Daily Business Report: Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022
California’s women on boards law under challenge
Since the law passed in 2018, the share of women
on boards has increased from 15.5 percent to 29 percent
By Grace Gedye | CalMatters
Something new happened in boardrooms across California last year: More women joined the governing bodies of public companies than men, according to a recent report from California Partners Project, a statewide organization that advocates for gender equity.
The shift has been noticeable since California passed a law in 2018 requiring at least one woman on the board of each publicly traded company with headquarters in California. Since then, the share of seats held by women has climbed from 15.5 percent to 29 percent in just three years, according to the project’s findings.
But supporters say a legal challenge may slow that progress.
Closing arguments wrapped on Feb. 16 on a civil trial inside a Los Angeles County courtroom where Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group, challenged the constitutionality of California’s so-called women on boards law on behalf of a few taxpayers. Judicial Watch argued that the law violates the equal protection clause of California’s constitution by explicitly distinguishing between individuals on the basis of gender. The law “would upend decades of settled constitutional law that prohibits discrimination based on sex,” said Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch’s president, in a statement before the trial started.
Under the law, publicly traded companies with headquarters in California needed to add at least one woman to their board of directors by the end of 2019. By the end of 2021, companies with a five-member board needed to have at least two women, and companies with six or more directors needed to have at least three. The judge may uphold the law — or find it to be unconstitutional. After the case is formally submitted, the judge could take up to 90 days to make a decision, according to UC Hastings Law professor David Levine.
While the outcome will be closely watched as California and other states look for ways to diversify top corporate brass, supporters of the current law say all-male boards are increasingly a thing of the past.
Viasat’s VISION Network Management platform
achieves Department of Defense certification
Carlsbad-based Viasat Inc., a global communications company, announced its Visual Integrated Satellite communications Information, Operation and Networking (VISION) management software has successfully achieved Department of Defense Joint Interoperability Test Command Integrated Waveform certification.
With this certification, global defense customers using the VISION software will gain greater communications interoperability, scalability and flexibility across legacy and next-generation Ultra High Frequency satellite communications platforms, while meeting stringent U.S. DoD satellite access requirements.
VISION provides a user-friendly single network management interface for legacy UHF Demand-Assigned Multiple-Access (DAMA) and IW services. The integrated controller dramatically speeds warfighters’ abilities to connect on the battlefield, going from 90 seconds through a legacy UHF SATCOM system to as little as four seconds with IW. VISION also enables network operators to dynamically reconfigure UHF satellite networks on-the-fly to meet new mission priorities in real-time.
Rebecca Humphries elected chair of California
Southern Small Business Development Corp.
Rebecca Humphries, senior vice president at Endeavor Bank, has been elected by her peers at California Southern Small Business Development Corporation to chair its board.
Her two-year term starts immediately.
Humphries will support the organization’s mission to secure financing for small businesses that have great potential but may not qualify for a conventional loan on their own.
Humphries has served as a board member of California Southern SBDC for the past seven years.
She also spent many years on the board of an East County San Diego youth sports organization. She is a resident of El Cajon.
California Southern SBDC is a non-profit chartered and regulated by the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (I Bank) to provide loan guarantees to financial institutions.
Six SDSU faculty members receive new
Presidential Research Fellowship
By Susanne Clara Bard
Six faculty members have been named inaugural Presidential Research Faculty Fellows at San Diego State University in recognition of their outstanding research, scholarship and creative endeavors. Each fellow received $25,000 to support their research activities.
Three faculty members promoted to associate professor received the 2022 award: Christal Sohl (chemistry and biochemistry), Humberto Parada Jr. (epidemiology), and Nathian Shae Rodriguez (digital media).
Three faculty members promoted to full professor were also named: Kristen Wells (psychology), George Youssef (mechanical engineering), and Eyal Oren (epidemiology and biostatistics).
“Each of these faculty are leaders in their fields,” said Hala Madanat, interim vice president for research and innovation. “This new award is an excellent way to recognize and reward some of our most competitive scholars, and shows the ongoing investment the university is making in the success of our faculty.”
Engineering students to compete
in International Maritime Robot competition
By Katherine Connor
For the past three months, a team of engineering students at UC San Diego has been adding cameras, LiDAR systems, a hydrophone, and even a drone to a 16-foot seagoing vessel. Their goal? To compete in the Maritime RobotX Challenge in Australia in November 2022. In order to get there, they’ll have to turn the vessel into a completely autonomous system, capable of navigating to specific buoys, launching objects at a target, and working with a drone to map out the sea space, entirely on its own.
They are under no illusions: it’s a difficult task. But it’s a welcomed challenge that, for several of the students, has been more than 10 years in the making, thanks to the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics outreach program, and RoboNation, the nonprofit organization behind RobotX.
Typically, about 15 teams from around the world compete in this weeklong biennial competition; so far, the UC San Diego team is the only competitor from California, and one of only a handful from the United States.
Super STEM Saturday returns March 12
at Cal State San Marcos
Build and launch a rocket, view the surface of the sun, or discover how chemistry is better than magic. These are just a few of the more than 60 hands-on, interactive activities and demonstrations that will engage thousands of attendees on Saturday, March 12 as the science festival Super STEM Saturday returns in person for the first time in three years.
Held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Cal State San Marcos, this rain-or-shine event is free and open to the public. Children of all ages are invited to attend.
Super STEM Saturday will take place in person for the first time since 2019. The event was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and last year it was conducted as a virtual event.
To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, all of the exhibits will be staged outside. All attendees are strongly encouraged to follow the recommendation of San Diego County and the California Department of Public Health to be fully vaccinated and/or have a negative COVID test within two days before attending any large events or gatherings.
Dexioprotocol to be listed on second major exchange
Dexioprotocol (DEXI), a gaming and augmented reality crypto company, tannounced they will list on the MEXC Global cryptocurrency exchange. MEXC is a top 20 exchange with daily volumes exceeding 500 million, according to CoinGecko.
The listing on MEXC Global represents Dexioprotocol’s second top tier exchange listing and third centralized exchange listing. DEXI is already listed on Lbank Exchange, P2PB2B, and PancakeSwap.
Dexioprotocol is a community-driven, multi-level protocol with a focus on creating its own GameFi ecosystem. Its flagship product, DexiHunter aims to be the “Pokemon Go” of cryptocurrency and will allow players to earn crypto by hunting and collecting bounties through their mobile device.
Cue Health taps Cardinal Health
to distribute its COVID-19 tests
Cue Health Inc., a San Diego health care technology company, and Cardinal Health announced expanded distribution of Cue’s professional use and over-the-counter COVID-19 tests. Cue selected Cardinal Health, which serves nearly 90 percent of U.S. hospitals and over 60,000 pharmacies, as one of its primary distributors due to a demonstrated expertise in helping commercialize diagnostic technologies. This relationship will help accelerate the reach of Cue’s innovative nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) into both traditional and non-traditional health care settings.
FICO to provide free online education
event for San Diego consumers
Analytics software firm FICO will host a free online financial education event with national and local nonprofit partners for San Diego-area consumers today at noon. Congressman Juan Vargas (CA-51) will provide remarks on the importance of financial education.
The event is part of FICO’s “Score A Better Future” program, which focuses on helping consumers improve their understanding of their credit and overall financial health. Consumers will learn from credit experts what the key ingredients are that make up the FICO Score, and the myths and facts about FICO Scores, which are used by 90 percent of the top U.S. lenders.
To register for the event or get more information about the Score A Better Future program, visit http://www.scoreabetterfuture.com/
Allbirds opens new store in Carlsbad
Allbirds has opened a new retail store and community center in Carlsbad. It is the brand’s second store in the San Diego area and 37th globally, with locations across North America, Asia, and Europe.
The new 2,810-square-foot space speaks to the brand’s sustainable focus, which has driven its development and use of natural materials in replacement of petroleum-based synthetic fiber.
Displays around the shop call attention to the Merino Wool, Sugarcane, Tree, and other materials that its products are made of.
The design of the store itself also evokes the natural world, with custom wood try-on chairs and displays, and uniquely shaped mirrors. Customers can see the carbon footprint of each product clearly displayed – a first for the fashion and footwear industry, and a hallmark of Allbirds’s approach to sustainability.
The store is located at 1923 Calle Barcelonaand is open Monday-Saturday 10am-8pm and Sunday 11a.m. – 6 p.m.
General Atomics completes final design review
for U.S. Space Force weather system satellite program
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems announced that it has successfully completed the Final Design Review (FDR) of its spacecraft design for the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command Electro-Optical Infrared Weather System satellite program. General Atomics has developed a prototype EWS spacecraft utilizing a reliable, redundant bus with a high performance EO/IR weather sensor payload to support the USSF as it looks to transition from aging on-orbit systems to next generation weather satellites.
“Successfully completing the EWS program FDR is a vital milestone for us,” stated Scott Forney, president of General Atomics. “We are extremely proud of the team’s results to date. Our goal is to be a weather mission partner with USSF by providing the USSF with new, more advanced technologies that ensure essential weather data is delivered to the warfighter and by supporting novel USSF initiatives such as weather data as a service.”
