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 30, 2026, here’s what we’re reading:
Investor Spotlight: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
San Diego’s strong intersection of science, technology, and research creates an unparalleled environment for global conservation efforts across multiple areas of expertise. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is leading innovative solutions to conservation challenges around the world together with partners San Diego State University, UC San Diego, Illumina, and WTCSD, right here at home.
San Diego leads in autonomous defense tech. EDC Roadmap shows how to scale it.
Backed by new San Diego Defense Council, Defense Innovation Roadmap outlines strategies to move technologies from pilot to production
Today, San Diego Regional EDC released “The Right to Win: San Diego’s Defense Innovation Roadmap,” a diagnostic of the region’s defense economy paired with a Defense Innovation Roadmap to better connect San Diego’s military, research, and industry assets and move more technologies from pilot to production. Developed with New Localism Associates and underwritten by Booz Allen Hamilton, these data-backed tools arrive as Washington pushes the defense industrial base to move faster, produce more, and bring in commercial innovation.
San Diego starts from a position of strength. The region receives an average of $11.6 billion a year in Department of War (DoW) contracts and grants and is home to more than 6,700 defense-related assets—from military installations to primes, startups, and research institutions. The defense ecosystem generated an estimated $61.3 billion in economic impact in FY2025, or 22.2% of regional GRP, according to the San Diego Military Advisory Council (SDMAC). But the EDC report finds that having these assets is not the same as having a connected innovation ecosystem.
“No region has a stronger right to win in defense innovation than San Diego. We lead the nation in autonomy and sit at the convergence of emerging technology and the military’s most important legacy capabilities. Yet places with far less are moving with more coordination and urgency. This Roadmap gives us the plan to change that. We will always be a proud home to the Navy, and the new San Diego Defense Council—a partnership driven by EDC and SDMAC—will ensure that we are building what it needs next,” said Nikia Clarke, Chief Strategy Officer at San Diego Regional EDC.
The report draws on analysis of DoW contract spending, a survey of more than 750 firms, executive interviews, and an advisory committee of industry and ecosystem leaders.
Key findings
San Diego has one of the nation’s most significant concentrations of defense assets and capabilities.
The region has more than 6,700 total defense-related assets, including military installations, prime contractors, sub-prime contractors, and research institutions. This concentration of military demand, research, talent, and industry provides a strong foundation for continued defense growth.
San Diego is a national leader in critical defense technologies, with a competitive advantage across multiple domains. San Diego ranks #1 nationally in DoW contract obligations for autonomous and unmanned systems, with additional top 10 rankings in maritime and shipbuilding, engineering and technical services, and aircraft and aviation. This breadth of expertise positions the region to lead in developing, integrating, and deploying technologies critical to national defense.
San Diego has the potential to roughly double the number of firms in its defense industrial base. More than 7,600 regional companies have yet to engage with the DoW, at least half developing technologies aligned with national defense priorities. Winning average-sized contracts for even half of interested firms in three priority technologies would add roughly $52 million in economic impact.
The region’s biggest opportunity is more than just innovation—it is paving pathways from innovation to adoption to scaling.
Despite the region’s strengths, 62% of surveyed companies involved with the DoW identified difficulty moving from pilot stage to full-scale production. Expanding access to testing and validation, acquisition expertise, and manufacturing infrastructure will help companies overcome these barriers and scale.
Greater regional coordination is essential to translating San Diego’s defense strengths into investment and economic growth.
Despite its substantial defense footprint, interviews with industry stakeholders and advisory group discussions highlighted the need for stronger regional coordination around testing access, industry engagement, and advocacy. A unified regional effort can help expand the national perception of San Diego from a military town to a defense innovation powerhouse, attracting new investment, companies, and opportunities for economic growth.
“Washington is asking the defense industrial base to move faster, produce more, and bring in commercial innovation. This report and Roadmap will help our region answer that call with a unified set of priorities. I’ll work with the Navy, my colleagues in Congress, and local partners to make sure San Diego’s needs are heard, from testing infrastructure to workforce, and that our installations and the companies that support them remain central to U.S. national security,” said Congressman Scott Peters.
Strategies for the future
The Roadmap organizes proposed initiatives under three strategies:
Catalyze defense innovation: A San Diego Proving Grounds, a coordinated portfolio of air and maritime testing environments; a San Diego Defense Innovation Hub, building on UC San Diego’s FORGE and SDSU’s National Security Hub; and a San Diego Biodefense Consortium linking the region’s life sciences strength to defense health demand.
Enable defense production at scale: Ready to Deploy Sites to prepare manufacturing-ready parcels and speed permitting, and a Maritime Modernization Initiative building on the COMPASS coalition and CalSEA to help shipbuilders and suppliers adopt advanced manufacturing.
Advance regional advocacy and national positioning: A coordinated advocacy strategy at the federal, state, and regional levels, and a defense marketing strategy with signature activations including an Invest in San Diego experience, a San Diego Unmanned Maritime Systems Gauntlet, and defense-focused trade missions.
To drive implementation, EDC and SDMAC are establishing the San Diego Defense Council, a coordinating body that will advance the Defense Innovation Roadmap’s priorities, identify champions for individual initiatives, align partners and resources, track progress, and unify regional advocacy and marketing efforts.
“San Diego’s defense and innovation ecosystem is one of our region’s greatest economic strengths, and this Defense Innovation Roadmap gives us a shared, data-driven plan to grow it. Through our partnership with the San Diego Regional EDC, SDMAC is proud to help lead the integration of the military, industry, and university communities so that the technologies of tomorrow are developed, tested, and built right here in San Diego,” said David M. Boone, Rear Admiral, Civil Engineers Corps, USN (Retired); President & CEO, SDMAC.
“Too many good technologies stall between a successful pilot and a funded program. Bridging that gap takes more than innovation. It takes integration, acquisition know-how, and relationships on both sides. Companies like Booz Allen who are at the center of the defense tech ecosystem can help emerging companies navigate procurement, meet mission requirements, and plug into larger programs. The Roadmap’s vision for clearer pathways to market gives primes and startups a better way to work together, and gives the Navy and the Department of War a faster route from prototype to capability,” said Jennie Brooks, Executive Vice President at Booz Allen, the report’s underwriter.
“Imagine a founder with an autonomous vessel who can test it on the water this week, put it in front of Navy users next week, and find a production site the week after. That’s the San Diego story. If the region delivers coordinated proving grounds and ready-to-build sites, this becomes the place where defense and maritime companies are founded, proven, and built for decades to come. Seasats is proud to represent what’s possible if we get this moment right,” said Mike Flanigan, Co-Founder & CEO, Seasats—local manufacturer of autonomous surface vessels for defense, commercial, and scientific missions.
Underwritten by Booz Allen, with support from SDMAC, San Diego State University, UC San Diego, New Localism Associates, and the Prebys Foundation, the Defense Innovation Roadmap was released at an event at Firestorm Labs on October 27.
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 23, 2026, here’s what we’re reading:
Go Global 2030: San Diego’s Trade & Investment Strategy
In an effort to identify new opportunities for local businesses to expand, compete, and thrive in global markets, World Trade Center San Diego (WTCSD) has updated its global trade and investment strategy and report for 2030. Join WTCSD on Nov. 17 and explore how San Diego can stay globally competitive amid an evolving trade landscape.
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 16, 2026, here’s what we’re reading:
From placing 83 interns across 55 local businesses, 72 percent of whom were people of color, to advancing our Go Global 2030 strategy, with and through our investors EDC continues to support San Diego’s employers and strengthen the region’s global competitiveness.
Turning today’s internship demand into tomorrow’s competitive advantage.
It was more than 30 years ago when I first started working with high school students to place them into summer and year-round internships within some of Boston’s largest employers. The experiences proved life-changing for both my students and for me personally. Yet the most significant impact was seen in the workplace itself.
In the San Diego region today, the typical entry-level recruitment process can cost an employer around $3,000 per employee hired (if all goes smoothly). A relocation package to our region can average $20,000–$30,000 per employee hired (if you can convince an entry-level employee to relocate to such a high-cost region). Relocation packages for more experienced employees run much higher. These costs are significant and rising in an economy where all costs are significant and rising.
San Diego employers need to recognize now what Boston’s employers recognized more than three decades ago—that in the ongoing and increasing battle for talented workers, our greatest assets are the young people sitting in classrooms at local schools and growing up in our neighborhoods. But with the summer of 2026 as our benchmark, we have a very long way to go.
First, let me start with the good news: Over the course of this summer—with support from the Prebys Foundation, Price Philanthropies, U.S. Bank, Bank of America, Mesa College, Taylor Guitars, Cubic, Oceanside Chamber of Commerce, and others—our team at San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation was able to place 83 post-secondary-age interns into 55 local businesses. I cannot thank our business and philanthropic partners enough for their support.
These are 83 young people from the San Diego community who now have a competitive advantage over their peers when it comes to the careers they prepare for and pursue in the future. These students were sourced from our Verified Programs: the local colleges, universities, and community colleges that work with our team and the business community (throughout the year) to make sure that their academic programs are verified and approved by local businesses. This means that many of these students have ended the summer and returned to academic programs where their work-based learning will be amplified and accelerated in the classroom. Others are heading out into the workforce with more marketable and desirable skills and experience. And some were already hired full-time by the employers they interned with.
It is worth noting that 67% of those placed this summer are first-generation college students and 72% of them are people of color. It is also worth noting that 100% of them are better prepared for tomorrow.
Yet it is not really the students placed or the businesses already engaged that we should be thinking about. While we were able to place a few dozen students into paid internships, more than 1,400 applied for these same spots. For every 17 students looking to work we were only able to secure one spot. This is where our real opportunity lies.
I would like to think that the other 1,317 students found different jobs—but the summer of 2026 proved to be the most difficult on record for young people seeking employment. We can hope that their summers presented them with other options for work-based learning, mentorship, and paid work experiences—but hope has never been a particularly effective workforce or economic development strategy.
The summer of 2027 is only about 250 days away. Our team and many other education, non-profit, and community-based organizations throughout the region have already begun the time-consuming work to prepare for next summer, in hopes of placing hundreds more of our local students into quality internship opportunities. What we should all be striving to do together is ensure that we find and secure a placement for every student who applies.
This winter, our Talent team will be hosting a forum for all interested parties to come together and talk about the need for a more cohesive, collaborative, and effective internship effort as the cornerstone of our regional talent strategy. I know that there are hundreds of San Diego-based companies that run their own internship programs—many of them are part of EDC’s investor base. If you represent one of these businesses, we would love to work with you to ensure more local students and residents find their way into the cohorts you employ. I know there are local philanthropic leaders willing to work by your sides to align their assets to ensure the broadest and most impactful benefit to the San Diego community. And I know there are dozens of practitioners who have been working to ensure that young people in all corners of our community are prepared and ready for internships and work-based learning experiences in our local economy.
Who we invest in today will be reflected in who we grow to become tomorrow. Together, we can create a real and lasting competitive advantage for our San Diego economy, our community, and our future.
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 9, 2026, here’s what we’re reading:
Go Global 2030: San Diego’s Trade & Investment Strategy
In an effort to identify new opportunities for local businesses to expand, compete, and thrive in global markets, World Trade Center San Diego (WTCSD) has updated its global trade and investment strategy and report for 2030. Join WTCSD on Nov. 17 and explore how San Diego can stay globally competitive amid an evolving trade landscape.
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 2, 2026, here’s what we’re reading:
Looking to expand into Mexico’s advanced manufacturing market? Join WTCSD and GO-Biz for an informational webinar on participating in the California Pavilion at Expo Manufactura 2027, where California companies can learn about market opportunities in Mexico and meet potential buyers and partners.
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 September 25, 2026, here’s what we’re reading:
WTCSD case study: NEET®SHEETS wins $9K in grants toward Latin America expansion
NEET®SHEETS is an ergonomic bed linen company servicing hospitality and healthcare workers. With support from World Trade Center San Diego, the woman- and BIPOC-owned small business secured $8,824 in total grants to support its expansion into Latin American and Caribbean markets. Through the MetroConnect export accelerator program, the company received $5,000 to identify priority markets and distributors, followed by a $3,824 STEP grant to develop English and Spanish marketing materials, a promotional video, and sample boxes for prospective distributors.
In March, I wrote that San Diego needed to play offense in an uncertain global economy. We committed to leading with data, deepening trusted partnerships, and positioning our region for investment in the industries where we have distinct strengths.
Earlier this month, we brought that commitment to Japan.
Joined by Mayor Todd Gloria, Congressman Scott Peters, and leaders from across San Diego’s business and research community, World Trade Center San Diego (WTCSD) led our most ambitious trade mission yet: three major cities, five days, and more than 25 meetings and programs across Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka.
We returned with promising opportunities and partners already preparing to visit San Diego to advance them.
Why Japan matters
Japan has contributed $7.6 billion in foreign direct investment to San Diego since 2015, making it one of our region’s most important investment partners. Companies such as Kyocera have invested here for decades, supporting engineering, advanced manufacturing, and connections to global supply chains. Our universities and research institutions maintain relationships that expand what we can accomplish here at home.
Those ties provide a foundation for the next generation of collaboration. As the United States and Japan seek to strengthen industrial capacity and advance critical technologies, San Diego has much to contribute. We designed this trade mission around areas where those priorities intersect with our strengths, and where Japanese partners bring complementary capabilities.
We began in Yokohama, San Diego’s first and longest-standing Sister City, ahead of our 70th anniversary next year. Mayor Gloria’s address to the Yokohama City Council reaffirmed a relationship that has connected our communities across generations. That history of trust matters when asking partners to build something new together.
Some of our most consequential discussions focused on shipbuilding and maritime industrial collaboration.
The United States wants to expand its capacity to build and maintain ships, but longstanding challenges in workforce, infrastructure, and production make that difficult. San Diego brings a substantial maritime economy, major shipbuilding and repair operations, and emerging capabilities in autonomous systems, while Japan brings deep expertise in ship design, manufacturing, and industrial processes.
Our meetings with Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLIT) and the Ministry of Defense’s Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency (ATLA) explored how those strengths could work together.
The enthusiasm of our Japanese counterparts stood out. Partners were eager to understand what San Diego could offer and to bring a substantial contingent of decision-makers here to continue the discussion. A win: MLIT plans to lead a reverse trade mission to San Diego this November.
San Diego State University is an important part of this opportunity. Building on its ship design capabilities and agreement with South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries, stronger ties with Japanese industry could help establish new expertise with global reach right here in our region. For a university that recently achieved R1 research status and is developing its Mission Valley Innovation District, the possibilities extend across education, research, and industry.
This is where deliberate economic development can make a difference: Recognizing a national need, organizing our regional strengths, and bringing the right partners to the table.
Opening doors for investment and innovation
Our “Spotlight on San Diego” investment attraction event brought together 220 attendees, including executives from SoftBank, Mitsubishi Electric, Sumitomo Pharma, and dozens of other Japanese companies with the experience and capacity to make substantial investments in our region.
What struck me was the caliber of decision-makers in the room and the opportunity to put San Diego directly in front of companies capable of shaping our region’s next chapter.
We also opened doors for small businesses and startups building their international presence. WTCSD’s MetroConnect companies pitched at Kyocera’s R&D Center, while San Diego life sciences companies shared their breakthroughs in the heart of Osaka’s biomedical cluster.
Meetings at the University of Osaka and Nakanoshima Qross created opportunities to deepen connections among life sciences researchers, entrepreneurs, and industry partners.
In semiconductors, we explored how San Diego’s strengths in chip design and edge AI could complement Japan’s manufacturing and materials expertise. At Kyoto Fusioneering, discussions with General Atomics and UC San Diego focused on the partnerships and infrastructure needed to move fusion toward commercial use.
There were lessons to bring home, too. Our exchange with Mori Building offered a firsthand look at how Tokyo integrates density, green space, mobility, and culture into ambitious urban development. And conversations with Japan Airlines continued the case for expanded connectivity, building on daily service between San Diego and Tokyo.
The work continues in San Diego
The value of this trade mission will grow through sustained engagement. November’s maritime delegation will give Japanese partners a closer look at our assets and an opportunity to refine practical areas of collaboration. In early February, we will invite attendees from the Spotlight on San Diego event to a follow-on event here at home to explore investment opportunities firsthand.
Our goal is to turn these relationships into investment in San Diego, new business for local companies, and capabilities that support good jobs for years to come.
These efforts will also inform our broader direction. On November 17 at BCG, we invite you to join the launch of WTCSD’s updated ‘Go Global: Trade & Investment Strategy.’ The first iteration, released in 2015, helped shape a decade of international economic development for San Diego. This next chapter will help set our course for the decade ahead.
As we do that work, we want to hear from you. Share your ideas, your successes, and the challenges shaping your decisions. Help us understand the economy through your eyes. Great economic development depends on that exchange and on our ability to turn what we learn into action.
Japan reinforced my confidence in what San Diego can accomplish. We have capabilities the world needs and partners eager to work with us. Our responsibility now is to sustain that momentum and turn it into lasting opportunity for the people and businesses who call this region home.
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 September 18, 2026, here’s what we’re reading:
Case study: Harland Brewing expands into 7-Eleven Japan with WTCSD support
With support from World Trade Center San Diego, San Diego-based Harland Brewing leveraged MetroConnect‘s export consulting resources to update its marketing strategy, deepen its distributor relationships, and land new placements—ultimately expanding its brews into 7-Eleven locations across Japan.
