Daily Business Report: Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021
National Forum to explore comics in education
SDSU at forefront of proposal to merge libraries
and comics for innovations in teaching and scholarship
San Diego State University’s pioneering exploration of comics as a learning tool on social justice will expand to a national stage under a grant from an agency that supports innovation at the nation’s libraries and museums.
Comics@SDSU, a grass-roots faculty-led collaborative for comic studies, will forge partnerships with research libraries to develop opportunities for the inclusion of comics in education, particularly toward the teaching of diversity, equity and inclusion and other matters of social justice.
The $149,305 grant comes from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent agency of the federal government, and is the first ever received by Comics@SDSU (formerly the Comics Working Group), composed of about 25 faculty members who are working to boost the comics curriculum and create a certificate in comics studies.
Pamela Jackson, popular culture librarian/comic arts curator, and Beth Pollard, professor of history, lead the group. In 2019, they utilized the library’s archival collection of 100,000+ comics to develop an innovative Comics and History course with an emphasis on social justice.
With the grant, Jackson and Pollard plan to develop and convene a national forum, four separate meetings over a period of 14 months, beginning March 2022.
ABOVE PHOTO: The Comics Corner in the SDSU Library.
LET’S FIND SAN DIEGANS OVER 80
Poland’s most gifted poet Stanislaw Jerzy Lec once said, “Youth is the gift of nature but age is a work of art.”
With this in mind, we’re looking to celebrate as many San Diegans 80 or over as we can find with your help.
The 2020 Census says there are more than 20 million Americans 80 years of age and older, including 97,000 who are 100.
We’re all living longer because we smoke less, drink less, eat better and exercise more.
Maybe 80 is the new 60!
Send us your nominations. Please go to our web site — www.sandiegometro.com– and complete the nomination form. Thank you.
Women’s Museum of California hosts
Women’s Equality Day on Aug. 26
The Women’s Museum of California will host its annual Women’s Equality Day celebration on Thursday, Aug. 26 at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park.
The celebratory event “Reclaiming Our Rights,” held in conjunction with Women’s March San Diego, will start at 4:30 p.m. with a reception and preview of the museum’s latest exhibit “Looking Back, Moving Forward: The Evolution of the Women’s Movement in the United States.”
The evening will feature keynote speaker California Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins, who will talk about the importance of female role models in leadership positions and the renewed urgency to overhaul public policies to move us closer to a more equal society.
Following Senate Pro Tem Atkins’ speech, a panel discussion will convene to discuss the status of gender equality in our community.
Asian Business Association launches new
Asian and Pacific Islander business owner survey
The Asian Business Association of San Diego has commissioned a local business owner survey to investigate the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses owned by Asian and Pacific Islanders in the San Diego region.
The 18-question survey will be distributed electronically to more than 7,000 businesses in the cities of San Diego, Chula Vista and National City starting this week. The survey questions will explore issues business owners have experienced since the start of the pandemic including hate crimes, retaining employees, and receiving financial assistance.
Business owners have until Sept. 28 to complete the electronic survey. The survey can be found online at the ABA’s website, at https://www.abasd.org/survey.
Former strip club in Point Loma redressed
to help sex-trafficking victims
A former strip club in the Point Loma area is to be converted into a nonprofit center serving sex-trafficking victims to be known as the San Diego Freedom Center.
The new center, at a site now being renovated, will be a clearinghouse for sex-trafficking victims allowing them to get information on a variety of subjects including shelters, counseling, education and job opportunities.
The center’s executive director is Kristen Zimmermann.
I was first involved in anti-human trafficking efforts 14 years ago while working with an NGO (non-governmental organization) that prioritized education opportunities for at-risk populations. Since then, I have worked with various non-profits and my passion for working in anti-human trafficking has grown,” says Zimmermann.
The Peninsula Beacon held a Q&A with Zimmermann, which can be accessed here.
Barnhart-Rees Construction to rebuild
Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake
Barnhart-Reese Construction has been awarded a $16.6 million contract with the U.S. Navy at the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake for the design and construction of a new Academic Training Building.
The project award also includes the demolition of the existing 16,000-square-foot academic training building. New building construction will occupy the footprint of the demolished building. The new facility features two “wings” that will create and surround a new courtyard adjacent to an existing “annex” building. The project also includes parking lots to the east and west of the building, with entries facing both directions. BRC’s design partner is Delawie.
The project is expected to break ground this month with a projected completion in February 2023.
Port of San Diego promotes Karen Porteous
to executive vice president and chief of staff
The Port of San Diego announces the promotion of Karen Porteous to executive vice president and chief of staff within its Executive Leadership Group.
Porteous’s previous position with the Port was vice president and chief administrative officer. In that role, she was accountable for Human Resources, People & Organizational Development, Office of the District Clerk, and Information Technology (including the Chief Technology Officer and the Chief Security Officer).
Her private sector experience includes more than 13 years working in the human resources field for H.J. Heinz Corporation and Raytheon Service Company.
“Next month, Karen will mark 26 years of service to the Port. Her deep institutional knowledge of the Port, as well as her broad general knowledge and experience in business and government are extremely valuable to me and the Executive Leadership Group as we navigate these times,” said Port of San Diego President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Stuyvesant.
Kratos Air Wolf tactical drone system completes
successful flight at Burns Flat, Okla. Range Facility
San Diego-based Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. announced that its Air Wolf Tactical Drone System completed a 100 percent successful flight at the recently approved Burns Flat, Oklahoma Range Facility.
The Kratos Air Wolf Mission, which was the inaugural flight at the Burns Flat Range location, included multiple new payloads carried by the Air Wolf Drone, including a proprietary Kratos artificial intelligence/autonomy system, which has been developed by Kratos specifically for high performance, jet drone aircraft.
Air Wolf is one of several drones in Kratos’ family of affordable, high-performance jet drones that are flying today.
California’s tallest, fastest and longest dive coaster
to open March 2022 at SeaWorld San Diego
SeaWorld San Diego announced the opening of the highly anticipated dive coaster, Emperor, in March 2022. Joining other thrill rides at the park, Emperor will be the tallest, fastest, and longest dive coaster in California, as well as the only floorless dive coaster in the state.
Named after the world’s largest penguin, the new coaster will mimic this species’ amazing underwater diving ability. Climbing to 153 feet with feet dangling in the air, riders will be suspended on a 45-degree angle at the crown of the ride before plunging down a 143-foot facedown vertical drop, accelerating to more than 60 miles per hour. Riders will also experience inversions, barrel roll, Immelmann loop, hammerhead turn and flat spin as they race along the nearly 2,500 feet of track. Each of the floorless ride cars will hold 18 riders in three, six-person rows. This is the first seating configuration of its kind in North America.
“Our fans are eager to ride Emperor and we’re grateful for their enthusiasm and excitement to jump on this adrenaline-pumping dive coaster,” said John Dunlap, SeaWorld San Diego Park President. “Opening just in time for Spring Break, this free-falling, feet-dangling ride is going to provide even more thrills that our guests and coaster fanatics have been craving.”
Evergreen Nephrology launches first joint
venture with Balboa Nephrology Medical Group
Evergreen Nephrology, a company partnering with nephrologists in local markets to transform kidney care, has launched its first joint venture with San Diego-based Balboa Nephrology Medical Group. Balboa Nephrology is a leader in nephrology care.
“Partnering with Evergreen Nephrology continues our practices’ effort to be a leader in value-based nephrology care,” said Dylan Steer, M.D., CEO of Balboa Nephrology Medical Group. “We are also founding members of InterWell Health, a renal population health management company with the largest national network of high-performing nephrologists, and we view joining Evergreen as continuing our focus of putting patients at the center of care, with physicians at the helm.”
Explora BioLabs opens new preclinical
vivarium in Sorrento Valley
Explora BioLabs, a national provider of industry-leading preclinical vivarium research space and management services based in San Diego, has opened a new local facility
The new vivarium, located in San Diego’s Sorrento Valley neighborhood, joins five others in Explora BioLabs’ national network that have opened recently or will open later this year.
In San Diego, Explora BioLabs currently has eight facilities with two additional facilities under construction for 2022 launch.
The new Sorrento Valley facility provides biotechnology companies with fully managed off-site vivarium and research space, as well as access to local preclinical research services and Ph.D.-level staff. The facility allows researchers to focus on their science while Explora BioLabs’ staff handles the preclinical in vivo management, husbandry, logistics, and compliance requirements.
All Explora BioLabs facilities feature state-of-the-art equipment and operations, all of which are validated through AAALAC accreditation, NIH/OLAW assurance, and best-in-class health monitoring.
Camino Pharma initiates Phase 1 study
of therapeutic for treatment of tobacco use
Camino Pharma LLC, a San Diego–based biotechnology company developing small molecules to treat central nervous system disorders, announced that it has dosed the first cohort in a Phase 1 clinical trial of SBP-9330, an oral therapeutic to help people quit smoking.
The study is being funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through a grant awarded to Sanford Burnham Prebys, Camino Pharma and the Department of Psychiatry, UC San Diego School of Medicine.
The randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, single-ascending and multiple-ascending dose study is being conducted at a single site in the United States under an Investigational New Drug (IND) application recently allowed by the FDA and will enroll up to 80 healthy volunteers through multiple cohorts
Dvele selected as an ‘Eco-Leader’ by Green Builder Media
Dvele, a San Diego-based housing technology company known for its self-powered modular homes, announced that it has been selected as an “Eco-Leader” by Green Builder Media.
Green Builder Media selects Eco-Leaders every year to honor companies who have taken exemplary steps towards sustainability for their business practices. With this year’s theme focused on decarbonization, Dvele was recognized for its astonishing strides in reducing its carbon footprint in manufacturing and energy usage by assembling grid-independent homes that run on power from individual solar arrays and backup battery systems, and come equipped with advanced software and embedded intelligence to drive efficiency.
“We hope our Eco-Leader recognition serves as inspiration for other home builders to do their part in continuously adopting more sustainable building practices to aid in our mission of achieving a clean energy future for the next generation,” said Kurt Goodjohn, CEO and co-founder of Dvele.
