| San Diego Business Journal

Power-Sonic Charges Ahead After Acquisition

PRODUCTION: Battery Maker Increases Revenue, Monitors Tariff Situation

Like any good salesman, J.D. Johnson reacted when he heard on the early morning news that Lime was having trouble with its scooter batteries.

Calpine Receives $67M Navy Energy Deal

San Diego-based Calpine Energy Solutions LLC received a three-year, $67.3 million contract to deliver retail electricity and ancillary services to U.S. Navy bases in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland and California.

NIH Grant Puts Wind in Kaer Biotherapeutics’ Sails

Kaer Biotherapeutics of Escondido received a $2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to help develop a device for people who can't breathe.

Bridgepoint Education Has Net Income of $4M in Quarter

Bridgepoint Education Inc., the San Diego company specializing in postsecondary education, reported net income of $4.3 million on revenue of $114.9 million during the third quarter.

Military Economic Impact in County Estimated to Be $50 Billion

DEFENSE: Study Forecasts Additional 3.7% Growth In Fiscal 2019

Sailors and Marines. Ships, aircraft and military machinery. That is San Diego, yesterday and today.

Quarter Brings Stock Sale, Net Loss for Maxwell

With a third-quarter net loss of $9.7 million on revenue of $33.7 million, ultracapacitor-maker Maxwell Technologies Inc. hopes a changing business model means better times ahead.

Business Intelligence Is a Must in Defense Sector

DEFENSE: Knowing Inside Machinations Helps in Planning

Every year, San Diego defense and aerospace companies spend six-figure sums on lobbyists, who represent their clients before government leaders in Washington, D.C.

Sempra Interests Stretch From Trade to Climate

ENERGY: With Most All Moves Regulated, Co. Weighs In on Issues

Lighting San Diego’s homes. Moving electricity around California and Texas. Sending natural gas through pipelines. Building infrastructure to export liquefied natural gas to foreign ports. Those are only part of what Sempra Energy does to stay in business.

Sempra Earns $274M in Quarter, Signs Customers to Baja LNG Plant

Sempra Energy reported earnings of $274 million, or 99 cents per share, on total revenues of $2.94 billion in the third quarter of 2018. It also announced new customers for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export business.

Kratos Earns $1.7M on Revenue of $159M

Kratos Defense and Security Solutions Inc., which builds electronics and drones, reported net income of $1.7 million, or 2 cents per share, on total revenues of $159.4 million in the third quarter.

Viasat Gives to UC San Diego, Delves Into Design Thinking

Viasat Inc. has given UC San Diego’s Design Lab $250,000 to support the lab’s Center for Design-Driven Transformation. The center, in turn, will help Viasat transform its business processes.

Cohu Starting to Achieve Synergies After Acquisition

Cohu Inc. reported net income of $4.8 million or 16 cents per share on net sales of $86.2 million during the third quarter. The Poway based corporation also offered an update on its acquisition of Massachusetts-based Xcerra.

Guild Mortgage Volume Grows 9 Percent in First 9 Months

Growth in seven states helped push San Diego-based Guild Mortgage Co. ahead of its peers during the first three quarters of 2018. Total volume grew 9.3 percent to $12.75 billion.

On the Battlefield, AI Can Improvise, Adapt and Assist

Viasat Inc. plans to deliver artificial intelligence and machine learning to soldiers on the battlefield. The question I had was why.

Partners Plan Electric Vehicle ‘Hub’ Downtown

Arcimoto Inc., which produces three-wheeled electric vehicles capable of carrying two people, said it plans to open a rental location, showroom and charging station at 630 10th Avenue in downtown San Diego.

Viasat 2Q Revenue Grows 32 Percent

Viasat Inc. saw its second quarter revenue grow to $517.5 million from $393.1 million in the same quarter one year ago, an increase of 31.6 percent. Shares rose 11 percent.

Solar Turbines Changes Manufacturing, R&D

PRODUCTION: 3-D Printers Used in Work, Experimentation

The old image of manufacturing — of wrenches and grubby factory floors — needs a reboot.

RF Industries Sells Comnet

RF Industries Ltd., the Miramar area manufacturer that specializes in electronic interconnect products, said Oct. 31 that it sold its Comnet Telecom Supply subsidiary for $4.2 million in cash.

Kratos Gets Contract for Military C5ISR

Kratos Defense and Security Solutions Inc. said on Oct. 30 that it received a sole-source contract for C5ISR equipment worth approximately $40 million. The military abbreviation stands for command, control, communications, computing, combat, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Kratos to Supply Satellite Gear to Japan’s SJC

Kratos Defense and Security Solutions Inc. received a contract to produce satellite communications equipment for Tokyo-based SJC, also known as SKY Perfect JSAT Corp., for undisclosed terms.

Viasat Looks Ahead to SpaceX Launch

Carlsbad-based Viasat said it has contracted with Hawthorne-based SpaceX to launch the first of its ViaSat-3 satellites. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Huntington Ingalls Awarded Shipyard Work

The U.S. Navy awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries a $44.8 million contract for shipyard work to the USS O’Kane, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

Cubic Names Chief HR and Diversity Officer

Grace Lee will take the post of chief human resources and diversity officer at Cubic Corp. on Oct. 29.

Versatility Allows Helix to Tackle Variety of Jobs

BUILDING: Electrical Contractor Had 2017 Revenue of $624 Million

It might not sound all that appealing, but for an electrical contractor, a wastewater treatment plant is a thing of beauty.

Northrop’s Q3 Aerospace Sales Up 5% to $3.28B

Northrop Grumman Corp. is seeing growth in its Triton unmanned aircraft program.

San Diego to Pursue Community Choice Energy Plan

The city of San Diego intends to become an alternative energy provider to meet its goal of getting 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2035. SDG&E said it does not anticipate any material impact to its financial results.

Hire Signals Co.’s Strong Stake in Future Transportation

The coming of autonomous vehicles, as well as vehicles connected by radio, is a big deal for McCain Inc.

Cubic Acquires Trafficware

Cubic Corp. said on Oct. 24 that it acquired Advanced Traffic Solutions Inc. of Sugar Land, Texas for $235.7 million in cash.

PSemi’s Parent Company Keeps It Very Busy

TECH: San Diego Co. Is Turning Away Work, But Still Making Acquisitions

Jim Cable is back for another go-round as chief executive of PSemi Corp., the semiconductor unit of Japan-based Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd.

KPMG Names S.D. Managing Partner

Gonzales will be in charge of the office’s strategic direction and growth, and will oversee nearly 270 professionals and partners in San Diego.

A New Day For Donors

Who Will Follow in the Philanthropic Footsteps Of Those Who Have Given So Much to San Diego?

That person is out there: San Diego’s next big donor, who will put a name on a major civic, arts or university building.

GA Takes on Lithium-Ion Battery Deal

General Atomics said it received a contract from the U.S. Special Operations Command to deliver prototype lithium-ion battery systems for manned submersibles. The company is supplying what it calls LiFT, or lithium-ion fault-tolerant battery systems.

Wertheim Family Pledges $25M to UC San Diego

UC San Diego Health said it received a $25 million pledge from the Wertheim Family Foundation to fund a public health initiative at the university.

Seacoast Commerce Bank Surpasses $1B in Assets

San Diego-based Seacoast Commerce Bank reported net income of $3.47 million in the third quarter of 2018. The figure is up 144 percent from the third quarter of 2017, when net income was $1.43 million.

Sempra Pushes Farther Into Texas

After acquiring most of Dallas-based Oncor earlier this year, San Diego-based Sempra Energy wants to build on its investment in Texas with an investment totaling more than $1 billion in publicly traded InfraREIT.

Viasat’s Radio Project Puts Pentagon Procurement in Fast Lane

DEFENSE: Viasat Gets System in Hands Of Troops in 17 Months

Viasat Inc. did not take the conventional path to developing the handheld radio known as BATS-D, which soldiers on the ground use to call in airstrikes on enemy positions.

Viasat Will Fly With Gulfstream

Viasat Inc. said on Oct. 15 that its in-flight satellite connectivity equipment will be a factory-installed option in Gulfstream G280 business jets.

Navy Contractor Finds Off-Road Opportunity

DEFENSE: Particle Separator May Save Filters and Engines

Lily Aragon’s company has Southern California written all over it.

NASSCO Tapped for 6th Expeditionary Sea Base Ship

The U.S. Navy issued a preliminary contract that will let General Dynamics NASSCO build a sixth in a series of ships for expeditionary warfare.

Kratos Has a Spot in Harris Radios

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. said on Oct. 15 that it has licensed its Common Data Link radio technology to Harris Corp. for use in Harris’ handheld NanoSVDL radios.

Sempra, Activists Agree on 2 Board Members

Sempra Energy, working in conjunction with an activist investor group, named Cynthia L. Walker and Michael N. Mears to its board of directors on Oct. 11.

Planet Home Lending Opens in Chula Vista

Connecticut-based Planet Home Lending LLC announced on Oct. 11 that it has opened a branch office in Chula Vista’s Eastlake district.

End of Fiscal Year Is Awards Time for Military

The usual deluge of contract awards came with the end of the Pentagon’s fiscal year.

Northrop Delivers on Lifesaving Jamming Devices

Northrop Grumman Corp. said this month that it delivered all of its JCREW software-programmable signal jammers created during the program’s low-rate initial production phase. Final delivery of the dismounted systems was in June.

Co.’s Radio Technology Keeps Lines of Communication Open

TECH: Military Is Major Customer for Software, Hardware

Making radios that successfully connect on the battlefield is a real-world challenge. When soldiers have to go into cities — or tunnels — radio communication gets even more difficult.