City of San Diego, California, USA (2016-18)

Project Overview

Home to one of the largest concentration of military assets in the world, San Diego’s regional economy is heavily dependent on defense industry financial input. Collectively, direct defense spending was around $24.8 billion in 2015. This amounts to 21.5% of the county’s Gross Regional Product (GRP). More than one out of every five jobs in the region is directly tied to defense spending. Since defense spending generates an economic impact that far outpaces other industries in the area, it is a significant cause of vulnerability in the local economy. The City of San Diego was awarded a significant grant from the Department of Defence, Office of Economic Adjustment, in order to enhance resiliency and economic diversity of businesses within the defense sector in this region.

Future iQ^®'s Role in this Project

Future iQ have been contracted by the City of San Diego to help facilitate the development of a regional consortium. This work will include:

Facilitate greater knowledge and understanding of the local defense networks regionally.
Enhance communication between the partners by networking and assessing existing defense industries, contractors, sub-contractors, and related suppliers.
Develop a strategy for companies to respond to changes in defense spending (even anticipate and preempt them) to ensure a sustainable and resilient regional future by adapting to new or alternate economic opportunities.
Ultimately, develop a resilient defense supply chain in the San Diego region, that can stabilize despite changing budget priorities and addresses both regional economic and Department of Defense (DoD) readiness priorities.