Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach Begins a New Era of Racing
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April 9-22, 2019 Long Beach Area’s Newsmagazine www.lbbusinessjournal.com In This Issue Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach Ports Weigh Alternatives Begins A New Era Of Racing To Diesel By PIERCE NAHIGYAN Staff Writer Trucks Spring has arrived and, years, with a new title sponsor. event. When association Presi- with it, the distant roar of en- Honda luxury and performance dent and CEO Jim Michaelian By PIERCE NAHIGYAN gines. An institution that dates brand Acura has succeeded announced the title sponsorship Staff Writer Grand Prix back nearly half a century, the Toyota to become the leading in early February, he declared 2019 Acura Grand Prix of Long partner with the Grand Prix 2019 to be the start of a “new (Page 24) As part of their shared goal Beach runs April 12 through Association of Long Beach, the era” for the United States’ lon- to transition to zero-emission 14 – and for the first time in 39 organization that puts on the (Please Continue to Page 26) trucks, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have released a short-term feasibility assess- ment for replacing diesel-pow- ered drayage trucks with avail- able low- and zero-emission alternatives by 2021. Of the five alternative fuels evaluated, natural gas and battery elec- tric platforms are the closest to Going Green & Earth Day reaching commercial viability (Page 18) to “provide similar or better overall performance” than cur- rent Class 8 (heavy duty) diesel trucks. The platforms were fur- ther analyzed for their opera- tional and economic feasibility (Please Continue to Page 23) Assemblymember O’Donnell Talks Tenant Policy (Page 12) The staff of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach (GPALB) gather around one of eight Acura NSX pace cars to appear during Grand Prix weekend. Clockwise from left: Association President and CEO Jim Michaelian, Richard Marti- Current Issues nez, Sandy Hendrix, Edmund Vaivao, Mike McElroy, Steven Halley, Chris Esslinger, Gordon Morris, Martin Bannon, Lin- da White, Kourtney Brandt, Kurrin Kastelan, Tammy Johnson, Cindy Forster, Cecelia Ruebel, Gemma Bannon, Aileen And Changes in McBride, Allison Wilson. Association staff not pictured: Christopher Allen, David Carrillo, Crandall Dickinson, Sigifredo Contreras, Pablo Martin, Dwight Tanaka, Jake Tanaka. (Photograph by Brandon Richardson.) Sacramento By ALENA MASCHKE Can Community Paramedicine Provide Relief Staff Writer Representing an assem- To Crowded Emergency Rooms? bly district that includes the busy ports of Long Beach and By ALENA MASCHKE Moffatt & Nichol San Pedro, the tourism hotspot (Page 3) Staff Writer Catalina Island and large parts In light of Community Hos- the Long Beach City Council munity paramedicine concepts, of the densely-populated City of Long Beach, Patrick O’Donnell 2 PortSide pital’s closing in 2018 and sub- have proposed options to take a request that was forwarded to sequent plans to reopen the fa- pressure off the city’s strained the council’s public safety com- represents a diversity of inter- 4 Growing Long Beach cility through a public-private emergency departments. mittee for further review. ests. In Sacramento, O’Don- 6 Newswatch partnership between the City During the council’s March “There are a lot of commu- nell chairs the State Assembly of Long Beach and for-profit 19 meeting, 5th District Coun- nity paramedicine programs Committee on Education. He’s 16 Real Estate & Development health care company Molina, cilmember Stacy Mungo pro- taking place all over the state, also a member of the budget Wu, Network LLC, members of posed the city look into com- (Please Continue to Page 6) (Please Continue to Page 8) How To Deeply Unnerve A Millennial By Editor SAMANTHA MEHLINGER I think we can all agree that there is an un- looking down at the tempestuous sea of divi- ending cavalcade of issues that are unnerving sion below). about 2019, regardless of where you live, what Obviously some are dealing with more per- you do for a living or which side of the fence turbing circumstances than others. But there you land on politically (or if you’re a despon- seems to be a general consensus in Ameri- dent moderate like me, perched on the fence, ca that, to some degree, the following things IN THE NEWS 2 - Long Beach Business Journal • April 9-22, 2019 PortSide: Keeping Up Vol. XXXV No. 7 • April 9-22, 2019 FOUNDER AND PUBLISHER The Long Beach Business Journal is a pub- George Economides lication of South Coast Publishing, Inc., With The Port Of Long incorporated by the State of California in EDITOR July 1985. It premiered March 1987 as the Samantha Mehlinger Long Beach Airport Business Journal. The Business Journal is published every other Beach SENIOR WRITER & PHOTOGRAPHER Tuesday, except between December 25 Brandon Richardson and mid-January. Distribution is approx- By SAMANTHA MEHLINGER imately 22,000. Reproduction in whole Editor STAFF WRITERS or in part without written permission is Alena Maschke, Pierce Nahigyan strictly prohibited unless otherwise stat- ed. Opinions expressed by perspective GUEST GRAPHIC DESIGNER writers and guest columnists are not nec- Ryan Suburu essarily the views of the Long Beach Busi- ness Journal. GUEST PUBLISHER April Economides ADVERTISING/EDITORIAL DEADLINES Ads: Wednesday prior to publication. LONG BEACH BUSINESS JOURNAL Press releases: two weeks prior to publica- 2599 E. 28th Street, Suite 212 tion. Mail or e-mail press releases to info@ Signal Hill, CA 90755 lbbj.com. The editorial calendar is avail- Phone: (562) 988-1222 able at www.lbbusinessjournal.com. Fax: (562) 988-1239 www.lbbusinessjournal.com OFFICE HOURS: [email protected] Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. SUBSCRIPTIONS: 1 year: 25 issues Find us on Facebook Standard Bulk: $30 (add $2 if paying with credit card) Follow us @LBBizJourn 1st Class: $70 (add $3 if paying with credit card) Stacey Rebaza, a third generation Long Beach local, has been working on the executive floor of the Port of Long Beach’s offices for 17 years. 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AFFORDABLE TUITION • QUALITY EDUCATION • GRADUATE FASTER IN THE NEWS Long Beach Business Journal • April 9-22, 2019 - 3 Moffatt & Nichol Moves Into New Douglas Park Headquarters By SAMANTHA MEHLINGER Editor Founded in 1941 in Long Beach, en- The firm’s reputation for specializing in gineering firm Moffatt & Nichol, now a maritime projects stretches back to the global company with 40 offices in seven very beginning, when the founders took countries, is doubling down on its com- on contracts to design naval facilities in mitment to its hometown by purchasing Long Beach and Port Hueneme. “We do new headquarters at The Terminal at Navy facilities all over the world. That’s Douglas Park. one of our biggest clients, and that’s About 100 of the firm’s employees actually how we got our start, with moved from the company’s previous of- the Long Beach Naval Shipyard here,” fices at Kilroy Airport Center to their Nichol said. new digs last week, according to Presi- Moffatt & Nichol has had a hand in dent and CEO Eric Nichol. Another 100 the engineering of many Long Beach employees who previously worked in icons – from the moorings of the Queen Long Beach have been moved to a new Mary to the original Gerald Desmond office in Orange County, closer to their Bridge (soon to be replaced with an homes. even larger structure) and even work “I want to make sure it doesn’t to improve water flow in the Colorado sound like we’re moving out of Long Lagoon. Recently, the largest local in- Beach, because our headquarters are frastructure project Moffatt & Nichol here,” Nichol said. “It’s just the quality has been involved in is the redesign of of life – we want to have people spend the Port of Long Beach’s Middle Har- more time with their families than on bor, which involves combining two the freeway,” he said of the Orange aging terminals into one, state-of-the- County facility.