State of the Region - 2011

The annual State of the Region Luncheon provides the business community with an overview of current economic indicators in San Diego. Covering four major topics: Healthcare, Education, Economic Development, and Public Policy, speakers will give a snapshot of where San Diego is poised today and highlight their expectations for the future. In addition, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders will provide a keynote address of the current state of the city and hurdles and highlights he expects to face.

Businessmen and women can expect to leave the luncheon with a sense of direction for the San Diego economy and a clear course of what they might need to do moving forward.

Speakers Include:



Mayor Jerry Sanders: Mayor Sanders has made great strides in reforming city government. His top down streamlining of city business operations has eliminated more than 1,500 positions from the city budget, while he negotiated permanent changes to the pension system that will deliver savings to generations of San Diego taxpayers. In addition to his broad reform agenda, Mayor Sanders has placed a high priority on economic growth and job creation during his time in office. Specifically, the mayor has been a champion of the region’s promising clean technology industry - including solar energy, biofuels and other environmentally friendly products.



Randy Ward, Superintendent of the County Office of Education: Under his leadership, the San Diego County Office of Education completed its first formal Strategic Plan. As part of that planning process Dr. Ward and the staff of the San Diego County Office of Education worked with educational and community leaders throughout the county to craft the specific elements of the new Strategic Plan.



Tom Jackiewicz, CEO UCSD Medical Center: As the only university-based health care system in the region, UC San Diego Medical Center provides leadership in patient care, biomedical research, education and community service. Mr. Jackiewicz, who earned an MPH degree in Health Policy and Management from Columbia University, has extensive administrative and financial management experience in Health Sciences administration and physician practice operations.


Joel Ayala, Director of CalBis: As Director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GoED) Mr. Ayala works to make it easier to start, expand, or keep a business in California. His primary focus is to facilitate and stimulate economic growth through the development and implementation of strategic policies and partnerships with the private sector, community, local, and national organizations that enhance human and capital infrastructure development as well as increase California’s competitive advantage in the global marketplace.