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With and through our investors, EDC works to maximize San Diego’s economic competitiveness. Click through the links below to see how.

EDC's Q2 in review

Regional Support

EDC convenes resources and stakeholder groups to help talent and a diversity of companies thrive in the San Diego mega-region. The economic development team led and advised on a variety of projects with the following outcomes: 

• San Diego was selected for a national drone pilot program
• San Diego was a top contender for Army Futures Command
• Six local companies awarded Cal Competes Tax Credits
• Red Door Interactive set to open international operations close to home
• Inclusive growth steering committee convened to set measurable goals
• Link to San Diego played host to 75 students at MiraCosta College

WTC San Diego

As part of EDC, World Trade Center San Diego (WTC) works to cultivate a pipeline of export-ready firms, maximize FDI opportunities, and grow the region's global connectivity.

The WTC team connected local businesses and industry leaders to foreign markets. Here's how:

• Closed out year-three of MetroConnect program; awarded $35K Grand Prize to CureMatch
• Supported Lufthansa as it officially began its nonstop service to Frankfurt, Germany
• Attended World Trade Centers Association General Assembly in Leeuwarden with Port of San Diego
• Hosted 50-person delegation from China

San Diego: Life. Changing.

EDC's marketing efforts serve to elevate the region as a top destination for talent, business, and investment.

As part of the San Diego: Life. Changing. campaign, EDC's marketing-communications team debuted the following to equip businesses with the resources necessary to 'sell' the region:

• Made in San Diego beer in partnership with Ballast Point
• Online Recruitment Toolkit and Company Map
• Regional marketing brochure

Research

Understanding our economy begins with strong data. EDC develops economic reports to help business and civic leaders make informed decisions.

Our research team released the following economic reports in Q2:

• The Importance of Water Reliability to San Diego's Economy
• San Diego's Economic Pulse
• Quarterly Economic Snapshot

See the full Quarterly Report here.

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Well, that was fun.

Thank you to those who joined us at EDC's 52nd Annual Dinner, underwritten by Point Loma Nazarene University. This event continues to remind us how lucky we are to call San Diego home - we are a region that lifts each other up and celebrates all the life-changing people and innovation around us.

We were honored to celebrate Dr. Mary Walshok with the Herb Klein Civic Leadership Award presented by Alexandria Real Estate, and Sempra Energy with the Duane Roth Renaissance Award presented by Carrier Johnson + CULTURE. And, we welcomed EDC's new board chair, Janice Brown, founder of Brown Law Group.

Janice laid out a big vision for EDC and San Diego. And many of you have asked us how you can help make this a reality. Here are two quick things you can do that will make a big difference to us:

• Sign up for the San Diego: Life. Changing. recruitment toolkit. In it, you will find free resources to help us all project one, cohesive image of San Diego to the world and the talent that should be here. 
• Nominate a small business for the Inner City Capital Connections program. The program is coming to San Diego this fall and is completely free thanks to Kaiser Permanente. Learn more about this truly life-changing program and please send us a note if you have any suggestions. 

Like Janice eloquently said, we must continue to embrace change to fuel progress in our region and beyond. Thanks for pushing and helping us to do this work.
 

Download pictures from the event here. We'll be adding more as we receive them so check back soon.

EDC's Annual Dinner from San Diego on Vimeo.

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This week at EDC's 52nd Annual Dinner, we were honored to officially welcome Janice Brown as EDC's new board chair. After two years of leadership, Jim Zortman, retired Northrop Grumman executive and EDC chair since 2016, symbolically 'passed the gavel' to Janice. 

Having served as an EDC board member for eight years, Janice has helped guide the organization's priorities and is well-equipped to lead EDC's inclusive growth and #SDlifechanging efforts, among other intitiatives. And she'll do so with more energy and class than we could hope for.

You can follow Janice on Twitter at @JPatrice4080. 

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EDC has partnered with Ballast Point to create a special Made in San Diego craft brew, exclusively available in San Diego County. Just like our campaign, this beer is made for San Diego, by San Diego.

Raise a glass with us, and visit MadeinSD.com to learn more about this #SDlifechanging partnership.

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The California Competes Tax Credit (CCTC) is an income tax credit program available to both small and large businesses with plans to expand in or relocate to the state of California. Negotiated by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), the California Competes Tax Credit program has awarded more than $600 million in credits to California companies since the program’s inception in 2014. In the FY 2017-18 round alone, the state will grant more than $230 million.

Each year, the state grants a series of awards over three rounds: November, April, and June. In the April round of FY 2017-18 program, the state awarded 63 companies a total of $72 million in tax credits based on commitments to add more than 6,500 jobs and invest more than $490 million by 2021. San Diego received 16.27 percent of the total credits, just behind the LA metro that received 22 percent of credits.

Based on the recent announcement, 15 San Diego companies were awarded more than $11.7 million in tax credits. Compared to other metros across California, San Diego fared well across all measures. Of all metros, San Diego received the highest number of small business awards, with more than 40 percent of small business recipients hailing from San Diego. These small businesses were awarded more than $1.7 million in tax credits for commitments to create 71 jobs and invest $4.5 million.

San Diego large businesses – defined as more than $2 million in annual revenue – were awarded more than $10 million in credits. San Diego ranks second in the large business category, with 16 percent of total credits awarded to local large businesses. San Diego also earned the second place ranking in the amount of job creation among all metros, with almost 700 new jobs coming to the region over the next five years.

In this CCTC round, San Diego recipients will invest more than $67.5 million into the community and pay nearly $138 million in wages over the next five years. Since inception, more than 125 San Diego companies have been awarded more than $75 million in credits, committing to the creation of more than 8,500 jobs and $1.4 billion in investments.

Of the 15 company recipients, EDC consulted six winners throughout the application process. Among those that received EDC support, top awardees include Bank of the Internet ($5M credit), Planck Aerosystems ($600K credit), and Fuse Integration ($500K credit).

For more information regarding the California Competes Tax Credit program, please contact Jesse Gipe.

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With and through our investors, EDC maximizes San Diego’s economic competitiveness. Here's our Q1 in review:

• Released a defense study and data visualization tool to better understand defense spending
• Submitted FAA application for drone pilot program alongside City of San Diego
• Co-hosted Military Transition Conference for 75+ veterans at University of San Diego, with a panel of representatives from SONY, Intuit, TaylorMade Golf, Sentek Global, and Bank of America

• Forge Therapeutics set to double its workforce in Torrey Mesa on heels of UK trade mission
• Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson talked trade in San Diego and toured tech startup Measurabl
• Comparative report on trucking companies' shipping prices for the Port of San Diego

See EDC's full Q1 Report here.

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The Duane Roth Renaissance Award is named in memory of a beloved community leader who tirelessly championed San Diego's innovation ecosystem and reframed how we view our economic diversity. This award recognizes an organization whose work is creating outstanding inventions, innovations or breakthroughs that have changed and improved the world around us. 

We are deeply honored to announce Sempra Energy as the 2018 Honoree of the Duane Roth Renaissance Award, presented by:

Sempra Energy is a San Diego-based Fortune 500 energy services holding company with an enviable track record of growth over its 20-year history. Sempra Energy provides safe, reliable energy through its regulated utilities and energy infrastructure businesses to approximately 43 million consumers worldwide with 20,000 employees, including the company’s most recent acquisition of a majority stake in Oncor, the largest utility in Texas. Major initiatives include system modernization, decarbonization and electrification, as well as innovative strategies to minimize impacts on the environment and maximize the deployment of cleaner energy sources.

Please join us at SeaWorld on May 31 to celebrate Sempra and more. Register here.

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The impact of Qualcomm's philanthropy and technology has been widespread and has created a global benchmark for how companies innovate, operate, and engage with their community. 

You don’t have to look far to find someone that works for Qualcomm. They are our friends, family, mentors, and neighbors. And they provide a tremendous boost to our regional economy. 

What happens next is in the hands of shareholders, but ahead of the vote, many San Diegans are sharing how the company has impacted our region, our companies, and our economy.

Check them out below.

Mark Cafferty, president & CEO, San Diego Regional EDC

Peter Callstrom, president & CEO, San Diego Workforce Partnership 

Mary Walshok, Associate Vice Chancellor, UC San Diego Extension 

Dennis Arriola, EVP, Corporate Strategy and External Affairs, Sempra Energy 

Ken Davenport, president & CEO, Mission Edge

Nancy Jamison, president & CEO, San Diego Grantmakers

Jim Zortman, EDC board chair | vice admiral (ret.), US Navy

Rory Moore, CEO & CO-founder, EvoNexus

Do you have a #QualCOMMUNITY story? Tweet us at @SdregionalEDC and we might share it. We'll be adding to this post. 

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Discover San Diego: Life. Changing. with this pocket guide full of interesting SD facts and a map illustration of the coolest companies in town!

This is the first official 'tool' - debuted last night - from EDC's San Diego: Life. Changing. Campaign. 

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• 1:00 - 2:15pm: Panel event for the launch of EDC's economic impact report on San Diego's genomics industry. Details here.*
• 5:00 - 7:00pm: San Diego Innovation Council Reception. Register here.