San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation

Business and Industries

The Mega-Region Initiative

In March of 2008, San Diego Regional EDC partnered with Imperial Valley EDC to ultimately market our two respective regions and Baja California as a “mega-region” - to compete in an increasingly global economy. The U.S. Department of Commerce awarded these two EDC's a $225,000 grant to develop this strategy, and it is the first of its kind awarded by the Federal Government.

In December of 2008, after months of collaboration between government, business, and civic leaders on both sides of the border, a strategic action plan was created to tackle the workforce and infrastructure issues that pose a challenge to foreign investment. Simultaneously a branding effort for the mega-region was undertaken to ultimately market the region nationally and internationally.

Actionable short-term solutions to the workforce and infrastructure issues were discussed by Mega-Region Initiative participants and can be accessed by clicking on the following links.

Workforce Action Feedback
Infrastructure Action Feedback 


During the initiative's first phase, participants across the entire mega-region of San Diego, Imperial County, and Baja CA Norte, MX, came together to identify the economic opportunities and weaknesses within their respective sub-regions. Raw outcomes of these initial meetings can be found by clicking on the links below:


October 6, 2008 outcomes

October 13, 2008 outcomes