|
January 8, 2002 B ack on Track America, a national coalition of small business experts, nonprofit organizations, and leading corporations is coming to San Diego on Jan. 18, to bring resource information, expert advice, and free counseling directly to San Diego based businesses.Comprised of workshops and a town hall meeting, Back on Track America is designed to revitalize small businesses during these tough economic times. Volunteers will join business experts, best-selling authors, and well-known entrepreneurs at the San Diego event, taking place at the Wyndham San Diego at Emerald Plaza, 400 West Broadway. The program begins at 8:30 a.m. and admission is free. "The current economic environment highlights just how mutually dependent we all are on each other," says Jane Applegate, president of SBTV Corp. "Businesses in every community are being affected by the economic downturn. That's why Back on Track America is bringing together a cross section of big and small companies, organizations, and business leaders to find real solutions to common problems." Panelists and workshop leaders for The Back on Track America San Diego event include George Chandler, San Diego SBA district director; Suzanne Woosley, president of the San Diego Chapter of National Association for Women Business Owners; Gary Shaw, publisher of San Diego Metropolitan magazine; Mary Wylie, of the Southwestern College Small Business Development Center; and Mike McCraw, of the Southern California Financial Development Corp. "The Back on Track America effort seeks not only to bolster ailing and small businesses but also the spirit of those who have worked so hard to make them succeed," says Ted Leonsis, vice chairman of AOL. Throughout the tour, AOL will offer a special Back on Track America programming feature with coverage of each event including advice, tools and resources directly from the tour, and onsite participation at the events. Content from the tour can be accessed through the AOL service, AOL Web Properties Netscape.com, CompuServe.com and throughout the Netscape Netbusiness service for small businesses. "It is vital for all areas of business to work together to build the strength of America's small business community because it is these small businesses that are the economic heart of so many American communities," says George D. Warrington, Amtrak's president and CEO. Expert advice, one-on-one counseling and numerous resources will be available at no cost to business owners attending the Back on Track America workshops. Representatives from SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), Merrill Lynch Business Financial Services, Quick Books by Intuit and additional coalition members will be available to provide free counseling and support. Other participating Back on Track America coalition members providing support for the tour include, ClubCorp, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Entrepreneur Media Inc., Art of Living Foundation and Pilot Pen Corp. "The goal of Back on Track America is to revitalize the entrepreneurial spirit of the small business community and to help it move forward," says Applegate. "And we will continue to support small businesses long after the train has left the station." *** C ox Communications Inc. began mailing yesterday CDs containing the software its 125,000 high-speed Internet customers in San Diego will need to transition from the Cox@Home network to the new Cox High Speed Internet service.In December 2001, Cox successfully transitioned its first residential customers to the new Cox High Speed Internet service in Roanoke, Va. Remaining customers will be transitioned by the end of this month. Within the next two weeks, Cox@Home customers nationwide will receive conversion. Cox expects to spend about $150 million to build its new network. The new service offers the same speed and popular features that customers currently enjoy with their Cox@Home service, as well as new features such as enhanced local content and remote, Web-based e-mail access. Remote, Web-based e-mail access is a hugely practical feature, allowing customers of Cox to access their e-mail accounts from any Web connection in the world. The new network itself includes three main Service Data Centers, located in Atlanta, Oklahoma City, and San Diego. The new Internet service is being deployed rapidly in response to the bankruptcy proceedings of Excite@Home, a vendor that partnered with Cox in the delivery of high speed Internet service. Excite@Home provided service in the majority of Cox's markets across the country. Dan Novak, vice president of programming and communications for Cox Communications in San Diego, says the old @home e-mail addresses will continue to work until Excite eventually turns the service off. The only thing that really will change in a person's e-mail address is the end portion. For example, DanNovak@home.com will become DanNovak@cox.net. *** Q ualcomm Inc. has made the world's first call using the Qualcomm CDMA Technologies radioOne Zero Intermediate Frequency technology and the MSM6000 Mobile Station Modem CDMA2000 1X chipset.The call was placed from Don Schrock, president of QCT, to Irwin Jacobs, Qualcomm chairman and CEO, at the company’s San Diego headquarters. The radioOne Zero IF architecture eliminates the need for IF components — including IF integrated circuits, IF Surface Acoustic Wave filters and IF voltage controlled oscillators — thereby reducing printed circuit board area and bill of material costs for future wireless handsets and other devices. "This first live call using radioOne technology represents a major historic milestone for CDMA and future multimode, multi-band terminals," says Schrock. "The radioOne solution demonstrates QCT's dedication to the continued improvements in both RF and CDMA wireless technology worldwide, as well as the depth and capabilities of our engineering staff." *** I n additional Qualcomm news, the company has promoted Roberto Padovani to executive v.p. and chief technology officer.In this role, Padovani will shape and support Qualcomm's technical direction, oversee development activities in the business groups, guide the further development of the CDMA migration path, and increase Qualcomm's technical focus on external audiences and universities. "Qualcomm's growth is fueled by its ongoing research and development efforts and Dr. Padovani's contributions have been instrumental to the development of CDMA," says Irwin Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm. "His advancements have led to the successful standardization of IS-95 and the design of the first CDMA chipset. He also led the development of High Data Rate technology that is now the basis for CDMA2000 1xEV-DO — the first high data rate product to reach commercialization." "It has been extremely rewarding to witness the success of CDMA technology," Padovani says. "Our design has provided the foundation for all practical third-generation systems and standards. Qualcomm has contributed key technical solutions to the wireless industry. I look forward to many more successes from the company’s extraordinarily talented engineering team." Padovani obtained a laureate degree from the University of Padova, Italy, and a doctorate degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He is a fellow of the IEEE and named inventor or co-inventor of 45 patents covering diverse aspects of CDMA technology. Franklin Antonio, who has served as Qualcomm's chief technology officer since 1996, was named executive v.p. and chief scientist. In this role, Antonio will focus on technology innovation. *** Z57.com, a Web site design company, has signed a $682,000, five-year lease for 9,536 square feet of office space at 8445 Camino Santa Fe, Suites 201, 203, 205, 207, 208-210, 214 and 215, in the Miramar West Business Park. The lessor was Westcore Industrial Properties. Both sides in the transaction represented themselves. Westcore is a private real estate company formed by Marc Brutten to acquire, redevelop and expand industrial, flex and R&D properties in the western United States. Westcore is headquartered in San Diego with a regional office in Los Angeles. *** F or more than 50 years, El Cajon has selected a Citizen of the Year.This year, El Cajon community based organizations are again being asked to participate in the 2001 El Cajon Citizen of the Year selection. For those interested in participating, two mandatory meetings are scheduled. The first is Jan. 11, 8 a.m., at the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce office located at 201 S. Magnolia in El Cajon. The second is on Feb. 8, 8 a.m., also at the chamber office. Interested organizations should call the chamber at (619) 440-6161 to designate a representative who will be attending the two meetings. For more information, contact Andy Phemister at (619) 440-6161. *** C ardiff Software Inc. says that its TELEform Information Capture System was chosen by seven Latin American and Caribbean governments including Bolivia and Jamaica to provide the automated forms processing solution for the countries' current census projects.Bolivia and Jamaica join San Lucia, Anguilla, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, and Grenada as the latest Latin American and the Caribbean countries to select Cardiff TELEform to process critical census information. "The census is a very important resource for the Jamaican government and its citizens, so it’s critical that the forms' data be as accurate and complete as possible, and be processed as quickly as possible," says Desmond Valentine, managing director of Moore Business Forms Caribbean Ltd., Cardiff's channel partner that ran the TELEform system in Jamaica. "The Statistical Institute of Jamaica chose Cardiff TELEform for its highly sophisticated data capture and assurance systems, as well as its price performance. The processing time for 2000 census will be dramatically reduced from the five years it took in 1990." The census questionnaires, designed to maximize the benefits of the proposed technology and manually completed during the collection process, will be scanned and processed by TELEform at a highly accelerated pace, while increasing the form data accuracy. In a related announcement, Thailand's National Statistical Office has successfully processed the country's 2000 census using Cardiff TELEform. "The Bolivian and Jamaican census projects extends our presence into the Latin American and Caribbean markets, and, along with the Thailand census project win, demonstrate Cardiff's worldwide eGovernment capabilities," says Dennis Clerke, president and CEO of Cardiff Software. "Our high standards of performance and expanding global presence re-affirms Cardiff's leadership in Global eGovernment initiatives and image capture and processing platforms. It also demonstrates the company’s ability to meet high-volume requirements with little or no required customization, providing a significant return on investment and low cost of ownership." *** L ess than six months after signing a one year contract, Patrick Shea has resigned as president and CEO of Brown Field Aviation Park LLC, and the San Diego Air Commerce Center.Shea was hired by the project's lead investors, Lehman Brothers and Farallon Capital Management, on July 23. His last day on the job was Dec. 15. Shea, a lawyer and former equity partner with Pillsbury Winthrop, was hired this past year to complete an interim FAA air traffic study and conclude negotiations with the city for the development of an air cargo center at Brown Field. The San Diego City Council voted to terminate the planning process for the air cargo center on Oct 1. *** I nvitrogen Corp. has launched its Research Tools Development Grants Program, a grant funding program to encourage the discovery and development of new research tools for life sciences."Invitrogen has always supported the discovery and implementation of innovative methodologies and products for use in life science research," says Lyle Turner, Invitrogen's chair and CEO. "This program further emphasizes that commitment. We are excited to announce this program and its use to advance research and to help drive the life sciences industry forward." The program will provide awards ranging from about $25,000 to $100,000 per year. Grants will be announced quarterly and will focus on a different area of research each quarter. For the first quarter of 2002, grant applications will be accepted in the general area of enzymes for molecular and cell biology. Future quarterly grants will focus on such fields of interest as functional analysis, separations and purification, and amplification. "The program is open to new and established investigators working in academic institutions, not-for-profit organizations, and for-profit companies such as start-up biotechs," says Augie Sick, v.p. of business development. "If researchers have ideas for novel research tools or procedures for life science, we want to support them." Decisions on funding will be made by a selection committee consisting of both Invitrogen personnel and external acknowledged leaders in the field of molecular biology. The deadline for proposals for the area of enzymes for molecular and cell biology is March 1. Awards will be announced in April, with funding to be provided in May. Grants will be provided under a sponsored research agreement that affords first rights to Invitrogen to license inventions that arise from this support. For more information about the development grants program, contact David Odelson, grants director, at (800) 955-6288 or by e-mail at grants@invitrogen.com. Details of the program are available at www.invitrogen.com. Invitrogen provides essential technologies to biotechnology and biopharmaceutical researchers and companies worldwide. The company manufactures and markets a breadth of products and services for life sciences discovery, development and production. With operations in more than 20 countries and distributor relationships in 40 more, the company employs 2,800 people at its worldwide locations. For more information about Invitrogen, visit www.invitrogen.com. *** S an Diego-headquartered IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corp. and Paris-headquartered ExonHit Therapeutics, an alternative splicing-based drug discovery company, have signed a collaboration and research agreement directed to the discovery of new antigen targets for antibody therapy, including prostate carcinoma.Under the terms of the agreement, IDEC has exclusive, worldwide rights to certain antibody-based therapeutic applications of new target discoveries. ExonHit will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and milestones from IDEC. In addition, it will receive royalty payments on sales by IDEC or its affiliates from products emerging from the collaboration. "This collaborative agreement builds on the strengths of both companies," says Nabil Hanna, IDEC's chief scientific officer. "By utilizing ExonHit’s unique approach of identifying alternative splicing of genes expressed in cancer cells, IDEC has the opportunity of identifying new antigens which can be targeted with our monoclonal antibody and radioimmunotherapy technologies." "We are extremely pleased to have entered into this collaborative alliance with a prestigious, blue-chip biotechnology company, IDEC Pharmaceuticals," says Bruno Tocque, ExonHit Therapeutics CEO. "ExonHit Therapeutics' core DATAS technology, based on the analysis of alternative splicing, provides the most comprehensive information on gene expression differences between normal human prostate tissue and tumor tissue. DATAS enables us to quickly identify relevant antigen targets." IDEC Pharmaceuticals focuses on the commercialization and development of targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. IDEC's antibody products act chiefly through immune system mechanisms, exerting their effect by binding to specific, readily targeted immune cells in the patient's blood or lymphatic systems. *** M ad Catz Interactive Inc., a San Diego-headquartered manufacturer of video game accessories, expects sales to have increased 12 percent for the third quarter ended Dec. 31 to $37 million, as compared to net sales of $33 million for the same three-month period last year.The company also reported the third quarter would be profitable. Mad Catz plans to issue full third quarter financial results and provide guidance for fiscal year 2003 during the week of Feb. 4. "We expect to report a profit in the range of $0.03 to $0.04 per share on sales of approximately $80 million for the year ending March 31, 2002," says Morris Perlis, president and CEO of Mad Catz Interactive Inc. "Our business remains strong and profitable and we look forward to a very strong fiscal year 2003. Perlis says margins for the third quarter were 20 percent, slightly below previous projections. He says that was due to "the overwhelming demand for our new products, resulting in increased incremental airfreight costs and direct-to-store shipments. Without these added expenses, our margins would have been considerably stronger." Click Below to View Previous Daily Business Reports |
Home | Info | Cover Story | About Us | Back Issues | Search
