Daily Business Report: Friday, Feb. 24, 2023
Jensen Meat Company donates more than
160,000 pounds of product to Feeding San Diego
Feeding San Diego has received a donation of 166,300 pounds of product from Jensen Meat Company that will help the nonprofit continue to provide nutritious food throughout San Diego County.
The donation includes ground beef and plant-based meat that will be distributed by Feeding San Diego and its community partners focused on hunger-relief, which include other nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and meal programs. Jensen Meat Company is a leading processor and marketer of high-quality ground beef products that has expanded into plant-based beef alternatives in recent years.
Jensen Meat Company has been a food donor to Feeding San Diego since 2015 and has donated over 784,107 pounds of food to the organization to date, including Feeding San Diego’s largest food donation ever — 500,000 pounds of plant-based patties — last year. Feeding San Diego works with local food manufacturers like Jensen Meat Company to rescue food that might otherwise end up in a landfill, for business reasons such as surplus or changed orders. For this donation, Jensen Meat Company specially produced this product as a donation, but most donations are done to cut food waste.
Photo: Feeding San Diego Produce Pantry. (Credit: Feeding San Diego)
San Diego life sciences startup to receive
12 weeks of mentoring from FAST California
Jaan Biotherapeutics, a San Diego company, is one of a dozen life sciences startups selected to receive 12 weeks of business mentoring from expert advisers through California Life Sciences’ program, FAST California. Each company will be matched with a group of advisers to perfect their business models, assess strategic focus, maximize IP, and help develop a milestone and scale-up plan to exit. FAST California is offered at no cost and no equity taken.
The Spring 2023 cycle will begin in March and conclude with an Innovation Showcase on June 21 in San Francisco, where the companies will pitch to an audience of potential investors and collaboration partners. Shikha Sharma, senior director of programs, will be leading the FAST Program in 2023.
Scripps Health receives $2.7 million
to develop repair for rotator cuff injuries
Scripps Health has received a $2.7 million research grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to investigate the use of pluripotent stem cells to develop lab-grown tendon tissue for repairing rotator cuff injuries.
Funding will support the initiative’s discovery phase, to be conducted over the next three years at the Shiley Center for Orthopaedic Research and Education (SCORE) at Scripps Clinic on Torrey Pines Mesa. Researchers plan to develop a series of lab tests called assays to assess and measure the makeup of the tendon cells and develop the tendon material in the lab. They also will aim to demonstrate proof of concept by conducting tendon repair in animal models using the biologically engineered tendons.
The new approach is intended to particularly benefit older patients with large to massive rotator cuff tears resulting from degeneration over time.
LaSalle Investment Management acquires one
of county’s largest industrial properties
LaSalle Investment Management has acquired a 601,103-square-foot industrial building in Otay Mesa — one of the largest industrial properties in the county — from Ares Management Real Estate. Financial terms were not disclosed. The building is located at 2020 Piper Ranch Road and is spread out over more than 30 acres of land. Ares had acquired the property in the fourth quarter, 2020.
2020 Piper Ranch was constructed in 2003 and features concrete tilt-up construction with varied bay sizes that accommodate a wide range of configurations, as well as above-standard loading capabilities with grade and dock-high doors, up to 32’ clear heights, sprinkler systems, and concrete truck courts.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Jeff Cole, Jeff Chiate, Bryce Aberg, Rick Ellison, Mike Adey, and Zach Harman of the firm’s National Industrial Investment Advisory Group in Southern California represented the seller in the transaction. Brant Aberg with Cushman & Wakefield and Bill Dolan and Rob Hixon of CBRE also provided local market leasing expertise.
Majority of homeless dollars from
Escondido’s general fund went to cops
By Tigist Layne | Voice of San Diego
Escondido spent about $2 million of city money last year on homelessness. But 70 percent of that was spent on the Escondido Police Department.
“We keep seeing the police budget continue to increase, but we also see homelessness continue to increase,” said Escondido resident Alex Garvin at a City Council meeting last week. “I don’t think it’s the right tool for the job, and I don’t think it ever will be.”
At that meeting, \the Escondido City Council heard a staff report about how the city is addressing its growing homelessness crisis. The report detailed how much the city allocated toward homelessness efforts last year and how those funds were spent.
The report noted that, aside from the $2 million in city money, Escondido also received $10.2 million in grants and federal funding to address homelessness. That money went toward homelessness prevention programs, permanent supportive housing projects and emergency shelter efforts.
Still, the report was met with criticism from public speakers at the Feb. 15 meeting who questioned why 70 percent of the city’s own homelessness dollars went toward the Escondido Police Department when the police department’s budget is already the largest portion of the city’s overall budget by far.
Newsom administration moving
to shut down more prisons
By Nigel Duara — CalMatters
California spends more than $15 billion a year on its prison system. Now, with the number of people behind bars plummeting, the Newsom administration is moving to shut down more institutions. At the inmate population’s peak in 2006, California incarcerated 165,000 people in state prisons. Today — after a decade of sentencing reforms and a surge of releases tied to COVID-19 — California prisons house a little more than 95,000 people.
So how many prisons does California actually need?
“Difficult decisions have to be made, but if we don’t make those decisions, the alternative is paying hundreds of millions for prison beds we don’t need to be paying for,” said Caitlin O’Neil, an analyst at the Legislative Analyst’s Office. O’Neil is the co-author of a new report that lays out how the state can close up to nine of its 33 prisons and eight yards within operating prisons while still complying with a federal court order that caps the system’s capacity.
SDSU experts to discuss history
of animation at Comic-Con Museum
By Susanne Clara Bard
Is animation a purely modern invention, or does it have roots in prehistory? How did magic lanterns — a precursor to animation — reinforce the cultural norms, gender roles and stereotypes of previous centuries? Does animated storytelling influence children’s emotional development? And why is it that some animated films have the power to make grownups cry?
Those are some of the questions comics experts from San Diego State University and the San Diego community will ponder on Saturday, Feb. 25, during “Cave Paintings to Comics: A Brief History of Animation,” a panel discussion at the Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park.
The program is a 2 p.m. at the Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park.
Water Authority’s First Aqueduct
to be shut down Feb. 27-March 8
The Original 40 Brewing Company
to release ‘OG NZ’ brew
SAN DIEGO — The Original 40 Brewing Company will release “OG NZ” on Friday, a limited-release Double Dry Hopped West Coast IPA that will be available on tap and in four packs of 16-oz cans. Head Brewer Zack Kaplan made the announcement. OG NZ is 6.3 percent alcohol by volume and contains Nectaron, Southern Cross, and Mosaic incognito hops. Original 40, which is named after the original 40-acre parcel of land that became modern-day North Park, is located at 3117 University Ave.
Plant Based Foods taps Violife for
expanding convenience food line
SAN DIEGO — Plant Based Foods, a company that produces nutritious plant-based meat with sustainable hemp as its No. 1 ingredient, announced Violife as the exclusive plant-based cheese provider for its line of good-for-you, good-for-the-planet convenience foods. Planet Based Foods will showcase new formulations of its Original and Southwest Taquitos that feature Violife vegan Colby Jack Shreds alongside Planet Based Foods’ high-protein hemp-based crumble at Natural Products EXPO West 2023.
Cutwater aims to make cocktail
culture more accessible
SAN DIEGO — Cutwater, a spirits-based canned cocktail brand on the market, announces its newest initiative, Open the Bar. This integrated campaign features new, creative ad spots highlighting the brand’s premium, ready-to-drink innovations. Accompanying the platform is a new, elevated visual brand design seen on Cutwater’s line of 20+ canned cocktails, made with real, award-winning spirits including Lime Margarita, Vodka Mule, Tiki Rum Mai Tai and Mango Margarita.
Invivoscribe Technologies receives accreditation
from College of American Pathologists
SAN DIEGO — Invivoscribe announced that its Shanghai lab in China has received accreditation from the College of American Pathologists (CAP), a professional organization that accredits clinical laboratories across the world. The CAP accreditation process is designed to ensure that laboratories meet or exceed the highest quality management system standards specific to patient testing. The process includes a thorough inspection of the laboratory’s facilities, equipment, personnel, and processes, as well as an evaluation of the laboratory’s performance and proficiency testing results.
Evofem Biosciences to explore strategic
alternatives to maximize shareholder value
SAN DIEGO — Evofem Biosciences Inc. announced that its board of directors has unanimously approved a comprehensive strategic process to explore and evaluate strategic alternatives to maximize shareholder value. Potential strategic alternatives to be explored or evaluated as part of this process may include, but are not limited to, a merger, reverse merger, other business combination, sales of assets, licensing or other strategic transactions involving the company. Evofem is the provider of Phexxi, the first and only FDA-approved hormone-free, woman-controlled contraceptive gel that women use on demand.
Alaska Airlines Flight Pass
subscription service turns one
SEATTLE — Alaska Airlines is the only U.S. major airline to offer a subscription plan that enables guests to earn miles and book flights in advance with no blackout dates. The airline is celebrating the plan’s one-year anniversary with a promotion for new subscribers and a look back at the program’s growth. New subscribers who register for Flight Pass by March 8 will be eligible for 20 percent off the first three months of their subscription. Flight Pass launched in February 2022 as the only flight subscription service in the country with nonstop flights throughout California and select cities in Nevada and Arizona.
FIDO Alliance announces
Authenticate 2023 conference
CARLSBAD — The FIDO Alliance announces the return of Authenticate, the the only industry conference dedicated to all aspects of user authentication – including a focus on FIDO-based sign-ins. Authenticate 2023, featuring signature sponsors Google, Microsoft, and Yubico, will be held Oct. 16-18, 2023 at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad. Visit our website for information on submitting a speaking proposal and becoming a sponsor. This is the fourth consecutive year that the FIDO Alliance is hosting the public conference.
Veda Tinda Scent launches new aromatherapy gift set
SAN DIEGO — Veda Tinda Scent, the fast-rising company specializing in aromatherapy solutions immersed in the joy of nature – announced the launch of an Aromatherapy Oil Gift Set. The gift set includes five 30ml bottles of naturally scented aromatherapy essential oils and a humidifier to use the oils with. The humidifier is lit with LEDs that gradually but consistently transition from color to color and provides a subtle visual component to the calming practice of aromatherapy. Veda Tinda Scent’s essential oils differ from the majority of the products in the market in that they are both natural and water soluble.
Sinopia awarded grant from National
Institute of Dental and Cranial Research
SAN DIEGO — Sinopia Biosciences Inc., a biotechnology company advancing novel therapeutics identified using its proprietary computational drug discovery platform, has been awarded a grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), a branch of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, to fund the continued evaluation of therapeutic candidates to treat oral mucositis. Mucositis is a debilitating side effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy that is characterized by inflammation and ulceration in mucosal tissue. Typically presented in cancer clinical care, mucositis occurs in about 40 percent of the patients treated with chemotherapy and increases to as high as 90 percent for head and neck cancer patients treated with both chemo- and radiotherapy.
