A note from Mark: Our collective power in a time of need
As we all know and understand, the shutdown of our federal government and additional challenges coming from Washington, D.C. are creating undue stresses, strains, and hardship for families, workers, and businesses across our region—at a time when nearly half of all local households are already struggling.
I could not feel more pride and gratitude for our EDC investors and partners who have been organizing efforts to help those in need: Through visible philanthropic collaboration and alignment, leading food distribution efforts, connecting San Diegans to critical resources, and many, many more that are a constant resource to families. Collectively, you have the power to move mountains.
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 ACE Parking.
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For the week of October 31, 2025, here’s what we’re reading:
With support from World Trade Center San Diego’s MetroConnect export accelerator, Aquacycl expanded its industrial wastewater treatment services into Mexico and the EU. By leveraging the program’s $5,000 grant, workshops, and global connections, Aquacycl successfully deployed its system to Don Julio’s distillery in Jalisco, launched its European testing hub in the Netherlands, and won MetroConnect’s $25,000 grand prize.
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 ACE Parking.
Get Good News of the Week in your inbox every Friday.→ Sign up
For the week of October 24, 2025, here’s what we’re reading:
In providing wide-ranging business support across the region, EDC is working to understand existing regulatory barriers, including permitting, licensing, and compliance, to work with regional partners and make doing business in San Diego easier. We invite local companies to take just a few minutes to share your feedback and experience with regulatory barriers.
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 ACE Parking.
Get Good News of the Week in your inbox every Friday.→ Sign up
For the week of October 17, 2025, here’s what we’re reading:
100 years of innovation: How San Diego became a hub for life-changing breakthroughs
Over more than a century, San Diego has proudly built a legacy of groundbreaking innovation across key industries like life sciences, aerospace and defense, and cleantech. From the founding of our region’s most beloved institutions like General Atomics and the Salk Institute, to #SDlifechanging discoveries in life sciences, learn how San Diego has grown into a global leader in innovation.
From early stage startups and rising stars to established industry heavyweights, EDC and JPMorgan Chase & Co.partnered to celebrate San Diego’s fastest growing companies at our inaugural San Diego Business Impact Awards. Selected through a competitive nomination and judging process, we recognized awardees for making waves in San Diego during an inspiring October 16 program celebrating the companies’ collective regional impact.
Of nearly 60 companies recognized, we congratulate our Top Honorees:
Bancroft Construction Services
Bancroft Construction Services is a California DVBE and WBE providing biological, stormwater, and archaeological monitoring. Founded by U.S. Navy veteran Ashley Driscoll in 2017, with MarineCorps veteran Ethan Driscoll as Principal, its team delivers environmental compliance expertise, supporting rail, wind, and power projects with proven success and sustainable solutions.
Element Biosciences
Element Biosciences is a life sciences company democratizing access to advanced biological tools, driving impactful discoveries to benefit humanity. The woman-founded company is focused on developing disruptive DNA sequencing and multi-omics technology for research markets. Through innovating every fundamental element of a biological assay system, Element empowers customers with affordable, high-quality data and an improved user experience, which in turn will accelerate scientific discoveries.
GALT Aerospace
GALT Aerospace, a veteran-owned small business, delivers cutting-edge C3 solutions for the DoD. Combining innovation and speed, it strengthens security, accelerates information flow, and empowers the warfighter with open, agile architectures that unify radios, data links, and waveforms into one seamless network.
Innoflight
Innoflight develops innovative, radiation-tolerant, and integrated cyber secure space avionics solutions suited for space vehicle buses and payloads. Innoflight’s cutting-edge and mission critical communications, networking, cybersecurity, processing, and integrated electronics solutions support the most advanced space missions. After 20 years, Innoflight continues to revolutionize the space industry and excels in modular, high performance, and low Size Weight and Power (SWaP) hardware and software solutions with successful flight heritage in multiple orbits. Its customers include the U.S. government and allies, major defense prime contractors, satellite bus providers, and new space developers.
Jimbo’s
Jimbo’s was founded by Jim “Jimbo” Someck in San Diego in 1984 with the vision to have a piece of organic fruit in every child’s recyclable lunch bag. Jimbo’s has a long-standing commitment to supporting local organic farms and businesses, and many local farmers and products have grown alongside Jimbo’s over the years. Jimbo’s supplies the highest quality organic and natural foods available across its four local stores, while following a strict list of 26 guidelines.
LENZ Therapeutics
LENZ Therapeutics is a pharmaceutical company focused on the commercialization of VIZZ™ (aceclidine ophthalmologic solution) 1.44 percent, the first and only FDA-approved aceclidine‑based eye drop for treating presbyopia, a condition impacting an estimated 1.8 billion people globally and 128 million people in the U.S. LENZ is commercializing VIZZ™ in the U.S. and continues to establish licensing partnerships internationally to provide access to VIZZ globally.
Please join us in celebrating all our 2025 honorees:
Collectively, our nearly 60 honorees employ more than 8,200 San Diegans, contributing $1.2 billion in total payroll. On average, companies doubled their revenues in the last year and range from two to 111 years in business.
• ALOHA Collection • Arcturus Therapeutics • ASML • Avocado Queen •
Bancroft Construction Services • Burger Construction •
C3 Risk & Insurance • Center for Sustainable Energy • CFO Hub •
CleverMade • Cloud Water Filters • Cloudbeds • Conekt.ai • COYOTAS Cultura • Dip studio • DSS Games • Element Biosciences • Endeavor Bank Evans Hotels • Flagship Cruise and Events • Gaia Medical Institute •
GALT Aerospace • Gear Hugger • Ignite Media Group • Innoflight • Jimbo’s Kenney Signs • Kiakahi • LENZ Therapeutics • Loopholes •
Marine Group Boat Works • MindNumbers • Natilus • Nucleus Biologics Pleno • Point Predictive • PSYONIC • RayzeBio • Rylee + Cru • San Diego FC Seasats • Seismic • Selk’bag • Seraphina Therapeutics • Show Imaging Sipwell Wine Co. • Snake Oil Cocktail Company • Sunday Golf • Tag-N-Trac Tom Watson • TOOTRiS • Trovata UNIGRID • Watkins Wellness •
We are Human Kind • Wildfire Systems •
Thank you to San Diego Magazine, Scripps Research, and Snake Oil Cocktail Co. for their support and partnership on the event.
For questions and to get engaged in next year’s event, 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 ACE Parking.
Get Good News of the Week in your inbox every Friday.→ Sign up
For the week of October 10, 2025, here’s what we’re reading:
Tickets are now on sale for the inaugural San Diego Business Impact Awards to honor key industry players like ASML, Element Biosciences, San Diego FC, and many others. Together with 200+ business leaders, we’ll celebrate honorees, announce our top finalists, and enjoy live music, bites, and drinks from local favorite Snake Oil Cocktail Co..
In October 2025, San Diego Regional EDC released “Catalyzing CA’s Fusion Advantage: Roadmap to Commercialization,” an interactive web report quantifying the economic impact of California’s fusion energy industry and exploring its potential to support more than 40,000 jobs and $125 billion to the state economy.
With electricity demand rising and climate targets tightening, the world is facing an impending energy crisis. These challenges, combined with grid instability and geopolitical vulnerability, have underscored the need for groundbreaking commercial technologies, as well as coordinated policy and regulatory frameworks to harness the state’s full potential.
The same process that powers the sun, fusion energy has long been considered the “holy grail” of power: A clean, safe, and virtually limitless source of baseload electricity. It offers high power density, no carbon emissions, minimal and short-lived radioactive waste, no risk of meltdown, and 24/7 reliability.
California has already begun to establish itself as a global leader in the fusion energy industry. The presence of industry titans such as General Atomics and TAE Technologies, coupled with world-leading R&D institutes like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and UC San Diego’s fusion cluster, positions the state as one of the world’s most promising regions for fusion commercialization. These institutions also host two of the nation’s most significant fusion research facilities—General Atomics’ DIII-D, the only operational fusion user facility in the country, and LLNL’s National Ignition Facility, where the first successful ignition proved that fusion energy is possible.
“With the right support, California can lead the in the commercialization of fusion energy, capturing the economic benefits that come from it while reshaping the global energy landscape,” said Eduardo Velasquez, Sr. Director of Research and Economic Development at San Diego Regional EDC, the report’s author. “EDC’s report brings into focus the regions, firms, and talent currently driving the industry, as well as the opportunities and hurdles the state faces in scaling from fusion R&D hub to a production powerhouse.”
Informed by nearly two dozen executive interviews with fusion business leaders, academia, and local governance, the report—available at fusionCA.org—dives deep into current industry strengths, future growth scenarios, and policy recommendations needed to drive industry competitiveness in California.
KEY FINDINGS
California leads the nation in fusion energy development. The state boasts 16 core fusion companies—more than one-third of all U.S.-based fusion companies—and has captured more than $2.2 billion in cumulative private and public funding since tracking began.
The fusion industry already generates significant economic impact—with even more high-growth potential. Currently, fusion energy accounts for approximately 4,700 jobs across California and generates $1.4 billion in annual economic output. The industry has the potential to grow to between $48 billion and $125 billion, depending on successful commercialization and state policy decisions.
California excels in research but faces commercialization challenges. The state’s world-class universities, national laboratories, and private investment ecosystem position California as the global leader in fusion R&D. However, barriers such as regulatory uncertainty, high land costs, grid interconnection delays, and lack of fusion-specific policy frameworks threaten California’s ability to retain companies as they transition from R&D to commercial deployment.
Maintaining fusion leadership requires strategic policy measures and state support. Success depends on recognizing fusion as ‘clean energy’ under state law, establishing clear regulatory pathways, preparing appropriate sites for establishing commercial research centers and fusion energy plants, and creating coordinated policy support. Without decisive action, California risks losing fusion companies to other states offering more favorable commercialization conditions.
“As a leader in climate resilience, California has been at the cutting edge of energy transition strategies and innovation for decades. Now, as fusion presents such clear economic opportunity, our state must build a long-term policy roadmap that prioritizes and incentivizes research, commercialization, workforce development, and investment to further position us to lead in the global energy transition,” said California Senator Catherine Blakespear, Chair of the Environmental Quality Committee.
“We’re proud to play a key role in advancing fusion energy here in San Diego while collaborating with partners such as the State of California, the City of San Diego, the Department of Energy, the University of California system, and national laboratories,” said Anantha Krishnan, senior vice president for the General Atomics Energy Group. “To realize our region and state’s full potential, California companies will need financial incentives, regulatory support, and streamlined land-zoning processes. In addition, public-private collaborations to build test facilities and train the future fusion workforce will be critical to achieving success in commercializing fusion energy.”
The report was underwritten by General Atomics, with research contributions by Boston Consulting Group and sponsorship by B3K Prosperity, LLNL, Livermore Lab Foundation, Mintz, ML Strategies, and Tokamak Energy, and unveiled at a press conference and industry reception October 9. Congressman Scott Peters, Senator Catherine Blakespear, and other leaders across the state were in attendance.
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 ACE Parking.
Get Good News of the Week in your inbox every Friday.→ Sign up
For the week of October 3, 2025, here’s what we’re reading:
Join EDC for a Manufacturing Industry Roundtable on Wednesday, Oct. 15, a chance for local manufacturers and manufacturing teams to share insight and feedback on the regulatory and market barriers impeding growth. Input will support regional recommendations to the State, County, and City of San Diego.
Investing in San Diego: Nikia’s reflections on our 2025 trade mission to France
Wheels up after another successful trade mission—our eighth since relaunching World Trade Center San Diego as a public-private partnership focused on creating jobs at home by building opportunities abroad. In late September 2025, a cross-sector coalition of more than 30 San Diego business, academic, and civic leaders traveled to France, led by Representative Scott Peters and Mayor Todd Gloria.
The timing could not have been more critical. Markets are volatile, supply chains are shifting, and global policy is in flux. Yet, beneath this uncertainty lies opportunity: The chance to forge partnerships that create stability, unlock investment, and drive job growth. As Representative Peters reminded us during the trip, France is one of America’s oldest allies—and these strong subnational ties matter more than ever when federal commitments to science, energy transition, and global collaboration are under pressure…
Wheels up after another successful trade mission—our eighth since relaunching World Trade Center San Diego as a public-private partnership focused on creating jobs at home by building opportunities abroad. In late September 2025, a cross-sector coalition of more than 30 San Diego business, academic, and civic leaders traveled to France, led by Representative Scott Peters and Mayor Todd Gloria.
The timing could not have been more critical. Markets are volatile, supply chains are shifting, and global policy is in flux. Yet, beneath this uncertainty lies opportunity: The chance to forge partnerships that create stability, unlock investment, and drive job growth. As Representative Peters reminded us during the trip, France is one of America’s oldest allies—and these strong subnational ties matter more than ever when federal commitments to science, energy transition, and global collaboration are under pressure.
Over the course of the week, the San Diego delegation made major strides:
Strengthening research ties: UC San Diego and San Diego State University advanced collaborations with French research institutes like CNRS in chemistry and marine biology.
Pitching San Diego to investors: With the U.S. Embassy and Dentons, we showcased San Diego’s growth sectors to more than 30 French companies, while Sanofi hosted a wide-ranging discussion on AI, mRNA, and U.S. expansion.
Driving the clean energy future: General Atomics marked its contribution to ITER, the world’s largest scientific collaboration, while leading efforts to commercialize fusion energy back in California. (Stay tuned for a deep dive into fusion in EDC’s upcoming study!)
Expanding city-to-city ties: The City of San Diego signed a new Sister City Agreement with Marseille, opening the door for deeper collaboration in ports, blue tech, life sciences, and tourism, while Biocom and Eurobiomed doubled down on their partnership to support life sciences companies across the Atlantic.
Maximizing global events: San Diego partners engaged with Paris Olympics 2024 to ensure our region captures economic benefits from LA28 and the 2026 World Cup.
These are more than symbolic wins—they are investments in San Diego’s future. Every strengthened research partnership, every pitch to global investors, every commitment from an international company represents jobs and opportunity here at home.
As Mayor Gloria so often reminds us, San Diego has both beauty and brains. Our team takes great pride in marketing San Diego to partners near and far, but nothing is more powerful than showing up and telling our story face-to-face. Our delegation did just that—showcasing our region to French partners and investors. And this last week in France is just the tip of the iceberg: The real work of a trade mission is in the months prior that set the stage, and the weeks and months after, when the impacts become clear.
A special thank you to the nearly three dozen San Diego delegates, from global employers like Qualcomm, ASML, Cubic Corporation, and General Atomics; to small businesses and venture investors including Ambix Ventures, GEN2X, and La Jolla Labs; and our research universities, trade associations, and civic leaders—all of whom make this mission possible. Convened by the founding partners of World Trade Center San Diego—the Port of San Diego, San Diego International Airport, and the City of San Diego—this coalition proves the power of showing up, together.
rising stars to established industry heavyweights, EDC and 
