Focus Shifts to Maintaining Attractive Attributes
Like most things in the business world, the key to business development is keeping up with change.
In the past, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. focused on attracting high-tech and manufacturing companies, according to Jane Signaigo-Cox, senior vice president of the 35-year-old nonprofit organization.
Changing with the times and the economy, Signaigo-Cox said the organization is now focused on nurturing existing firms so they can grow and expand.
Due to the regional state of the economy, the organization is more concerned with maintaining the attributes that originally attracted business to San Diego, she said.
Many companies were attracted to the area due to the available work force, quality of life, proximity to the marketplace, competitive cost of doing business, education and research institutions, and business-friendly political climate, she said.
– Addressing Issues To
Retain Businesses
As a result, the economic development organization is addressing housing, transportation, training, capital and other issues to make sure that the region continues to meet the needs and expectations of local businesses, she said.
San Diego represented the ideal place for Entropia, a computing network company that recently relocated its headquarters locally, according to Scott Kurowski, Entropia’s founder and vice president of business development. The company hopes to pool wasted Internet processing power to build a service for computationally intensive commercial and nonprofit research.
Originating in Silicon Valley, Kurowski said the company moved to the area for the same reasons the economic development organization listed.
The company has about 35 employees and hopes to add another 100 positions by early next year, he said.
Aware of the area’s low unemployment rate, Kurowski said the issue was taken into consideration. However, the company said it will be able to attract people who want to be part of an organization that has the potential to offer advances in things such as AIDS research.
While finding qualified staff may not be an issue for Entropia, the economic development organization is still making sure that all local companies have access to an adequate work force possessing necessary skills, Signaigo-Cox said.
– Promoting High-Tech
Image To Draw Workers
Consequently, the economic development organization is promoting the high-tech image of the region in order to attract a broad base of workers and suppliers to the area, she said.
Signaigo-Cox said that business could also help foster the economic development of the area by sharing their needs. By working with schools and serving on advisory boards, company executives can help structure school curriculums, she said. In turn, schools would be able to produce the skilled work force needed in local industries.
“By playing an active role, businesses can get what they want and help others, too,” she said, adding that involvement in finding solutions for issues like traffic congestion is needed as well.
Businesses can also promote themselves and the region’s image by participating in testimonial campaigns designed to attract both workers and business.
Companies can also partner with businesses around the country or world to expand product lines or services, she said, adding that it could make businesses more profitable and help the economy.
– Expanding Through
Distant Partnerships
San Diego-based Dura Pharmaceuticals is one local company that has formed such a partnership with Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co., a research-based pharmaceutical corporation.
Several Lilly employees relocated to San Diego in order to jointly research and develop inhaled insulin products, according to David Kabakoff, president of Dura Pharmaceuticals.
Under their agreement, Dura would manufacture the product and Lilly would market it, he said.
While the technology is in the development stage, Kabakoff said that the partnership has the potential to directly impact local economic development.
If an inhaled insulin product is approved in the future, Dura would create more profit and jobs in manufacturing, quality control and other areas, he said.
Since the Lilly partnership is the first major alliance that Dura has formed, Kabakoff hopes the collaboration will be the success that will create a good reputation and track record for future partnerships.
“With this joint program to create a major new product, we hope we will have a significant economic impact,” he said.
