Daily Business Report: Tuesday, May 9, 2023
Business Expansion
City Tacos to open 10,000-square-foot
OB Playground concept in Ocean Beach
City Tacos is scheduled to open a 10,000-square-foot concept called OB Playground in Ocean Beach in July. It will be the seventh San Diego County location for the Mexican eatery, which was founded in 2014 in North Park. Founder Gerry Torres made the announcement.
The family-friendly OB Playground at 4896 Voltaire St. (at corner of Cable Street) will also house a to-be-determined coffee shop and flower shop. The courtyard area will have picnic-table seating, lounge seating around fire pits, and bar stool seating. A canopy will provide shade to a portion of the space.
OB Playground will include a gated dog park with tables lining the fence so guests can eat while watching their pets. Giant-sized games like checkers, chess, Connect 4, and Jenga will be on property, as well as cornhole sets, bocci ball, and foosball tables. Acoustic guitar players and other musicians will perform regularly
“It has been a dream of mine for quite some time to create an all-ages community hub like this for one of the vibrant areas of our city – a place where people can play, enjoy, and relax,” said Torres, who was born and raised in Mexico City and moved to San Diego in 1992. “I love the OB community and I can’t wait to hang out and eat tacos with everyone. Extending my footprint into OB really is a testament to the great people of San Diego. Their passion for City Tacos means more City Tacos.”
City Tacos last September surpassed three million tacos sold in San Diego County. May 5 marked the establishment’s ninth anniversary. Torres became a United States citizen last June in a ceremony held at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in downtown.
Photos courtesy of City Tacos
California’s next housing crackdown could
force cities to plan more homeless shelters
By Marisa Kendall | CalMatters
All over California, cities are falling short when it comes to providing enough shelter for their homeless communities.
Unshetered homelessness in downtown San Diego and areas just outside of it hit a new record last month, according to the latest Downtown San Diego Partnership census. The business group counted 1,958 unhoused people on April 27 — up from the same month last year.
More than 69,000 homeless residents live in Los Angeles County, which has just over 21,000 beds in shelters and temporary housing programs. It’s a similar story in Sacramento County, which counted nearly 9,300 unhoused residents in its last census, but has just over 3,000 shelter and temporary housing beds.
Those massive gaps – which ensure thousands of people remain homeless – are visible in cities throughout California. But despite constant reassurances from Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers that getting people off the street is a top priority, there’s no state requirement for cities and counties to make sure they have enough shelters or housing for homeless residents.
A bill working its way through the Legislature could change that, and potentially lead to sanctions against local governments that fail to plan for the needs of homeless Californians.
Senate Bill 7 would — for the first time — require cities and counties to plan enough beds for everyone living without a place to call home. It would go beyond just temporary shelter, also including permanent housing placements. Its author, Sen. Catherine Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas, called it a “transformational idea” that count help move the needle on homelessness where other attempt hav failed.
Feeding San Diego awarded $100,000
to support school and mobile pantry programs
Feeding San Diego, the county’s leading hunger-relief and food rescue organization, has been awarded a $100,000 grant from The Vertex Foundation. The funds will support the non-profit’s school pantry and mobile pantry programs, helping to break the cycle of food insecurity for youth, families, and seniors in San Diego County by providing nutritious meals at no cost.
The grant supports the longstanding school pantry program, which is Feeding San Diego’s largest hunger-relief program for children. The program alleviates childhood hunger by providing nutritious food to children, youth, and their families at no cost onsite at local schools.
Texas Media Group Nexstar adds KUSI
to San Diego holdings for $35 million
By Chris Jennewein | Times of San Diego
Texas-based Nexstar Media Group, which already owns FOX 5 in San Diego, announced Monday it will acquire KUSI-TV from McKinnon Broadcasting for $35 million. “KUSI-TV’s established local news operations serving viewers and advertisers across the San Diego community is a perfect fit with our station group and existing San Diego operations at KSWB-TV,” said Tom Carter, Nexstar’s president and chief operating officer.
The independent television station, which debuted in 1982, broadcasts more than nine hours of local news each weekday.
A $22 million donation will establish a
mission control center to manage emerging AI
With artificial intelligence rapidly changing health care, UC San Diego Health is planning to treat the situation with a level of attention usually reserved for rocket launches and wildfires. A $22 million donation from philanthropists Joan and Irwin Jacobs will help pay for a mission control center inside its main La Jolla medical center to consolidate the ever-growing streams of digital information that are increasingly providing actionable information at the bedside.
Genome Insight launches CancerVision and
opens corporate headquarters in San Diego
Genome Insight, a precision medicine and genomics company, has launched CancerVision, its innovative whole genome sequencing (WGS) test designed to provide accurate, timely and medically meaningful insights that collectively guide personalized health care decisions. The company also announced the opening of its corporate headquarters in San Diego.
CancerVision combines state-of-the-art proprietary bioinformatics and computational sequencing of individual patient cancer samples to determine whole genome mutational profiles which are then analyzed and curated for physicians in an easy-to-use format that captures and prioritizes the most relevant and actionable insights, enabling timely decision-making.
Women in Defense (WID) schedules
one-day annual symposium on May 22
WID (Women in Defense) San Diego, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing and empowering women working in the defense industry, will hold its one-day annual symposium on May 22 at The Dana on Mission Bay. This is the first symposium since the pandemic began, and the organization plans to bring together defense industry leaders and supporters to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of women who have become leaders and role models in this field.
Symposium Theme
The theme is “Breaking Boundaries: Celebrating Legacy, Shaping the Future,” and includes a lineup of keynote speakers and panels that will explore various topics related to the defense industry and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
Keynote Speakers
Keynote speakers include Tami North, Senior Executive Service (SES), Director of Information Warfare Readiness (DIWR) for U.S. Navy, Naval Information Forces (NAVIFOR); and Kim Clark, a DEI communication speaker and consultant and Amazon #1 selling co-author.
Panels
There will be three different panels discussing topics like Career Pathways, the Role of Industry in Defense Mission, and Fulfilling a Critical Mission, featuring prominent industry leaders, from commanding officers, retired veterans and industry trailblazers.
Registration/Tickets
The symposium opens at 7:30 am and concludes at 5:30 pm. Breakfast, lunch and happy hour is included with ticket purchases. Registration is open through May 18, and attendees are encouraged to purchase tickets before the event sells out. For more information and to register for the event, visit https://2023_WID_Symposium.eventbrite.com.
WID San Diego President
“We are thrilled to bring back our annual symposium and provide a platform for women in the defense industry to share their experiences and expertise,” said Melany Fryer, president of WID San Diego. “We have an impressive group of speakers and panelists who will inspire and empower our attendees.”
Franklin Jackson joins CyberCatch Holdings
SAN DIEGO — Franklin Jackson has joined CyberCatch Holdings Inc. as vice president, chief information officer and head of global security advisory services. Jackson has over 20 years in leadership positions in IT and cybersecurity and joins CyberCatch from ePlus a global IT and cybersecurity solutions provider, where he served as the director and head of global cybersecurity advisory services and in increasingly growing leadership positions for four years.
The Delphinium Foundation donates
$425,000 to Father Joe’s Villages
SAN DIEGO — The Delphinium Foundation, a San Diego-based philanthropic organization, along with Mark Schmidt and Randy Williams, real estate developers and philanthropists, announce $425,000 of cumulative donations to Father Joe’s Villages in the past four years. The majority of the $425,000 donations were part of the capital campaign for the building of Saint Teresa of Calcutta Villa, an affordable housing community by Father Joe’s Villages.
Barbachano International jumps to #12 in
Forbes Magazine’s list of Best Recruiting Firms
SAN DIEGO — Barbachano International, an executive search and leadership advisory firm in the Americas focusing on diversity and multicultural target markets, has been ranked #12 on Forbes Magazine’s 2023 America’s Best Executive Search Firms list. For seven consecutive years, BIP has been recognized by Forbes as America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms and this year jumped from #26 to #12. For the first time, BIP was also named in a new category to Forbes’ list of American’s Best Professional Recruiting Firms, ranking # 19.
Managed Lab Services acquired by
Flagship Facility Services of Texas
SAN DIEGO — Managed Lab Services (MLS), a leading lab services company headquartered in San Diego, has been acquired by Flagship Facility Services of Southlake, Texas. MLS delivers cutting-edge laboratory support solutions to keep labs operating optimally. The company’s primary services include vendor-managed inventory, lab support, project management, and IT operations. MLS deploys a combination of highly trained people, documented processes, and transparent data to ensure that labs are always science ready.
Mirati Therapeutics and Sarah Cannon
Research Institute announce partnership
SAN DIEGO — Mirati Therapeutics Inc., a commercial stage biotechnology company, and
Sarah Cannon Research Institute, one of the world’s leading oncology research organizations conducting community-based clinical trials, announced a strategic partnership aimed at increasing diversity in clinical study recruitment practices. As part of this partnership, Mirati and SCRI will implement practices and programs focused on removing obstacles to clinical study participation, including expanding physician and patient education and increasing access to community-based clinical trials.
