San Diego’s Top Influentials highlights the Who’s Who in San Diego business, profiling the top newsmakers of 2010.
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Welcome to the 2011 edition of San Diego's Top Influentials - SourceBook. This annual publication is filled with valuable information and data about viable San Diego County market segments.
The firestorms of 2003 and 2007 sparked discussion across the San Diego community about emergency preparedness. According to several of the agencies involved in local disaster control, that discussion has turned to action, leaving San Diego more prepared than ever to handle unexpected crises.
For the past decade or more, at least one large-scale disaster, such as hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes and fires, has occurred somewhere in the world every year. But it doesn’t take a major event or even a direct hit to put you out of business. Blackouts, planned or emergency shutdowns can also put your operations on hold. We can’t always predict the timing of natural or manmade disasters, but we can certainly plan for them. Private industries, the federal government, as well as state and local agencies, can benefit by partnering with Hawthorne Cat to integrate rental equipment and other contractor supplies and services into their emergency preparedness and response plan.
It looks like the public sector will continue to be where most of the work is for contractors in 2011, according to local construction officials and architects.
While a thousand uncertainties still confront the commercial real estate market, there may be reasons for hope.
San Diego is home to more than 175,000 students enrolled in higher education, and 2011 is likely to be a busy year for the region’s colleges and universities.
The recession may be officially over, but ground reality is very different for many industries, including the life sciences and health sectors.
The next year is likely to be one of transition for San Diego’s technology and defense sectors, with one adjusting to budget cuts and the other gearing up for potential post-recession success.
Locally and nationally, the business community can look forward to a modest but noticeable recovery in 2011.
An improving economy gives local companies a better outlook for 2011, which is good news for law firms in San Diego.
Travel back to March 2009 and there was ample evidence that the end of the world -- financially -- was at hand. Each and every day seemed to bring more bad news in the job market, failing businesses and political chaos.
Matt Bradvica did not grow up aspiring to become an accountant. His eventual profession really came about by default.
Chris Van Gorder spent his first Monday of 2011 meeting new employees of Scripps Health, the company he has led as president and chief executive since 2000. At the meeting, as with all new employee orientations, the room was lined with pictures of former Scripps patients.
The Fermanian Business and Economic Institute at Point Loma Nazarene University has only published three reports so far, but all of them have caused something of a stir.
Kaiser Permanente Executive Director Mary Ann Barnes is known as the “yes gal” by the more than 7,000 staff members, 830 physicians and nearly 500,000 members of the San Diego County health plan.
In the 20 years since Susan Salka joined AMN Healthcare Services Inc., the health care staffing company has worked to expand its services and diversify its work force. Salka said one of the most pivotal advances happened just this year: AMN’s acquisition of Texas-based Medfinders, entering AMN into the business of home health care services. The deal was valued at about $185 million.
In a time where there are hardly any new homes being sold and barely any homebuilders actually building, California West Communities has been able to do both in 2010.
Despite budget cuts, staff and faculty furloughs, and enrollment reductions, Cal State University San Marcos (CSUSM) has remained productive under the leadership of President Karen Haynes.
Kratos Defense and Security Solutions provides mission critical products, solutions and services for national and homeland security.
Transforming companies and ramping up growth significantly is Robert Christie’s particular talent. He is president and CEO of 3E Co., an environmental, health and safety compliance service provider based in Carlsbad.
It’s a good time to be a boutique investment firm, according to Ellis C. Smith, principal and portfolio manager at Messner & Smith Investment Management.
Karen Conti couldn’t help but beam when the Navy announced that U.S. military women would be allowed to serve aboard submarines starting in 2012.
There are telltale signs of an economic downturn, says Kent Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services. The price of gasoline jumps. The stock market crashes. Panic ensues.
Come April 21, the chief executive officer of Architects | Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, Michael Wilkes, will have been with the firm for 40 years. That’s even longer than the company’s founder.
President and CEO of RQ Construction Inc. George Rogers will admit it wasn’t the company’s best year on record by any stretch, but he feels blessed that the company was able to obtain a healthy amount of work in military construction and to still turn a profit.
Mark Read, CB Richard Ellis senior managing director, said the primary goal for his company is to be "the most trusted adviser to owners and occupiers of commercial real estate."
Lynn LaChapelle, a managing director of the Capital Markets Group for Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL), remains upbeat even during a downturn.
Whether it is overseeing troubled hotels, apartments, resort properties or residential assets, William Hoffman, Trigild Corp. president and CEO, is comfortable in his receivership role.
Family tradition and repeat business is giving one new construction company a record year -- despite a down economy and highly competitive industry.
Bill Walton is no stranger to challenge. As a basketball hall-of-famer with 14 years in the National Basketball Association under his belt, he’s also no stranger to teamwork. Surprising as it might seem, the La Mesa native calls his latest team at San Diego Sports Innovators the best he’s had the pleasure of being on. And the challenges are aplenty.
Mary Walshok loves initiating a link among different sectors of the San Diego community -- from education to the work force to new companies.
Those who know Padres CEO Jeff Moorad well count honesty as one of his best qualities.
California, perpetuated by a youthful generation’s enthusiasm for cars, was at the center of the new car culture in the 1950s. During that time, thriving dealerships along National Avenue (now National City Boulevard) formed the National City Mile of Cars. Over the years it grew into one of the most successful new car dealer associations in the country. For the past 15 years, Weldon Donaldson has shaped the “Mile” brand, making sure it is represented in the best possible light through advertising and marketing.
In the mid 1980s, David Cohn, a child of the flower power, anti-corporate generation, set out to create a family of restaurants, each with its own distinct personality. That singular goal has produced local eateries as diverse as Corvette Diner, Gaslamp Strip Club, The Prado and Blue Point.
David Schlotterbeck was already considered a turnaround specialist -- he revamped seven ailing companies, including San Diego’s Alaris Medical Systems Inc. -- when he championed the idea of spinning CareFusion off from Cardinal Health.
After more than a decade as chief executive officer of New Haven Youth & Family Services, Doreen Quinn still found a way to push her organization into new realms in 2010, and plans do the same again next year.
San Diego’s Top Influentials highlights the Who’s Who in San Diego business, profiling the top newsmakers of 2011.
San Diego’s Top Influentials highlights the Who’s Who in San Diego business, profiling the top newsmakers of 2009.
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