San Diego Metropolitan - San Diego Scene

The South County Economic Development Council, the California Trade and Commerce Agency and the San Diego Regional Chamber are teaming on a marketing campaign that focuses on the San Diego-Tijuana-Imperial Valley- Mexicali region as a single economic powerhouse. “While San Diego alone ranks 17th as the largest metropolitan area in North America, when combined as a region, we move into the top 10,” notes Kelly Cunningham, research manager at the San Diego Chamber. “This is how other areas such as Los Angeles gain clout as they are actually a five-county metropolitan statistical area.” San Diego’s manufacturing sector ranks 13th in the nation, but when combined with Baja California’s manufacturing jobs, the region moves to fifth place.

September was huge for Richard Sanborn. The 37-year-old signed to buy a bank, received a 40 Under Forty Award on Sept. 22 and three days later was there as his wife, Susan, gave birth to Ryan Davis Sanborn, the couple’s second child. Sanborn already is president of Palomar Community Bank, which is owned by Santa Barbara-based Community West that also owns troubled Goleta National Bank. Community has a need for cash so Sanborn is leading a management buyout of Palomar priced at $10.5 million to $11 million. The exact price depends on whether it’s all cash or some debt. The details should be settled next month with the sale completed in first quarter 2001. Bob Wedeking is chairman of Palomar, but Sanborn says it is too early to say who will be the chair or on the board — that depends on how much other investors put up and their desire to have some hands-on control.
Palomar has $75 million in assets, $60 million in deposits and $53 million in loans. The community seems jazzed to be getting a locally controlled lender. “I have gotten letters from people, businesses, shareholders and customers,” says Sanborn. “It has been absolutely phenomenal how many people have been interested in this. They all want a local bank that stays around for a while. This is what community banking should be. A bank owned by the local community which in turn supports the local community.”

The San Diego Chargers are worth $393 million, making them the 16th most valuable franchise in the NFL, reports Forbes magazine. The most valuable is the Washington Redskins at $741 million; the least is the Arizona Cardinals at $305 million. The magazine says the Chargers’ value rose 22 percent in 1999, a year when the team gained near-total control of stadium advertising revenue. Only the Tennessee Titans had a bigger percentage increase. In its Sept. 18 issue, the publication says the team posted revenue of $109.2 million last year and operating income (profit before interest, taxes and depreciation) of $26.2 million. Alex Spanos paid $40 million to buy the Chargers from Gene Klein in 1984.

Fresh interviews by Fred Lewis with John Hawkins, Tom Larwin, Tom Gable and Mel Katz are scheduled to debut in prime time on ITV in October. For a full listing of the “Heart of San Diego” schedule turn to Page 91.

Ever wish you could have a live human expert cyber-crawl inside your personal computer to fix what was ailing the machine? Well, customers of Cox@Home can have the next best thing. Powered by technology from ExpertCity.com, the service allows Cox@Home customers to click onto the Cox.com Web site for technical support and download a small program. Once that happens, a customer service representative can then “see” what is happening with the customer’s computer and make or suggest repairs. Cox is the first Internet service provider to offer this service.

Set to be in Washington, D.C., at month’s end is Lawrence G. Fitch, president and CEO of the San Diego Workforce Partnership. He’ll be there to pick up the Workforce Professional of the Year award from the National Alliance of Business.

Longtime San Diego banker and Downtown advocate Fred Baranowski has moved in as the new president of the Downtown San Diego Partnership. He replaces Laurie Black, who left following the expiration of her contract. Baranowski was most recently a senior v.p. in San Diego for Beverly Hills-based City National Bank. Baranowski chaired the Partnership in 1996 and was a director from the time of the organization’s formation in 1993 via the merger of San Diegans Inc. and the Central City Association.

San Diego is the 21st best city in the nation to operate a small business while Fort Worth/Arlington is best. San Diego finished just behind No. 20 Denver and ahead of Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., which tied for 22nd.

Those findings are included in the seventh annual Dun & Bradstreet/ Entrepreneur Magazine ranking of the “Best U.S. Cities for Small Business.” In making its rankings, D&B looked at its credit and marketing file of 11 million U.S. companies, segmenting businesses with fewer than 20 employees by metropolitan statistical area. D&B and Entrepreneur then created the rankings based on four basic categories: Entrepreneurial Activity (percentage of businesses five years old or less in D&B’s file for each MSA as of January 2000); Small Business Growth (employee growth among small businesses in the D&B file from January 1999 to January 2000); Economic Growth (overall job growth in each MSA over a three-year period through January 2000, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics); and Risk (D&B business bankruptcy information for 1999).

Adding one more creature comfort to its posh menu, the Westgate Hotel now offers the services of fitness professional Sheri Bardot. Bardot, who will work with hotel guests and outside clients, is certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine in strength training and as a nutritional counselor. Prior to opening her new business, Personal Strength Fitness, she was a research assistant at SDSU and a personal trainer for 24 Hour Fitness.

Of the $125 million of hotel room taxes collected in San Diego County during the fiscal year ended June 30, the city of San Diego banked the lion’s share, $96.6 million, or 77 percent. Collections countywide were up 6.9 percent from the $117.1 collected a year earlier. In the city, collections rose 5.9 percent from $91.2 million.

Carlsbad’s Upper Deck is known worldwide for its wildly successful lines of sports collectibles. Now, perhaps in a nod to the amazing success of the Harry Potter series of books, the company has introduced Wizard In Training, a collectible trading card game available just in time for the holidays. The retail price is $19.95.

Andrew Barile, president of the commercial division of Downtown-based Arrowhead, has teamed with attorney and insurance expert R. George Monti to write “A Practical Guide To Finite Risk Insurance And Reinsurance.” Yes, it’s available on Amazon.

The Pennant Alliance, the San Diego-based consortium headed by Computer Science Corp. that won a $604 million contract to outsource the County of San Diego’s information technology systems, has moved 200 of its 600 employees to a new local headquarters at 9520 Towne Centre Drive. Ir2 Interior Resource Inc. handled the relocation.

As San Diego struggles with electricity shortages, one local company, SeaWest WindPower, has emerged as a leading developer of utility-scale wind power projects. The company is nearing completion of its 16.8 megawatt Foote Creek IV wind power project in Wyoming. With this latest project coming on line this month, the wind farm can begin selling 84.8 megawatts to the Bonneville Power Administration under a 20-year power purchase agreement.

The city’s Natural Resources Committee is expected to be presented this month with a greywater recycling program that, if approved, would then go to the full City Council for the final nod. Supporters of a residential greywater program have been working on the issue for four years.

The long running hit show “Forever Plaid” is moving from the Theatre in Old Town to a supper club in the Gaslamp Quarter. Starting in December, the show’s new home will be the restaurant Backstage at Aubergine at Fourth and Island avenues. For information, call (619) 688-2494.

The huge 860,000-square-foot Harbor Aerotech Center on N. Harbor Drive is looking for a few good tenants. Once the home of Teledyne Ryan — which merged with Allegheny Technologies — and Northrop Grumman — which is relocating to Rancho Bernardo — the center offers 14 buildings ranging in size from 20,000 to 200,000 square feet. The decades-old aerospace complex occupies 44.7 acres across from Lindbergh Field’s commuter terminal. Liza Lorscheider of Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc. says there’s been “lots of activity” from companies interested in leasing the hangars, factory space, offices and warehouses in the complex. For more information, call (619) 918-9813.

San Diego municipal employees will get easy terms when they buy computers. The city has a new employee purchasing program featuring a choice of Gateway computers and interest-free, 30-month loans. San Diego Metropolitan Credit Union and the San Diego Firefighters Federal Credit Union arranged the program for the city. A similar program started by the county two years ago has helped 8,000 of its 17,000 employees buy computers.

Viking Freight, a division of FedEx, opened a warehouse in Otay Mesa to service the “less than a truckload” freight business. Viking Freight expects to fill the void created by the recent prohibition of Mexican trucks beyond 25 miles in the United States.

For Expo 2000, the celebration of the “New Millennium” ended with a whimper, not a bang. The organization, which staged a three-day New Year’s Eve 2000 event in Balboa Park, wound up filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Aug. 29. Expo 2000 blamed lower-than-expected ticket sales on the threat of a Y2K bug, rain and media stories about possible violence at public turn-of-the-millennium events. The organization hoped to hold a series of post-New Year’s events to help generate revenues for its unpaid creditors. But the plan came to a halt when one creditor went to court in July.

Sequenom, a local biotech company, has signed a 15-year, $65 million lease for more than 82,500 square feet in the Torrey Pines Science Center. It’s believed to be the second largest lease in the county’s history, behind the 420,000 square feet Peregrine Systems leased in Del Mar Heights last year. Burnham Real Estate Services * ONCOR International represented both Sequenom and the lessor, Slough Estates USA.

Jerry Brown, the mayor of Oakland and past governor of California, will speak at the San Diego Voter Forum Oct. 17, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Copper Room at the San Diego Concourse. Tickets are $35 each. Tables for 10 are $350. For more information, call (619) 787-8405.

As the world’s third largest biotech collection, the San Diego life-science industry generates more than $1.5 billion in annual revenue for the city. Expecting that life sciences will rule this century’s economy, regional trade association Biocom/San Diego on Oct. 30-31 will present the 9th annual CALBIOsummit in partnership with UCSD Connect. Geared toward industry executives, life-science companies, investors, civic and government leaders and educators, the summit will feature sessions on corporate partnering, capital financing, global expansion, technological convergence, public policy and professional development. Speakers include futurist Graham T.T. Molitor, Caroline Kovac of IBM and St. Jude Medical Inc. board chair Ronald A. Matricaria. To be held at the San Diego Convention Center, the event includes an expanded trade show, career fair and inventor’s showcase, as well as the launching of Ernst & Young’s 2000 Biotech Report. Call (858) 455-0300 for more.

San Diego Metropolitan is sponsoring two free seminars for business professionals. On Oct. 18 the publication presents “The Working Professional & Entrepreneurs Forum.” An event for professional women, the seminar will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Horton Grand Hotel. The reservation deadline is Oct. 12.

Set for Nov. 2 and geared for both sexes is “Managing For Wealth,” a 6-8 p.m. seminar at the Hilton Torrey Pines Hotel. The reservation deadline is Oct. 27. For more information about either free event, or reservations, call (858) 677-7872.

Western Pacific Housing, which has 508 residential units under construction in San Diego and 1,179 in the five-year pipeline, is merging with Hawaii-based Schuler Homes Inc. Based in Irvine, Western maintains a 30-employee office in Carlsbad. The merged company will rank among the top 15 builders in the nation.

The Chalk la Strada Street Painting Festival takes to Little Italy Oct. 14-15, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free to the public, the festival will feature 135 street painters, Italian food, a beer and wine garden, three stages of entertainment, a raffle drawing, stickball and boccie ball tournament. Click on www.chalklastrada.com for more.

National broadband industry figures will be in San Diego Oct. 23-24 to participate in the Broadband Networking Retreat at the Hilton San Diego Resort. Investment guru Dale Pfau will give the keynote speech. The event is produced by Broadband Solutions magazine.

Seeking to strengthen up its relationship with customers, the Credit Union Alliance of San Diego has launched a marketing program to focus on the “credit union difference” that separates the institutions from traditional banks. Its first effort was a Y2K program last year to ease any concerns customers had about banking problems that could be caused by the calendar turning from 1999 to 2000. “We’re in touch with what we’ve always done as credit unions, which is to fully integrate ourselves into the community,” says Robin Lentz, spokewoman for the alliance and CEO of Cabrillo Credit Union. “CUA participants seek to make differences in their members’ lives however possible. And because we have diverse fields of membership within the Alliance, we have great stories to tell.”

The association is made up of 23 participants who have a collective membership of nearly 1 million. Member credit unions include Cabrillo, California Coast, Carlsbad City Employees Federal, El Cajon Federal, Financial 21 Community, Great American, Grossmont Schools Federal, Inland Federal, Kearny Mesa Financial, Ketema Federal, Marine Corps West Federal, Mission Federal, National City Federal, North County Federal, North Island Federal, Paradise Valley Federal, Point Loma, Santel Federal, San Diego Firefighters, San Diego Medical Federal, San Diego Metropolitan, Sharp Federal and USA Federal.

The San Diego office of the City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute, one of the nation’s top medical research and treatment centers, celebrates its grand opening with an inaugural “Spirit of Life” dinner Oct. 25 at The Prado Restaurant in Balboa Park. The event is designed to introduce City of Hope to San Diego. “San Diego is a compassionate, caring community,” says Rodney Pierce, associate v.p. of development for City of Hope. “We hope that once the people of San Diego realize the contribution City of Hope makes in improving the lives of people here and everywhere, they will want to support the medical center.”

In the San Diego area, an average of 279 patients per year received care at City of Hope during the 1997, 1998 and 1999 fiscal years; county residents had a total of 139 inpatient stays during the same three-year period, for a total of 2,271 days of treatment, an average of 16.33 days per stay; and area residents made 3,454 outpatient visits to City of Hope during fiscal years 1997, 1998 and 1999.

Looking for information regarding the California-Baja California border? Access Border Base — www.borderbase.org — has gone on line. The site promotes cross-border collaboration and cooperation by providing a simple networking and information tool, according to the brochure sent out by the site sponsor, Sandag and its partners, the Consulate of Mexico in San Diego, Center for US-Mexican Studies, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Institute for Regional Studies of the Californias, International Community Foundation, San Diego Dialogue, San Diego Natural History Museum and the San Diego-Tijuana Border Initiative.

The San Diego Regional Chamber and Consejo Coordinador Empresarial of Tijuana have signed a memorandum of understanding that calls for greater inclusion and cooperation between binational organizations. The CCE encompasses 13 of Tijuana’s most dynamic, fastest growing and prestigious organizations.

North Park and North Bay soon will get a boost from a total of $20 million in tax allocation bonds approved last month by the city of San Diego’s Redevelopment Agency. Bonds of up to $7 million will be issued to redevelop parts of the 555-acre North Park project area, including plans for the historic North Park Theatre and three mixed-use commercial and residential proposals. Another $13 million in bonds could be issued for the 1,360-acre North Bay project area, with proceeds going for development plans ranging from renewal of the Sports Arena area to an expansion of the Mission Brewery commercial complex.

Turning a page to the electronic era, National University has purchased 16,000 electronic books — from Shakespeare to technical textbooks — for its new digital library at Spectrum Business Park. “E-books represent a quantum leap in research capabilities for college students,” says Anne Marie Secord, National University’s library services director.

The San Diego Building Owners and Managers Association is going solo in a search for new sources of electricity. In hopes of finding a cheaper, reliable supply in the deregulated market, BOMA released a request for proposals to energy suppliers. “BOMA recognizes the reality of the current market conditions and, given the amount of energy our members consume, we bring considerable influence to the bargaining table,” says Ted Kimball, who chairs BOMA San Diego’s Energy Deregulation Task Force. BOMA members represent more than 15 million square feet of commercial office space in the county, which consumes nearly 200 million kilowatt hours annually. Based on June prices, those annual bills totaled between $18 million and $25 million.

How does the region stack up now compared with 1990? The results of the Sandag report card are in, and the verdict from 500 respondents is a grade of B-plus for the 2000 economy, up from C in 1990. But transportation earned a D and housing a D-plus, both down from a C grade for 1990. Sandag aims to remedy traffic problems with a $29 billion regional transportation plan to reduce bottlenecks and limit sprawl. As for housing, Sandag is calling on the region’s 18 cities and the county to adopt “smart growth” strategies, concentrating new homes near job centers and transit corridors.

Move over, Shamu. The tarantulas are coming. They’ll play a role in SeaWorld’s new live animal show, Pepsi’s Creepy Creatures, featuring spiders, snakes, toads and hissing cockroaches, among other critters. Television personality and animal expert Jack Hanna hosts the animal show Oct 7-8, and SeaWorld/Busch Gardens animal ambassador Julie Scardina will be greeting guests Oct. 14-15. The show will be held at SeaWorld’s Mission Bay Theater. For show times, call (619) 226-3901.

Starting this month, TWA is operating a new regional service designed to strengthen the airline’s presence in San Diego. To expand its service, TWA teamed up with American Eagle to offer better connections into the TWA network and add flights between Los Angeles and San Diego.

Santel Federal Credit Union has opened a new branch at 5814 Van Allen Way, Suite 190, in the Island@ Carlsbad shopping mall. Santel has 2,400 members and 65 select employee groups in the area. “This branch will be a real convenience for these people,” says branch manager Zenaida Roy-Almario.

San Diego-based GovPartner, an online government service provider affiliated with Brown & Henigar Inc., has a new Web site — www.govpartner.com. It’s a resource for researching e-government trend information through white papers and articles. GovPartner president Jon Rodriguez says the service also offers answers to frequently asked “e-government” questions. The online company focuses on small to medium-sized governments and offers services such as work flow management and business license and permit applications.

Four educators will be chosen for teacher-of-the-year honors during the 10th annual “Cox Communications Presents: A Salute to Teachers” program. Broadcast from the Civic Theatre, it will air live on Channel 4 San Diego on Oct. 14, 7-9 p.m. Tickets are $14, $7 for students and $12 for groups of 50 or more. For information, call (858) 292-3753.

PixelRocket, an online business assistance service, has been launched in San Marcos. The company offers help in improving and managing client e-business services as well as Web design and development. “We partner with our clients to get to the customer first with the best offering,” says Jeremy Dulmstra, company president.

The Missions at Rio Vista, a 464-unit luxury apartment complex at 2242 Gill Village Way, was sold for $76 million to San Francisco-based SSR Realty Advisors. It was purchased for a pension fund client. CB Richard Ellis represented both the buyer and the seller, Houston-based Morgan Group, which developed the property.

Thomas Leech & Associates, a San Diego consulting firm, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Tom Leech, who once worked for General Dynamics, specializes in corporate presentations, public speaking, executive and team coaching, training seminars and conferences.

Cleaners-by-Zip, a San Diego-based online dry cleaning service, is up and running. The service helps dry cleaners generate more business through the Internet and specializes in free pick-up and delivery determined by ZIP code. Chas Kroll, the service’s executive director, says it will save customers time. “What used to be ‘location, location, location’ is now ‘convenience, convenience, convenience’,” he says.

Community volunteers are being recruited to give Downtown blocks a makeover at the sixth annual Adopt-A-Block, a fund-raiser and beautification project by the nonprofit organization Second Chance/Strive. Businesses, groups and individuals are encouraged to be block sponsors or form a team of five to 10 people for the Oct. 21 event, at which volunteers carry out public art projects, graffiti removal, mural painting, tree planting and trash removal. Last year more than 8.4 tons of trash were collected. New at this year’s program, participants will paint, landscape and repair lights on four senior citizen homes. More than 1,000 volunteers from 100 businesses and service groups are expected to take part in Adopt-A-Block, which is sponsored by Union Bank of California, Sempra Energy, Metabolife Inc. and others. The event is the major annual fund-raiser for Second Chance/Strive, which helps long-term unemployed and homeless individuals find jobs and affordable housing to break the cycle of poverty.

The project begins at 7 a.m at Adopt-A-Block Headquarters, 505 16th St. (at the corner of 16th Street and Island Avenue Downtown), and runs until 11:30 a.m. Call (619) 239-1003 for more.

Ira B. Liss and his Big Band Jazz Machine already are booking dates for the holidays at liss@cyberjaz.com. They come in 10- and 18-piece ensembles, very fun, either one.

Miss Billy Riley-Watkins, of Half Moon Inn and Horton Grand Hotel fame, could use some help and baked goods for her Oct. 6 fund-raiser for the St. Paul’s Manor Residents Association. A flea market will include jewelry for sale. The 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. event, called Treasures & Trinkets, will be held on Nutmeg Street between Second and Third avenues on Banker’s Hill. Miss Billy is at (619) 239-5833.

Borders Books plans to break ground in February for a 33,000-square-foot bookstore and cafe, with another 4,500 square feet for retail, at Sixth Avenue and G Street in the Gaslamp Quarter. The Centre City Development Corp. owns the 20,500-square-foot site, which now offers paid parking at a shuttered Midas Muffler. Last month, the CCDC board recommended that the Redevelopment Agency transfer the current disposition and development agreement with DDR OliverMcMillan LLP to Borders Inc., moving the project a step closer to reality.

Flashback. A late September press release on the groundbreaking of the Parkloft condos Downtown had as the contact either Dick Daniels or Jack Berkman. In the early 1980s the pair built Berkman & Daniels into one of San Diego’s top marketing machines. Bad partnerships, the real estate recession and other troubles broke up the firm a decade later, although both men have picked up the pieces since, with Daniels operating primarily solo, except for a stint on Alan Bersin’s staff at the school district, and Berkman building a new Downtown firm called Berkman Communications. This is their first public pairing. It may be due to busy times and another amicable parting: Berkman recently lost his No. 1 guy, Greg Block, who went to Mindstorm Communications where he’s pitching high-tech. Berkman could not be reached for comment on any déjà vu tinglings.

Freelance writer Jamie Reno’s talents are getting in the way of a good cause — non-Hodgkins lymphoma, an incurable but treatable cancer that he has. Reno, a 20-year scribe, is Newsweek’s man in San Diego. As such, Reno, 40, has written lots about Michael Robertson and the whole MP3.com legal brouhaha. Now Reno, also an amateur songwriter and musician, is unable to offer his first album, “My Side of Paradise,” on any of the digital musical sites. His editors see it as a conflict of interest. “I think I could still be objective,” Reno says. “I know my reporting wouldn’t be compromised... . In order to market your record, you need to get on the MP3 sites.”
The album itself is mostly soft pop, with a definite low-key Beach Boys feel. Talented local and national musicians lent their time — some were paid — for this professional production. The bounciest tune is “Heartland Rockers.” Some songs, like “The Promise,” are intensely personal. To a listener who knows Reno’s story, they sound like messages to his family and baby daughter; some can bring a tear. For more, click on www.jamiereno.com, a site where surfers can learn, listen and order — for $15 by snail mail check. A portion of the proceeds — Reno needs to cover the $20,000 he spent producing the album — go to research lymphoma, the second fastest growing cancer in the nation.