Daily Business Report: Tuesday, March 28, 2023
How to find out if your boss is complying
with California’s new pay transparency law
by Grace Gedye | CalMatters
A new California law that requires many businesses to add pay ranges to job descriptions has raised a lot of questions among both employers and employees.
The law has had an immediate impact: In early December, 41 percent of daily active job listings on Glassdoor in California had pay ranges provided by the employer, according to analysis from the company’s lead economist. By the end of December, it was up to 54 percent. By Jan. 8, when the law had been in effect for just over a week, it had climbed to 61percent.
On top of the new rule about pay in job postings, the law also allowed employees to ask for the salary range for their current job, and has some new requirements around how companies keep pay records and report pay information to the state.
But just because a law has taken effect doesn’t mean everyone understands how it’s supposed to work, or who it applies to.
The hotline that the California Chamber of Commerce runs for its members has been getting at least one call per day, on average, about this new law — many more than they get about any other individual law, said Ashley Hoffman, a policy advocate. Based on the number of questions the chamber got, it decided to do an event for members focused on the new pay transparency law. The event had over 2,000 registrants, Hoffman estimates, one and a half to two times the usual amount.
Illustration by Can Stock Photo
UC San Diego launches a stellar Ph.D. program in astronomy
By Michelle Franklin
Years in the making, the University of California San Diego has announced a new graduate program in astronomy and welcomed its first full cohort of students last fall. The program provides students the opportunity to participate in cutting-edge astronomical and astrophysical research with access to a range of national and international observatories and facilities.
Until now, UC San Diego graduate students interested in astronomy enrolled in a physics doctoral program with an astronomy specialization. This meant they were required to take mostly physics-based classes with only room for a few courses related to astronomy or astrophysics. The new astronomy Ph.D. program provides a rich set of courses dedicated to astrophysical research training. Now, with a standalone graduate program, the equation is flipped: students take a majority of astronomy courses, supplemented with a few classic physics classes.
Northrop Grumman demonstrates platform
agnostic in-flight connectivity for U.S. Air Force
SAN DIEGO — Northrop Grumman Corporation successfully demonstrated the technical capability to connect a full aircraft ecosystem. The company showcased its Software Programmable Open Mission Systems Compliant (SPOC) multifunction processor in a flight test for the U.S. Air Force, highlighting the ability to integrate existing and future platforms using advanced data links.
Advancing technology in solutions like SPOC provide the Air Force with a low size, weight and power radio that is scalable, upgradable and flexible to fit in any platform. The SPOC design also provides an integration environment for next generation communications that can reduce cost, risk and time to deploy.
Flown on Northrop Grumman’s flying test bed at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, SPOC connected with a ground station in a live, over-the-air test using advanced waveforms
Court reporters reach new benefits,
incentives agreement with Superior Court
The San Diego Superior Court and a local labor union have reached an agreement to provide court reporters a new incentives package, including retention and recruitment bonuses — a move some say could help alleviate an ongoing court reporter shortage.
Court executive officers say the new incentives — made possible by two budget appropriations bills signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021 and 2022 respectively — will help San Diego’s juvenile and criminal courts fill 19 vacant court reporter positions.
An additional 29 court reporters — the employees who create verbatim records of the dialogue in legal proceedings — will need to be hired to cover family law cases, officials said. In November 2021, the court eliminated court reporters in family law cases in order to move staff over to assignments in mandated criminal felony and juvenile proceedings.
USD’s Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering
celebrates its 10th anniversary
The Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering at the University of San Diego (USD) is commemorating its 10th anniversary this year. To celebrate, the school is hosting a party for the USD community on March 28 from 12 p.m. – 2 p.m.
Darlene Marcos Shiley, whose gift helped to launch the engineering school, USD President James T. Harris III and Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering founding Dean Chell Roberts will be a part of the celebration and cake cutting ceremony. At the event, students can test drive a drone, check out the school’s robots and see their 3D printers in action.
Suffolk selects Downtown San Diego
as home for its newest SoCal office
SAN DIEGO — Real estate and construction company Suffolk has selected Downtown San Diego as the home of its newest office in Southern California. Suffolk opted to move from a suburban setting to a location with more potential for collaboration, innovation and inspiration in the heart of the city, and its employees look forward to their return to the office. Zach Hammond, General Manager of Suffolk San Diego, has close ties to the downtown area as an appointed member of the 2023 San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
Illumina launches new software
SAN DIEGO — Illumina Inc., a global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, announced the release of Connected Insights, a new cloud-based software enabling tertiary analysis for clinical next-generation sequencing (NGS) data. Expanding on Illumina’s Connected Software portfolio, Connected Insights is designed to streamline interpretation and reporting from a range of assay types, enabling labs to scale use of NGS and reduce turnaround time of clinical reporting via integration of third-party knowledge bases.
National University receives 2023
Military Friendly God designation
SAN DIEGO — National University, the veteran-founded nonprofit university serving 40,000 working adult learners, educators, and members of the military community, has been designated a top 10 percent Military Friendly School for the year 2023 by Military Friendly.
The Military Friendly award values, analyzes, and ranks the highest quality of services and commitment to veterans and active-duty service members provided by educational institutions. National University delivers exceptional services through its military benefits center and consistently exceeds the standard meriting the gold rank designation.
3 San Diego county construction companies
rated among the best by contractors group
SAN DIEGO — San Diego’s BNBuilders, Santee’s TC Construction Company, and San Diego’s Helix Electric were recognized for having some of the best construction safety and health programs in 2022 by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). The association, which oversees the AGC-WTW Construction Safety Excellence Awards, an annual ranking of construction safety and health programs, noted that 45 other companies were also selected as winners for their commitment to safety and occupational health management and risk control.
Endeavor Bank opens new office in La Mesa
SAN DIEGO — Endeavor Bancorp, the holding company for Endeavor Bank, has opened a new branch at 9400 Grossmont Summit Drive in La Mesa. A grand opening will be held on Wednesday, April 12, from 5 to 8 p.m. The new office will be run by Senior Vice President Odie Goward, who will oversee a team to develop business in East County. Goward brings more than 20 years of experience in the banking industry as well as deep involvement in the East County community. RSVP here: https://bit.ly/3mXIkco
AGS touts ‘must see’ products at
Indian Gaming Association trade show
SAN DIEGO —AGS, a global gaming supplier of high-performing slot, table, and interactive products, announced its must-see products at the Indian Gaming Association Trade Show and Convention in San Diego from March 29 – 30, 2023. AGS will exhibit its latest slot games and cutting-edge table technology that touts its broad portfolio and diverse market offerings–a direct result of its recent game studio expansion.
PrecisePK expands its global standing
SAN DIEGO — PrecisePK reports its technology is being implemented in many of South Korea’s largest health systems. PrecisePK had secured a three-year contract with some of these hospital systems — Chung-Ang University Healthcare System, Korean University System, Asan Medical Center, and Kyung Hee University, including sites at Gwangmyeong Hospital, Seoul Hospital, Guro Hospital, and Ansan Hospital. PrecisePK offers drug models for more than 20 medications.
Smart irrigation pioneer Calsense
expands its leadership team
CARLSBAD — Smart irrigation industry leader Calsense has made two key appointments to
its leadership team, with Dave Manzer joining as director of customer experience and Larry Heminger becoming Calsense’s new chief product anf technology officer. Manzer will take responsibility for developing a scalable, centralized service and support organization that will support Calsense’s planned strategic initiatives and growth over the coming years. Heminger joins Calsense from a CTO position at Automated Retail Technologies.
Public Safety Innovation Summit
se for June 28-30 in Downtown San Diego
SAN DIEGO— The First Responder Network Authority and the National Institute of Standards and Technology announced that registration is open for 5×5: The Public Safety Innovation Summit, to be held June 28-30 at The Westin San Diego Gaslamp Quarter, 910 Broadway Circle, in Downtown San Diego. Registration is now open for the event and can be found at: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/events/2023/06/5×5-public-safety-innovation-summit.
Airport Authority seeks candidates
for Audit Committee vacancy
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority is seeking candidates to fill a vacancy on the Audit Committee. Candidates must meet at least one of the following qualifications:
•An architect or civil engineer licensed to practice in the State of California.
•A professional with experience in the field of real estate or land economics.
•A person with public or private sector executive level decision making experience.
•A person with experience in managing construction of large-scale public works projects.
•A person who resides within the airport influences area of the San Diego International Airport.
•A person with experience in environmental justice as it pertains to land use.
The application deadline is Friday, March 31, 2023, by 5 p.m. Interested candidates can contact Board Services/Authority Clerk at (619) 400-2550 or clerk@san.org.
