ESCONDIDO
Southern Swing: Brewery Introduces Itself to Alabama
Stone Brewing Co. said it plans to distribute its line of ales in Alabama beginning Aug. 27, with the help of Birmingham-based International Wines & Craft Beer. Alabama will be the 40th state to get the company’s products.
Representatives of the Escondido-based company will make appearances through Sept. 6 at bars and retailers in Auburn, Birmingham, Homewood, Huntsville, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery and Orange Beach. Stone reports a growing craft beer scene in Alabama.
— Brad Graves
OCEANSIDE
Wal-Mart Plans Fourth Local Neighborhood Market
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to open its fourth San Diego County location of Walmart Neighborhood Market early next year on Mission Avenue in Oceanside.
The 31,000-square-foot store will occupy a currently vacant retail space and employ approximately 65 people, the company said in a statement. The Oceanside store is expected to open in the first half of 2014.
Wal-Mart previously debuted its small-format grocery store in La Mesa and San Diego’s Sherman Heights neighborhood, with another store set to open this fall in Escondido.
Wal-Mart currently operates 23 stores in San Diego County, including 11 general merchandise stores, nine supercenters, two Neighborhood Market stores and one Sam’s Club location. The new Neighborhood Market will be the retailer’s fourth store in Oceanside, where it employs a total of approximately 900 people.
The Neighborhood Market stores, most between 30,000 and 60,000 square feet, include a pharmacy and departments selling items including fresh produce, meats, deli foods, baked goods and grocery staples. The concept debuted in 1998 and there are now approximately 250 stores nationwide, including 24 in California.
— Lou Hirsh
CHULA VISTA
Recycling Market Zone Expanded by State
A state agency approved the expansion of a recycling market development zone this city manages for 15 other jurisdictions.
With the approved extension by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the zone that previously limited to this city and small parts of the county now includes Coronado, El Cajon, Imperial Beach, Lemon Grove, National City, the city and county, and Imperial County, said the city of Chula Vista.
The RMDZ program offers both technical assistance and attractive loans to businesses that use materials from waste to manufacture their products, the city said.
The programs also encourage recycling businesses to site new manufacturing facilities and expand existing operations.
— Mike Allen
CARLSBAD
Wildlife Service Relocating To Office Park on Salk Avenue
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is relocating its local operations to a 23,510-square-foot office at 2177 Salk Ave., in the Ventana Real office park in Carlsbad.
A statement from Cassidy Turley San Diego, which represents the building owner, said the brokerage firm negotiated a five-year lease with the U.S. General Services Administration. Financial terms were unavailable.
Brokers said the property’s energy efficiency features factored into the government location decision, as the GSA aims to reduce the carbon footprint of federal buildings. The three-building office park, owned by Newport National Corp. of Carlsbad, has one building recently certified in the federal Energy Star program and another in the LEED certification process.
— Lou Hirsh
SAN DIEGO
AT&T Greets Comic-Con With Special Cell Gear
AT&T reports that it facilitated 2.74 million text messages over five days when it set up special infrastructure at the San Diego Convention Center during Comic-Con.
Since the annual get-together is a very visual event, the system also had to accommodate images and social media posts, all in addition to voice calls.
The carrier brought in a Super COLT (Cell on Light Truck) and a Super COW (Cell on Wheels) to handle the expected data traffic. Why “super”? AT&T said multi-beam antenna technology gave each mobile cell station the capacity of six traditional, single beam antennas.
A company spokeswoman said that a total of 8.5 terabytes of data were exchanged during Comic-Con. That’s 172 percent of last year’s event.
— Brad Graves
SANTEE
Retail Property Purchased For $1.5 Million
A retail property located in the heart of this city at 8890 Cuyamaca St. on the corner of Mission Gorge Road was purchased by Marble USA Inc. from VD & H Living Trust, according to CoStar Group. The sale price was $1.5 million for the property of 0.59 acres. Both buyers and sellers were represented by Lee and Associates. The property is currently occupied by tenant KFC.
— Mike Allen
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON
General Dynamics IT To Aid Marine Logistics
General Dynamics Information Technology recently received a $12 million contract modification to provide logistics help to the U.S. Marine Corps. More than half the work will be at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan. Stateside, the largest amount of work will be at Camp Pendleton (14 percent of total work), followed by Camp Lejeune, N.C. (11 percent). The business is providing integrated ground equipment readiness contractor logistics support. Work will run through September 2014.
— Brad Graves
San Diego County
Coworking Week Celebrated Throughout County
August 9 is “Coworking Day,” a growing trend which is celebrated around the globe. Coworking is a shared workplace concept designed to fit the needs of telecommuters, freelancers, contractors and entrepreneurs. It is estimated that 30 percent of U.S. knowledge workers are now working outside the traditional corporate structure.
The San Diego Coworking Alliance will be celebrating during the week of Aug. 5 – 9 by sponsoring events that will give the community an opportunity to visit at a variety of coworking spaces throughout San Diego at no cost.
Monday, Aug. 5 – Near Old Town, Blank Slate – www.blankslatesd.com
Tuesday, Aug. 6 – University Heights, 3rd Space – www.3rdspace.com
Wednesday, Aug. 7 – Sorrento Mesa, Hera Hub – www.herahub.com
Thursday, Aug. 8 – Kearny Mesa, Ansir Innovation Center –
www.aicenterca.com
Friday, Aug. 9 – Downtown, Co-merge – www.co-merge.com & CyberHive – www.cyberhivesandiego.org
To RSVP for the events go to
www.sandiegocoworking.com.
The San Diego Coworking Alliance (SDCA) launched in July 2011 to bring together the leaders of the city’s shared workspaces to collaborate on new ideas and resources. The goal of the SDCA is to expose the broader San Diego community to the concept of coworking and show tangible benefits of this emerging trend. Contact: Felena Hanson – felena@herahub.com
— Stephanie R. Glidden
