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.
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For the week of July 1, 2022, here’s what we’re reading:
Case study: EDC newsletter connects local business to $20K in funding
Like many during the pandemic, Organized Change Consultancy faced difficulties in pivoting to provide remote services and reach clients virtually, affecting both its revenue and operations.
This February alongside San Diego Councilmember Raul Campillo and program underwriters JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Procopio, World Trade Center San Diego (WTCSD) welcomed the sixth cohort of San Diego companies to its MetroConnect export accelerator.
Since the program’s debut in 2015, the 80 small- and medium-sized (SMEs) companies in MetroConnect have collectively added 269 new regional jobs, signed more than 543 new contracts, and set up 22 new overseas facilities. On average, cohort companies grow their exports by an average 63 percent and revenues by 40 percent as part of the program. Notable alumni include Blue Sky Network, Aira (acquired by Blue Diego Investment Group), Scientist.com, Modern Times, Dr. Bronner’s, Cypher Genomics (acquired by Human Longevity Inc.), Planck Aerosystems, Bitchin’ Sauce, White Labs, and dozens more.
Now, WTCSD is pleased to welcome the newest group of MetroConnect companies representing the diversity of San Diego’s innovation economy. Below, meet the Consumer Goods companies:
About: Access Trax is a women-owned social impact business on a mission to make the outdoors accessible for all. The company empowers people of all physical abilities to easily access outdoor terrain such as sand at the beach with their ADA compliant portable access mats.
Hopes for program: Create strategic export plan, glean insight on export logistics, identify international buyers
About: Critter Technology specializes in the development, manufacture, and commercialization of specialized coatings with unique functionality. Its marquee product AntCant is an easy to apply coating that produces a surface that ants and potentially other insects cannot adhere to and gain traction.
Hopes for program:Navigate international liability insurance, understand tax law in foreign markets and how to export goods classified as hazardous materials
About: As the first meadery in Southern California, the company leads the reawakening of Fermented Honey Libations. Golden Coast Mead has helped launch over 20 different meaderies, including ones in Africa and Jamaica, to aid in remote communities’ ability to create jobs and economies.
Hopes for program: Find effective channel partners
About: Real Dog Box complements any diet and any budget and teaches pet owners how to incorporate fresh food into their dog’s lifestyle. A few dollars a day spent on real food can prevent six out of the 10 most common dog vet visits – that’s why the company makes and delivers a monthly box of fresh dog treats and chews to prevent food-related illnesses.
Hopes for program: Form relationships with partners in target markets
About: Shop My Porch is a social shopping platform – including a mobile app, website, and series of social media groups – that matches home-based artisans with people looking for home crafted goods on a hyperlocal basis. The Shop My Porch platform not only allows makers to post goods for pickup, home delivery, or shipping but also allows shoppers to request custom products.
Hopes for program: Understand tax law in foreign markets, language translation, develop an action for target markets
Target markets for the MetroConnect VI cohort
The map below outlines countries that the sixth cohort is pursuing through their export strategy.
Next up for MetroConnect VI
The cohort will gain access to a suite of resources to support expansion into international markets, including executive workshops, flight discounts, language translation, and up to $30,000 in grant funding.
“Programs like MetroConnect help ensure the world knows just what San Diego is made of—innovative, high-impact products and services across a wide range of industries,” said San Diego City Councilmember Raul Campillo. “I’m proud to support and welcome WTCSD’s new cohort, and look forward to seeing the companies’ impact on a global scale.”
Interested in growing your business internationally?
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.
Get Good News of the Week in your inbox every Friday.→ Sign up
For the week of June 24, 2022, here’s what we’re reading:
Join us August 18 for an epic party celebrating the San Diego region with 300+ of our closest friends. Hosted by San Diego: Life. Changing. and Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., guests will enjoy a short program, delicious food, and an open bar—all at the new state-of-the-art Alexandria Tech Center in Sorrento Valley.
This February alongside San Diego Councilmember Raul Campillo and program underwriters JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Procopio, World Trade Center San Diego (WTCSD) welcomed the sixth cohort of San Diego companies to its MetroConnect export accelerator.
Since the program’s debut in 2015, the 80 small- and medium-sized (SMEs) companies in MetroConnect have collectively added 269 new regional jobs, signed more than 543 new contracts, and set up 22 new overseas facilities. On average, cohort companies grow their exports by an average 63 percent and revenues by 40 percent as part of the program. Notable alumni include Blue Sky Network, Aira (acquired by Blue Diego Investment Group), Scientist.com, Modern Times, Dr. Bronner’s, Cypher Genomics (acquired by Human Longevity Inc.), Planck Aerosystems, Bitchin’ Sauce, White Labs, and dozens more.
Now, WTCSD is pleased to welcome the newest group of MetroConnect companies representing the diversity of San Diego’s innovation economy. Below, meet the Tech companies:
About: Benchmark Labs is a Techstars-backed agricultural and IoT technology company that uses IoT sensors to assist farmers in implementing more sustainable practices and help them save natural resources by using in-situ environmental forecasts.
Hopes for program:Target market research, e-commerce strategy
About: GigaIO democratizes Artificial Intelligence and High-Performance Computing architectures by delivering the elasticity of the cloud at a fraction of the price.
Hopes for program: Identify distribution partners in target markets, create strategic export plan
About: Primo Energy was founded in 2013 to design and build hybrid distributed energy platforms using wind, solar, and battery storage. Distributed power can provide energy for remote locations, island territories, disaster relief, and back up power, and urban areas that have no power available. The company has installations across the globe, from the Bahamas to the Arctic and from California to Spain.
Hopes for program: Identify distribution partners in target markets, create strategic export plan
About: The Good Face enables companies to formulate, create, launch, and grow demand for transparent, compliant, and competitive products. Its platform features the fastest growing formulation and regulatory compliance SaaS solution, Good Face Formulator, which is used in R&D and catalog management by brands, manufacturers, and retailers in personal care and cosmetics. The Good Face Formulator has been adopted globally (France, Switzerland, UK, Canada, USA, Brazil, Philippines, S. Korea, Japan, China, Australia) and its customers include industry leaders such as L’Oreal, Target (Private Label), Grove Collaborative, JC Penney, and KDC-One.
Hopes for program: Determine target markets, identify effective channel partners
About: Trabus is a minority-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) with portfolios including Wireless Technologies, AI & Data Science, Cybersecurity, Maritime Transportation, and Environmental Informatics.
Hopes for program: Identify effective channel partners, adapt products for international markets
Next up for MetroConnect VI
The cohort will gain access to a suite of resources to support expansion into international markets, including executive workshops, flight discounts, language translation, and up to $30,000 in grant funding.
“Programs like MetroConnect help ensure the world knows just what San Diego is made of—innovative, high-impact products and services across a wide range of industries,” said San Diego City Councilmember Raul Campillo. “I’m proud to support and welcome WTCSD’s new cohort, and look forward to seeing the companies’ impact on a global scale.”
Interested in growing your business internationally?
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.
Get Good News of the Week in your inbox every Friday.→ Sign up
For the week of June 17, 2022, here’s what we’re reading:
Advancing San Diego: Preferred Providers of I.T. and Cyber talent
San Diego Regional EDC joined forces with San Diego Workforce Partnership and the Cyber Center of Excellence to launch CyberHire—a program designed to address the region’s growing demand for Cybersecurity talent and connect job seekers to meaningful careers.
Through two rounds of competitive application processes, the following education providers have been designated Preferred Providers of Cybersecurity and IT Talent, recognition from industry for their work in most effectively training the entry-level local workforce:
Through the CyberHire program, participants enrolled in the Preferred Provider programs receive industry-verified certification in A+ and Network+ or Security+ along with career counseling and wrap-around services from the San Diego Workforce Partnership.
If you are a San Diego business interested in hiring CyberHire participants to fill your entry-level IT and Cybersecurity roles,contact us. Through funding provided by the James Irvine Foundation, the San Diego Workforce Partnership will:
Place program participants in paid internships.
Subsidize wages for on-the-job training.
Host events for employers to meet CyberHire participants and showcase career opportunities at their companies.
About CyberHire: Presented by The James Irvine Foundation, CyberHire aims to transition unemployed, underemployed, and low-wage workers to quality Cybersecurity careers. CyberHire will help San Diegans launch a meaningful career that allows them to support themselves and their families.
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.
Get Good News of the Week in your inbox every Friday.→ Sign up
For the week of June 10, 2022, here’s what we’re reading:
As San Diego Regional EDC continues to drive an inclusive growth and recovery strategy for the region, outgoing Board Chair Julian Parra passes the gavel to Jennie Brooks, Senior Vice President of Booz Allen Hamilton, to lead EDC’s board for a two-year term.
As San Diego Regional EDC continues to drive an inclusive growth and recovery strategy for the region, outgoing Board Chair Julian Parra passes the gavel to Jennie Brooks, Senior Vice President of Booz Allen Hamilton.
“After five years on the board, I look forward to taking on this new role and working even more closely with EDC’s team. Our mission is to drive greater inclusion, resilience, and innovation across San Diego—aimed at empowering and supporting our region and its people,” said Jennie Brooks, Senior Vice President at Booz Allen Hamilton and leader of the firm’s regional office, which employees more than 1,200 San Diegans.
While San Diego’s innovation economy has more than rebounded, local small businesses, tourism and service jobs, lower income communities, and people of color continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic; and the goalposts outlined in the Inclusive Growth Initiative are now farther from reach. It is imperative the region create more skilled talent, economically-stabilizing jobs, and thriving households, or San Diego’s competitiveness is at risk.
“I am proud to pass the gavel to my colleague and friend Jennie Brooks,“ said outgoing Chair Julian Parra of Bank of America, who led EDC through the pandemic, in directly supporting more businesses than ever before. “The necessity of economic inclusion has never been more clear; I have full faith Jennie will continue this important work for the betterment of our region, its people, and its employers.”
As chair, Brooks is supported by four officers: Vice Chair, Rob Douglas, President & COO, ResMed; Vice Chair of Inclusive Growth, Lisette Islas, EVP & Chief Impact Officer, MAAC; Treasurer, Tom Seidler, SVP Community & Military Affairs, San Diego Padres; and Secretary, Barbara Wight, CFO, Taylor Guitars.
Along with the election of a new chair, EDC’s board also elected eight new board members: Debora Burke, Vice President and General Counsel, General Dynamics NASSCO; Kimberly Brewer, Senior Vice President, Development, URW; Cliff Cho, SVP and Market Executive, Bank of America; Kelly Davis, Chief Strategy Officer, SVP of Operations, Sony Electronics; Ingo Hentschel, Senior Vice President, Cox Communications; Jason Jager, Senior Partner & Managing Director, Boston Consulting Group; Tracy Murphy, President, IQHQ; Deborah Nguyen, Site Head & Vice President, Head of GI / Inflammation Drug Discovery Unit, Takeda San Diego; and Karen Reinhardt, Head of U.S. HR, ASML.
EDC is a membership-based non-profit 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 nearly 200 investors range from growing startups like SkySafe, to the region’s largest employers like Qualcomm and SDG&E, to the leading anchor institutions such as universities, hospitals, and sports franchises, among others.
EMPLOYER LED, DEMAND DRIVEN, OUTCOMES BASED With nearly 200 members, EDC represents just a small fraction of the region’s employers. It is only with and through a broader group of stakeholders that the following Inclusive Growth goals will be met:
100,000 new quality jobs in small businesses
20,000 skilled workers per year
75,000 newly thriving households
As such, EDC will continue to enlist the endorsement and support of key regional partners and employers committed to using the Inclusive Growth framework to inform their priorities, tactics, and resource allocation.
“As a senior leader of a major consulting and technology employer in San Diego, Jennie is perfectly positioned to lead EDC in this unique moment in time,” said Mark Cafferty, President & CEO, San Diego Regional EDC. “With a pandemic still not behind us, Jennie’s leadership, commitment, and deep understanding of San Diego’s strengths and opportunities are exactly what the organization needs as we continue to make the business case for inclusion.”
In a normal year, EDC’s Annual Dinner brings together 900 of the region’s business and community leaders to celebrate our organization and San Diego’s success over the last year, and to honor select individuals and entities whose work has stood out as most benefiting the region.
With two years of events missed and the words ‘COVID’ and ‘pandemic’ now part of everyday vernacular, our 2022 Annual Dinner will again bring the San Diego business and civic community together for a night of celebration.
EDC is proud to present the inaugural Life Changing Awards to:
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.
Get Good News of the Week in your inbox every Friday.→ Sign up
For the week of June 3, 2022, here’s what we’re reading:
Join us and more than 900 business and community leaders on June 9 for a night of celebration, honoring our region’s healthcare systems and The San Diego Foundation with the 2022 Life Changing Awards.
