Category: News

Advancing San Diego Company Spotlight: Meri Consulting Services

By Bree Burris,

The Advancing San Diego (ASD) Internship Program launched in Summer 2020 in a remote-capacity amid the COVID-19 pandemic and aims to provide up to 100 San Diego-based employers with fully subsidized interns. This program targets small employers with 100 employees or less, which comprise 98 percent of all businesses in San Diego, employ nearly two thirds of San Diegans, and account for 70 percent of job growth. A key issue for these companies has been a lack of time and resources to recruit the skilled talent necessary to continue their growth.

As students are closing out their Spring business internship experiences, EDC has rolled out this blog series to highlight the innovative local companies that comprise the third cohort of the program, and the interns they hosted.

In this feature, we sat down with Meri Birhane, CEO at Meri Consulting Services. As part of the third cohort of host companies, Meri Consulting Services provides social media management services, LinkedIn coaching, and sales training for sales teams. The team helps businesses book more meetings and generate more revenue without cold calls.

Read on for more about ASD intern host Meri Consulting Services.

Why was your company founded, and what are your current points of focus?  

It all began with an idea. In 2017, Meri Consulting Services, a Black-owned and woman-led consulting firm was founded to help businesses book more sales meetings, increase revenue, and reduce sales rep churn and burn. We do this through social media management services, sales coaching, and LinkedIn training. Passionate about giving back, we also host monthly “Empowerment Mastermind” events to provide opportunities for minority founders who have been historically underfunded.

What does growth look like over the next few years?

Meri Consulting’s growth means expanding our social media management services to reach more businesses and creating digital courses to reach more clients.

How has your company pivoted as a result of COVID-19?

Meri Consulting Services focused on fractional VP of sales services but with COVID-19 clients needed new ways to connect with customers. This created more demand for our digital marketing services and LinkedIn coaching services.

Tell us about your experience building a small business/startup in San Diego. 

The CONNECT ALL @ the Jacobs Center was the most valuable accelerator program as I obtained mentoring and a $5,000 grant. This led to a lot of exposure for my business and access to mentors. Furthermore, Advancing San Diego, in partnership with Manpower, helped me get two superstar marketing interns (Chinnery and Michelle) helping me take my business to the next level.

 

Learn more about Advancing San Diego and our internship program.

Company contact info and additional information:

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San Diego’s Good News of the Week – July 30, 2021

By Candela Delucchi,

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 July 30, 2021, here’s what we’re reading:

…and here are the events we’re attending and opportunities we’re watching:

Advancing San Diego Company Spotlight: San Diego Loyal

Through Advancing San Diego, EDC provides San Diego-based small businesses with paid interns in high-demand fields. With the business cohort underway, we sat down with Ricardo Campos, VP of Operations and General Manager at San Diego Loyal, and with the soccer team’s student intern Dominique Hernandez to discuss their experience in the program.

Apply Now

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Advancing San Diego Intern Spotlight: Michelle Consunji, Meri Consulting Services

By Bree Burris,

The Advancing San Diego (ASD) Internship Program launched in Summer 2020 in a remote-capacity amid the COVID-19 pandemic and aims to provide up to 100 San Diego-based employers fully subsidized interns. This program targets small employers with 100 employees or less, which comprise 98 percent of all businesses in San Diego, employ nearly two thirds of San Diegans, and account for 70 percent of job growth. A key issue for these companies has been a lack of time and resources to recruit the skilled talent necessary to continue their growth.

As students are closing out their Spring business internship experiences, EDC is rolling out this blog series to highlight the innovative local companies that comprise the third cohort of the program, and the interns they hosted. To date, ASD has placed 93 student-interns in local businesses, with $455,000 in total wages and support services paid. 

In this feature, we sat down with Michelle Consunji, intern at Meri Consulting Services. As part of the third cohort of host companies, Meri Consulting Services provides social media management services, LinkedIn coaching, and sales training for sales teams. Their team helps businesses book more meetings and generate more revenue without cold calls.

Read on for more from Michelle.

Tell us about yourself. 

My name is Michelle Consunji and I am a recent college graduate from California State University San Marcos. I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in marketing, and was grateful to have received an internship with Meri Consulting Services at the start of my senior year of college. I have always been passionate about all things creative, including social media, branding, and content creation. Some of my passions in life include fashion, traveling, and design.

How has your experience in the ASD Internship Program been, and what projects have been the most meaningful?

My transition between being an eager college student looking for professional working experience, to gaining an internship through the ASD Program has been pivotal to my current success as a recent college graduate. Not only has this internship allowed me to finally showcase my marketing skills, but also provided me with experience working with real world situations, people, and problems. My usual tasks included content creation for the company’s social media platforms, developing monthly newsletters, and tracking social media analytics. My most meaningful assignments have been the social media audits and competitive research reports I created for my boss, Meri Birhane. This assignment helped me showcase my strength in taking large chunks of information and simplifying it into something concise and easily digestible.

What advice would you give to high school students looking for a successful career? 

Each experience you take on will have an impact on you. Even if it’s something you’re not sure you will connect to, you will always find out something new about yourself and your capabilities that you didn’t know before. No matter what you do or where you end up, taking that leap of faith will help you grow into who you’re meant to become.

Learn more about Advancing San Diego and the Internship Program.

Company contact info and additional information:

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San Diego’s Good News of the Week – July 23, 2021

By Candela Delucchi,

Every week, ‘Good News of the Week’ (GNOTW) features a curation of positive headlines from across the San Diego mega-region, 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 GNOTW in your inbox every Friday. → Sign up

For the week of July 23, 2021, here’s what we’re reading:

…and here are the events we’re attending:

EDC Monthly Report: July 2021

With and through nearly 200 investors, EDC works to maximize San Diego’s prosperity. From helping companies secure relief funding to quantifying the impact of AI in the region’s Cybersecurity cluster, here’s what EDC accomplished in June 2021.

Read More

Additional resources:

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To learn more, please contact us.

Advancing San Diego Company Spotlight: San Diego Loyal

By Bree Burris,

The Advancing San Diego (ASD) Internship Program launched in Summer 2020 in a remote-capacity amid the COVID-19 pandemic and aims to provide up to 100 San Diego-based companies with fully subsidized interns. This program targets companies with 100 employees or less, which comprise 98 percent of all businesses in San Diego, employ nearly two thirds of San Diegans, and account for 70 percent of job growth. A key issue for these companies has been a lack of time and resources to recruit the skilled talent necessary to continue their growth.

As students are closing out their Spring business internship experiences, EDC is rolling out this blog series to highlight the innovative local companies that comprise the third cohort of the program, and the interns they hosted. To date, ASD has placed 93 student-interns in local businesses, with $455,000 in total wages and support services paid. 

In this feature, we sat down with Ricardo Campos, VP of Operations and General Manager at San Diego Loyal. As part of the third cohort of host companies, San Diego Loyal is a professional soccer club that was founded locally in 2019 and is currently competing in the United Soccer League (USL) Championship.

Read on for more about ASD intern host San Diego Loyal, and hear direct from their student-intern here.

Why was your company founded, and what are your current points of focus?  

San Diego Loyal SC is built on four core pillars–independent, authentic, inclusive, and optimistic. San Diego Loyal plays for America’s Finest City and is led by some of the best in sport. The club was founded to bring professional soccer to San Diego and the point of focus is to make this city a better place to work, live, and play through the beautiful game.

What does growth look like over the next few years?

We are currently playing at the University of San Diego’s Torero Stadium, which can seat over 6,100 fans. Over the next few years, our focus is to identify a location within San Diego County to build a soccer-specific stadium.

How has your company pivoted as a result of COVID-19?

We played two games in front of fans in 2020 and took a pause at the onset of the pandemic; however, we returned to playing in July 2020 without fans in attendance. This had a major impact in our ticket revenue for the season but we were blessed to have our corporate partners stay with us during such challenging times.

Tell us about your experience building a small business/startup in San Diego. 

Starting a professional soccer club is very challenging but resources within the United Soccer League and an experienced club management team were key factors in our success. Process creation and execution are one of the hardest parts, as you new employees implement standard operating procedures for long-term success.

In your opinion, what is special about San Diego’s business community, and the talent that drives it?

San Diego is special in many ways. The local talent is on par with any major region in the world. We are confident that the San Diego region can deliver quality talent no matter the industry.

Learn more about Advancing San Diego and our internship program.

Company contact info and additional information:

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A note from Mark…

By Mark Cafferty,

Over the last several months, our work at EDC has had to move and change in some significant ways to respond to the economic conditions around us. And while this is always a part of our work and planning, it is safe to say that 2020—and the early stages of 2021—challenged us greatly and taught us a lot about our work and our economy, as it did all of you.

Investors and community partners often ask me what a day or a week at EDC looks like—some are just curious what the actual work feels like on a day-to-day basis; others are interested in knowing what we are seeing and experiencing through the businesses we work with to better understand if their needs and priorities may signal bigger or broader economic trends, challenges, or opportunities for the region.

As we kick off the third quarter of the year and begin developing new and improved programs, strategies, and focus areas to keep stride with our fast moving and re-opening economy, here’s a quick glance at EDC’s Q2 2021:

As always, we do all that we do with an eye on building a stronger, more inclusive economy, producing more skilled workers, creating more quality jobs within our small businesses, and establishing more thriving households and a better quality of life for businesses and residents in all corners of the San Diego region. We truly could not do any of it without you, and we thank you for your continued investment, leadership, and support.

With respect and gratitude,

Mark Cafferty

Mark Cafferty
Mark Cafferty

President & CEO

San Diego’s Good News of the Week – July 16, 2021

By Candela Delucchi,

Every week, ‘Good News of the Week’ (GNOTW) features a curation of positive headlines from across the San Diego mega-region, 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 GNOTW in your inbox every Friday. → Sign up

For the week of July 16, 2021, here’s what we’re reading:

…and here are the events we’re attending:

San Diego’s Data Bites: July 2021

Presented by Meyers Nave, this edition of San Diego’s Data Bites covers June 2021, with data on employment, housing, and more insights about the region’s economy. Key takeaways include an unexpected unemployment rate rise amid gains in Leisure and Hospitality.

Dig In

A company guide to return-to-work

As many companies begin to plan for a safe return to traditional offices, it can seem like there are more questions than answers. Attorneys Janice Brown and Sandy McDonough from EDC investor companies Meyers Nave and Paul Plevin address some of the most common questions about returning to in-person work.

Read More

Additional resources:

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Contact SDREDC
To learn more, please contact us.

San Diego’s Good News of the Week – July 9, 2021

By Candela Delucchi,

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 July 9, 2021, here’s what we’re reading:

…and here are the events we’re attending:

Advancing San Diego: Apply now to be a Preferred Provider of Healthcare Talent!

EDC is accepting applications for Preferred Providers of Healthcare Talent. Education and training providers graduating top-quality medical assistants in San Diego County are invited to apply. The Preferred Provider designation qualifies students for access to paid work experience opportunities, and qualifies program staff for direct access to industry leaders.

Apply Now

Additional resources:

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Contact SDREDC
To learn more, please contact us.

San Diego’s Good News of the Week – July 2, 2021

By Candela Delucchi,

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 July 2, 2021, here’s what we’re reading:

…and here are the events we’re attending:

Study: Cybersecurity cluster faces talent shortage amid productivity gains

Together with CCOE and Booz Allen Hamilton, EDC released the second study in a series—Securing the Future: AI and San Diego’s Cyber Cluster—which quantifies the economic impact of the region’s Cybersecurity cluster and explores the proliferation of AI and ML technologies being used to thwart cybercrimes, among other critical needs by the private sector and government.

Read the Full Report

Additional resources:

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Contact SDREDC
To learn more, please contact us.

San Diego’s Good News of the Week – June 25, 2021

By Candela Delucchi,

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 25, 2021, here’s what we’re reading:

…and here are the events we’re attending:

We’re Hiring!

  • Economic Development Coordinator
    EDC is hiring an Economic Development Coordinator to support its economic development priorities, with a focus on workforce development and Advancing San Diego. This person will provide program and project, marketing and communications, and general administrative support.
  • Economic Development Manager—Life Sciences
    EDC is hiring an Economic Development Manager (Life Sciences) to lead a strategic economic development framework to enable business attraction, retention, and expansion in San Diego’s competitive life sciences industry. This person will provide company support and industry engagement, as well as have a minimum of five years experience in business, real estate, planning, life sciences facilities, or related field.

Apply Now, or help us spread the word!

Additional resources:

Be in the know – sign up below to receive future editions of GNOTW.

Want to submit your event or news update to our weekly newsletter? Contact us for more information.

Contact SDREDC
To learn more, please contact us.