Annual Report 2023

 World Trade Center San Diego (WTCSD) , the international affiliate of  San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC)  and the regional leader on trade and investment, cultivates a pipeline of export-ready firms, maximizes foreign direct investment (FDI) opportunities, and enhances San Diego’s global identity. 

We know a globally connected economy creates quality jobs, and makes the San Diego region more prosperous, competitive and resilient.

• Exports: Supporting exporters creates quality jobs and builds resiliency in small businesses. WTCSD grows regional exports by facilitating sustainable connections to customers and markets for local firms.
• Investment: Foreign investment strengthens competitive industry clusters and enables the expansion of local companies. WTCSD assists investing companies and supports international air service expansion.
• Global Identity: A strong global reputation for innovation makes the region more competitive and connected. WTCSD communicates the impact of global trends on the regional economy and stewards relationships with the markets that matter most for growth.

Priority: As the region's Export Specialty Small Business Development Center (SBDC), WTCSD cultivates a pipeline of export-ready firms, and supports these companies in their efforts to grow in international markets.

Presented by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo at a ceremony in Washington D.C., the President's “E” Award recognizes WTCSD’s commitment to growing exports and jobs, especially through MetroConnect and Export SBDC. This is the highest recognition a U.S. entity can receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports.

WTCSD concluded the sixth iteration of its flagship export accelerator  MetroConnect . Launched in 2015, MetroConnect selects 15 export-ready companies through a competitive application process and equips them with cash grants and in-kind resources, such as translation software, workshops, and flight discounts, to access international markets. MetroConnect VI helped 15 San Diego companies in tech, life sciences, and consumer goods generate more than $3.1 million in new export sales—a 60 percent increase from the start of the program.

Made possible through a grant from  JPMorgan Chase & Co.  and  Procopio , WTCSD and a voting audience of 200+ awarded Access Trax the $25,000 MetroConnect Grand Prize to further expand its presence in markets such as Canada and Australia.

Access Trax, a woman-owned social impact business, aims to make the outdoors accessible for all. With more than 75 million people around the world using a wheelchair on a daily basis, Access Trax’ portable, foldable, ADA-compliant mats create pathways to access outdoor terrain like sand, grass, gravel, and snow.

"The MetroConnect program was instrumental in helping us lay the foundation for our strategic international growth. Access Trax is thrilled to earn the top vote of the audience and judges and we look forward to using the $25,000 towards local job creation and continued export growth for an even bigger impact."

To attract and educate regional companies that are interested in learning more about exporting, Export SBDC at WTCSD produced an  'Exporting Foundations' video series  focused on the basics of exporting, international market entry strategy, and international financing. Export SBDC advisors hosted individual instructional videos to assist potential exporting clients in determining the feasibility of expanding their offerings internationally.

Priority: Maximize foreign investment opportunities for the region by building and institutionalizing linkages with strategic markets abroad, as well as better leveraging local companies, partners, and assets.

Following WTCSD's 2022 Netherlands trade mission, Dutch applied research organization TNO revolutionizing urban development strategy, established its first North American office in San Diego. TNO's decision to locate in San Diego was due to the key relationships developed during the trade mission and in ensuing visits to San Diego with WTCSD, EDC, SANDAG, the City of San Diego, UC San Diego, and San Diego State University. Securing TNO's presence in San Diego promises to move the region toward a more data-driven and informed decision-making process for major urban development projects, with an eye toward affordability, sustainability, and equity.

WTCSD refreshed its primary print collateral for foreign investment attraction. The new brochure tracks San Diego's key industries, FDI data, notable exports, and a regional summary; and soon, top metrics will appear as a digital dashboard on WTCSD's website. The brochure was printed in English and Korean ahead of WTCSD's Korea trade mission, and included a  Korea-San Diego economic comparison .

Priority: Enhance the San Diego region’s reputation and visibility to underpin investment retention and attraction efforts, as well as global connectivity goals.

Led by Mayor Todd Gloria—and joined this time by SANDAG and County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Nora Vargas—this year’s trade mission delegation of more than 30 civic, academic, and corporate leaders also included peer organizations like Biocom and the Tijuana and Imperial Valley EDCs, as well as companies like Qualcomm, Illumina, Dexcom, ASML, General Dynamics NASSCO, and more.

At a time when more than one trillion dollars of federal investments aim to modernize American infrastructure, enable a clean energy transition, and build domestic capacity in strategic industries like semiconductors and biomanufacturing, South Korea is a natural partner for the United States, as evidenced by the deepening collaboration between our two countries. South Korea is second only to China in manufacturing intensity, and Korean firms produce nearly 25 percent of all EV batteries and nearly 60 percent of global memory chips used in phones and laptops.

During the trade mission, from October 28 to November 2, business and civic leaders promoted San Diego’s key industries, established and strengthened public-private partnerships, and explored best practices in technology, life sciences, and clean energy innovation.

Trade mission activities:

• The celebration of a partnership between San Diego-based medical tech company Dexcom and South Korean-based tech giant Kakao, which will enable Dexcom to bring its next-generation glucose monitoring capabilities to the South Korean market
• Opportunities to showcase major regional development projects for foreign investors, including the Seaport Village redevelopment, Lithium Valley in Imperial County, as well as San Diego State University and UC San Diego’s campus expansions
• Meetings with Port, Airport, and infrastructure partners to better connect our regions through nonstop air and liner service, as well as sharing energy transition innovations
• Government convenings with the Governor of Gyeonggi and the Mayor of Siheung, together with Mayor Todd Gloria and SANDAG and San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Nora Vargas
• Formal meetings and tours of major employers in both regions, including Qualcomm, Illumina, and Samsung Biologics

San Diego's binational trade mission to South Korea was generously sponsored by  Dentons ,  Qualcomm ,  Townshend Venture Advisors , with support from  TaylorMade Golf Company . See full trade mission recap  here .

WTCSD organized a roundtable for the Port of San Diego to engage with regional truckers and freight forwarders on opportunities to help companies navigate new regulations around zero-emission vehicles transiting through California ports.

The roundtable convened logistics partners from San Diego, Imperial Valley, Greater Yuma, and Baja California transiting through Port of San Diego on a weekly basis. The Port shared best practices for navigating new ZEV regulations and additional changes to operational procedures.

Convened quarterly by WTCSD, the GCC is a group of senior San Diego business, academic, government, and civic partners that drives a comprehensive regional global engagement strategy and seeks to position San Diego as a thought leader on issues related to trade, investment, and competitiveness. The GCC advises on WTCSD programming, issues periodic trade and investment policy recommendations on behalf of the region, and generates public support, financial resources, and coordination mechanisms for San Diego's broader global engagement strategy. 

In 2023, the GCC held quarterly meetings focusing on WTCSD's Mayoral trade mission to South Korea, data privacy and AI with ResMed, the future of energy in General Atomics' international agenda, and insight from the San Diego International Airport on international traffic volumes and potential nonstop international flights.

In honor of World Trade Month, WTCSD hosted the first World Trade Week San Diego this May. More than 200 international business professionals, consulates, and service providers from across Southern California attended the expo and MetroConnect VI Grand Prize PitchFest. Leading up to this, the WTCSD hosted several webinars to provide resources regarding exporting services.

World Trade Week San Diego was generously sponsored by  San Diego & Imperial SBDC Network ,  San Diego & Imperial District Export Council ,  DSV - Global Transport and Logistics , and  SDSU Wendy Gillespie Center for Advancing Global Business .

WTCSD participated in the California Pavilion at the World Korean Business Convention hosted in October by the Korean American Chamber of Commerce in Anaheim. 2023 marked the first year the convention was held outside of Korea, attracting nearly 8,000 individuals from 31 different countries. In the leadup to the Korean trade mission, the WTCSD team solidified bilateral partnerships and met Korean companies interested in establishing a presence in the Southern California region.

• Christina Bibler, Director, Economic Development Department,  City of San Diego 
• Dan Malcolm, Commissioner,  Port of San Diego 
• Robert Gleason, Past Board Chair,  San Diego County Regional Airport Authority 

Founding Partner Appointees

• Kim Becker, President & CEO,  San Diego County Regional Airport Authority,  (Co-Chair)
• Christina Bibler, Director, Economic Development Department,  City of San Diego 
• Mark Cafferty, President & CEO,  San Diego Regional EDC 
• Nikia Clarke, Executive Director,  WTCSD 
• Joel Valenzuela, Director, Maritime Business Line,  Port of San Diego 

Council Members ·     Mark Ballam, Managing Director, San Diego State University CIBER ·     John Paul Barraza, CEO Americas, SYSTRAN ·     Neil Bence, VP Oncology Discovery/SD Site Head, Bristol Myers Squibb ·     Renee Bowen, School of Global Policy & Strategy, UC San Diego ·     Steve Brass, President & CEO, WD-40 Company ·     Terry Buis, Business Development Manager, BAE Systems ·     Rho Bruner Cauley, Integrated Product Team Lead, Northrop Grumman ·     Bambos Charalambous, Managing Director, JPMorgan Chase & Co. ·     Peter Cowhey, Dean Emeritus, School of Global Policy & Strategy, UC San Diego ·     Aron Davidson, Director San Diego & Imperial, U.S. Department of Commerce ·     Isabel Del Valle, International Campaign Manager, British Airways ·     Maritza Diaz, CEO, ITJ ·     Pilar Dieter, Principal, YCP Solidiance ·     Mark Field, Vice President of Software, Insulet ·     Danny Fitzgerald, Regional Director, SBDC Network ·     Javier Gomez, Director of Global Affairs, Office of Mayor Todd Gloria ·     Jorge Goytortua, President & CEO, Cross Border Xpress ·     Cristina Hermosillo, Chair of the Board, Tijuana EDC ·     Martina Hupach, General Manager Sales Southwest USA, Lufthansa ·     Jason Jager, Managing Director & Senior Partern, Boston Consulting Group ·     Zabrina Johal, Strategic Development Executive, General Atomics ·     Nate Kelley, Research Director, San Diego Tourism Authority ·     Kristina Kim, General Counsel, Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek ·     Paul Marttila, Vice President of Global Business Development, SDAR ·     Deborah Nguyen, VP & Head of GI/Inflammation Drug Discovery Unit, Takeda ·     Takatoshi Oda, Account Manager and Passenger Sales, Japan Airlines ·     Tom Pellette, CEO, Solar Turbines ·     Jim Perkins, COO, Procopio ·     Mary Anne Pintar, District Chief of Staff, Congressman Scott Peters (52nd District) ·     John Reeves, Executive Director Strategic Government Initiatives, Viasat ·     Monique Rodriguez, VP of Government Affairs, Qualcomm ·     Steve Rosetta, Chief Investment Officer, IQHQ ·     Zafer Sahinoglu, General Manager, Mitsubishi Electric ·     Rene Sanchez, Global Logistics Senior Manager, TaylorMade Golf Company ·     Jereme Sylvain, EVP & CFO, Dexcom ·     Kamni Vijay, VP & General Manager, BD ·     Barbara Wight, CFO, Taylor Guitars ·     Heather Yazdan, CFO, Cubic Transportation Systems

To learn more about World Trade Center San Diego,  visit our website .