In another coup for San Diego’s wireless industry, Siemens' new Information and Communication Mobile Organization says that as part of a $500 million, two-year mobile communication push in the United States it will establish a 60,000-square-foot wireless technology competency center in San Diego. The new operation will house sales, marketing and R&D functions.

***

Carol Wallace, president and COO of the San Diego Convention Center, is one of four steering committee co-chairs for the new State Economic Network. The initiative is designed to link women business owners, corporate advocates, elected and appointed women leaders and working women statewide.

Joining Wallace on the steering committee are Eunice Azzani, chair of the San Francisco Chamber and partner in Korn Ferry International; Adrienne Hall, founder of the first woman-owned advertising agency in the country and a co-founder of the Committee of 200, the Women's International Forum and Women Inc.; Belva Davis from KRON-TV in San Francisco; and Minnie Lopez-Baffo, president of HOPE PAC. Honorary chairs are Gov. Gray Davis and First Lady Sharon Davis, Lois Hedgpeth, president of AT&T's Pacific and Western Consumer Marketing Division and Kathleen Brown, president of the Bank of America Private Bank West.

***

It’s the question San Diego mayoral candidates Ron Roberts and Dick Murphy say they really hate: How does it feel to know one of them will be the first male mayor of San Diego in 14 years? Murphy won’t comment at all. Roberts called it "a dumb question. I think this job is about ideas, not gender," he says, adding he gets along marvelously with the four females in his family. For the record: Only men served as mayor of San Diego until Maureen O'Connor was elected in June 1986. She filled the rest of the term left when her predecessor Roger Hedgecock resigned, and she was re-elected to a full four-year term in 1988. O'Connor was succeeded by Mayor Golding, who's finishing up her second four-year term.

***

As the president of the Gemological Institute of America, William E. Boyajian will be busy next month when his center in Carlsbad plays host to Jewelry Career Fair 2000, the West Coast's largest such event. Attendance is free. The 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. fair will include seminars on topics such as jewelry sales over the Internet to designer survival tactics. For more information, call (800) 421-7250.

***

For years, Mission Bay supporters have claimed the city was depositing in the general fund much more lease revenue from businesses in the 4,200-acre-park than it was putting back into repairs and upgrades. Now the county grand jury, in a report that is critical of many aspects of Mission Bay's operation, has weighed in, saying the park is making the city an $8 million profit each year. Pointing to a $168 million list of undone projects first identified in 1994, the jury recommends the city identify money to get those projects done. Bill Evans, a Mission Bay hotelier whose family pioneered Mission Bay development, wants a dedicated enterprise fund to which any new lease revenue dollars above today’s amount must be deposited. And he'd like the state Legislature to have the state Lands Commission, which has some jurisdiction over the tidelands, make sure that happens.

***

Looking to establish a big presence in San Diego following its reverse merger with Presley Homes is William Lyon Homes. The Crittenden Builders newsletter reports Lyon quickly has moved from nothing in the county to a division office, land and seven active communities.

***

Parkloft is the name The Douglas Wilson Cos. has chosen for its 390-unit residential loft project that will break ground this fall in Downtown’s East Village. The $130 million project is in the Ballpark District, between Eighth and Ninth avenues on both sides of Island Street.

***

Fresh interviews with Tom Carter, Martha Longenecker and Harvey White highlight "The Heart of San Diego" broadcasts for May. A complete schedule for the Fred Lewis hosted program appears on Page 7.

***

Don't look now, but in the top of One America Plaza, the portion that resembles a giant Phillips head screwdriver, sits the future of high-speed Internet: a hub network with 21 lines of sight dishes providing fixed wireless broadband services to San Diego companies. Operating those dishes from the third floor is the regional central office of Winstar Communications Inc. For now, fixed wireless is used primarily to connect buildings. The most obvious differences between a cellular network and a fixed wireless network are that fixed wireless antennas are highly directional, bolted to the rooftop, possess larger data capacities and do not support roaming. The antennas are smaller than a pizza dish; they do not require satellites.

"The San Diego marketplace is extremely attractive to anyone providing broadband services," says Dan Gutwein, g.m. of Winstar in San Diego. Definitely low-profile in San Diego, Winstar is a giant in the fixed wireless market with 23,300 customers worldwide and 1999 operating revenues of $445.6 million. Locally, Winstar customers include San Diego success story SimpleNet, a major provider of Internet connections.

***

The new $8 million Ryan Aeronautical Center is under construction in Rancho Bernardo. Commissioned by aerospace company Northrop Grumman, the complex — two buildings totaling 140,000 square feet with offices and research and development labs — is due for completion in August. The center is going up on two Goldentop Road properties, one owned by Trammel Crow Co., and the other by Reef Properties. Bycor General Contractors Inc. began work on the fast-track construction project in January, with the first phase ready for 400 employees to move in. CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant.

***

Richard Sulpizio, Qualcomm's president and COO, already holds a master's degree in systems management from USC. But because of Qualcomm's good deeds for the community, Sulpizio will soon earn another degree — an honorary associate of human arts degree from Palomar College. He’ll receive the honor at the college's commencement exercises May 19. The company is being recognized for donations of its products and talent through Qualcomm Cares, a corporate volunteer program.

Northwest Airlines inaugurates June 1 one-stop service between San Diego and Osaka and Tokyo in Japan. The plane change takes place in Los Angeles. Also June 1, Northwest starts nonstop service from San Diego to its hub in Memphis.

***

May is "USA National Tennis Month" and 28 San Diego tennis organizations are offering free beginning group tennis lessons May 6-28. The 90 minutes of instruction is for children and adults. For more information, call (877) 987-9464.

***

New board members at the San Diego Regional Technology Alliance are Tim Bubnack of Imperial Bank, Bill Fleck of Staubach, Alan Jacobs of Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, Paul Kreutz of Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich, John Osborne of Pacific Bell and Tom Sammon of America Online Products.

***

Newgen Results Corp., a company that provides customer management software and services to auto dealers, has signed a $52 million, 15-year lease with Kilroy Realty to build a 103,000-square foot corporate headquarters in the Sorrento Rim Business Park at the corner of Mira Mesa Boulevard and Genetic Center Drive. The three-story office building will bring Newgen's three operations (Newgen Results, Newgen Management Service and Carabunga.com) and more than 600 employees together, including 500 teleservice representatives, housed in a state of the art teleservice facility. Grading begins this month with occupancy slated for April 2001.

Key participants in the project are Kilroy Realty (builder/developer), Reno Construction (building contractor), TFW Construction/TI Division (tenant improvement contractor), Pacific Cornerstone Associates (architect for building and tenant improvements) and The Irving Hughes Group (leasing agent).

***

Erin Ellis is leaving the San Diego Venture Group to take the marketing director's position in the San Diego office of Cooley Godward. She replaces Mike Krenn, who left Cooley three months ago to join thegolfer.com. Ellis starts her new job May 15.

***

San Diego Dialogue presents the first in its 2000 series of Forum Fronterizo policy luncheons on May 31. Victor Miramontes, the managing director of the North American Development Bank, will discuss "Global Engagement/Local Development: Prospects for the San Diego/Baja California Region." The session takes place at the Westin Horton Plaza. Admission is $50. For more information, call (858) 534-8638 or log on to www.sddialogue.org.

***

Scared speechless? Did you know Toastmasters has more than 100 active clubs in San Diego? The Towne Center Toastmasters is welcoming San Diego Metropolitan readers to visit as its guest any Thursday this month from 11:45 a.m to 1 p.m. at MP3.com, 4790 Eastgate Mall. For details and to RSVP, call Rebecca Everett at (858) 270-1100 or send an e-mail to reverett@san.rr.com.

***

Here's the car rental bargain of the season — not only cheap, but easy on the environment. Budget EV Rental Cars, American Honda and San Diego Gas & Electric are offering a special promotion during the National Clean Cities Conference in San Diego May 7-10. The first 50 renters of the Honda Civic GX natural gas vehicle will pay a rate of $10 a day with unlimited mileage and free fuel. (Natural gas is about the half the price of regular gasoline.) "We are hopeful that promotions such as this increase the public's exposure to and acceptance of alternative fuel vehicles," says Jeff Pink, president of EV Rental. To reserve a natural gas vehicle during the San Diego conference, call EV Rentals at (877) 387-3682.

***

Construction has begun on the $82 million Novartis Institute for Functional Genomics. The project will total 350,000 square feet and include six buildings. Novartis is the world's second largest pharmaceutical company. Joining officials from Novartis at the event was Mayor Golding.

The 16-acre campus is being built by DPR Construction and designed by NBBJ. DPR's John Kavanagh says the development will be built swiftly and open for business in September 2001. With more than $1 billion in annual revenue, DPR is a leading construction company in the Silicon Valley and other tech corridors, building projects for companies like Apple and Intel. In San Diego, the Novartis research center is located at 10677 John J. Hopkins at the corner of Genesee and Torrey Pines.

***

Idun Pharmaceuticals Inc., a La Jolla-based research company, plans to move into new quarters under construction in the Nexus Technology Centre in the UTC area. Under the $14 million, 10-year lease, the company will move its corporate headquarters and research and development activities into the 43,000-square-foot building Dec. 1. Burnham Real Estate Services*ONCOR International represented the lessee, while CB Richard Ellis represented the lessor.

***

When John C. Reed of the Burnham Institute has something to say, his colleagues listen. That's the judgment of the Institute for Scientific Information, which, for the second year in a row, named Reed as the most highly cited researcher in the world. Reed's "hot research" involves an investigation of the refusal of cancer cells to die when they're supposed to. The research, done by Reed and his Burnham staff, is used in the design of new cancer drugs that trigger a normal cell death response. ISI's index of high impact research papers for 1998-99 was published in the March/April edition of ScienceWatch.

***

Set to end this month is a nine-week fund-raising campaign waged by local business people and community leaders in support of the Leukemia Society of America San Diego/Hawaii Chapter. The goal is to raise more than $100,000 in this region as part of a national campaign to collect $1 million. The grand finale celebration set for June 1 will feature the society's Man and Woman of the Year 2000. For more information, call Judy Cleborn at (858) 277-1800, Ext. 218.

***

Starving Students of San Diego, owned by the dynamic Abby Margalith, has changed its name to PeopleMovers Moving & Storage. The company has linked up with Mayflower Van Lines, although the local ownership and management will remain unchanged.

***

San Diego is one of 14 cities chosen to test a PC game rental program developed by Blockbuster and NetActive. The program allows members to rent a PC game for five evenings for $5.99. A five-day extension costs $3.99, which can be paid online with a credit card or with special "e-tickets" purchased at Blockbuster. About 20 games — among them "Slave Zero" and "Tomb Raider III" — will be available.

Manpower Temporary Services of San Diego has launched a new satellite operation at the Neighborhood House Association, 841 S. 41st St. with the goal of developing job opportunities for unemployed and low-income people. More than 1,500 participants are expected to use the new Manpower office during its first year of operation. Says Manpower's Mel Katz, "A satellite office staffed by Manpower stimulates employment in a diverse and vital area of San Diego and fortifies the incredible youth and adult programs already in place at Neighborhood House."

***

The Building Industry Association is challenging its members to come up with the kind of imaginative playhouse a child would love to own. Local home builders — among them Barratt American, Pacific Bay Homes LLC, Rilington Communities, Shea Homes and Standard Pacific Homes — will design and build life-sized, themed playhouses. They will be displayed Sept. 14 through Oct. 21 at Fashion Valley, and more than 2 million people are expected to view them. They will be auctioned to the highest bidders Oct. 21. The proceeds will go to BIA Cares for Kids, which participates in building-related projects to benefit San Diego youths, and Voices for Children, which helps children in foster care.

***

Dick Lyles, president and COO of San Diego-based Ken Blanchard Cos., has authored a new business novel, "Winning Ways: Four Secrets for Getting Great Results by Working Well with People." Published by G.P. Putnam's & Sons Publishers, the book focuses on the fictional escapades of Albert, who learns how to work well with people with help from a mentor.

Conover, a design studio in Little Italy, has completed comprehensive color scheme for the exterior of Bridgeworks, a mixed-use development with a hotel and retail space in the Gaslamp Quarter. Cecelia Conover coordinated the color of the building exterior and worked with developers on the brick work adorning the façade.

***

Working at home? Golden Eagle Insurance Corp. warns that your standard homeowner's policy doesn’t cover home business losses. But Golden Eagle has begun offering an expansion of coverage for home business activities. "With increased growth in entrepreneurial operations and other start-up businesses being launched and run out of the home, there is a definite need for an insurance product to protect the business owner from loss," says Kirk Krikorian, v.p. of personal lines at Golden Eagle.

***

San Diego-based public relations giant Stoorza, Ziegaus & Metzger has won a contract with Gateway to lead a national grassroots public relations campaign for the computer company. Stoorza calls the program the "Gateway Country Connection." Stoorza will put its marketing strategies into effect through a national network of "boutique P.R. shops." Gail Stoorza-Gill, chairman of Stoorza, says her company is "extremely excited about being selected as their public relations partner and for the opportunity to work with their world-class public relations managers."

Contois Design Studio has moved. to Suite 202 at 3911 Fifth Ave.

***

Universal Preservation Technologies has won an $844,000 research and development grant from the U.S. Office of Naval Research to improve the preservation of platelets, so that troops could transport them to remote locations and use them to control bleeding locations in the field. The company will conduct its research using its patented Vitrilife process for the preservation of industrial scale biological suspensions, including proteins, enzymes, viruses, bacteria and cells, at or above room temperature. Victor Bronshtein, the chief scientific officer at the San Diego company, says UPT is trying to develop commercial technologies for mammalian cell preservation.

***

Del Mar-based Excel Real Estate Services will list a home anywhere in the county for a flat fee of $2,950, regardless of the selling price. On a $400,000 home, Excel says the seller would save $9,050, although sellers would still have to pay the 3 percent sales commission, amounting to $12,000.

***

Cancer Survivorship: San Diego!, an umbrella group for more than 25 local cancer support and service organizations, will hold its annual Celebration of Life event in Balboa Park Sept. 10. Between 1,500 and 2,000 people are expected to attend. Dottie Packer, sponsorship coordinator for the cancer survivorship program, says the organization is looking for local corporate sponsors for both the Balboa Park event and the Salute to Oncology Physicians' reception immediately preceding it. The group is seeking donations of money and service. For more information, call (760) 598-8289.

***

First Security Van Kasper Inc., a private brokerage and investment banking firm, will move into a newly built Class A office building in the Golden Triangle in June. Work on the two story 25,000-square-foot building on the corner of Executive Way and Executive Drive is nearing completion. CB Richard Ellis, which represented building owner Ronnie Greenberg, says first Security Van Kasper will occupy the entire building and has signed a 10-year prelease agreement valued at $7.7 million. Burnham Real Estate Services represented the tenant in the transaction.

***

Carrier Johnson has finished its design for the Renaissance, a $75 million twin-tower development Downtown on First Avenue between G and Market streets. The Reliance Development Group project will have 218 housing units, 12,000 square feet of retail and restaurant use and 450 parking spaces. The development will anchor a new residential community that features a garden promenade linking the waterfront with Horton Plaza.

***

A joint venture of PinnacleOne and douglas e. barnhart will do the program management planning for the $125 million Proposition G bond issue enabling the Oceanside Unified School District to build new schools and modernize each of its campuses. Under its contract with the district, the joint venture will develop an implementation plan for the bond program's capital improvements. PinnacleOne and Barnhart, both headquartered in San Diego, specialize in school construction programs. PinnacleOne has helped school districts manage bond programs totaling $2.5 billion, including the San Diego Unified School District's $1.5 billion capital improvement program The Engineering News Record ranked Barnhart as the 13th largest educational builder in the country.

***

Fashion designer Bob Mackie takes his Fall 2000 collection down the runway at a benefit fashion show hosted by Saks Fifth Avenue La Jolla. Proceeds from the event, scheduled May 6 at 7:30 p.m., will go to the Jacobs Family Campus of the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Centers. For more information, call Cheryl Goldstein at (858) 457-3030 ext. 1179.

***

Construction could begin as early as September on another big development in Little Italy, this one with lots of market rate rental housing. Camden Development cleared a major hurdle last month when the Centre City Development Corp. board approved schematic drawings for its proposal. Because the proposal involves no public subsidy, it does not have to go before the San Diego City Council. With a façade of varying heights and colors to keep it in scale with its surroundings, the complex will have 163 apartments and 8,000 square feet of commercial lease space. It will go up on Kettner Boulevard between Cedar and Date streets. The site is currently owned and used by Avis Rent-A-Car, which will maintain a small presence in the future project. Avis will lease 80 parking spaces for rental car storage. The apartments will range from 585 square feet to 1,400 square feet, with initial rents estimated at $1.75 per square foot, according to CCDC officials. Completion is due in the second quarter of 2002.

***

Downtown graphic design man Ted Hansen has been tabbed by Graphic Design:usa as a creative director to be watched in 2000. Hansen is CEO of his 28-year-old marketing firm on Third Avenue.

***

Former City Hall staffers Julie Gelfat and Alexandra Hart have teamed to form JA Consultants. Their firm trains individuals, small businesses, community groups, and nonprofits how to level the playing field by demystifying the maze of local, state, and federal government. Gelfat and Hart combine their 15 years of experience working for elected officials (former Councilmember John Hartley/Mayor Maureen O'Connor) and nonprofit organizations as government liaisons to train clients to access, interact, and work effectively with their elected officials and government.

***

If there were recognition for tenacity despite harsh commercial geography, due notice ought to be given Life Uniform & Shoe Shops. Operating in the commercial siberia of Fashion Valley's northwest corner, where long months of construction have liquidated every other business and remaining store spaces are occupied by mall maintenance, Life Uniform has been open for business seven days a week. Hasn't it been tough?

"You don’t even know," says store manager Bonnie Smith. "I'd say Fashion Valley hates me. With all the construction and the big trucks, customers can’t get in. We’re the only one out here. The nearest store is Firestone. We stayed open because we couldn’t afford to close."

***

The Greater San Diego Business Association, San Diego’s gay, lesbian and supportive chamber of commerce, will sign a memorandum of understanding May 10 with the U.S. Small Business Association granting GSDBA members preferential access to SBA programs.

***

In its third year and having drawn more than 3,500 participants last year, the Liberty Run/Walk is set for June 11. Starting in the Gaslamp Quarter, the event is one of the few in San Diego that takes runners over the Coronado Bridge. Funds raised benefit eight domestic violence shelters. For information, call (858) 272-5777.

***

Annie Revel, president of Revel Productions, is laying claim to being the first Certified Special Events Professional in San Diego. The honor came from the International Special Events Society. Revel is one of four in California and 87 in the world. She's a 15-year veteran of the industry.

***

Ground will be broken May 12 on the new Central Animal shelter. Ninteman Construction will build the $7 million project. Meanwhile, Chula Vista has just broken ground on its own $3.1 million shelter.

***

Busy Bilbro Construction Co. has recently completed five tenant improvement projects in Symphony Towers. Operating out of finer digs these days are Gilbert Kelly Crowley & Jennett, Great American Insurance, Shenas & Shenas, Fleishman & Hilliard and Mutual of America. Doug Mellinger project managed the works.

***

The eye repair business is clearly good these days. Lasik Vision USA Inc. has signed a 10-year lease for 12,703 square feet of office space in Sorrento Valley's Pacific Tower. A surgery center is coming. Representing the building owner, Pacific Sorrento Mesa Holdings, were Jay Arnett and Lynn LaChapelle of Burnham Real Estate Services. Bill Bacon and Michael Jordon represented Lasik.

***

Owner Benny Chan officially opened Buddha Bar Asia Bistro on April 16 in the company of about 250 invited guests. Located on the ground floor of Downtown’s Emerald Plaza high-rise, the Buddha Bar serves Pacific Asian cuisine in a casual atmosphere. Diners are greeted by a smiling hostess and a 7-foot Buddha, hand-carved from a single piece of Indian mahogany. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday, Saturday for dinner only and closed Sunday. Phone (619) 234-8338.

***

The YMCA wants you to know that the Downtown YMCA does not operate that hotel that sits atop the YMCA at 500 West Broadway. Since the early '90s the hotel has been operated by Barone Galasso and Associates and is known in name only as "The Inn at the YMCA." Got it?