The National League of Cities included San Diego in a list of 12 cities with best practices for small business development. The league released a report, “Big Ideas for Small Business,” during Small Business Week held earlier in the month. Small businesses make up a key segment of the U.S. economy, employing 55 percent of the nation’s workforce and accounting for 63 percent of net new jobs created from mid-2009 to 2012, the report said. San Francisco and Los Angeles joined San Diego in representing California on the list, according to the Washington, D.C.-based trade organization. … Encinitas-based startup Owaves officially launched an iPad app that it said is the world’s first wellness planner using a wireless, wearable device. Founder Royan Kamyar called the launch a first step in rolling out a system that assesses daily activity patterns. … Mission Federal Credit Union is the inaugural presenting sponsor of “College Nights” at San Diego Padres games on Thursday nights. Mission Fed is sponsoring a kiosk at 10 games in the ballpark that will include a photo booth for those millennials in search of a selfie. Fans who visit a Mission Fed branch can enter to win a visit to the dugout before the game as well as a bit of batting practice. … Kevin Leap — president of the San Diego Film Foundation, which runs the San Diego Film Festival — is looking for volunteers to staff the 13th annual event Sep. 24-28. The festival has become big news. “12 Years a Slave” and “August Osage County,” along with 110 other films, premiered at last year’s celluloid extravaganza. The former went on to win the Academy Award for best picture. The stage version of “August Osage County” had a successful run at The Old Globe in mid-2011. Contact Leap at kevin@sdfilmfest.com. … Jim Kennedy, chairman of Cox Enterprises and grandson of company founder James Cox, announced a $1.5 million grant to the USS Midway Museum. The Cox family has had a close relationship with the warship that goes back to March 1945 when Barbara Cox — the company founder’s daughter and Kennedy’s mother — participated in the warship’s launch. … A panel of judges selected two local student companies to compete in the Junior Achievement National Student Leadership Summit June 16-19 in Washington, D.C. The student team behind Nalu from La Jolla Country Day won the Marketing Award for best commercial and the Ingenuity Award for the most creative idea for its colored and scented surf wax. The student team behind Food Friendzy from Westview High School — a company that connects local food trucks to area events — took second place and the Finance Award as the most likely to be invested in.
Contributing Editor Tom York writes the SDBJ Insider. Reach him by email at tyork@sdbj.com or tom.york@gmail.com.
