San Diego Metropolitan - San Diego Scene

After 10 years as SAIC’s CFO, William Roper is shifting to SAIC Venture Capital Corp., where as chair and an SAIC executive v.p. he will focus his efforts on venture investing, mergers and acquisition, and commercializing technology. Replacing Roper as CFO is Thomas Darcy, a former partner with Pricewaterhouse Coopers. During his 27 years with several top accounts — Disney, Compaq and Qualcomm among them — Darcy ran the San Diego office. He handled the SAIC account from 1987 to 1994. Darcy lives in Del Mar and is very active in the professional and educational communities, including UCSD Connect, San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., College of Business Administration at SDSU and the Foundation for Enterprise Development.

University of California Press has retained Max Donner, San Diego Metropolitan’s contributing editor, to write its first book on e-business, “California.com.” Planned for use in management education as well as California studies, the text chronicles the origins of multimedia and electronic business in California and projects its future course of growth. Donner also is the author of Capital Wirtschaftmagazin’s Silicon Valley Report, the most widely circulated column on California’s technology companies in Europe. Donner’s piece on business plans that venture capitalists will fund is on Page 34.

Having percolated its business model at City College’s Center for Applied Competitive Technologies, StreamLoad.com has landed a $250,000 loan from the EmTek Loan Fund. The Downtown company allows Web users to store, stream, share or sell digital media files on an Internet-based exchange market. “EmTek’s loan will enable us to accommodate the heavy traffic that we are now experiencing and to fully validate our business model prior to seeking venture capital,” says Steve Iverson, 24, president of StreamLoad.com. Since its July launch, StreamLoad.com has attracted more than 110,000 registered users and is providing storage and access to more than 25 terabytes of data.

Run by the city of San Diego’s Economic Development and Community Services department, the EmTek Fund is a public revolving loan that participates with private equity investors to provide capital for promising San Diego County entrepreneurs. The fund has about $2.5 million and as of Sept. 30 was 100 percent current and performing. For more information, call Mark Sullivan, business finance manager, at (619) 236-6235.

One of Downtown’s venerable businesses, Jerome’s Furniture, has closed retail operations at 14th and E streets. But Jerome’s is staying — on lots over six blocks the family owns Downtown, says Jerome Navarra. “The warehousing absorbed the retail. We’re using all the space for a bulk distribution center. It will remain a distribution center for an unlimited time,” he says. The business opened as Strep’s Furniture Ware-house in 1954 and was eventually bought by Navarra’s father, Jim, from whom Jerome took over in 1974. Service functions also will continue Downtown, but the new San Diego location for Jerome’s is the former Levitz outlet on West Morena Boulevard. “Levitz left and the opportunity came up. The building was available,” he says. “It’s a much better location. It has unlimited parking, it’s a superstore, and it puts us closer to Highway 5, where we needed to be.”

San Diego is the third least-affordable place for technology employees to live, reports techies.com, a national network of online career resources for more than 600,000 technology professionals. The techies.com Affordability Index factors tech salaries against the Cost of Living Index in an effort to measure the value of technology salaries in real dollars in 26 technology markets. The most affordable cities are, in order, Austin, Dallas and Houston. The Twin Cities and Atlanta round out the top five. Ranking last on the list are those two wastelands of business and technology opportunity, Silicon Valley and New York City.

The Metropolitan’s Daily Business Report, broadcast for the last four or so years on X-BACH and K-JAZZ, moves immediately to morning and afternoon drive times on KCEO-AM 1000, KFSD-FM 92.1 and KSPA-AM 1450, giving it a combined weekly audience of 160,000 listeners, says Sandra Jennings, v.p. of Astor Broadcast Group. Gary Shaw writes and broadcasts the strictly local business news reports. KFSD, with a classical music format, recently became the “official station” of the California Center for the Performing Arts, Escondido, and Ian Campbell’s San Diego Opera show makes the switch to KFSD in December. Broadcasting out of Carlsbad since 1989, KCEO is San Diego County’s first and only financial news/talk station. (KSDO flirted with and abandoned the format.) KSPA is for the Frank Sinatra crowd. KFSD also broadcasts on the Cox Music Channel 107.1 and Time Warner Music Channel 40. The Daily Business Report also is carried at sandiegometro.com.

Sally Huss, Bill Geppert, Sandy Purdon and Ed Haimsohn will be interviewed by Fred Lewis in prime time on ITV this month. The full “Heart of San Diego” schedule is on Page 43.

Rick Sanborn says the management buyout of Palomar Community Bank in Escondido from Community West Bancshares of Santa Barbara is still on track toward a definitive agreement by the end of November, “probably sooner.” He’s looking at the end of the first quarter to complete the spin-off.

Quick, before it’s too late, somebody report that the versatile Maryanne Pintar has been named chief of staff to Mayor Golding, not merely the “acting” chief. She became the acting chief when Karen Scarborough was injured in an auto accident. Scarborough, who also will maintain the chief title, is “slowly wading back into service,” says Pintar, Golding’s former press secretary. “She’s still on the mend, uncertain when or if she’ll return fulltime. But we’re tapping into her enormous brainpower via phone and e-mail everyday.”

The 500-space Downtown parking garage at Market and Sixth Avenue should be finished next month. Meanwhile, construction on a 980-space structure at Seventh Avenue and Island Street is expected to start in July. Finally, the Centre City Development Corp. is processing plans for a 1,361-space garage that would be built on the block bounded by K and L streets and Sixth and Seventh avenues. The project would include 10,000 square feet of retail, 40 loft apartments and a 238-room hotel.

Outdoor ice skating at the foot of Horton Plaza begins Nov. 17. It’s the fourth season of skating at the 60-by-100-foot Horton Square rink. The operation is owned by Sentre Partners and managed by San Diego Ice Arena. During this year’s season, NBC 7/39 San Diego, which is moving to the adjacent office building, joins in the fun by providing a 25-foot fully lit and decorated tree. Admission is $6, plus $2 to rent skates. For more information, call (858) 530-1825.

ChristmasTree.com, a start-up e-biz in San Diego, wants you to buy your holiday tree or wreath online this year, rather than heading to a tree lot. “People are tired of spending two hours fighting holiday traffic, choosing from a small selection of 2 to 3-week-old dead trees, strapping one to their car, and leaving a trail of dead needles as they drag it through their living room,” asserts George Adair, the company’s co-founder. The National Christmas Tree Assn. reports that only 35 percent of households had a real Christmas tree during last year’s holiday season. Of the 3 million trees sold, 1 percent was via Net transactions. So Adair sees room for growth. Prices range from $39.95 to $69.95 for a 6-foot Noble Fir, a popular variety the company expects will be a sell-out. Add $24.95 for shipping.

With her 31 years of survey experience, Roseanne Luth has helped co-found SurveySavvy, a new Internet division of Downtown-based Luth Research. Members of surveysavvy.com receive $3 for each survey they complete, $2 for surveys completed by their first tier of referrals and $1 for those completed by their second tier referrals (friend of friends). Members also have the option of donating some or all of their cash to a charity of their choice.

Fred Sainz, who for the last two years has run the communications and community relations programs at the San Diego Convention Center, joins the Waitt Family Foundation this month. The La Jolla foundation was created by Ted Waitt, founder and chair of Gateway.

Barney & Barney has teamed with the Greater San Diego Employers Assn. to provide an online human resources program called CyberHR-2000. The program is designed to condense HR, employee benefits, insurance and payroll functions into a single package accessible through the Internet at www.cyberhr-2000.com.

Solatube International Inc., the Vista-based master of bringing natural lighting into nearly any home, has launched a commercial division. The company says its SolaMaster Series is the first line of tubular skylights designed specifically for commercial buildings. Neall Digbert, an expert in daylighting, heads the new division.

Expected to energize the Downtown office market is the news that Catellus Development Corp. is moving forward with a 27 story, 450,000 square foot, $135 million office tower on Broadway where the old golf range once stood. “We are frankly thrilled about Catellus, because it will only generate a lot more interest in Downtown as a business district,” says Brad Perry, the Burnham marketing and leasing v.p. who is handling Ballpark District’s commercial projects. Agreeing is Dennis Cruzan, managing partner for JMI Realty, the company leading the development of East Village. “There hasn’t been anything new built Downtown in 10 years,” Cruzan notes. “Any interest, investment or commitment people make to the Downtown market is great. It bodes well for everyone.”

If preleasing objectives are met, Catellus’ One Santa Fe Place will break ground in early 2002 and be ready two years later for tenants. The ballpark offices should break ground next year and come online in 2003. Perry says the projects are not in competition. “The tenant that we expect will be attracted to the East Village area is not a traditional central business district tenant, he says. “It is a high-tech use with large floor plates (20,000-40,000 square feet) and a younger workforce.”

Two SPAWAR contracts valued at more than $23 million have been landed by Syzygy Technologies Inc., a Frazee Road business that specializes in systems engineering, software development, test and evaluation, and Internet technologies.

In a world of new condos, MGI/SAS Downtown Marina has broken ground on Marina Place, a 149-unit luxury, high-tech apartment development on the Downtown block bounded by Market and Island streets and First and Second avenues. The property was used as a Greyhound Bus maintenance yard. Rob Quigley is the designer. A spring 2002 opening is planned. The partners in the development entity are Ronnie Morgan, San Diego-based principal of the Morgan Group Inc., and Shawn Schraeger, principal of SAS Development.

Caltrans’ San Diego office wants to build a new regional headquarters just a couple of blocks from its current Old Town base at Juan and Taylor streets. The planned consolidation of existing Caltrans operations calls for 300,000 gross square feet of office space and parking for 815 vehicles on 11 acres northwest of Taylor Street between Pacific Highway and I-8. An environmental impact report is being prepared. In the meantime, Caltrans is expanding its offices Downtown, moving from the 8th floor of the 610 West Ash building to 10,000 square feet on the 10th floor. Has the Downtown Partnership given up on relocating the entire operation from Old Town?

There’s still room to join “La Vida Loca,” the Nov. 11 fundraiser for the Children’s Museum. It’s one of the few times grown-ups can use the museum’s creative playthings without being whined at, and the only time they’ll do so with cocktails. Call (619) 233-8792 for reservations.

San Diego’s luau central, the 416-room Hanalei Hotel on the western arc of Mission Valley at 2270 Hotel Circle North, changes its name Nov. 17 to Red Lion Hanalei Hotel, reports Jack Giacomini, managing director of MV Partners, which owns both the Hanalei and the nearby Hilton Hotel in Mission Valley. The reflagging will result in no major operational changes and no layoffs, says Dennis Sannes, g.m. Also, Sannes plans to continue the hotel’s annual August luau, a tradition for many San Diegans. Built in 1959, the Hanalei opened as the Rancho Presidio, a 66-unit motor hotel. The Atlas Hotel chain, which operates the Town and Country Hotel in Mission Valley, acquired the property in 1966, renamed it the Hanalei and developed its trademark tropical resort motif. In July 1992, an Iowa-based general partnership, Hanalei-Mission Valley Partners Inc., acquired the Hanalei from Atlas Hotels. Then, in September 1996, the hotel was acquired by its current owners, led by Robert Payne.

Downtown resident Michael R. Niggli is the new president of Sempra Energy Resources. The subsidiary of Sempra Energy develops and operates energy projects. Niggli, who is the former chairman and CEO of Sierra Pacific, will report to Darcel Hulse, senior v.p. of Sempra Energy, who previously held the additional title of president of Sempra Energy Resources. Hulse also is president of Sempra Energy International, a Sempra Energy subsidiary that develops, owns and operates energy projects primarily outside the U.S.

About 20,000 San Diegans joined together in Balboa Park to raise a record $701,000 to support local HIV and AIDS service providers at the 11th annual AIDS Walk San Diego. Since its 1989 inception, AIDS Walk has grown into the largest single-day fund-raiser benefiting AIDS service providers in San Diego County.

JM DigitalWorks senior producer Kevin O’Hara was tapped by PerkinElmer to shoot footage for an overview program covering PerkinElmer’s Optoelectronics division in Northern California. Traveling to the heart of Silicon Valley, O’Hara and Andy Hall from Triangle Productions shot the company’s manufacturing processes, including suiting up and shooting in the company’s clean room, and interviewed company executives. After several days, the team moved to Montreal to gather additional footage. JM producer Shannon Wickliffe also gathered additional footage for the program during a one-day shoot at another Optoelectronics facility in the L.A. area.

The history of gliding and soaring in San Diego between 1883 and 1950 is documented in Gary Fogel’s new book, “Wind and Wings: The History of Soaring in San Diego.” The native La Jollan will visit the historic Torrey Pines Gliderport from 2 to 4 p.m. Nov. 25 to sign and discuss his book. The gliderport pilot registration office is at 2800 Torrey Pines Scenic Drive. Call (619) 316-1562 for details.

With the theme of “Celebrate Our Children, Our Future,” the Neighborhood House Assn.’s Gala 2000 on Nov. 17 is a fund-raising event to celebrate both the association’s 86 years of community service and the 35th anniversary of Head Start. Chair of the event is Sheriff Bill Kolender, and the Rockin’ In Rhythm Band with Katy Brown will provide entertainment. The gala will also feature dancing and live and silent auctions. It will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the bayfront Hyatt Regency. The money raised will be used to help Neighborhood House continue its services to children and families in more than 80 locations throughout San Diego County. Contact Anna Allee or Suzanne Swift of Fair Group, (619) 235-4542, for more information.

On Nov. 11 San Diego Mensa, a chapter of American Mensa, offers residents the chance to test their smarts by taking the organization’s standard intelligence test at Chapman University in Mission Valley. Those who score in the top 2 percent on the $30 exam are invited to join. For more information, call Nancy Chadwick, San Diego Mensa proctor coordinator, at (760) 945-5365 or e-mail her at nancy.chadwick@ucr.edu.

Or to join Densa, Herbert “Woody” Lockwood is still not taking applications.

Speaking of brains, Stacy Elledge, a CPA and director with Bruno, Mack & Barclay, scored first in the nation on the Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors exam given by the Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors.

For more than 60 years, newspaper columnist Eileen Jackson was San Diego’s social arbiter. Now the San Diego Historical Society has teamed with Kales Press to publish “Eileen,” a 264-page memoir that chronicles the lives of San Diego’s premier families. A launch party, featuring author Jerry Williamson, is set for Nov. 5, 4-6 p.m., at the Evans Garage located at 4953 Pacific Highway. Admission is $50. The book can be purchased for $24.95 from the Society’s Museum Store in Balboa Park.

Musician and baseball player-turned-coach Tim Flannery has signed a recording agreement with Solana Beach-based PSB Records. PSB will distribute locally and nationally “Pieces Of The Past,” a CD that Flannery earlier recorded and released on his own label, Whalebone Records. Flannery, a star utility player with the Padres in the 1980s, is employed these days as a Padres coach.

IDEC Pharmaceutical Corp. has moved its research and pre-clinical development division into this new 74,000-square-foot building on four acres in Torrey Pines Mesa. Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. was the developer; McGraw Baldwin Architects Inc., of course, handled the design.

San Diego Dialogue Nov. 15 wraps up its 2000 series of Forum Fronterizo policy luncheons on the region’s role in the global economy. Mayor Golding; Richard Farman, chairman emeritus of Sempra Energy; and Héctor Lutteroth, president of Grupo AFAL, will discuss “The Global Engagement of San Diego/Baja California: Visions for a 21st Century Region.” Admission is $50 to the 12:30-2:30 p.m event at the Hyatt Regency San Diego. For more information, call (858) 534-8638 or visit www.sddialogue.org.

Mission Federal Credit Union says it is the first lender in the nation to offer a portable mortgage. Essentially the borrower can move the loan from house to house simply by transferring the lien instead of refinancing and incurring closing costs. If the new house costs more, an equity line is available.

Spear/Hall & Associates, a San Diego-based advertising and public relations agency, is celebrating its 20th year in business. The firm is led by principal and owner Sheldon Hall; senior v.p. and media director, Jim Riegelman; v.p. and public relations/promotions specialist, John Freeman; and account executive, Ann Clark.

Ranking No. 6 in the nation for builders of educational facilities is Douglas E. Barnhart Inc. The list was published by the Engineering News Record.

Employees at the 560-acre Carlsbad Research Center development now have somewhere to bank, buy snacks and even look for a new job. The 50,000-square-foot Island@carlsbad retail project is open. It was built by Roel Construction Co. and leased by Colliers International. The 17 tenants include US Bank, Santel Credit Union, Santorini Grille and Randstad Employment Agency.

Less than a month after floating palaces sailed off into the sunset, YachtFest organizers are out with plans for the second annual show. It’s set for Sept. 13-16 at the Island Palms Hotel on Shelter Island. “Given the terrific response we had this year, all of our major sponsors requested that we move ahead in 2001 and we’re very excited to make that commitment,” says David Roscow, chair of YachtFest and also managing director of Fraser Yachts.

San Diego-based SeatAdvisor.com now offers online ticketing at more than 200 venues. In addition, the company is reviewing hundreds of venues around the country in preparation for the national launch of its Full Box Office solution. The concept has users go online, find the right venue, click on a seat location, check out how the view is from the seat, and then buy a ticket. The software works in real time and generates custom reports for venue operators.

Symmetry, a pain relief clinic, has opened its second clinic, this one Downtown at 410 West A St. And the business, owned and co-founded by Lauren Mummy, gets a nice endorsement from San Diego entrepreneur Dave Zeller, president and founder of Peoplefirst.com, a leading online maker of car loans. Zeller has long suffered from pain and inflexibility. “Since I’ve been on the Symmetry program, my range of motion is amazingly improved, I have greater endurance, I sleep better, am more focused at work and home, and I live and play without pain,” he says.

Roel Construction Co. has completed its renovation of the 30-year-old former Veterans Administration Building in Mission Valley. The 10-story, 100,000-square-foot tower now is called Plaza 2020. David Blackburn of Property Systems is the developer; Russell Stout & Associates the architect.

The Pangea Foundation in San Diego has landed a $250,000 federal grant to create Web-based templates that will make it easy for other organizations to present information in a format that is accessible to people with disabilities. “What we are hoping to do is have San Diego serve as a testing ground for this technology,” says Robert Reed, director of software for Pangea. “We would then like to replicate it and take the program nationwide.”

GovPartner, an e-government solutions provider introduced in last month’s San Diego Scene, is an affiliate company of Berryman & Henigar Inc. In the item, the wrong name was attributed to the parent company. The Metropolitan regrets the error.

Chula Vistans interested in the arts have urged the City Council to purchase a recently closed Cinema Star six-plex on Third Avenue and convert it into a cultural arts center. Three concept plans for the proposed center were unveiled at a public workshop by consultants Bill Anderson, Economics Research Associates, and architect Milford Wayne Donaldson. A final report, based on citizens’ opinions, should be taken to the council in late November. Organizations expressing interest in space in the proposed center are OnStage Playhouse, the San Diego Children’s Museum, Chula Vista Art Guild, Friends of the Arts, San Diego Ballet, California Ballet, PASACAT, Christian Youth Theater, Ballet Folklorico Xochitl, Napua Ilima O’Kehualani and Icarus Puppet Co.

Claire Guadiani, president of Connecticut College, will speak and San Diego women in higher education will be honored at the Women Together 2000 Luncheon Nov. 17 at the Hyatt Regency San Diego. This annual fund-raiser benefits battered and homeless women and their children through Catholic Charities’ Rachel’s Program, Episcopal Community Services’ Julian’s Anchorage and the YWCA’s Domestic Violence Services. Luncheon cost is $60 per ticket or $100 per ticket for patrons. Parking is $5 or $8 for valet. To make reservations, phone Carroll Levien at (619) 741-2650 by Nov. 13. For additional information, visit www.womentogether.org.

Thanks to a $20,000 San Diego County grant for capital improvements, Sledgehammer Theater has begun renovating its Downtown home, St. Cecilia’s, just in time for its new show, “Alice in Modernland,” a jazz-rock opera. So far, the former funeral chapel on Sixth Avenue by I-5 has received an exterior paint job. “It’s an historic structure so only the paint job has been approved so far,” says Sledgehammer artistic director Kirsten Brandt. Next on the rehab agenda will be St. Cecilia’s original 1928 front doors, which she hopes can be replicated. “Alice in Modernland” runs Thursdays through Sundays through Nov. 26. For tickets and performance times, call (619) 544-1484.

Educate!, The University City Foundation for Public Schools, hosts its annual event “Taste of the Triangle” Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. to raise money for students attending the five University City public schools. Held in the Grand Ballroom of the La Jolla Marriott, the event features tastes of hors d’oeuvres and desserts from Golden Triangle restaurants, plus musical entertainment by Standley Middle School and University City High School students, no-host cocktails, and a silent auction with travel packages, gift certificates from local businesses and restaurants, a dinner cruise, an oil painting and more. Cost to attend is $25 in advance, $35 at the door; those donating $250 or more may attend a special pre-event reception with the San Diego Symphony’s artistic director Jung-Ho Pak. Educate! granted the schools more than $50,000 with proceeds from last year’s “Taste of the Triangle.” To purchase tickets, donate silent auction items, or obtain more information, call (858) 677-0989.

Preparing to celebrate its golden anniversary next month, Jack In The Box is on the prowl for artifacts and memorabilia. A clown head speaker box would be a coup, since the company blew most of them up during a 1980 marketing campaign. Uniforms, menu boards and old promotional items are also wanted. The company also is looking for employees who worked at the original Jack In The Box on El Cajon Boulevard. Items collected will be displayed at an exhibit and then returned to their owners. The project’s curator is Ida Friemuth — (858) 571-2182, or contact jack.museum@jackinthebox.com.

And last, Harvard-educated H. Cushman Dow, American, general counsel to Convair, past chairman of the San Diego Rotary and San Diego Chamber of Commerce, director of San Diego National Bank, counsel with Gray, Cary Ware & Freidenrich, and leader among leaders, died last month. Cheers and rest.