Economic Development

To help San Diego weather the national economic downturn, Mayor Sanders has been working with the business community to create jobs and grow businesses in key sectors of San Diego's economy - biotechnology, telecommunications, defense technology and tourism - as well as nurturing San Diego’s emerging clean technology industry.

Working closely with the mayor’s policy staff, the City’s Economic Growth Services team assists businesses looking to start up in San Diego, expand their facilities, gain assistance with permitting or take advantage of local, state and federal incentive programs. Mayor Sanders has advanced policy initiatives to help foster industry growth, particularly in the City's burgeoning clean technology sector. In 2006, Sanders announced the City would explore ways to leverage its enterprise zones, permitting and incentives to support the formation of a clean tech industry cluster.

Since then, Sanders’ policy staff has worked closely with CleanTECH San Diego, the California Center for Sustainable Energy, and local universities and research institutes to devise ways to nurture San Diego's emerging clean technology industry.

The City is taking advantage of federal stimulus grants and state incentives to bolster the local cleantech sector, including partnering with San Diego Gas & Electric and CleanTECH San Diego to offer no-interest financing for energy-efficiency upgrades for small businesses.

For more information on the City of San Diego’s economic growth efforts, visit www.sandiego.gov/economic-development.