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CCDC Now A Big Fan Of DEVO

CCDC Now A Big Fan Of DEVO

MiraCosta College Holds Small Business Forum

TIPS and TRENDS

The Centre City Development Corp., San Diego’s planning and redevelopment agency for the Downtown area, recently agreed to participate in the Diverse Emerging Vendor Outreach, or DEVO, program.

DEVO is a collaboration between the city’s purchasing department and the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. It recruits, certifies, and assists local emerging and small businesses.

The program promotes diversity and inclusiveness for businesses that provide goods and services , everything from construction companies to law firms to printers , to the city, the San Diego Regional Water Authority, and the San Diego Unified Port District.

Now in its third year, DEVO has enrolled 1,044 companies, and awarded $23.7 million in contracts to 390 vendors in the program.

Of the companies participating in DEVO, 49 percent are owned by minorities and tend to be relatively small, with revenue of $170,400 on average. Women own 31 percent of the participating companies.

The CCDC will pay a fee of $8,600 to participate in DEVO for one year. In return, the agency has access to the program’s vendor database, the ability to participate in outreach events, and will be listed in marketing materials.

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Back To Basics: MiraCosta College is offering five workshops for those interested in owning their own business or learning more about a small business.

The workshops are offered through the college’s Community Services Program and include topics focusing on starting a business, sales and marketing, customer service, and writing a business plan.

The first class is Oct. 1 and is called The Basics. Discussions include characteristics of successful entrepreneurs and legal forms of ownership. The Sales and Marketing Strategies for a Growing Business class is Oct. 8. The Strategies for Keeping Your Business in the Black class is Oct. 15. The other two dates are Oct. 22 for the Small Business Customer Service class and Oct. 29 for the How to Write a Business Plan class.

Classes are from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. in Room 302 at MiraCosta’s San Elijo campus, 3333 Manchester Ave. The fee is $45 per class. Participants who sign up for all five classes receive a discounted price as well as a certificate of completion.

For more information or to register, call (760) 795-6820.

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Seeing Eye-to-Eye: EyeTracking, Inc., a six-person company near San Diego State University formed on the foundation of university research announced new contracts from Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories and Boeing Phantom Works.

Terms of the deals were not announced.

EyeTracking’s business centers on a device that monitors the eye movements of people using computer terminals.

The company will provide Lockheed Martin with real-time assessment of sailors’ cognitive effort as they operate an Aegis-class naval ship computer workstation.

For Boeing the task will be similar, this time helping operators deal with futuristic weapons systems such as unmanned air combat vehicles.

In other news, EyeTracking received a $50,000 grant from the Center for the Commercialization of Advanced Technology in August. It’s the second grant from the San Diego center, which distributes a pool of Pentagon money.

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Taking Care of Business: Nearly six in 10 small business owners say they expect an increase in their company’s revenues over the next 12 months, according to a Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index.

The first-ever results for the index released last week also found that 44 percent of small business owners said their businesses’ sales decreased over the past 12 months, vs. 35 percent, which said their companies’ sales increased.

When asked about the next 12 months, two-thirds said they expect increased cash flow, while 16 percent expect a decline in cash flow. Seventy-four percent of those surveyed said their company’s financial situation should improve, while 11 percent said it will be poor.

The index was sponsored by Wells Fargo, a diversified lender with more than 370 billion in total assets, and conducted by the Gallup Organization, a provider of marketing, management research, and advisory services to corporations.

Sales Off to Quick Start for Downtown Condo Tower

Bosa Development has reservations for 100 of the 221 condominiums in its second tower at the Grande at Santa Fe Place, where official sales began over the weekend.

The Vancouver, British Columbia-based developer is building two identical 39-story condo towers in the Downtown San Diego project on Pacific Highway in front of the Santa Fe Depot.

Bosa began construction of the second tower three months ago, and plans to finish there by the end of 2005.

The condos range from 898 to 1,944 square feet and sell from the high $300,000s to high $600,000s.

Construction at the first tower, where the 19 remaining units sell from the mid-$400,000s to $625,000, will be completed late in 2004.

Rancho Bernardo Office Complex Sells for $17M

Harsch Investment Properties, headquartered in Portland, Ore., paid $17.63 million for the Carmel Corporate Plaza in Rancho Bernardo.

The two-story, 86,639-square-foot property on 4.5 acres at 15015 Avenue of Science is 100 percent occupied.

Jay Alexander and John Hale of Colliers International represented Harsch in the transaction, as well as the seller, The Shidler Group of San Diego.

Shidler bought the building for $11 million in October 2002. It was built in 1998.

Bill Rodewald, a local vice president and regional manager for Harsch, said, “With this acquisition, our San Diego portfolio is now in excess of 1 million square feet.”

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