San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and some local solar energy industry leaders held a news conference to unveil a report that ranks San Diego No. 2 in the nation behind Los Angeles for the amount of solar panels installed and No. 4 for installations on a per-capita basis. The top 20 solar cities — including San Diego — now boast more solar power within their city limits than was installed across the entire country just six years ago. … On May 14, MIT Enterprise Forum San Diego will present its third annual May Tech Fiesta at the University of California, San Diego. Selected companies will offer three-minute elevator pitches to attending professional investors, senior executives and other entrepreneurs. Attendees will also get a chance to peruse information tables set up by the participating entrepreneurs before the pitches begin. More details are at sdmitforum.org. … Downtown-based technology startup The Control Group is teaming with local business educator Junior Achievement of San Diego County to host 30 students from Hoover High School as part of JA’s very popular job shadowing program. The Control Group will give over its new digs to demonstrate the skills and resources needed to pursue a career in information technology. … The region is home to 16 business accelerators, incubators and hubs, all geared toward grooming the next generation of startups. Recently, 12 of the 16 set up information tables at the San Diego Venture Group’s monthly breakfast meeting, receiving a rousing welcome from the more than 300 attendees. They included dozens of entrepreneurs who jammed the corridor outside the grand ballroom of the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine. SDVG President Dave Titus said that the concentration was one of the largest outside the tech hot spots of Boston, New York and Silicon Valley. … On May 6, Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County will participate in giveBIG, a 24-hour event staged to increase philanthropy in San Diego through online donations. Visit givebigsandiego.org for more details or to make a donation. … Finally: Fourteen chefs from the region’s most popular eateries will appear at the San Diego Council on Literacy’s annual “Eat.Drink.Read” culinary happening May 14 at Liberty Station. The event supports the council’s 26 programs providing free reading and writing assistance to more than 170,000 children, families and adults in the area. Organizers said guests will sample dishes prepared by a dozen of the city’s top-rated chefs. More than a half dozen San Diego craft breweries will also participate for the first time, along with a number of wineries. For details and tickets, go to eatdrinkread.com. Till next week.
Contributing Editor Tom York writes the SDBJ Insider. You can reach him at tom.york@gmail.com or tyork@sdbj.com. Tweet to him @tom2cents.