Every week, ‘Good News of the Week’ features a curation of positive headlines from San Diego, delivered straight to your inbox. A blend of aggregated stories from San Diego’s most trusted news sources and original EDC-created content, GNOTW provides a comprehensive recap of the region’s best stories from the past week. GNOTW is sponsored by Manpower.
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For the week of May 16, 2025, here’s what we’re reading:
In the past five months, we have seen our education systems face cuts that threaten our most vulnerable communities… Now more than ever, we are challenged to come together, discuss, and ideate. As San Diego emerges from the shock and chaos that this year’s headlines have already caused, let’s pause to think about the business opportunity ahead of us in education and filling the gap left by government funding.
As San Diego Regional EDC celebrates 60 years since its founding in 1965 and continues to drive an inclusive economic development strategy for the region, outgoing Board Chair Jennie Brooks passes the gavel to Tom Seidler, Executive Vice President, Community & International Impact of the San Diego Padres.
“It was my brother Peter who first asked me to represent the Padres on the EDC board.
Tom and late brother Peter Seidler, ownership of the San Diego Padres
I am honored to take on this new role and work even more closely with EDC’s team. Our mission is to drive greater inclusion, innovation, and growth across San Diego in order to better elevate our people, businesses, and identity on the global stage,” said Tom Seidler, Executive Vice President, Community & International Impact of the San Diego Padres. The Padres, which employs more than 1,200 San Diegans, have become a consistent playoff contender and top-three team in attendance over the past several years.
While San Diego faces new pressures at the local, state, and federal level, and while residents and businesses are continually challenged by the affordability crisis, the goalposts outlined in the Inclusive Growth Initiative are more important than ever. It is an economic imperative that the region create more skilled talent, quality jobs, and thriving households, or San Diego’s competitiveness is at risk.
“I am proud to pass the gavel to my colleague and friend Tom Seidler in this milestone year,“ said outgoing Chair Jennie Brooks, Executive Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton, who served a three-year term which saw EDC’s largest headcount and budget during a time of post-pandemic economic recovery. “EDC’s employer-led, data-driven approach makes crystal clear the needs of the economy and the onus of the business community in making a difference. I know Tom will continue this important work and set us on the right path for EDC’s next 60 years.”
As Chair, Seidler is supported by five officers: Vice Chair Kevin Pegels, Head of Global Quality & Operations, Illumina; Vice Chair Karen Reinhardt, Head of HR, US, ASML; Vice Chair of Inclusive Growth Lisette Islas, CEO, Lifeline Community Services; Treasurer Manuel Rodriguez, Market President, San Diego Commercial Banking, U.S. Bank; and Secretary Jane Finley, Senior Vice President & Area Manager, Kaiser Permanente.
Along with the election of a new chair, EDC’s board also elected five new directors: Tyler Carter, Park President, SeaWorld San Diego; Brunson Howard, Market Leader & Senior Managing Director, CBRE; Richard Neale, Corporate Executive Vice President, Chief Business Development & Growth Officer, Scripps Health; Jennette Shay, COO, Price Philanthropies Foundation; and Dan Skopec, Senior Vice President & CRO, San Diego Gas & Electric.
EDC is a membership-based nonprofit organization that mobilizes government and civic leaders around an inclusive economic development strategy in order to connect data to decision making, maximize regional prosperity, enhance global competitiveness and position San Diego effectively for investment and talent. The organization’s more than 150 investors (members) range from rising stars like NOVO Brazil Brewing Co., to the region’s largest employers like Qualcomm and Illumina, to leading anchor institutions such as universities, hospitals, and sports franchises, among others.
“As a beloved San Diego leader, Tom is perfectly positioned to lead EDC in this unique moment in time. Notably, he has moved through each EDC officer role, serving as past secretary, treasurer, and vice chair,” said Mark Cafferty, President & CEO, San Diego Regional EDC. “With a national climate as challenging as this, Tom’s humility, leadership, and deep understanding of San Diego’s strengths and opportunities are exactly what the organization needs as we strive to make San Diego a model for the nation and the world.”
EDC officially welcomed Tom Seidler as Board Chair at its Annual Dinner event at Petco Park on Thursday, May 15.
Education & how business can fill the gap left by government funding
In the past five months, we have seen our education systems face cuts that threaten our most vulnerable communities. To help contextualize their impact, here’s what we know about the current state of education funding for our region:
The Governor is proposing a 7.95 percent cut to the CSU and UC systems. This equates to $128 million in cuts to San Diego alone and makes up nearly 40 percent of all state budget reductions.
The House Education and Workforce Committee has proposed $351 billion in budget cuts, including adjusted requirements for Pell Grant eligibility that would impact more than 125,000 students in the CSU system alone.
Federal agency research funding faces significant threats. This funding accounts for more than half of total research awards in the UC system, which produced 78 startups in FY23 alone.
The state continues to cut funding to the California Strong Workforce Program, impacting its ability to support career education. These cuts could reduce access to direct workforce training and supportive services, limiting opportunities for both students and workers.
Now more than ever, we are challenged to come together, discuss, and ideate. As San Diego emerges from the shock and chaos this year’s headlines have already caused, let’s pause to think about the opportunity ahead of us.
What is not news is that many of our systems, in their current forms, often struggle to serve the individuals and communities that need them most. While we know higher education to be an effective vehicle for socio-economic mobility, we continue to see a positive correlation between income and the test scores that determine college eligibility. Proposed reductions to Pell Grant availability, especially impacting individuals that must work full-time to make ends meet, will exacerbate these issues and make educational attainment even more challenging for low-income individuals.
In order to meet business needs for our future workforce and ensure all San Diegans have an opportunity to succeed—two goals that inextricably go hand in hand—we need creative and cross-functional solutions. Where the government divests, enterprise must invest to ensure its most critical asset, its people, remain available and prepared.
San Diego Regional EDC will continue to serve as a convener for the region, bringing the right people to the table for collaborative solutions. With changes in technology, an ever-increasing cost of living, and significant shifts in skills needs, EDC will advocate for a less linear and more intertwined relationship between industry and education. This comes in the form of:
EDC will also continue to explore new and innovative ways for businesses to help fill gaps, such as company-supported ScholarShare 529 plans or loan forgiveness programs for upskilling education.
Join us on May 21 for our Q2 Inclusive Growth Roundtableto learn more about this work and see how you can get involved. This small lunchtime event aims to bring together investors and partners engaged in the Inclusive Growth Initiative—especially the talent goal—to discuss where we stand as a region on doubling the number of skilled workers with just five years left in our timeline. If you are interested in joining that lunch, drop us a line!
Every week, ‘Good News of the Week’ features a curation of positive headlines from San Diego, delivered straight to your inbox. A blend of aggregated stories from San Diego’s most trusted news sources and original EDC-created content, GNOTW provides a comprehensive recap of the region’s best stories from the past week. GNOTW is sponsored by Manpower.
Get Good News of the Week in your inbox every Friday.→ Sign up
For the week of May 9, 2025, here’s what we’re reading:
This year EDC is celebrating its 60th anniversary. Join us at Petco Park on Thursday, May 15 to celebrate at our Annual Dinner! Together with 900 attendees, we invite you to hear from EDC leadership, celebrate this year’s award winners, and walk on the field to enjoy a dinner reception and inspiring conversation at Gallagher Square.
Every week, ‘Good News of the Week’ features a curation of positive headlines from San Diego, delivered straight to your inbox. A blend of aggregated stories from San Diego’s most trusted news sources and original EDC-created content, GNOTW provides a comprehensive recap of the region’s best stories from the past week. GNOTW is sponsored by Manpower.
Get Good News of the Week in your inbox every Friday.→ Sign up
For the week of May 2, 2025, here’s what we’re reading:
EDC’s impact is made possible with and through the investment of more than 150 public and private organizations. Last month, we sat down with EDC investor and National Lacrosse League team, the San Diego Seals, to learn more about the team, its tourism industry impact, and why it invests in EDC.
To celebrate and inspire the efforts of regional employers, EDC’s new Inclusive Growth blog series will highlight San Diego companies and organizations helping to drive progress toward the 2030 Inclusive Growth goals. This blog features San Diego nonprofit service provider SBCS (formerly South Bay Community Services).
Launched in 2018 and informed by a partnership with the Brookings Institution, the Inclusive Growth initiative sets 2030 goals for San Diego related to increasing: 1) the supply of talent, 2) quality small business jobs, and 3) newly thriving households. The goals inform San Diego’s economic priorities and make the business case for economic inclusion.
Regional talent demand remains high
To maintain economic competitiveness, the region needs 20,000 students per year completing post-secondary education within six years of graduating high school. These include certifications, career technical education, and college degrees. Progress toward the goal has increased incrementally since 2017 yet completions have shown signs of tapering; the region still falls short of the goal; and the local supply of talent continues to be a critical priority for San Diego employers.
Talent scarcity has become the new normal as hiring demand exceeds the supply of talent across industries. Compounding this challenge, student success is demographically uneven in the San Diego region. Despite making up 35 percent of the population, Hispanics and Latinos only account for 17 percent of residents over 25 years old with at least a bachelor’s degree. Critical to growing the local talent pool will be creating more opportunities for Black and Latino students to succeed locally. Employer-led talent pipeline development efforts are critical to the future of San Diego’s economy and SBCS is among those working toward a solution.
SBCS transforms communities to support the well-being and prosperity of children, youth, and families throughout San Diego County.
Recognized as a trusted leader in the region for more than 50 years, SBCS takes on San Diego’s toughest challenges with unwavering commitment to create lasting sustainable change. SBCS reaches more than 50,000 residents each year with widescale high-impact services proven to reduce homelessness, improve educational outcomes, advance economic mobility, and improve community safety.
SBCS College-Bound Youth
Understanding the opportunity gap
For young people from low-income communities, a lack of access to quality education, professional mentors, and financial resources will often lead to limited career opportunities in adulthood. Minimum wage jobs are often the only ones available—and can leave youth unable to cover the cost of even their most basic needs, especially in a high-cost region.
SBCS is closing the opportunity gap by paying youth a living wage while they gain hands-on experience in industries that foster long-term career growth and financial success.
For those ready to enter the workforce, paid technical training with local companies and industry-recognized certifications pave the way for stable, well-paying careers. After completing six-weeks of training with SBCS youth Pedro was hired as a full-time fiber optics technician at a competitive salary.
“Pedro wants to be here—he’s learning, he’s growing. Big picture, where he’s going to be in five or 10 years…it’s going be awesome for him to look back on where he started.” —Justin Baldwin, Director of Construction, Wyyred
For college-bound youth, paid professional internships provide vital income while students continue their education and support their families. After transferring from Southwestern College to UCLA, Jamie worked with SBCS to secure a paid summer internship with the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, gaining hands-on experience in government affairs and policymaking.
“SBCS [helped] catapult my career—they saw something in me and gave me opportunities I didn’t think were possible. Now I’m working next door to City Hall every day, pursuing my passion for public policy.”—Jamie, SBCS Internship Graduate
SBCS provided more than 200 youth with employment support in 2024—and the demand for meaningful work experience is currently exceeding the agency’s capacity to place youth. SBCS is actively seeking local businesses to host interns with wages paid by SBCS. Contact impact@csbcs.org for more information or to get involved.
SBCS Internship student
SBCS’ leadership team shared that an Investment in EDC is an investment in regional workforce development.
“SBCS’ longtime partnership with San Diego Regional EDC has directly strengthened our impact.
Through EDC, SBCS has built meaningful connections with professionals across the region—resulting in new advisory partnerships, internship placements, funding opportunities, and community collaborations. When SBCS launched its internship program, EDC’s research and leadership in workforce development played a critical role in helping us secure grants and design a model grounded in real regional needs. SBCS is proud to be part of a network that champions inclusive economic growth, and we look forward to deepening our relationship in the years ahead.”
Join the movement
Progress on EDC’s 2030 Inclusive Growth goals is only achievable with and through the region’s employers scaling innovative and intentional solutions. Organizations like SBCS are helping to collectively pave the way toward a more inclusive regional economy.
Endorse the goals, and be part of the change San Diego’s economy demands.
I hope this message finds you well. While the news and the constant barrage of information surrounding us these days can feel a bit heavy and negative, I want to remind you all that for the last 13 years, the EDC team has been putting out “Good News of the Week” every Friday to make sure San Diegans end the week on the highest possible note. We always do our best to filter through everything we can to find news of businesses expanding and growing, universities receiving new accolades and funding, non-profit partners improving the community while improving the economy, and other milestone achievements advancing San Diego’s regional and global competitiveness.
Still, we would love to hear more milestones in innovation, collaboration, creativity, integrity, and inspiration that are found in all corners of our county and our binational region. Consider this my invitation and reminder to submit your own Good News and make sure we don’t miss out on elevating your stories.
In the spirit of sharing “Good News”, the incomparable Sir Elton John is coming back to Petco Park to perform at Curebound’s Concert for Cures on Friday, May 9. As we heard from EDC Investor and Curebound CEO Anne Marbarger in our January EDC Board Meeting, the nonprofit raises money for grants that support San Diego’s top research institutions in the fight against cancer. Join Lauree, me, and the broader San Diego business community as we help raise critical funds for cancer research, and officially say farewell to Sir Elton John. Explore Curebound’s Concert for Cures table and ticket information, or contact Anne directly at anne@curebound.org.
So again—keep the “Good News” coming. I can assure you there is not a week that goes by where someone in this community (or even outside of this community) doesn’t remind me of how uplifting it is to read about your collective successes, breakthroughs, wins, and moments worth celebrating.
Thank you as always for your leadership and support, and for continuing to make San Diego the unique and amazing place that it is.
Every week, ‘Good News of the Week’ features a curation of positive headlines from San Diego, delivered straight to your inbox. A blend of aggregated stories from San Diego’s most trusted news sources and original EDC-created content, GNOTW provides a comprehensive recap of the region’s best stories from the past week. GNOTW is sponsored by Manpower.
Get Good News of the Week in your inbox every Friday.→ Sign up
For the week of April 25, 2025, here’s what we’re reading:
Join us and 200+ international business professionals on June 5 to celebrate MetroConnect VII, World Trade Center San Diego’s latest export accelerator cohort. Hear our top four MetroConnect companies pitch for a $25,000 grand prize, cast your vote, and enjoy an evening of networking with top regional exporters, trade offices, and consulates.
To better understand San Diego’s talent demand in priority industries, EDC’s Advancing San Diego program partnered with BW Research to conduct a comprehensive talent demand survey focused on business, computing, and engineering occupations. A survey of 264 businesses in San Diego County was fielded in March 2025. The survey prioritized larger firms to develop a more comprehensive profile of each of the listed occupations. All companies surveyed had at least five employees. Participation spanned all four of the primary regions in San Diego (North County, South County, East County, and Central San Diego) and several industries to ensure diversity of responses.
This data-driven effort supports Advancing San Diego’s Verified Program process and provides a real-time look at the workforce needs of local employers. Results show that while businesses are ready to grow, many face ongoing challenges in finding candidates with the skills and certifications needed to fill both entry- and mid-level roles.
Key findings
The largest share of employers considered internally-facing business roles—finance, purchasing, or project management positions—the most important out of all business, computing, and engineering roles.
The most difficult entry-level roles to fill included general engineers, project managers, engineering technicians, and software developers.
Businesses that prioritized engineers cited engineering as the most difficult occupationto fill with qualified entry-level talent.
Entry-level software developer roles took the longest for companies to fill, with 19 percent of companies reporting that it takes more than six months to fill this role.
The most challenging experienced position to fill was software developers, followed closely by experienced general engineers.
In computing, employers prioritized IT and network security skills, with certifications like A+, Security+, and CCNA frequently required or preferred.
What’s next?
Advancing San Diego verifies educational programs that meet or exceed industry expectations across five key areas. Programs that earn this designation gain public recognition and connection to regional employers.
September 26: Application deadline. EDC notifies programs that passed part one of the application process
November 13: Verified Program Designation Day
Programs pitch to industry to share diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts at in-person event. Industry participants fill out rubrics based on program pitches as part two of the application
Use EDC’s Data Dashboard to explore how local education programs align with regional workforce needs and identify equity gaps in real-time. The dashboard highlights race and gender disparities, program completions, and connections to priority occupations—all designed to support more data-informed talent development efforts in San Diego County.
To learn more and get involved in EDC’s work, contact:
Every week, ‘Good News of the Week’ features a curation of positive headlines from San Diego, delivered straight to your inbox. A blend of aggregated stories from San Diego’s most trusted news sources and original EDC-created content, GNOTW provides a comprehensive recap of the region’s best stories from the past week. GNOTW is sponsored by Manpower.
Get Good News of the Week in your inbox every Friday.→ Sign up
For the week of April 18, 2025, here’s what we’re reading:
You’re ready to export and sell internationally…now what? If you’re a San Diego small business with little to no experience in exporting, join our free webinar on April 30. Learn the fundamentals of exporting from World Trade Center San Diego’s Export SBDC advisor.
