San Diego Business Journal articles from May 2005

San Diego Business Journal archives from May 2005

Biz leaders saw writing on the wall for Murphy: looking back, they'd still urge resigning mayor to seek 2nd term.(Dick Murphy)
May 2, 2005... The image of a smoke-filled room, where a city's movers and shakers get together behind closed doors and plot to keep their man in office might be a tempting scenario for the watchers of San Diego's political scene, especially in light of Mayor...

Bracing for BRAC: local officials hold their breath as release of the military base closure list draws closer.(Base Realignment And Closure )
May 2, 2005... Call it the silence before the storm. Silence has become a defining quality of the latest military Base Realignment and Closure round--a quality that distinguishes it from the four previous Defense Department efforts known as BRAC. On...

Port may hike passenger fees to raise funds: cruise line will loan agency $8 million for upgrades.
May 2, 2005... Operating on a budget that won't cover the cost of a new cruise ship terminal--much less some long overdue repairs--the San Diego Unified Port District has come up with a plan to pay for the capital improvements it says are needed to win more...

Tenant-in-common deals taking S.D. by storm: sale of Emerald Plaza is latest example of using real estate finance method.(San Diego)
May 2, 2005... A fair amount of buzz is surrounding a quickly growing but largely overlooked aspect of the real estate industry. Since late 2002, when the Internal Revenue Service issued guidelines to validate an ownership structure that allowed capital...

Temecula Valley Bank to expand in North County: longtime banker Don Schempp to open new office in Carlsbad.(Finance)
May 2, 2005... Don Schempp, a longtime North County banker and the former chief executive officer of Capital Bank of North County, has joined Temecula Valley Bank as an executive vice president. "Don is our North County regional manager, and he'll be...

Community Bancorp pays top price for R.B. Bank: $33.2m deal signifies bullish market for well-run institutions.(Banking)(Rancho Bernardo Community Bank)
May 2, 2005... The stock market may be down this year, but the market for top performing community banks is bullish. Community Bancorp's recently announced purchase of Rancho Bernardo Community Bank for $33.2 million meant the one-office bank garnered...

Red tape still tangling medical professionals: firms find companies that specialize in compliance.(Small Business)
May 2, 2005... Encinitas optometrist Dr. Tony Hutchinson believes he's adhering to the growing list of federal, state and local regulations faced by most businesses his size. As a both a small-businessman and a health care provider, Hutchinson is up to...

Correction.(Small Business)(Correction Notice)
May 2, 2005... In the San Diego Business Journal's April 25 issue, "Nonprofits Play Key Role in San Diego Economy" stated that according to the 2002 San Diego Association of Nonprofits report, nonprofits generated $7.2 million in revenue. Nonprofits generated...

Convention Center looks to offer more discounts: chairwoman of board says plan would generate 'free money' for City of San Diego.(Tourism)
May 2, 2005... Some latecomers looking for a good deal on a meeting facility may find themselves in luck at the San Diego Convention Center if a plan to offer additional rental discounts passes muster with City Hall. The San Diego Convention Center Corp.,...

Firm lends hand to semiconductor manufacturers: S.D.'s global electronics solutions provides funds in high-tech industry.(Finance; San Diego; )(Global Electronics Solutions)
May 2, 2005... With costs to make computer chips escalating to the billions of dollars, finding a loan for the equipment used to make the components isn't easy. Most lenders shun the volatile and high risk semiconductor manufacturing industry, preferring...

Maquiladoras see an uptick in employment: plants post gain after years of decline and a shift to China.(Trade)
May 2, 2005... Mexico's maquiladora plants are growing employment after several years of decline. Employment at the plants, most of which straddle the U.S.-Mexico border, rose last year for the first time since their heyday in 2000, according to a report...

Big board has new meaning for merging banks.(FINANCE)
May 2, 2005... Directors of the newly expanded Landmark National Bank may find themselves putting in overtime when they begin meeting after a planned acquisition of Legacy Bank is completed. As part of the deal expected to close by the end of the second...

Community Bancorp's assets to go up after Rancho Bernardo buy.(FINANCE)(merger with Cuyamaca Bank)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Community Profits Rise 36 Percent: Community Bancorp, parent of Community National Bank, reported net income of $2.5 million in the first quarter, up 36 percent from the same period of 2004. The Escondido bank's total assets grew 41 percent to...

Southwest earnings up.(FINANCE)(Southwest Community Bancorp.)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Southwest Earnings Up: Net income at Southwest Community Bancorp for the first quarter was $1.52 million, up 39 percent from the prior year's first. The profit gave Southwest, which is based in Encinitas and has eight branches, a return on...

Double of portfolio.(FINANCE)(First International Bank)(San Diego Community Bank)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Double Of Portfolio: San Diego Community Bank in Chula Vista (formerly First International Bank) reported its net income in the first quarter was $135,000, down from $334,000 for the same period of 2004. The reason for the disparity was an...

Topping $100 million.(FINANCE)(Security Business Bank)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Topping $100 Million: Security Business Bank of San Diego reported quarterly pretax earnings of $229,000, compared with a loss of $143,000 for the first quarter of 2004. The one-office bank said it passed $100 million in total assets, up...

Profits drop.(FINANCE)(First PacTrust Bancorp)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Profits Drop: First PacTrust Bancorp, parent of Pacific Trust Bank in Chula Vista, reported net income of $1.1 million for the first quarter, down by $46,000 for the like period of 2004. The mortgage lender had to pay higher rates on deposits...

Podcasting an option to retain listeners: public relations firm celebrates 10 years.(MEDIA & MARKETING)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... As local radio programmers struggle with ways to combat satellite broadcasts and personal music players such as iPods, local public broadcasting station KPBS-FM hopes to retain and lure listeners to its station by offering podcasting services....

Turning 10.(MEDIA & MARKETING)
May 2, 2005... Turning 10: What began as a partnership between two public relations professionals has turned into a full-service marketing agency with an established presence in town and an impressive list of clients. Bailey Gardiner Inc., founded in 1995...

VC investments drop by 61 percent in 1st quarter: UCSD school of medicine lands $17m grant for environmental research.(BIOTECH)(Venture capital)
May 2, 2005... Venture capital investors were putting significantly less money into San Diego-based companies in the first three months of this year. Local VC investments fell a whopping 61 percent to $136.5 million in the first quarter from $353.4...

Older crowd helping bandar eateries expand: Jack in the box records solid 1st quarter earnings.(TOURISM)
May 2, 2005... While many of Fifth Avenue's clubs and bistros in the Gaslamp Quarter cater to Gen X'ers, a pair of Fourth Avenue restaurateurs credit the expansion of their business with focusing on the older boomers. Behrooz Farahani and his wife,...

High-profile public relations firms set merger plans.(DiZinno Thompson and NYCA merge)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... San Diego-based advertising agency owners Tom DiZinno of DiZinno Thompson and Michael Mark of NYCA have announced the two firms will merge. DiZinno, who called the move a "strategic merger," said no funds exchanged hands. He also said...

Unsung legal administrators hold firms together.(LAW)(International Association of Legal Administrators)
May 2, 2005... There probably never will be a prime-time TV show or best-selling potboiler about legal administrators, but those are the people who keep law offices going. More than 17,000 members of the international Association of Legal Administrators...

New Sullivan Wertz attorney brings impressive credentials.(LAW)(John H. Stephens joins Sullivan Wertz McDade & Wallace)(Mark Wicker and Jake Handy join Morrison and Foerster L.L.P.)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... On Board: John H. Stephens has joined the San Diego-based Sullivan Wertz McDade & Wallace. A specialist in the area of business litigation, real estate and personal injury, he clerked for Joseph.L. Alioto, the former mayor of San Francisco...

Bankruptcy law may give collectors headaches: some doubt the new law will change debtors' behavior.(FINANCE)
May 2, 2005... The get-tough bankruptcy overhaul signed by President Bush last month should be a bonanza for collection agents, given that the law is aimed at coaxing consumers to pay off their bills rather than just walking away. But collection agents...

Shipping business to San Diego: National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. could be a major player in navy's sea-basing program.(SPECIAL REPORT: DEFENSE)
May 2, 2005... They are out on the ocean because the U.S. military plans ahead: A fleet of supply ships, carrying vehicles, helicopters, water, ammunition and other military equipment. They cross the oceans and sit in foreign ports, just in case the president...

Local employees might not feel effects of BRAC: process to shutter bases, military support facilities.(SPECIAL REPORT: DEFENSE)(Base Realignment And Closure)
May 2, 2005... The prospect of the Pentagon's upcoming round of base closures is casting a shadow over city halls and statehouses. It's happening in the Midwest, the Northeast, Southern California, and all over the United States. Since military facilities...

Defense contractors.
May 2, 2005... DEFENSE CONTRACTORS Ranked by number of local employees as of March 31, 2005 Company Rank Address (last year) Web site 1 Science Applications International Corp. 1 10260 Campus...

UCSD Lands Environmental grant.(BIOTECH)(University of California. School of Medicine)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... UCSD Lands Environmental Grant: UCSD's School of Medicine recently won an extended government grant worth $17.2 million to try to identify disease-causing culprits in the environment. UCSD announced on April 25 it received the five-year...

Doing it all.(MEDIA & MARKETING)(Spa Science Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Doing It All: As a one-person shop, graphic designer Jamie Steidl is able to provide creative services faster than a typical marketing agency. Steidl, the founder of San Diego-based James Group Studios, was retained by Irvine-based skin...

Lender reports rise in income.(Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co.)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co., the San Diego-based lender specializing in subprime mortgages, reported net income of $3.3 million for the first quarter ended March 31, up 39 percent from the like period of last year. Net revenues for...

Finance firm opens San Diego office.(CNL Financial Group)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... CNL Securities Corp., a sales subsidiary of Orlando-based CNL Financial Group, a real estate investment company, opened a San Diego office recently in Downtown's Symphony Towers that will serve as the hub for the company's West Coast sales...

Small Change ... Point Loma Community Bank.(FINANCE)(new division)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Small Change... Point Loma Community Bank opened a residential mortgage lending division headed by Chris Andrews. Send any finance news to Mike Allen at mallen@sdbj.com. He can be reached at (858) 277-6359.

Mission Oaks National Bank.(FINANCE)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Mission Oaks National Bank plans a two-for-one stock split and to form a bank holding company. Send any finance news to Mike Allen at mallen@sdbj.com. He can be reached at (858) 277-6359.

Idego Methodologies, Inc.(FINANCE)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... The city of San Diego's technology fund provided more than $2 million to local tech startups, including a $200,000 loan last month to software firm Idego Methodologies, Inc. Send any finance news to Mike Allen at mallen@sdbj.com. He can be...

First quarter results show San Diego is steaming ahead.(Business in the North County)
May 2, 2005... The first quarter of the year has ended and North County appears to be flexing its muscle as the region's growth leader. A recently released report by the Employment Development Department indicated that nearly 50 percent of all the new...

Web connect directory.(Directory)
May 2, 2005... To advertise your website, call Lora at 858-277-6359 ext. 3134 Advertising Agencies/Marketing Communications Square One Advertising, Inc. www.squareoneadv.com erin@squareoneadv.com 858.715.4714 Whitelaw Marketing...

Health coverage driving costs for firms big, small: from eateries to automakers, companies seek relief from the soaring costs.(Small Business)
May 2, 2005... Here's how fed up small-business owners have gotten over the high cost of health care: a majority of them sampled in a new survey support a government-run program similar to the one used in Canada. The survey, conducted for a newly formed...

San Diego public stocks.(Illustration)
May 2, 2005... SAN DIEGO PUBLIC STOCKS Index Watch Index 4/28/05 4/18/05 Net Change %Change San Diego Business Journal Index 1139.79 1114.26 25.53 2.29% Dow Jones Industrial Average ...

Discovery Partners Int'l. Inc.(Proxy)(sales)
May 2, 2005... DISCOVERY PARTNERS INT'L. INC. NASD--DPII Discovery Partners International, Inc. develops and offers libraries of druglike compounds, proprietary instruments, consumable supplies, drug discovery services, computational tools to...

Sales.(PROGRESS REPORT)(sales of real estate)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Property: 1280 Liberty Way, Vista. Seller: Doris L. Maher Family limited partnership. Selling agents: Rusty Williams and Matt Weaver of Lee & Associates represented the buyer and Russ Jabara and Peter Merz of Colliers International...

Leases.(PROGRESS REPORT)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Property: 1786 La Costa Meadows Drive, Nos. 102 and 103, San Marcos. Lessor: RSF Business Park. Leasing agents: Kenneth Dubs Sr.of Dubs and Co., Inc. represented the lessor and lessee. Lessee/square footage: Kingsbourne Wire...

Gafcon.(CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL)(warehouse facility)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Gafcon, a San Diego-based construction and management firm, completed tenant improvement management and construction for a 13,300-square-foot multi-office and warehouse facility for professional skateboarder Tony Hawk in Vista. Garcon was...

Peterbuilt Corp.(CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL)(restaurant construction)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Peterbuilt Corp. completed the ground-up construction of the two-story Pizza Nova Restaurant at 5600 N. Harbor Drive in San Diego. The 3,000-square-foot waterfront restaurant will replace the old building, which was demolished. Cost:...

Johnson & Jennings General Contracting.(CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL)(Zukor Design)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Johnson & Jennings General Contracting completed construction for Zukor Design offices in the First National Bank Center at 401 W. Ash St. in Downtown San Diego. The firm is relocating from its current G Street location. Project work entailed...

Barnhart, Inc.(CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL)(community centers)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Barnhart, Inc. began construction on a site at the 12-acre Veterans Park in Chula Vista. The park, on East Palomar in the Sunbow area of Chula Vista, will include a lighted soccer field, picnic facilities, restrooms and basketball courts. A...

Competitive Edge Construction, Inc.(CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL)(Escondido Chamber of Commerce)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Competitive Edge Construction, Inc., based in Escondido, completed the 6,000-square-foot headquarters for the Escondido Chamber of Commerce at 720 N. Broadway. The facility includes a 1,500-square-foot boardroom that will be available to...

Managers make upgrades to impress TOBY judges: Carlsbad's GMS Realty sells Mesa Shopping Center for $27.3 million.(REAL ESTATEGM)
May 2, 2005... It's approaching that time of year when the annual TOBY Awards descend upon San Diego, prompting office building property managers throughout the region to scramble to showcase their buildings in the most favorable light possible. A fresh...

Hitting the mark.(REAL ESTATE)(Douglas Wilson Cos. constructs residential tower)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Hitting The Mark: The Douglas Wilson Cos.' The Mark, which until mid-April weekend was a massive 60,000-square-foot hole on the block encompassed by Market and Island streets and Eighth and Ninth avenues, has been filled with thousands of cubic...

Let the games begin.(TOURISM)(Jack in the Box Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Let The Games Begin: The guy with the oversized head and undersized clown hat is giving away his stuff'. But maybe he can afford to. First quarter earnings for San Diego-based Jack in the Box Inc. for the period that ended Jan. 23 rose to...

Details of a mushroom present a challenge.(TRENDS)(restaurant management)
May 2, 2005... There are common issues most every restaurant owner faces, such as food safety and employee turnover. But the nuances of a mushroom? It's among the many unique challenges Robin and Andrew Schiff face every day. Their North Park restaurant,...

Spotlight: Rapid Response Emergency Flood Service, Inc.(SMALL BUSINESS)(Andrew Grabhorn )
May 2, 2005... As a property claims adjuster for the local division of a national insurance company, Andrew Grabhorn thought the quality of water-damage restoration companies in San Diego was lacking and often felt uncomfortable recommending companies to his...

Family businesses should consider a council.(Small Business Help Line)
May 2, 2005... Question: I work with my family; how do we not bring the boardroom to the dining room table and vice versa? Answer: The need to differentiate between family and business is such a pertinent issue and how to keep the emotions that run...

A. Vincent Siciliano.(Executive Profile)(Biography)
May 2, 2005... Name: A. Vincent Siciliano. Title: Chief executive officer, president, 1st Pacific Bank of California. Education: Bachelor of arts, human biology and environmental engineering, Stanford University; master of arts, environmental...

Calendar.(BUSINESS EVENTS)(Calendar)
May 2, 2005... If you would like your business event that costs less than $75 to attend included in the calendar section, make sure your press release arrives at our offices at least 15 working days before the event. Send requests to: Stacey Bengtson...

Awards & recognition.(KEY HIRES AND PROMOTIONS)(Sandy Miller earns professional designation)(San Diego State University gets education grant)(K-CO Construction Inc. gets small business of the year award)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Re/Max Associates has announced that top-producing agent Sandy Miller has earned the Graduate Realtor Institute professional designation from the California Association of Realtors. Miller has been in the real estate business since 1999. San...

Banking and finance.(KEY HIRES AND PROMOTIONS)(Lana Blackwell joins Countrywide Home Loans, Inc)(Buddy E. Billingsley joins Wells Fargo & Co.)(Janice Erickson joins Port of San Diego)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Lana Blackwell has been appointed the home loan consultant sales manager for the Carlsbad office of Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. She will work with homebuilders and real estate professionals to give prospective home buyers information on home...

Health care and biotech.(KEY HIRES AND PROMOTIONS)(appointment of Susan Chu and Kay Huber in Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Susan Chu, M.D., a board certified internist and gastroenterologist, and Kay Huber, M.D., internal medicine physician, has joined Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group's facility on the campus of Sharp Metropolitan Medical Center. Chu's medical...

High-tech and manufacturing.(KEY HIRES AND PROMOTIONS)(appointment of Brian Grayek in Preventsys Inc. )(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Preventsys Inc. announced that Brian Grayek has been named chief technology officer. Grayek brings 25 years of network security service, IT operations and computer technology experience and has served as a technology strategist and principal...

Law.(KEY HIRES AND PROMOTIONS)(appointment of Roger D. Brown in Osborne & Nesbitt LLP, Cori Mandy in San Diego Legal Secretaries Association and Brian MeGloin in Larrabee & Zimmerman LLP )(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Roger D. Brown has joined Osborne & Nesbitt LLP. Brown began his legal career as in-house claims counsel and has spent more than 10 years representing several major insurers and reinsurers as national environmental counsel. Procopio, Cory,...

Media and marketing.(KEY HIRES AND PROMOTIONS)(appointment of Emily A. Frampton in Woodend, Nessel and Friends Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Emily A. Frampton has been named creative manager/account executive at Woodend Nessel & Friends advertising agency. With seven years of experience in the advertising industry, Frampton will be responsible for the production process, from...

Miscellaneous.(KEY HIRES AND PROMOTIONS)
May 2, 2005... The Association of Legal Administrators has announced the chapter's new board of directors. President of the chapter will be Patricia J. Lane. Joining Lane on the panel will be the president-elect, Linda E. Quindt, CLM, an administrator at...

Real estate.(KEY HIRES AND PROMOTIONS)(appointment of Veronica Telmosse in Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Co.)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Veronica Telmosse, assistant manager of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Del Mar, has been named manager of the company's office in Carlsbad. Telmosse has been in real estate for more than 30 years and has managed three offices in...

Kendra Hall.(EXECUTIVE SPOTLIGHT)(appointment in Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves and Savitch L.L.P.)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP has added certified appellate specialist Kendra Hall to the litigation team as of counsel. Before joining Procopio, Hall was a partner at Klinedeinst, PC, where she chaired the appellate department. Hall...

Philanthropy.(KEY HIRES AND PROMOTIONS)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... The Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego announced that it has received $50,000 from W. Roger and Judy Haughton of Walnut Creek. Roger Haughton is chairman and chief executive officer of PMI Group, Inc. The funds...

Notable commercial transactions.(REAL ESTATE)(GMS Realty sells Mesa Shopping Center)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Notable Commercial Transactions: Carlsbad-based GMS Realty LLC sold the Mesa Shopping Center, a 140,438-square-foot retail center in the Mira Mesa area of San Diego, for $27.3 million, in a recent transaction. The buyer was Mesa Town Center...

Costly Coronado.(REAL ESTATE)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Costly Coronado: A 41,700-square-foot mixed-use retail and office building in Coronado Sold for $17.4 million last week, marking the highest price per square foot sale in San Diego County for a mixed-use property valued at more than $10...

Coronado Office Expands.(REAL ESTATE)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Coronado Office Expands: Speaking of Coronado, La Jolla-based Willis Allen Co., a private real estate firm, officially opened its new office in Coronado on April 21. The office at 875 Orange Ave. is the firm's sixth location in San Diego and is...

Conference Scheduled.(REAL ESTATE)
May 2, 2005... Conference Scheduled: The Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego is set to hold its Workforce Housing Conference: Looking for Answers, on May 17 at the school's Jenny Craig Pavilion. For more information, go to...

Correction.(REAL ESTATE)(Correction Notice)
May 2, 2005... In the April 25 real estate column, the name of the president and chief executive officer of H.G. Fenton, Mike Neal, was misspelled. Send residential and commercial real estate news to Heather Bergman via e-mail at hbergman@sdbj.com or via...

If this mogul is worried, perhaps you should be too.(Pacific Perspectives)
May 2, 2005... Figure it this way: If the famous, rich and not-often-wrong Rupert Murdoch is worried, then we should all be a bit worried too, right? Murdoch's rather surprising fret these days is about the future of China, perhaps ever-so-slightly...

Depressing depreciation in tax code.(Opinion)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... The President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform met in San Francisco recently as part of its travels around the country to listen to a number of experts and others describing various problems with the current system. These meetings...

Tax idea floated.(TOP BUSINESS NEWS: APRIL 22-28, 2005)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Friday, April 22 Tax Idea Floated: The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce called on the mayor and City Council to review its plan to generate new revenue for the city's crumbling infrastructure. The chamber is proposing a $2 fee...

JMAR founder leaves.(TOP BUSINESS NEWS: APRIL 22-28, 2005)
May 2, 2005... JMAR Founder Leaves: John S. Martinez resigned from the board of JMAR Technologies, Inc. after 18 years with the company he founded. The board elected Paul Gilman, founding director of the Oak Ridge Center for Advanced Studies, to fill the...

Vote on stem cell center.(TOP BUSINESS NEWS: APRIL 22-28, 2005)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Monday, April 25. Vote On Stem Cell Center: A key vote may have hurt San Diego's chances of landing the headquarters of California's stem cell institute, according to San Diego officials. Members of the California Institute for...

Sempra taps Russia.(TOP BUSINESS NEWS: APRIL 22-28, 2005)(Sempra Energy)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Sempra Taps Russia: San Diego-based Sempra Energy revealed the liquefied natural gas terminal it would like to build off Baja California near San Diego may one day become a North American point of entry for Russian natural gas. Sempra...

Memec acquired.(TOP BUSINESS NEWS: APRIL 22-28, 2005)
May 2, 2005... Tuesday, April 26 Memec Acquired: Memec, a global distributor of semiconductors that moved its headquarters from London to Carmel Valley two years ago, agreed to be acquired by Avnet Inc. in a deal valued at $676 million. Avnet, a...

Peters to lead transition.(TOP BUSINESS NEWS: APRIL 22-28, 2005)(Scott Peters )(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Wednesday, April 27 Peters To Lead Transition: San Diego City Councilman Scott Peters was unanimously elected to lead the transition to the strong mayor form of government approved by voters in November. Peters will chair the City...

Poinsettia Bowl gets sponsor.(TOP BUSINESS NEWS: APRIL 22-28, 2005)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Poinsettia Bowl Gets Sponsor: San Diego County Credit Union, the area's largest credit union with more than $2.5 billion in assets, was named the title sponsor of the Poinsettia Bowl, the postseason college football game set to debut at...

Titan revenues soar.(TOP BUSINESS NEWS: APRIL 22-28, 2005)
May 2, 2005... Thursday, April 28 Titan Revenues Soar: Titan Corp., the San Diego-based communications defense contractor, reported net income of $19 million on revenues of $559 million for the first quarter, compared with net income of $3.1 million on...

AMCC reports loss.(TOP BUSINESS NEWS: APRIL 22-28, 2005)
May 2, 2005... AMCC Reports Loss: Applied Micro Circuits Corp., the San Diego-based maker of high-speed chips used in telecommunications network systems, reported a net loss of $5.3 million on revenues of $64.2 million for its fourth quarter ended March 31....

Avanir lands Novartis deal.(TOP BUSINESS NEWS: APRIL 22-28, 2005)(AVANIR Pharmaceuticals)(Novartis AG)(Brief Article)
May 2, 2005... Avanir Lands Novartis Deal: Shares of Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. rose 6.04 percent in early morning trading after the San Diego-based biotechnology company announced it landed a multimillion-dollar partnership deal with Swiss drug maker...

Workers' comp relief slow to come: competition among insurance carriers and decreasing costs could signal a turnaround.(WORKERS' COMP CRISIS)
May 9, 2005... Increasing competition among carriers and decreasing average costs indicate that the state's beleaguered workers' compensation system might be on the road to recovery. The nature of the insurance market means changes, in some cases, are...

The move to Mexico: title insurer may play a new role for home buyers.(Grupo Lagza Inc.)
May 9, 2005... Executives from Grupo Lagza, Inc., a major property developer in Mexico, are courting San Diego home buyers for new residential developments along the coast of Baja California and want to provide a perk not currently offered from San Diego. ...