BUSINESS NEWS ESCONDIDO

ENCINITAS Botanic Garden wins Environmental Award

The San Diego Botanic Garden has been named a 2020 winner of the Encinitas Environmental Commission’s Environmental Award Program. The city recognized the garden for its Excellence in Environmental Stewardship among nonprofits, noting that the garden is “the preeminent plant conservation institute in the region, and one of the most important botanic gardens in the country.” The garden’s plant conservation and education programs restored 15 acres of natural area bordering Encinitas’ Cottonwood Creek Park; carried out 165 wild plant collections in San Diego County; educated more than 1,000 local students through field trips and formal classroom support targeting underserved schools; collected more than 20,000 seeds from native endangered species for long-term conservation in seed banks; and supported genetic sequencing of nine of the 11 species in the ocotillo family, desert plants native to the surrounding region. Visit the garden at 300 Quail Gardens Drive. To reserve tickets, visit sdbgarden.org.

Goodwill San Diego recently opened its newly built retail store, donation center and Community Employment Center at 315 W. Washington Ave. The 17,000square-foot site invites people to donate, shop and receive job-search assistance at one location. Also, Goodwill offers these services online: one-on-one appointments with a career adviser in English or Spanish, free workshops including “Ace the Interview,” “Job Application,” “Résumé Builder” and “Conflict Resolution.” To shop online, visit shopgoodwill.com/ sandiego. Goodwill uses the revenue generated from the sale of donated goods at its retail stores, outlets, and clearance center to fund job training programs, employment services and community resources. Visit sdgoodwill.org.

City hosts digital marketing training

All businesses are invited to the digital marketing training event hosted by the city of Escondido at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Speakers include Mike Roberts of San Diego Code School, Samantha Nawrocki of Bernardo Winery

and Manzanita Roasting, and Mei of Daydream and Makers Market Pop Up. Topics include web design, hype marketing and branding. Zoom link is tinyurl.com/escondidomarketing. To submit questions, email business@escondido.org.

NORTH COUNTY Attend weekly webinars, win prizes

San Diego County Credit Union is hosting weekly financial wellness webinars for the public all month in support of National Financial Literacy Month. Those who attend any of the webinars will be entered for a chance to have SDCCU pay one of your bills up to $500. The National Financial Literacy Month webinars are part of Financial Wellness Wednesdays, an ongoing SDCCU program to help provide the public with access to free financial wellness information. Find the schedule at sdccu.com/fww. Rules for April’s webinar promotion are at sdccu.com/ sweepstakes.

Walmart hosts ‘open call’ for products

Walmart’s eighth annual Open Call for innovative products is now open to area entrepreneurs dreaming of pitching their wares to Walmart buyers. The deadline is April 30 to apply for this year’s Open Call for products made, grown or assembled in the United States. Successful applicants will meet with Walmart buyers on June 30 via virtual pitch meetings. Find applications and information at bit.ly/3dthsc8.

RANCHO BERNARDO ‘Smart’ fitness studio now open

San Diego resident David Fernandez and his wife, Marga Abellan, have opened an Exercise Coach location at 16935 W. Bernardo Drive, Suite 103, San Diego, serving Rancho Bernardo and surrounding areas (4S Ranch, Del Sur, Santaluz, Crosby Estates, The Lakes and others). The Exercise Coach franchises are known as “Smart Fitness Studios” because of their bio-adaptive, robotic exercise equipment, which provides customized, efficient workouts. The Exercise Coach’s personalized programs are optimized for efficiency, resulting in only two 20-minute workouts per week. The studios blend strength and interval cardio training in each session. Call (858) 217-5644; email ranchobernardo@exercisecoach.com. Visit exercisecoach.com.

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COURTESY PHOTO Goodwill San Diego recently opened its newly built retail store, donation center and Community Employment Center in Escondido.