San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer gave his second annual State of the City address on January 14, 2016 at the Balboa Theatre in downtown San Diego.
In the address, Faulconer outlined his ideas for bringing equality to economic opportunity and announced the creation of the One San Diego One Hundred, a joint effort with San Diego Workforce Partnership and the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation that will unite one hundred local businesses to offer jobs to San Diego high school and college students, focusing on low-income neighborhoods.
“We are failing the next generation if the best opportunity we can offer hard-working people without a college degree is a lifetime of low-wage employment,” the mayor said.
Sharp HealthCare, San Diego Gas & Electric, NASSCO and Cox Communications have agreed to participate in the campaign, the mayor said.
CONNECT2Careers will be working with the mayor’s office to connect motivated youth to employers participating in One San Diego One Hundred.
In addition, Faulconer talked about the emergence of middle class careers in sectors identified by SDWP as “Priority Sectors,” including health care, advanced manufacturing, information and communication technologies, clean energy and life sciences. As SDWP also found, many of these (what we term “middle-skill”) jobs are found in hospitals, labs and in front of computer screens, and don’t always require a four-year degree.
“These are San Diego’s new middle class careers,” said Faulconer. “Right now, at this very moment, there are thousands of local, well-paying jobs available in these industries…We will build the stronger middle class San Diegans deserve. We will make San Diego known as a city where opportunity is back within reach.”
Read the full transcript or see the full video of the mayor’s address. For further coverage, see KPBS and The San Diego Union-Tribune.