In This Issue: Alan Nevin's 2019 economic forecast. New leadership roles for Steve Grimes and Ted Bumgardner. Service spotlight on Xpera's Building Envelope Group. High-rise buildings using advanced engineered wood. The importance of property condition assessments when acquiring older buildings. Reconfiguring regional shopping centers. New California construction laws and more. View Newsletter [PDF].

SAN DIEGO – The El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association will unveil its highly anticipated “Blvd. 20/20 Plan” during its annual meeting on Thursday, Jan. 24. The plan is the culmination of months of planning and community outreach to develop a new vision for the future of the iconic mid-city corridor, which runs through the diverse communities of University Heights, North Park, Normal Heights, Kensington, Talmadge and City Heights. The public is invited to attend the presentation, which will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Boulevard’s office at 3727 El Cajon Boulevard in City Heights. The Blvd. 20/20 Plan lays out a new community vision for El Cajon Boulevard as a mode

SAN DIEGO – San Diego’s Vietnamese-American community is the subject of a new multi-media arts exhibition opening to the public on Friday, Jan. 18 in the Little Saigon District in City Heights. “Little Saigon Stories” is a visual story-telling project facilitated by the Media Arts Center San Diego, in collaboration with the AjA Project, Little Saigon Foundation and El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association. Little Saigon Stories was designed as a platform for youth to capture, preserve and share the first-hand accounts of inter-generational members of the Vietnamese-American community. Over the past 1.5 years, program facilitators have trained high school students and young adults