Category: News

Good News of the Week – May 15, 2020

By Heather Dewis,

Every Friday, ‘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.

For the week of May 15, 2020, here’s what we’re reading:

…and here are the events we’re (virtually) attending:

Economy in Crisis series

Incoming data confirmed what most of us already knew: The U.S. economy lost a record number of jobs in April. While San Diego’s employment numbers will likely mirror this trend, the coming recovery presents an opportunity to establish programs that support more equitable growth for all in San Diego. Read more.

COVID-19 & San Diego:

Amidst everything happening in the world, we need a reminder that there’s plenty of ‘Good News’ to go around in SD. We have also compiled additional resources for businesses and individuals seeking additional guidance

For businesses:

For individuals:

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.

Heather Dewis
Heather Dewis

Sr. Manager, Marketing Communications

Good News of the Week – May 1, 2020

By Heather Dewis,

Every Friday, ‘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.

For the week of May 1, 2020, here’s what we’re reading:

…and here are the events we’re (virtually) attending:

Join us: San Diego science & the global pandemic

Join us for a virtual panel to learn about the role of San Diego science in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. The best part? This panel is for everyone. Whether you’re a rocket scientist or you failed your freshman year biology class, our expert panelists will break down the science for the non-scientists (like us) and answer all of the COVID-19 questions you’ve been Googling. Read More & Register.

COVID-19 & San Diego:

Amidst everything happening in the world, we need a reminder that there’s plenty of ‘Good News’ to go around in SD. We have also compiled additional resources for businesses and individuals seeking additional guidance

For businesses:

For individuals:

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.

Heather Dewis
Heather Dewis

Sr. Manager, Marketing Communications

3 resources for San Diego businesses – April 30, 2020

By Heather Dewis,

Our team has compiled COVID-19 resources to provide guidance and support for San Diego businesses and residents. Here are three programs providing small businesses relief in the form of loans and grants. 

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

Part of the recently passed stimulus package, the $349 billion U.S. Small Business Administration program will provide partially forgivable, low-interest loans to businesses with 500 employees or fewer. Loans can be used to offset operating costs including payroll, retirement benefits, mortgage/rent, and utilities. If used for allowable costs only, and if the company maintains the same number of employees, 8 weeks of operating costs can be forgiven. Companies are encouraged to apply through their existing SBA Lender. Please reference this guide and checklist for more information.

Loan Program for Unincorporated Areas

The County of San Diego is developing a loan program for small businesses in unincorporated areas that have suffered financially as a result of COVID-19. The program will give $5 million in loans and will be overseen by the San Diego Foundation. Applications for the loan are not yet open, please check back for updates.

LISC and US Bank Foundation Business Improvement Grants

San Diego is one of five cities nationwide to benefit from a $500,000 donation from U.S. Bank to our local LISC. The money is to be distributed to small businesses in underserved communities facing financial pressure due to COVID-19 in the form of $5,000 grants.

For more COVID-19 recovery resources and information, please visit this page.

Regardless of how this all plays out, EDC is here to help. You can use the button below to request our assistance with finding information, applying to relief programs, and more.

Request EDC assistance

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Good News of the Week – April 24, 2020

By Heather Dewis,

Every Friday, ‘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.

For the week of April 24, 2020, here’s a look at what we’re reading:

…and here are the events we’re attending:

COVID-19 & San Diego:

Amidst everything happening in the world, we need a reminder that there’s plenty of ‘Good News’ to go around in SD. We have also compiled additional resources for businesses and individuals seeking additional guidance

For businesses:

For individuals:

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.

Heather Dewis
Heather Dewis

Sr. Manager, Marketing Communications

Mark Cafferty, Jerry Sanders: Recovery and Resiliency (Not Reopening)

By Mark Cafferty, Jerry Sanders,

Originally published on April 19 in the San Diego Business Journal, this excerpt is from the latest of EDC President and CEO Mark Cafferty’s weekly columns:

As we all settle in to the unfamiliar business and personal routines that have filled our days over the last several weeks, there is a lot of talk about “reopening” the economy. At the Chamber & EDC, our time is still being spent in daylong conversations with businesses—large and small—who are still in survival mode, trying to get money in the bank from various federal programs to help them keep their doors open, keep their team members employed, and bridge a gap from now until whenever some level of normalcy returns to their lives. If economic recovery was as simple as reopening something, we all would have (re)opened it by now.

The level of thoughtfulness, informed critical thinking, and step-by-step collaboration with public health officials that will need to go into the decision-making processes in front of us will be like nothing we have ever been a part of. Reopening businesses and generating near-term and long-term economic redevelopment strategies will be difficult and complex, and the level of urgency surrounding all of this could not be higher.

However, the unprecedented collaboration that is currently going into communicating with our political and healthcare leaders, sharing data and information across business groups and associations, and providing direct services to thousands of impacted businesses will position us well to generate the plans, steps, processes and communications strategies that will guide our businesses and economy into long-term recovery. This work and these relationships must ensure that as we work our way through this recovery, we create an economy that is more resilient and that works for more of our residents.

In the weeks ahead, we will share information on new task forces and working groups that will help in this ongoing and fluid process. Much of that work will be based on the information we have gathered from our ongoing business surveys with our partners, which we have shared with you below.

COVID-19 Impact Survey

Revenue impacts continue, but most firms favor temporary shutdowns over permanent closures.

In order to assess immediate economic impacts and understand the evolving business sentiment surrounding COVID-19, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and San Diego Regional EDC, in partnership with San Diego and Imperial Small Business Development Center, Downtown San Diego Partnership and National City Chamber of Commerce, developed a survey.

Three trends stood out based on what employers told us during the first four weeks of surveying. These findings are based on responses from 692 companies across the San Diego region.

Temporary Shutdowns Increasing

Only about 1% of survey respondents have permanently closed their business, but 42% have temporarily shut down operations. This is encouraging, since the number of local business closures could have a direct bearing on the pace of recovery once the COVID crisis subsides. Businesses that have permanently closed their doors are in a range of industries, including biotech and pharmaceuticals, cleantech, food and beverage, manufacturing, professional services, and retail.

Expect Revenue Impacts to Continue

The industries in San Diego most vulnerable to the effects of policies aimed at containing the spread of the virus include arts and entertainment, food and beverage, retail, and tourism. Compared to when the survey began in mid-March, more firms in these industries increasingly expect revenue impacts to occur over the next 1-3 months, rather than immediately. The perception by business owners that the economic and financial pain of the crisis could last longer than initially expected will likely be reflected as an effective moratorium on business investment and hiring in the near term.

Financial Assistance and Access to Capital

Compared to earlier survey results, more businesses are expressing interest in financing and capital to cope with the massive revenue shortfalls associated with COVID-19.

For an interactive visualization of survey responses, please visit: https://www.sandiegobusiness.org/research/covid-19-survey-results/

Good News of the Week – April 17, 2020

By Heather Dewis,

Every Friday, ‘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.

For the week of April 17, 2020, here’s a look at what we’re reading:

…and here are the events we’re attending:

COVID-19 & San Diego:

Amidst everything happening in the world, we need a reminder that there’s plenty of ‘Good News’ to go around in SD. We have also compiled additional resources for businesses and individuals seeking additional guidance

For businesses:

For individuals:

Assessing the impact of COVID-19:

COVID-19 Survey Results: Impacts are vast, amidst signs of resiliency
This is the latest of our assessments about the evolving economic impact of COVID-19 on San Diego. This week’s key takeaways: impacts are vast, but small businesses are embracing remote work and firms are still hiring. Read more.

San Diego’s Economic Pulse: April 2020
Each month the California Employment Development Department (EDD) releases employment data for the prior month. This analysis covers March 2020 and reflects some—but not all—of the early effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the labor market. Read more.

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.

Heather Dewis
Heather Dewis

Sr. Manager, Marketing Communications

Economy in crisis: unemployment claims at a record high, as SD looks to minimize virus’ spread

By Nate Kelley,

We’ve seen and heard the unemployment numbers. But what does all of this really mean for our economic recovery in San Diego? Welcome to the ‘economy in  crisis’ series – a bi-weekly breakdown of data at the national, state, and local level in the shadows of Covid-19. 

A survey of local businesses shows that the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on San Diego’s economy are vast, amidst signs of resiliency. These results are corroborated by official data, both nationally and in California.

The survey will remain open, and results will be used to track business sentiment over time. To take the survey, please click here.

UNEMPLOYMENT: WHAT THE DATA Is (AND Isn’t) SAYING

United States

According to the Labor Department, initial claims for unemployment insurance have skyrocketed across the US in recent weeks. Claims jumped to 3.3 million for the week ending March 21 and more than doubled the week after, topping 6.8 million. Both weeks smashed the previous record of 695,000 new claims in 1982. The monthly tally of 10.7 million in March 2020 is nearly 3.5 times the number of claims filed in May 2009, the worst month of the Great Recession. Claims also appear to be poised for another record-breaking month, with another 6.6 million reported for the week ending April 4.

California

Closer to home, new filings for unemployment in California increased to 186,000 for the week ending March 21 and topped a million for the week ending March 28, eclipsing the previous record of 115,000 claims before the COVID-19 outbreak. Initial claims “eased” somewhat to 925,000 in the week ending April 4, but like the national figure, remain substantially elevated.

With such a meteoric rise in the number of claims being filed, it is likely that state labor agencies, including the California Employment Development Department, are struggling to immediately process them all, which would lead to a lower number of claims initially being reported. This suggests a much higher number of claims will be reported in the coming weeks as backlogged applications are processed and may make it somewhat more difficult to determine the point where stress in the job market begins to subside if the system is still processing backlogged applications after actual claims have begun to decline. Nonetheless, the trend is unmistakable: like the rest of the nation, a record number of Californians are filing for unemployment, in line with the survey results provided by local businesses.

San Diego

Unfortunately, unemployment insurance data is not reported at the metropolitan or county level, and San Diego job market data is reported on a roughly four-week lag – March employment estimates for San Diego will be available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on April 29. However, it is expected that the estimates made available by the BLS in the coming months will paint a bleak picture of the local job market given the sharp spike in unemployment benefits across the state, and the local prevalence of eating and drinking establishments, retailers, wholesalers, and entertainment venues, which have all been disproportionately impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19. Together, these industries accounted for about one in four local jobs and $18.5 billion in salaries and wages in 2019—jobs and income that are now at risk during the pandemic and likely to see large reductions in upcoming job reports. Also, given the deep roots of those industries in the local economy, the ripple effects of job losses would be significant: for every 1,000 jobs lost in retail, wholesale, the arts, or food services, an estimated 500 jobs would be lost in other industries across San Diego.

A Silver Lining

Unlike most downturns precipitated by economic or market imbalances, this downturn was brought on by a non-economic, Black Swan event during an otherwise healthy economic expansion. At 3 percent, San Diego’s unemployment rate was well below the state and national averages, local earnings were climbing at a healthy pace, and the housing market was flourishing.

Given the strong economic conditions in San Diego before the outbreak, chances are good that the economy could bounce back fairly quickly, especially once travel and tourism come back nationally. However, timing will be key in determining the pace at which local businesses recover once this is over. The more economic pain endured right now as communities limit the spread of the virus, the better the chances of a full and speedy recovery.  Conversely, the recovery could be much slower if the virus is not effectively contained, and local businesses and households are forced to draw on lines of credit for extended periods of time to weather the downturn.

COVID-19 Recovery Resources

Regardless of how this all plays out, EDC is here to help.

Request EDC assistance

For general COVID-19 recovery resources and information, please view this page.

You also might like:

Good News of the Week – April 10, 2020

By Heather Dewis,

Every Friday, ‘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.

For the week of April 10, 2020, here’s a look at what we’re reading:

…and here are the events we’re attending:

COVID-19 & San Diego:

Amidst everything happening in the world, we need a reminder that there’s plenty of ‘Good News’ to go around in SD. We have also compiled additional resources for businesses and individuals seeking additional guidance

For businesses:

For individuals:

COVID-19 Survey Results: Impacts are vast, amidst signs of resiliency
This is the latest of our assessments about the evolving economic impact of COVID-19 on San Diego. This week’s key takeaways: impacts are vast, but small businesses are embracing remote work and firms are still hiring. Read more.

 

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.

Heather Dewis
Heather Dewis

Sr. Manager, Marketing Communications

COVID-19 Survey Results: Impacts are vast, amidst signs of resiliency

By Jordan Latchford,

In order to assess immediate economic impacts and understand the evolving business sentiment, we have deployed a survey with our partners at San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, San Diego and Imperial Small Business Development Center. The Downtown San Diego Partnership and National City Chamber of Commerce also served as survey partners. The survey will remain open for the foreseeable future so we can chart how responses change over time.

Three trends stood out based on what employers told us during the first three weeks of surveying:

  1. Impacts are vast. 379 employers plan to eliminate 14,524 jobs; 68% of their combined workforce.
  1. Small businesses are embracing remote work. More than 85% of firms with remote workers are small businesses. Overall, 42% of employers surveyed are having employees work remotely.
  1. Firms are still hiring. More than 11% of firms are still planning to fill positions. Nearly 19% of those firms still hiring are in the professional service industry.

Understanding COVID-19’s impact: an interactive visualization

Below is an interactive visualization of self-reported impacts to local employers, both in terms of employment and revenue. You can segment the data by industry, number of employees, and typical annual revenue. Additionally, please scroll over the tab to look at the breakdown of responses via zipcode. Please note, this is not a representative sample – meaning we did not weight responses operationally to the population and demographics of the region – so we strongly advise against drawing sub-regional conclusions from this data.

Respondent Profile

For up-to-date respondent information on the survey respondents and high level results, please view the responding profile here.
Other key numbers:

      • Number of responses: 681

Covid-19 Survey Results_San Diego_ April 8

Resources for you

San Diego Regional EDC, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, and San Diego and Imperial SBDC offer a variety of resources to help businesses.

If you would like assistance from EDC, please use this form. Once we receive your responses, we will make every effort to reach out to you within 24 hours.

Request EDC assistance

San Diego Regional EDC: Message from Mark Cafferty – April 5

By Mark Cafferty,

Originally published on April 5 in the San Diego Business Journal, this is the latest of EDC President and CEO Mark Cafferty’s weekly columns:

Once again, I hope this message finds all of you healthy and safe. With each passing day, our team at San Diego Regional EDC is adjusting and repurposing our work to address the new normals (short-term and long-term) that our businesses are trying to deal with. While we are all facing significant challenges, it has been both amazing and inspiring to see how local companies have mobilized, adapted and pivoted to play critical roles in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and response.

As some of you know, I have been asked to write a weekly column to provide resources and information to the business community as things continue to move and change around us. As an important supporter and investor in our work, I wanted to make sure you had a preview of this information. You will begin to get updates from me every Thursday and see a similar version of these updates in the San Diego Business Journal the following Monday.

Stepping Up and Doubling-Down

In the City of San Diego, Mayor Faulconer has urged companies to pivot and expand their operations to support the COVID-19 response efforts. Other city leaders, from Chula Vista to San Marcos, have followed suit.

From their unique local, national and global perspectives, here are just a few of the ways in which San Diego companies are stepping up and pivoting operations to respond:

• ResMed – ResMed is best known for creating medical technology to address sleep apnea and other breathing/respiratory illnesses. The company also produces and manufactures respirators and ventilators for hospital and home use. ResMed is now looking to pivot some of its production capacity away from sleep apnea devices to the much-needed ventilators, which will triple the number of ventilators that the company produces.

• Cutwater Spirits – Cutwater Spirits, which was originally started by the team at Ballast Point, has already begun retooling operations to make badly-needed hand sanitizer. Other local distilleries, including Misadventure Vodka and Seven Caves, are also retooling to help provide this essential resource for medical facilities and homes.

• Orucase – Orucase, a San Diego manufacturer of cycling travel bags and accessories, has started adapting its production lines to manufacture face masks. The company has the capacity to make 500,000 a week and plans to begin shipping immediately. Additionally, Orucase is in the process of securing materials to make medical-grade masks for healthcare workers.

• Cubic – Cubic is leveraging technology through its Cubic Mission Solutions division to create a prototype ventilator. The San Diego-based company is partnering with the University of Alabama’s Nursing program to test and refine this ventilator.

• Flexsystems – El Cajon-based manufacturer Flexsystems has also changed its operations to focus on manufacturing fabric masks and splash guards.

As I mentioned in last week’s column, we are continuing to see many local life sciences companies explore and uncover potential solutions, vaccines and cures. In addition to Thermo Fisher Scientific and others, this past week has brought announcements of other local companies that are stepping up in a big way–many of them are startups and small businesses themselves. San Diego-based startup Cue Health has won a $13 million federal contract to speed up the development of testing. LunaDNA, a local startup that allows individuals to share and control their health and genomic data, is already thinking long term. The company is collecting real-world information by asking individuals to anonymously report how they are either living with or living in the times of COVID-19. This information will help scientists and researchers better understand long-term health impacts, and potentially, even lead to a cure.

A San Diego Marketplace

While many companies are stepping up to help, there are several healthcare organizations on the front lines of this effort that still desperately need resources and supplies. To that end, EDC is supporting the efforts of our partners at Biocom (San Diego and California’s largest biotech and life sciences industry association) to create an online marketplace for critical items. If your company is producing something in the COVID-19 supply chain and is looking for a buyer, or if you are looking to pivot operations and needs crucial materials to do so, this new online marketplace can be accessed at www.biocom.org/coronavirus/partnering-opportunities/

How Business Are Really Doing

Along with our partners at San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce & San Diego and Imperial Small Business Development Center, we have deployed a survey to assess immediate economic impacts and understand the evolving business sentiment. We plan to keep this open for the foreseeable future and chart how responses change over time.

The first two weeks of data we analyzed is from 642 employers, representing 87,824 jobs. More than 86 percent of businesses that have responded expect to see revenue losses, and not surprisingly, our small businesses are expecting higher losses than the larger business respondents.

We have seen that many businesses have already had to lay off workers and most survey respondents sighted access to financing/capital as one of their most pressing business concerns.

In the weeks ahead, EDC and our partners will continue to share a weekly analysis of what we are learning and seeing through the business survey and designing new strategies and programs to address the changing and evolving business needs.

For up-to-date analysis and interactive dashboard of the data, please visit www.sandiegobusiness.org/research/covid-19-survey-results/

If you have not yet taken the survey, you can find it here: www.sandiegobusiness.org/blog/we-need-your-help-understanding-the-impact-of-covid-19-in-san-diego/

We will also continuously update our resource guide online (www.sandiegobusiness.org/coronavirus/) to provide the most timely information on where businesses can access reliable resources and support at this time.

The weeks and months ahead are going to continue to be challenging, uncharted, and in many cases, heartbreaking. Be patient with and supportive of your business partners, colleagues, contractors and associates. We are all in this together and we are all trying to figure things out together. Our team will continue to share with you everything that we believe can be valuable and helpful during these times and we will work hard to pass along everything new that we are analyzing and learning along the way.

Communication, connectedness, collaboration and generosity are hallmarks of our business community. They aren’t just pleasant words and aspirations. They are the core values that make us resilient and strong. None of that changes during times of social distancing and crisis.

Stay healthy, stay safe, (stay home), and stay strong.