This story was reported for San Diego News Network on April 24, 2009.
Local economic councils are almost half-way done with a federally-funded-strategy to develop areas of San Diego and Imperial Counties crippled by unemployment rates, under-population and underdevelopment.
The Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) committee – formed with a $50,000 federal grant – is rushing to complete the plan before the current recession gets worse. It will develop a plan to bring new industries and companies to local regions hit hard by the economic downturn, or regions that struggled before the economy soured. The committee hopes the strategy will eventually bring “prosperity” and re-invent or, in some cases, invent a booming economy in local regions.
“We’re developing a strategy that will highlight all the unique aspects of these San Diego and Imperial regions,” said Cindy Gompper-Graves, CEO of South County Economic Development Council, which joined forces with the Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation and the East County Economic Development Council to form the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy committee.
The plan to revive the regions has been under way for nearly 18 months, before the grant was even received at the end of last year and the committee is under pressure to complete the plan soon.
“The recession is making it get done so quickly; not a lot of time to plan,” Gompper-Graves said. “You’re planning for better times while you’re working to address the immediate needs of the business.”
While San Diego County is facing an unemployment rate of 9.3 percent, Gompper-Graves said some regions are facing unemployment numbers twice as large.
“In South San Diego you have, Imperial Beach and National City, for example, a disproportionate amount of unemployed when compared to the rest of the region and the state,” Gompper-Graves said. “But there are also pockets of poverty in places like San Ysidro, places in East County; and all of Imperial County has over 20 percent unemployment rate right now.”
The CEDS hopes to attract industries that have no presence or very little presence in San Diego County to build in the region.
With San Diego bordering Mexico, Gompper-Graves said the region faces challenges to bringing new companies in – but they don’t outweigh the added opportunities.
“Some of the challenges we face at the border in regards to commerce are the long delays at the ports of entry [which] acts as a deterrent for cross border business as it takes sometimes hours to cross,” Gompper-Graves said.
On the flip side, Gompper-Graves said, the shared border offers San Diegans a number of opportunities, including an expanded workforce, dual headquarter locations, bi-national Olympics and a bi-national airport.
The CEDS committee, which has about 48 members, has worked alongside elected officials from both San Diego and Imperial Counties to develop the strategy. Gompper-Graves said the collaboration and the strategy are unprecedented in the U.S.
She said she hopes the strategy fulfills its mission – bringing prosperity to economically challenged areas – and paves the way for the councils and elected officials to work together in the future.
The CEDS has not released its strategy or a list of interested industries who may open doors in San Diego, but is expected to complete the plan within five months.
When the plan is complete, the councils will declare the region an Economic Development District (EDD). As an EDD, the government recognizes the region as an economically-disadvantaged area, which allows the region to establish a center that would allocate funds, hold leaders accountable for the funds, and disseminate information to the government and public. If the region is declared an EDD, it will also allow local leaders to work in a “universal effort,” said Gompper-Graves.
The strategy will have to be approved by the San Diego and Imperial counties’ supervisors. Gompper-Graves said the supervisors have been active in the plan, and is confident they will provide positive feedback.
“The hardest part when you work on a project is getting everyone to take off their hats and maybe accomplishing this for the greater good of the region,” Gompper-Graves said. “As opposed to what they want and what they desire.”
Hoa Quach is the political editor for the San Diego News Network.