More than 80 business and industry leaders gathered at the Challenged Athletes Foundation to mark the launch of San Diego County's Sports and Active Lifestyle Cluster Report, which quantified the impact of the cluster for the first time. In order to celebrate the industry and learn about challenges, a panel of sports innovators and experts who included John Sarkisian of SKLZ, Peter Callstrom of San Diego Workforce Partnership, and Stephan Aarstol of Tower Paddle Boards, spoke about a variety of topics related to the cluster. Opening remarks from Interim Mayor Todd Gloria and Council President Pro Tem Sherri Lightner emphasized the importance of the industry to both the region's economy and cultural identity. 

“San Diego is every sports and active lifestyle company’s ideal location,” said Lisa Freedman, executive director of SD Sport Innovators. “While there are other important and larger verticals in San Diego, the sports and active lifestyle cluster is a very strong community where authenticity goes hand in hand with innovation. As a result, people around the globe not only purchase and use, but they also rely on products developed and manufactured right here in Southern California.”

San Diego Regional EDC joined the City of San Diego and other organizations recently to officially introduce the new CONNECT2Careers program (formerly known as Hire-A-Youth). The City of San Diego made a $200,000 commitment last year so that the San Diego Workforce Partnership could rebuild the summer jobs program, which was threatened due to lack of funding. The redesigned program is focused on providing meaningful work experiences through paid summer internships to prepare San Diego’s young adults for the jobs of the future, while also addressing San Diego’s jobs skills gap.

One of the innovations in the new program is targeting specific industry clusters that have a significant need for young talent including:

Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals, Cleantech, Communication and Information Technologies, Tourism, Hotel/Motel, Defense, Maritime, Business, Government and Healthcare.

All of the organizations involved stressed the need for business community participation to make the program a success. San Diego City Council President Pro Tem Sherri Lightner called on other council members to reach out to businesses in their respective districts to encourage them to participate in the program either through donations to support the program or by hiring at least one youth.

“CONNECT2Careers provides a way for businesses to give back while helping to train our emerging workforce, which is critical to growing our local economy,” Lightner said. “You simply can’t compete in the global economy if you don’t have a world-class workforce.”

The program, which is administered by the San Diego Workforce Partnership, will connect employers with pre-screened and motivated young adults ages 16 – 21 who have a strong career interest in one of the targeted industries. San Diego Workforce Partnership will provide pre-internship training and ongoing coordination and support throughout the selection, placement and work experience.

“As a region, our number one priority is job creation. By providing our emerging workforce with this opportunity, not only are we giving them the chance to hone their professional skills, but also feeding a talent pipeline that ensures San Diego remains competitive in the global economy,” said San Diego Regional EDC President and CEO Mark Cafferty. Cafferty has been involved in workforce issues for most of his career and was previously the President and CEO of the San Diego Workforce Partnership.

San Diego Regional EDC has already agreed to host an intern for summer 2013.