Daily Business Report: Monday, Jan. 17, 2022
Atmospheric river storm observations
over Pacific Ocean to expand this winter
Filling data gaps will improve precipitation forecasts for western states
By Steveb Koppes and Lauren Wood | UC San Diego
“Hurricane Hunter” aircraft are mobilizing for an expanded 13-week period that began Jan. 5 to glean critical data for improving forecasts of atmospheric river storms over the Pacific Ocean. Such storms provide up to half of the U.S. West Coast’s annual precipitation and a majority of the flooding.
The flights are part of the Atmospheric River Reconnaissance (AR Recon) program led by UC San Diego’s Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) at Scripps Institution of Oceanography with support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and California Department of Water Resources. The program works in coordination with NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations and the U.S. Air Force Reserve 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron “Hurricane Hunters” to execute data-collecting missions within these storms.
This winter, two Air Force Reserve WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft will be on standby to fly out of Mather Air Force Base near Sacramento, when atmospheric rivers approach the West Coast. NOAA will station its Gulfstream IV-SP jet in Hawaii during this year’s operations. Dropsonde instruments will be deployed from these aircraft over specialized transects over atmospheric rivers, transmitting critical data on the vertical profile of water vapor, wind, and temperature carried in fast-moving, low-altitude airstreams that form the atmospheric river.
TOP PHOTO: A WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft before a mission to deploy drifting buoys from Ketchikan, Alaska. (Photo credit: US Air Force 403rd Wing)
Walker & Dunlop completes sale of EV Lofts
Walker & Dunlop Inc. has completed the sale of EV Lofts, a 208-unit Class A apartment community in Downtown San Diego’s East Village neighborhood.
Built in 2015 by nationally recognized developer OliverMcMillan, EV Lofts is a mid-rise community featuring best-in-class design and finishes. The property features luxury amenities, including a rooftop deck, resident lounge, fitness center, dog park, and is powered by the Alfred resident tech platform.
The transit-oriented property also features immediate access to the major employment hubs of San Diego.
Walker & Dunlop’s Hunter Combs, Blake Rogers, Javier Rivera and Alexandra Caniglia represented the seller, Greystar Real Estate Partners, in the disposition to the buyer, Griffis Residential.
Sharp HealthCare acquires majority
interest in Coast Surgery Center
Sharp HealthCare has acquired a 51 percent interest in Coast Surgery Center, a physician-owned ambulatory surgery center located Kearny Mesa, near the Sharp Metropolitan Medical Campus.
Commonly known as “Coast,” the center has been a leader in performing total joint procedures in an outpatient setting since 2012. In late 2022, Coast will be relocating to 5643 Copley Drive, San Diego, a newly developed medical office building located adjacent to Sharp HealthCare’s Copley Lab and Copley administrative offices and expanding. The new center will include five operating rooms and specialize in orthopedics, general surgery, hand surgery and pain management.
To acquire its majority interest, Sharp HealthCare established Sharp Freestanding Surgery LLC (SFS) in concert with Maverix Health LLC. Maverix is a boutique ambulatory surgery center development and operating company that currently manages two freestanding surgery centers in San Diego County, including Coast.
The establishment of SFS supports Sharp’s broader strategy to expand its freestanding surgery center presence across San Diego County.
New San Diego ‘wellness club’ for seniors launched
by SDSU and Wellcare By Health Net
A new partnership between San Diego State University’s Center for Excellence in Aging & Longevity and Wellcare By Health Net will provide seniors with a holistic approach to navigating the current and emerging challenges faced by older adults and their families. These barriers include social determinants of health, social isolation, and the need to return to a focus on general health and wellness following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Central to the partnership is the launch of the “Wellness Club,” an inclusive, community-based approach to inform, engage, empower, and inspire older adults.
The partnership has three key objectives:
• Improve the overall wellbeing of older adults and caregivers.
• Identify and share useful information from trusted sources to empower older adults.
•Present innovative, community-based approaches to current and emerging issues in aging.
SDSU’s Center for Excellence in Aging & Longevity launched in 2021 to address emerging opportunities and challenges for California’s aging population surge. The Center is funded by philanthropic, public and private partnerships, including Health Net.
Shakerra Carter selected as vice president of student
services at SD College of Continuing Education
Shakerra Carter has been selected to serve as the vice president of student services at San Diego College of Continuing Education (SDCCE). The San Diego Community College District approved the appointment at the regularly scheduled board of trustees meeting in December.
Carter previously served for more than five years as SDCCD’s dean for outreach, student affairs, and pre-enrollment Services.
She was also Title IX compliance coordinator and a member of the Senior Leadership team for the vice chancellor of student services for more than six years.
Prior experience includes working at Grossmont College as an interim supervisor for counseling and assessment, and an interim director of student activities.
Carter also served as the lead transfer admissions counselor at San Diego State University (SDSU) for four years.
She has earned a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership from SDSU and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership (with a specialization in Student Affairs) also from SDSU.
Noah J. Woods elevated to shareholder at Littler
Noah J. Woods has been elevated to shareholder in the San Diego office of Littler.
Woods is an experienced litigator who represents employers in all types of employment litigation.
His practice focuses on representing employers in wage and hour class actions and representative actions under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).
He also represents employers in single plaintiff actions alleging claims of wrongful termination, retaliation, harassment, discrimination, breach of contract and violations of wage and hour laws at the state, federal and administrative levels.
Woods earned his J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law and his B.A. from California State University San Marcos.
San Diego startups raised record $9.6 billion in 2021
San Diego startups raised a record $9.6 billion in venture capital last year, outpacing 2020 by a staggering 55 percent. Technology startups specializing in software, drones, fleet logistics, and trucking safety systems claimed seven of the top 10 largest deals last year, with other larg deals concentrated in biotech. San Diego Transportation companies in particular are quickly developing AI and ML solutions to optimize shipping routes, automate and secure mass-transit fare collection systems, improve safety on roadways, and further position San Diego as a global trading hub.
Crypto accepted at San Diego State University
The very first person to donate cryptocurrency to San Diego State University wants to make sure he’s not the last. Officials at The Campanile Foundation say the Bitcoin gift, received in October, opens the door to similar contributions and a wide range of never-before imagined programs of research and teaching in cryptocurrency.
Provided by an alumnus who wants to remain anonymous, the donation came via round number of satoshis, the underlying unit of account in Bitcoin, rather than in US dollars and carries a current value of just under $25,000.
David Fuhriman, chief financial officer of The Campanile Foundation, said the SDSU auxiliary will keep almost all of the contribution in the form of Bitcoin instead of immediately converting it all to cash as many other universities have done.
San Diego to host Men’s Lacrosse World Championship
World Lacrosse Awards has awarded the 2023 Men’s Lacrosse World Championship to San Diego. The firs world championship in the sport of lacrosse is set to take place in San Diego State University’s 35,000-seat Snapdragon Stadium and will host 30 teams featuring more than 100 games from June 21 to July 1, 2023. The sporting event will provide a boost to the region’s local businesses and rebounding tourism economy.
UC San Diego receives $929,000
grant to foster community entrepreneurship
UC San Diego has been awarded nearly $1 million as part of the U.S. government’s Build To Scale initiative, a federal program promoting the growth of technology entrepreneurship in historically underserved communities. Over the next three years, this $929,000 grant will help stimulate the development of the Talent Foundry Accelerator (TFA), an engine of entrepreneurship and business activity in the San Diego business and technology communities and beyond, creating advantages and opportunities for the ideas, innovations and leaders of the future.
UC San Diego’s Office of Innovation and Commercialization is building a campus-wide innovation platform and spurring commercialization of inventions originating at the university. There are more than 1000 companies—operating across the United States and around the world—that use, or have used, technology created at UC San Diego. The TFA promotes small business activity in underserved communities, making it an ideal match for the Build To Scale initiative’s focus on inclusivity.
AI fuels 10 percent job growth
in San Diego transportation cluster
The Brookings Institution recently named San Diego as one of the country’s top adopters of Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to Brookings, startups and established firms in the area comprise an $11 billion “transportation value chain.”
Highlighting this growing trend within the local economy, the San Diego Regional EDC has released the third study in a series detailing the proliferation of AI and ML within San Diego County’s key economic clusters.
Urban Plates celebrates one-year
anniversary of Plate Pass
Urban Plates, the chef-driven restaurant offering made-from-scratch meals at affordable prices, is celebrating the one-year anniversary of Plate Pass, the restaurant industry’s first membership-based food subscription program.
Plate Pass members can purchase all Urban Plates entrées for an $11 (or less) set price with a $10 monthly membership.
The company unveiled Plate Pass in January 2021 to help guests eat healthier and save money by offering them an incredible price for dishes on Urban Plates’ award-winning menu. Since the launch, Plate Pass has proven to be a hit with members who’ve come to consider Urban Plates as their home kitchen enjoying multiple visits and saving an average of $42 a month with the program.
The Foothills single-family home
community in San Marcos now open
KB Home announced the grand opening of The Foothills, a new single-family home community in San Marcos.
The homes at The Foothills showcase popular design characteristics like gourmet kitchens overlooking large great rooms, expansive bedroom suites with walk-in closets, and ample storage space. The community’s floor plans feature up to five bedrooms and three-and-a-half baths, and range in size from approximately 1,800 to 2,600 square feet.
Every KB home is designed to be ENERGY STAR-certified thanks to the quality construction techniques and materials utilized that ultimately deliver significant savings on utility bills compared to used homes. Additionally, all new KB homes are designed to deliver an enhanced indoor environment and include high performance ventilation systems, low- or zero-VOC products and other features guided by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Indoor airPLUS standards.
