A satellite-based communications and fleet management company, Blue Sky Network’s
international exports to a wide range of commercial and government customers provide more than 40 percent of its sales. Blue Sky Network applied to World Trade Center San Diego’s export accelerator MetroConnect and was one of 15 small to mid-sized companies accepted into its fifth cohort.
San Diego Foundation distributes record $104.1 million
The San Diego Foundation has distributed a record $104.1 million this year to San Diegans in need. The funds were delivered in the form of 6,989 grants to 1,992 nonprofits specializing in health and human services, youth development, workforce development, education and other services to support our region and its residents.
Manscaped going public
Manscaped, the men’s consumer lifestyle brand that specializes in grooming products, is going public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger, according to the company’s founder and CEO.
The Scripps Ranch-based company, with an annual revenue of $290 million, has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with Los Angeles-based Bright Lights Acquisition Corp. The transaction implies a combined company enterprise value of approximately $1 billion, according to Paul Tran, founder and CEO of Manscaped. Through international growth and product expansion, company revenue is projected to grow to over $500 million by 2023, Tran said.
San Diego biotech trying to catch
canine tumors earlier
San Diego biotech PetDx announced Thursday that it has raised $62 million to deploy a test that can spot early signs of cancer in dogs from a blood sample.
The company’s test, which detects 30 cancer types from a tablespoon’s worth of blood, is already available at certain Petco hospitals and 20 veterinary clinics across Southern California. But this is just the beginning of a larger rollout, according to Kalle Marsal, the firm’s chief strategy and operating officer.
Advocacy group appeals ruling on
San Onofre nuclear waste
An advocacy group is appealing a lower court’s ruling that provided no contingency for 3.6 million pounds of spent nuclear fuel stranded 100 feet from the ocean at San Onofre.
In a notice filed Dec. 7, the Samuel Lawrence Foundation moved toward reversing a Sept. 21 Superior Court judgement that sided with the California Coastal Commission and Southern California Edison, majority owner of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, which is in the midst of decommissioning.
Samuel Lawrence Foundation sued to demand that facilities remain in place to handle the highly-radioactive waste that is expected to remain on site long after above-ground structures are removed.
In its lawsuit, the Foundation shows the Coastal Commission failed to consider evidence and violated the Coastal Act. In particular, the lawsuit challenges plans to dismantle the plant’s spent fuel pools, where leaky waste canisters could be repackaged.
