Mare Island dry docks plan wins Planning Commission backing
More than 100 jobs could be created under proposal to dismantle ships
By Jessica A. York/Times-Herald staff writer
Posted: 11/03/2009
Will Vallejo workers be hired first?
Will the city be hit with new air, water, soil and noise pollution?
How will reopening a Mare Island shipyard affect future island development?
These and other concerns about a proposed Mare Island ship and marine company were spread thinly amid a mostly supportive and near-capacity crowd at Vallejo City Hall Monday night.
At the end of a nearly four hours hearing, the Vallejo Planning Commission unanimously approved the project, proposed by California Dry Dock Solutions.
Monday's approval was the final city approval needed for the company, which intends to seek contracts to scrap Suisun Bay decommissioned naval ships inside two of Mare Island's mammoth dry docks. The operation, still seeking regulatory agency permits and a site lease, could employ up to 120 people and begin as early as summer 2010.
The public spoke about Mare Island's military history and suitability for the dry docks, job creation and new city revenue, and ancillary benefit to Vallejo businesses. Even some Mare Island residents spoke in support of the venture.
Planning Commissioners, along with residents, questioned the California Dry Dock Solutions executives on their ability to compete with other national ship recycling companies and project details.
Commissioner Bruce Gourley led Mare Island developer Tom Sheaff, of Lennar Mare Island, to agree that little other long-term development is fitting for the property surrounding the dry docks.
"I don't believe that there are any viable uses that can come in that are not heavy marine-related," Sheaff said.
Commissioner Landis Graden responded to concerns that the company may not prioritize the hiring of Vallejo residents before looking elsewhere for employees.
"We're trusting them with asbestos, PCBs, I think we can trust their word that they're going to hire local," Graden said.
While one speaker described the marine project as a "perfect storm of opportunity" for Vallejo, others felt developer Lennar Mare Island, which owns the dry docks, had unfairly pushed another project aside.
The nonprofit Historic Ships Memorial at Pacific Square organization has been grappling for years for funding to bring the USS Iowa, moored with the other mothballed ships to a permanent Vallejo home - as a museum. Merylin Wong, president and director of the group, pleaded with commissioners to specify alternative locations on Mare Island for the Iowa, if not at the dry dock area.
More information on California Dry Dock Solutions is available online at www.californiadrydock.com.
Contact staff writer Jessica A. York at (707) 553-6834 or jyork@timesheraldonline.com
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
UC Davis to create 250 jobs with stimulus funds
UC Davis to create 250 jobs with stimulus funds
Sacramento Business Journal - by Kelly Johnson Staff writer
Friday, October 30, 2009
The University of California Davis will be able to hire 250 people as a result of federal stimulus funds, including 53 people who have already been put to work.
The UC Davis job numbers were announced Friday as part of a national report from the White House on initial outcomes from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and are based on an analysis of $69.9 million in stimulus awards the campus had received as of Sept. 30. UC Davis has submitted requests for more than $500 million in stimulus dollars.
So far awards to UC Davis have created 53 full-time jobs on campus, ranging from lab technicians to professors, a news release said. At least 200 more workers will be needed soon to carry out research projects funded by stimulus money, UC Davis officials say.
“In addition to creating and preserving jobs in a difficult economy, these grants will support important research in medicine, basic sciences and engineering that will have long-term benefits for the economy of California and the nation — and they will help us to train the next generation of scientists,” Barry Klein, UC Davis vice chancellor for research, said in a news release. “Moreover, we are optimistic that discoveries made in the course of stimulus-funded research will create new enterprises and additional long-term, sustainable jobs.”
Some of the 174 stimulus grants the university has received as of Sept. 30 include:
* $2.3 million to study the spread of tuberculosis
* $2 million to develop a new, more powerful electron microscope
* $1.5 million to the Clinical and Translational Science Center, which tries to bring promising medical research to the bedside
* $780,000 for research on building foundations that can withstand earthquakes
* $685,000 for cardiovascular research
* $548,000 for tools for predicting outbreaks of West Nile virus
* $490,000 to study the use of ultrasound in cancer treatment
* $478,000 for influenza virus studies
* $379,000 to explore causes of autism
* $378,000 for engineering and implanting replacement knee joint tissue
* $330,000 for technology that could lead to new materials for storing data
* $240,000 for research on cobalt water-splitting catalysts, a possible source of clean energy
* $206,000 to explore use of virtual reality technology for social-skills training of children with autism.
Sacramento Business Journal - by Kelly Johnson Staff writer
Friday, October 30, 2009
The University of California Davis will be able to hire 250 people as a result of federal stimulus funds, including 53 people who have already been put to work.
The UC Davis job numbers were announced Friday as part of a national report from the White House on initial outcomes from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and are based on an analysis of $69.9 million in stimulus awards the campus had received as of Sept. 30. UC Davis has submitted requests for more than $500 million in stimulus dollars.
So far awards to UC Davis have created 53 full-time jobs on campus, ranging from lab technicians to professors, a news release said. At least 200 more workers will be needed soon to carry out research projects funded by stimulus money, UC Davis officials say.
“In addition to creating and preserving jobs in a difficult economy, these grants will support important research in medicine, basic sciences and engineering that will have long-term benefits for the economy of California and the nation — and they will help us to train the next generation of scientists,” Barry Klein, UC Davis vice chancellor for research, said in a news release. “Moreover, we are optimistic that discoveries made in the course of stimulus-funded research will create new enterprises and additional long-term, sustainable jobs.”
Some of the 174 stimulus grants the university has received as of Sept. 30 include:
* $2.3 million to study the spread of tuberculosis
* $2 million to develop a new, more powerful electron microscope
* $1.5 million to the Clinical and Translational Science Center, which tries to bring promising medical research to the bedside
* $780,000 for research on building foundations that can withstand earthquakes
* $685,000 for cardiovascular research
* $548,000 for tools for predicting outbreaks of West Nile virus
* $490,000 to study the use of ultrasound in cancer treatment
* $478,000 for influenza virus studies
* $379,000 to explore causes of autism
* $378,000 for engineering and implanting replacement knee joint tissue
* $330,000 for technology that could lead to new materials for storing data
* $240,000 for research on cobalt water-splitting catalysts, a possible source of clean energy
* $206,000 to explore use of virtual reality technology for social-skills training of children with autism.
UC Davis gets $2 million to boost entrepreneurship studies
UC Davis gets $2 million to boost entrepreneurship studies
cbuck@sacbee.com
Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009
A $2 million gift to boost entrepreneurship studies at UC Davis was announced this week by the university's Graduate School of Management, part of its continuing efforts to propel innovative ideas out of the classroom and into the business world.
The bequest is from the estate of Charles J. Soderquist, a University of California, Davis, alumnus, benefactor and the inspiration behind the university's Center for Entrepreneurship. He died in 2004 after a brain hemorrhage at age 57.
The $2 million will be divided roughly equally: half to establish an endowment to support the center and the rest to fund a professorship in entrepreneurship studies.
This week, UC Davis business school professor Andrew Hargadon was named the first recipient of the Charles J. Soderquist endowed chair.
Hargadon, who heads the center and collaborated with Soderquist on UC Davis' entrepreneurship efforts, said Soderquist felt strongly "that good science needed good business" to have an impact.
"There's a lot of misunderstanding about the boundary between science and business," Hargadon said Monday. "It's often seen as tainting science, but before science can have the impact, it needs business to get out in the real world."
In a statement, Steven Currall, dean of the Graduate School of Management, called the $2 million "a trailblazing gift that will catapult the center to higher levels of recognition and achievement."
UC Davis' Center for Entrepreneurship was launched in 2004 after Soderquist teamed with Hargadon and local venture capitalist Scott Lenet to co-teach a class of graduate students from the business, engineering and life sciences departments. The students worked with entrepreneurs, investors and business executives on getting research ideas ready for markets.
The center has since enrolled more than 40 doctoral candidates in its yearlong business-development fellowship program and more than 300 in its entrepreneurship academies, which are weeklong "boot camps" on how to commercialize research.
UC Davis officials said the center has contributed to development of energy-efficient LED street lighting, high-efficiency solar cells and technology to convert wastewater into biodegradable plastics.
Soderquist, who had two graduate chemistry degrees from UC Davis, launched California Analytical Laboratories, an environmental consulting and testing firm in Sacramento. It became a multimillion-dollar business. He later helped launch dozens of high-tech companies.
cbuck@sacbee.com
Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009
A $2 million gift to boost entrepreneurship studies at UC Davis was announced this week by the university's Graduate School of Management, part of its continuing efforts to propel innovative ideas out of the classroom and into the business world.
The bequest is from the estate of Charles J. Soderquist, a University of California, Davis, alumnus, benefactor and the inspiration behind the university's Center for Entrepreneurship. He died in 2004 after a brain hemorrhage at age 57.
The $2 million will be divided roughly equally: half to establish an endowment to support the center and the rest to fund a professorship in entrepreneurship studies.
This week, UC Davis business school professor Andrew Hargadon was named the first recipient of the Charles J. Soderquist endowed chair.
Hargadon, who heads the center and collaborated with Soderquist on UC Davis' entrepreneurship efforts, said Soderquist felt strongly "that good science needed good business" to have an impact.
"There's a lot of misunderstanding about the boundary between science and business," Hargadon said Monday. "It's often seen as tainting science, but before science can have the impact, it needs business to get out in the real world."
In a statement, Steven Currall, dean of the Graduate School of Management, called the $2 million "a trailblazing gift that will catapult the center to higher levels of recognition and achievement."
UC Davis' Center for Entrepreneurship was launched in 2004 after Soderquist teamed with Hargadon and local venture capitalist Scott Lenet to co-teach a class of graduate students from the business, engineering and life sciences departments. The students worked with entrepreneurs, investors and business executives on getting research ideas ready for markets.
The center has since enrolled more than 40 doctoral candidates in its yearlong business-development fellowship program and more than 300 in its entrepreneurship academies, which are weeklong "boot camps" on how to commercialize research.
UC Davis officials said the center has contributed to development of energy-efficient LED street lighting, high-efficiency solar cells and technology to convert wastewater into biodegradable plastics.
Soderquist, who had two graduate chemistry degrees from UC Davis, launched California Analytical Laboratories, an environmental consulting and testing firm in Sacramento. It became a multimillion-dollar business. He later helped launch dozens of high-tech companies.
Cisco joins list of groups retraining workers
Cisco joins list of groups retraining workers
By Ben Antonius | Daily Republic | November 01, 2009
Rodney Guenther, a Cisco certified instructor teaches an Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices class to unemployed workers at the Solano Employment Connection building in Vallejo. The class, which normally costs $3500, was offered for free to qualified workers through a partnerhsip of the Solano County Workfoce Investment Boar, Cisco, Skyline Advanced Technology Services and Techsponential. Photo by Chris Jordan
VALLEJO - Add Cisco Systems to the list of groups working to retrain displaced workers in Solano County.
The technology giant and its partner Skyline Advanced Technology Services were behind a recent pilot program in Vallejo that offered unemployed residents a chance to get the training and certification to enter the information technology sector.
'There is this huge amount of talented people that don't have the IT skills right now and at the same time you have got IT demand for skilled employees,' said Tejas Vashi, senior manager for Cisco.
The week-long 'Techsponential' program prepares students to take the exam to receive the Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician designation. The backgrounds of attendees varied, with some coming from part-time IT jobs and others being art majors, Vashi said.
The training seminar took place at the Vallejo office of the Solano County Workforce Investment Board, which has played host to an increasing number of job training events as of late.
'With the economic stimulus money, we have embarked on expanding our training programs,' executive director Robert Bloom said.
See the complete story at the Daily Republic online.
By Ben Antonius | Daily Republic | November 01, 2009
Rodney Guenther, a Cisco certified instructor teaches an Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices class to unemployed workers at the Solano Employment Connection building in Vallejo. The class, which normally costs $3500, was offered for free to qualified workers through a partnerhsip of the Solano County Workfoce Investment Boar, Cisco, Skyline Advanced Technology Services and Techsponential. Photo by Chris Jordan
VALLEJO - Add Cisco Systems to the list of groups working to retrain displaced workers in Solano County.
The technology giant and its partner Skyline Advanced Technology Services were behind a recent pilot program in Vallejo that offered unemployed residents a chance to get the training and certification to enter the information technology sector.
'There is this huge amount of talented people that don't have the IT skills right now and at the same time you have got IT demand for skilled employees,' said Tejas Vashi, senior manager for Cisco.
The week-long 'Techsponential' program prepares students to take the exam to receive the Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician designation. The backgrounds of attendees varied, with some coming from part-time IT jobs and others being art majors, Vashi said.
The training seminar took place at the Vallejo office of the Solano County Workforce Investment Board, which has played host to an increasing number of job training events as of late.
'With the economic stimulus money, we have embarked on expanding our training programs,' executive director Robert Bloom said.
See the complete story at the Daily Republic online.
Monday, November 2, 2009
UC Davis MIND Institute gets $12M grant
UC Davis MIND Institute gets $12M grant
Sacramento Business Journal
by Michael Shaw Staff writer
The University of California Davis MIND Institute will receive $12 million in stimulus funds to study autism and other disorders, the university announced Monday.
The funding, from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will be used over the next two years to investigate childhood risks of autism due to genetics and the environment, an autism phenome project that is one of the nation’s largest studies of the disorder, and several other studies.
“The MIND Institute is fortunate to have such a talented group of scientists who will make a real difference in our understanding the causes and in developing effective treatments for a number of neurodevelopmental disorders,” Robert Hales, the institute’s interim director and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, said in a news release.
The institute was founded in 1998 as an interdisciplinary research center to study neurodevelopmental disorders.
Sacramento Business Journal
by Michael Shaw Staff writer
The University of California Davis MIND Institute will receive $12 million in stimulus funds to study autism and other disorders, the university announced Monday.
The funding, from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will be used over the next two years to investigate childhood risks of autism due to genetics and the environment, an autism phenome project that is one of the nation’s largest studies of the disorder, and several other studies.
“The MIND Institute is fortunate to have such a talented group of scientists who will make a real difference in our understanding the causes and in developing effective treatments for a number of neurodevelopmental disorders,” Robert Hales, the institute’s interim director and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, said in a news release.
The institute was founded in 1998 as an interdisciplinary research center to study neurodevelopmental disorders.
$2 MILLION GIFT TO SPARK ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT UC DAVIS
University of California, Davis
November 2, 2009
$2 MILLION GIFT TO SPARK ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT UC DAVIS
The UC Davis Graduate School of Management has $2 million in new seed money to spark entrepreneurship in California, thanks to a gift from the estate of Charles J. Soderquist, a UC Davis alumnus who founded and led several dozen high-tech companies in the greater Sacramento area.
Half of the $2 million will establish an endowment to support the management school's Center for Entrepreneurship, and the rest will be used to create the Charles J. Soderquist Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship.
Soderquist received his master's degree in 1973 and his doctorate in 1978, both from UC Davis in environmental chemistry. He died in 2004.
"Although I did not have the good fortune to know Mr. Soderquist personally, I am grateful for his many years of dedication to UC Davis," Chancellor Linda Katehi said. "Philanthropic support, like that from the Soderquist estate, is critical to the growth of programs and helps to move us even higher within the top tier of the nation's public research universities."
Steven Currall, dean of the Graduate School of Management, said this gift will contribute to the momentum of the UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship.
"This is a trailblazing gift that will catapult the center to higher levels of recognition and achievement," he said.
The Center for Entrepreneurship got its start in the winter of 2004 when Soderquist, Graduate School of Management Professor Andrew Hargadon and Sacramento-based venture capitalist Scott Lenet co-taught a course that mixed Graduate School of Management students with graduate students from the life sciences and engineering program on campus. Students learned under the guidance of experienced entrepreneurs, investors and corporate leaders. Soderquist shared his experiences in launching new companies, along with his vision for how science and business could mix at UC Davis.
"The idea was to create a program that would not just teach entrepreneurship but create entrepreneurs," said Hargadon, who has served as the center's director since its inception. He assumed the Charles J. Soderquist Endowed Chair on Nov. 1. "We felt that UC Davis, with all of its science and engineering talent, could blossom if entrepreneurs helped bring those ideas out of the laboratories and into the broader world."
Since then, the center has enrolled more than 40 doctoral candidates in the Business Development Fellows program (a yearlong series of courses and intensive weeklong "boot camps") and more than 300 national and international participants in its entrepreneurship academies. These scientists and engineers have turned their ideas into action, fostering the development of such innovations as energy-efficient LED street lighting, technology that can turn wastewater into biodegradable plastics, and designs for high-efficiency solar cells, among many other projects.
"Charlie would have been proud to see the Center for Entrepreneurship blossom as it has," said Chancellor Emeritus Larry Vanderhoef, who counted Soderquist as a close friend and was instrumental in establishing the endowed chair. "He was passionate about so many things, including the promise of science and technology to make this world a better place."
Soderquist often defined entrepreneurship as "the art of business,"
and he tirelessly engaged entrepreneurs to replicate themselves. The center married two of his passions -- entrepreneurship and UC Davis.
Soderquist's enthusiasm extended from the science, business and investment communities to education, art, literature and the environment. He was a staunch supporter of his alma mater and served as chair of the UC Davis Foundation, a volunteer-led organization that receives private gifts to benefit UC Davis and manages its endowed gift funds and other private assets. He also served as president of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association and as an alumni representative to the UC Board of Regents.
Hargadon said he only wishes Soderquist could have seen that first class become a program that continues to grow and engage UC Davis students and scholars from around the world.
"There is nothing more fitting -- nor more moving to me -- than to have Charlie's name and continuing support attached to the program he helped create," Hargadon said.
About the UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship
The Center for Entrepreneurship is one of three Centers of Excellence at the Graduate School of Management. It is a nexus for entrepreneurship education and research -- and a springboard for entrepreneurial ventures -- on the UC Davis campus and beyond. The center teaches scientists and engineers how to move their ideas out of the lab and into the world. Through a set of programs, the center provides researchers with the necessary skills and knowledge to launch a venture, commercialize their research and prepare for a career in industry. Science, engineering and business students work together with experienced entrepreneurs, investors and corporate leaders in an environment that blends effective theory with hands-on participation and solution-driven innovation.
About the UC Davis Graduate School of Management
Established in 1981, the Graduate School of Management has enjoyed growing national and international prominence. U.S. News & World Report has ranked it among the top 50 public and private business schools for the past 14 years. It moved up to 40th place in the magazine's latest survey. The school has 120 students enrolled in a daytime MBA program at Gallagher Hall at the UC Davis campus and more than 450 working professional students at campuses in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area. Three Centers of Excellence are devoted to research and activities that have a powerful impact on the business world and enrich the curriculum with hands-on learning opportunities for students: UC Davis Center for Investor Welfare and Corporate Responsibility, the UC Davis MBA Consulting Center and the UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship. <http://www.gsm.ucdavis.edu>
About UC Davis
For 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 31,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $500 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges -- Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science -- and advanced degrees from six professional schools -- Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.
Media contact(s):
* Nicole Starsinic, Center for Entrepreneurship, (530) 574-6531, nstarsinic@ucdavis.edu
* Tim Akin, Graduate School of Management, (530) 752-7362, cmmorain@ucdavis.edu
* Jim Sweeney, UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-6101, jpsweeney@ucdavis.edu
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UC Davis News Service
One Shields Avenue
Davis, California 95616-8687
Phone: (530) 752-1930; Fax: (530) 752-4068
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Revival at dry docks could bring 120 jobs
Revival at dry docks could bring 120 jobs
By Jessica A. York
Posted: 11/01/2009
A project plan for California Dry Dock Solutions on Mare Island puts the ship recycling company to work by late next spring and hiring up to 120 workers.
The Vallejo Planning Commission will consider the project Monday night.
Vallejo's support of the project is a needed step in reopening two of Mare Island's long-dormant naval dry docks. But even with it, the company would need to secure regional regulatory agency permits, contracts with the federal government to scrap Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet vessels and a property lease with Mare Island master developer Lennar Mare Island.
In addition to ship recycling, startup plans for the site include the demolition of four buildings, reuse of 11 buildings and the construction of two parking lots. The company, which hopes to expand its business plan to repair and build ships, will also need to dredge about 102,000 cubic yards of Mare Island Strait sediment.
The city report acknowledges concerns over a heavy industrial company so near a planned visitor-friendly waterfront development.
Other concerns include noise and air quality impact for residents across the water in the St. Vincent's Hill area and California Dry Dock Solutions' commitment to hiring locally. City planning staff recommends monitoring site sound levels for up to six months following project startup to ensure the venture does not exceed legal noise levels.
Early plans to give visitors a dedicated viewing site for on-site ship dismantling
have been scrapped, because the available property has shrunk, said Jay Anast, California Dry Dock Solutions CEO. Anast said the property will be enclosed with a fence, but a chain link fence could still allow visitors to peek into the site.
Contact staff writer Jessica A. York at (707) 553-6834 or jyork@timesheraldonline.com.
If you go
What: Vallejo Planning Commission
When: 7 p.m. Monday
Where: Vallejo City Council Chamber, 555 Santa Clara St.
At issue: California Dry Dock Solutions' reuse of Mare Island dry docks
By Jessica A. York
Posted: 11/01/2009
A project plan for California Dry Dock Solutions on Mare Island puts the ship recycling company to work by late next spring and hiring up to 120 workers.
The Vallejo Planning Commission will consider the project Monday night.
Vallejo's support of the project is a needed step in reopening two of Mare Island's long-dormant naval dry docks. But even with it, the company would need to secure regional regulatory agency permits, contracts with the federal government to scrap Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet vessels and a property lease with Mare Island master developer Lennar Mare Island.
In addition to ship recycling, startup plans for the site include the demolition of four buildings, reuse of 11 buildings and the construction of two parking lots. The company, which hopes to expand its business plan to repair and build ships, will also need to dredge about 102,000 cubic yards of Mare Island Strait sediment.
The city report acknowledges concerns over a heavy industrial company so near a planned visitor-friendly waterfront development.
Other concerns include noise and air quality impact for residents across the water in the St. Vincent's Hill area and California Dry Dock Solutions' commitment to hiring locally. City planning staff recommends monitoring site sound levels for up to six months following project startup to ensure the venture does not exceed legal noise levels.
Early plans to give visitors a dedicated viewing site for on-site ship dismantling
have been scrapped, because the available property has shrunk, said Jay Anast, California Dry Dock Solutions CEO. Anast said the property will be enclosed with a fence, but a chain link fence could still allow visitors to peek into the site.
Contact staff writer Jessica A. York at (707) 553-6834 or jyork@timesheraldonline.com.
If you go
What: Vallejo Planning Commission
When: 7 p.m. Monday
Where: Vallejo City Council Chamber, 555 Santa Clara St.
At issue: California Dry Dock Solutions' reuse of Mare Island dry docks
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