Tag: San Diego: Life. Changing.

In an effort to maximize the region’s global competitiveness via talent attraction, EDC launched the San Diego: Life. Changing. brand campaign last year. The campaign serves to raise San Diego’s profile by telling real stories of the people and companies that call San Diego home. By bringing light to San Diego’s robust innovation ecosystem and vibrant entrepreneurial community, EDC aims to eliminate the stigma that there aren’t jobs in San Diego.

Most people around the world know San Diego as a vacation destination, rather than a place where they actually live and grow their careers. Part of this could be attributed to a ‘too good to be true’ mentality, with San Diego’s impeccable weather, endless outdoor activities, and friendly easy-going residents. It doesn’t seem possible to get both one’s dream job and the top-tier quality of life that San Diego offers. But those who have made the move to San Diego know that is, in fact, not the case. San Diego may not be a headquarters town, but the mission-driven companies located here are making huge, ‘life-changing’ impacts in both the tech and life sciences industries. And better yet, they’re hiring.

As part of the campaign’s latest web developments, there is now an interactive company map that showcases top tech, life sciences, and lifestyle companies in San Diego. This allows people to easily compare and contrast the different companies located here at a high-level, so they can get a holistic view of San Diego’s career offerings.

If you are part of a San Diego company that meets this criteria and would like to be added to the map, simply sign up for the online recruitment toolkit and select ‘I’d like to also add a profile for my company.’

From Illumina’s human genome sequencing technology to Aira’s software for the visually impaired, San Diego companies are quite literally changing the world. Visit the San Diego: Life. Changing. company map to see other top companies that are fueling global innovation from right in our backyard.

As part of the San Diego: Life. Changing. campaign, we’re always thinking of different ways to communicate San Diego’s story. And though it’s a mostly digital campaign, we know the value in prospective talent having something tangible to hold, touch, and keep at their desk to flip through whenever daydreaming of a better life.

This guide – as part of the Talent Recruitment Toolkit – provides an overview of what it’s like to work and live in San Diego, showcasing some of the innovations and technology created here, as well as the different neighborhoods recruits could soon be calling ‘home.’ Flip through the digital version of the guide below. If you’re interested in purchasing printed copies for use in your recruitment efforts, email us at communications@sandiegobusiness.org.

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.

As part of the San Diego: Life. Changing. campaign, EDC has released a recruitment toolkit and company map for use by local employers.

Amid a nationwide battle for talent, San Diego companies must compete with other cities to fill innovation jobs. To address this issue, the toolkit and map provide the resources needed to inform talent of all that San Diego has to offer: meaningful career opportunities, unparalleled lifestyle amenities and highly-talented people.

“San Diego: Life. Changing. was created by San Diego, for San Diego,” said Lauree Sahba, COO, San Diego Regional EDC. “When we spoke to tech and life sciences companies, they said they needed a one-stop shop where they can pull information about the region to help recruit talent and attract investment. We will continue to add and refine resources based on company feedback.”

Talent fuels economic growth, drives corporate decision-making and incubates entrepreneurship. If San Diego wants to remain economically competitive, it must continue to attract and retain a talent pool that appeals to global companies.

In early 2018, Robert Half staffing company named San Diego the number one city for tech job growth in the first half of 2018. Additionally, STEM jobs are 34 percent more concentrated in San Diego than the U.S. average, based on a San Diego Regional EDC analysis of EMSI data.

San Diego: Life. Changing. was created to refine a cohesive regional identity to attract and retain STEM talent. The campaign and the contents of the toolkit have been guided by the “San Diego Brand Alliance” – a group of more than 50 life sciences and tech employers including Illumina, Human Longevity, Inc., Viasat and more. Representing the region in a united front will ensure San Diego continues to compete on the global stage.

“San Diego holds such tremendous opportunities for candidates, yet when recruiting top talent from outside of the region we still encounter the false perception that career options in the area are somewhat limited,” said Melinda Del Toro, SVP of People & Culture, Viasat. “The toolkit provides resources that reinforce the message we’ve been telling candidates for years: San Diego is a dynamic, rich environment with incredible opportunities to have both the career and life you want, that you just don’t find in other regions.”

The toolkit includes recruitment resources such as fast facts, imagery and b-roll, infographics, industry overviews, social media posts and more. Users can sign up for free access to the toolkit online here.

The map was designed so potential recruits and those interested in learning about careers in San Diego can visualize the breadth of companies throughout our region. Representatives from tech, life sciences or lifestyle companies may also request to add their company to the map.

For more information about ways to leverage the campaign, visit SDlifechanging.org.

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EDC’s San Diego: Life. Changing. campaign is all about telling San Diego’s authentic story. Besides our impressive new technologies and literally life-changing scientific breakthroughs, there’s nothing more innately San Diego than our delicious craft beer.

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.

Ballast Point has been an integral part of the San Diego community for more than 20 years. It was founded here in 1996 as a home brew shop, and with the support of its community, Ballast Point has grown into the global craft beer giant that it is today. As a way to give back to its hometown that has given it so much, Ballast Point will donate a portion of every case sold to a new fund created by EDC’s foundation, to support local entrepreneurs that share the same dream of growing their business right here in San Diego.

The Made in San Diego beer features the same level of innovation, quality, and flavor that embody San Diego and Ballast Point. With packaging that pays homage to the vibrant cities and neighborhoods across the San Diego region, it’s an easy-drinking Kolsch that features toasted bread aroma and flavor from Munich malt and a soft bitterness from Cascade and Mosaic hops. The beer cans also feature the San Diego: Life. Changing. brand mark, as a proud partner of our campaign.

Made in San Diego beer will be available on draft throughout San Diego County later this month, with six-pack 12 oz. cans rolling out region-wide at the end of May.

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

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“Businesses need to act together to attract talent” was originally published in The Business Journals, authored by EDC president and CEO Mark Cafferty.

With U.S. unemployment hitting a 17-year low late last year, competition for talent has become increasingly fierce for businesses across the country.

Part of a company’s challenge in attracting talent, however, is working with the broader business community in its city, region or state to ensure that it is not only a place where people want to work, but also a place where people want to live.

While focusing internally to find and hire employees, companies must also work with each other — even with their competitors — and public or municipal entities to help foster a favorable quality of life and career mobility that will attract talented workers.

Companies must communicate with clear, consistent messaging in a united front to evoke authenticity and a sense of community that is appealing to today’s top talent.

Improving perceptions to attract top talent

Some cities and states have an abundance of career opportunities available but lack the public perception that these jobs exist. Often this divide boils down to a lack of available resources for businesses to tout their local economy.

Talent attraction has become about telling a region’s story, not just selling a company’s individual offerings.

An influx of high-paying jobs in a region — especially at publicly-facing brands —must be met with the skilled talent required to fill them. Here in San Diego, the region has a high share of the nation’s life sciences and tech jobs, but research recently revealed many senior-level HR managers are struggling to find talent because of the perception of available opportunities in the area.

To address this issue, EDC has launched a campaign to communicate the region’s unique position in the global market, its lifestyle offerings and its community of people looking to change the world.

The campaign — San Diego: Life. Changing. — serves to tell authentic stories of San Diegans who have discovered the region as not only as a great place to live, but also a place with ample career opportunity, most especially at impact-driven companies and organizations. Through a related work-live-play website, SDlifechanging.org, individuals curious about the region have access to information on its top industries and growing companies, lifestyle amenities and more….

Read the full byline online here.

People: How we attract and retain talent

Talent drives corporate decision making and galvanizes innovation. In 2017, EDC developed programming – to complement San Diego: Life. Changing. – to attract and retain talent throughout the San Diego region.

Some of these were piloted for the first time and some were about taking an existing program to the next level. See more in our timeline below:

• 2013 – BRINGING CAREER OPPORTUNITIES TO STUDENTS
  It started with research. After conducting an economic impact study on the sports and active lifestyle industry, EDC wanted to put the data into action. Together with UC San Diego, EDC created itrends in sport and active lifestyle – a series that brought sports and brand leaders to campus to talk about career opportunities in the field. The panels were open to students in any major or school, illuminating numerous opportunities – from marketing to engineering to logistics – to work in the sports and active lifestyle industry in San Diego.
• 2014 – EXPANDING TO ADDITIONAL INDUSTRIES
  After the success of the itrends in sports and active lifestyle, EDC partnered with UC San Diego to host two additional industry-themed events around life sciences and cybersecurity. Based on preliminary feedback, students indicated they were more likely to explore career opportunities in San Diego after graduation after attending itrends.
• JANUARY 2015 – TRENDS BECOME LINK2 SAN DIEGO
  Other universities started to take notice. EDC renamed the program “Link2 San Diego” and expanded out its list of schools to include San Diego State University, Cal State San Marcos and University of San Diego.
• OCTOBER 2015 – LINK2 GOES TO SD HACKS
  EDC partnered with UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering to host a Link2 panel at SD Hacks, a hackathon attended by more than 1,000 students throughout the state. Hackathon attendees took a break from their 36 hours of coding to learn more about career opportunities in San Diego. After the success of the first SD Hacks in 2015, EDC hosted an additional Link2 at SD Hacks in October 2016.
• JANUARY 2016 – PROGRAM EXPANDS TO REACH MORE STUDENT POPULATIONS
  EDC wanted to ensure it was reaching younger students who had not yet determined their career pathways. Partnering with Junior Achievement, EDC worked to expand programming to include high school and community college students.
• APRIL 2016 – LINK2 HEADS TO DT SAN DIEGO
  in 2016, EDC partnered with the San Diego Downtown Partnership to take students off campus and into the workplace. Together, Link2 Downtown brought more than 30 UC San Diego students to downtown employers to learn about specific companies – including Red Door Interactive, Zeeto Media and others – first hand. Relive it with us.
• OCTOBER 3, 2017 – LINK2 HITS THE ROAD
  Three years later, it was time to test our luck outside the region. So we took Link2 to a California university and hub for STEM talent – Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. More than 40 students showed up to learn about career opportunities in San Diego from ViaSat, Intuit, Takeda, Solar Turbines and MindBody.

Stay tuned for more from Link2 – which we’re renaming “Link to” – in 2018.

This week, EDC took its Link2 San Diego program on the road, setting up shop at Cal Poly SLO’s Computing Career Fair where CS and engineering students came to connect with the biggest names in tech from around the country. The best news: we weren’t the only San Diego representation in the room. Among the sea of 35+ company booths were locals ViaSat, Booz Allen Hamiliton and Intuit.

EDC’s booth, themed San Diego: Life. Changing., served as the information hotspot for students looking to relocate after graduation. Of the 70 students we spoke with, most expressed interest in staying in California, and many were considering San Diego for post-grad. Confirming a common misconception, many students thought of San Diego as only a vacation beach-town and were unaware that the region is home to tech powerhouses Google, GoPro, Amazon, Intuit, FitBit and many more. We took this opportunity to garner student interest in the Link2 San Diego event taking place on SLO’s campus the week following (October 3), where students could network in a more casual, informational setting with local companies ViaSat, Intuit, Takeda, Solar Turbines and MindBody.

Our giveaways served to drive the San Diego reality home. The San Diego: Life. Changing. pocket guide and company map highlighted the industry opportunity available in San Diego, while our bottle openers (the fan favorite) alluded to our leading craft beer scene.

The purpose of the Link2 San Diego program is to highlight the career opportunity available in San Diego. We’ve done this locally, at SDSU, UC San Diego, USD and more. And now, with the Cal Poly Computing Career Fair, we’ve taken these efforts on the road – attracting students and soon-to-be grads into our region.

EDC officially launched San Diego: Life. Changing., a campaign to raise San Diego’s profile and attract and retain top STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) talent in the region. SDlifechanging.org includes information about living and working in the San Diego region, and will soon include a digital toolkit to assist companies in their recruitment efforts.

The campaign was launched at a specially-themed San Diego: Life. Changing Night at the Padres game on September 19, with more than 15,000 in attendance.

San Diego: Life. Changing. communicates San Diego’s evolving value proposition, driven by companies and people looking to change the world and upgrade their quality of life.

“We’re not Boston, New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles. And we don’t want to be,” said Mark Cafferty, president & CEO, San Diego Regional EDC. “This campaign was developed by San Diego…and for San Diego to communicate the unique opportunities and experiences our region offers to companies and employees alike.”

Extensive research proves that talent fuels economic growth, drives corporate decision-making and fuels entrepreneurship. If San Diego wants to remain economically competitive, it must continue to attract a talent pool that appeals to global companies.

The launch of the campaign is the culmination of Phase I of a year-long effort to refine a cohesive identity to attract and retain STEAM talent in the region. Hailing from life sciences and tech industries, nearly 100 companies with a San Diego presence have joined the “San Diego Brand Alliance” including Illumina, Human Longevity, Inc., SONY, ViaSat, Intuit – as well as many startups – and have provided feedback on potential recruiting tools and other San Diego assets.

“San Diego holds such tremendous opportunities for candidates, yet when recruiting top talent from outside of the region we still encounter the false perception that career options here are somewhat limited,” said Melinda Del Toro, senior vice president of People & Culture, ViaSat and vice-chair, San Diego Brand Alliance. “The San Diego: Life. Changing. campaign reinforces the message we’ve been telling candidates for years: San Diego is a dynamic, rich environment with incredible opportunities to have both the career and life you want, that you just don’t find in other regions.”

Over the next two years, San Diego: Life. Changing. will continue to build out SDlifechanging.org to include full company profiles, a video library and additional recruiting tools for companies. In 2018, EDC will look to partner with local organizations to deploy the campaign in specific markets across the country.

Learn more at SDlifechanging.org and follow along at #SDlifechanging. San Diego-based companies can request access to the recruiting toolkit online here.

Please see press kit and FAQs for additional information about the campaign.

We’re taking San Diego’s story into our own hands and launching San Diego: Life. Changing.: a campaign celebrating the smart and innovative companies and people that call San Diego home.

Before we go live at the Padres Game on September 19, we wanted to show the San Diego community what we’ve been up to. Cue: the Masters of Change event, August 10.

This was a night of good local food and drinks, a sneak peek of the campaign and remarks from San Diego’s number one pitchman himself, Bill Walton. We even mingled with San Diego’s very own celebrity chef, Brian Malarkey.

Special thanks to the folks at Alexandria Real Estate for throwing us the party of the century.

Look how much fun we had:

And it’s only the beginning…