News & Stories

On May 9, South County Economic Development Council (SCEDC) celebrated the graduation of the “I Can See My Future” Optical Training Program at Sweetwater High School in National City.

A new feature of our 2019 Opportunity Summit included awarding two $1,000 mini-grants to recognize local organizations doing exceptional work preventing or reconnecting opportunity youth.

“We are all here on a journey of learning. Learning to support ourselves and our families. Learning skills that are valued in our economy…while also learning how the systems work and don’t work for us.”

Following the first ever job fair held inside a San Diego County jail at the East Mesa Reentry Facility in 2017, in April we coordinated the first ever job fair inside a state prison located in the county—the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility—as well as a preparation event.

CONNECT2Career’s This Way Ahead program kicked off its second year on April 23 with a day-long training for more than 80 attendees interested in an internship in the retail sector.

Last month, business-facing workforce professionals in the Southern Border Region of San Diego came together for the second convening of the Business Services Collaborative. The event aims to gather community members for quarterly professional development trainings and to build a coordinated approach to business engagement. The group welcomes all business services representatives, consultants, job developers, managers and individuals from many similar programs and organizations across the region.

April 18, 2019 (San Diego, Calif.) – JPMorgan Chase today announced San Diego is one of five winning cities in its inaugural AdvancingCities Challenge, part of the $500 million, five-year initiative to drive inclusive growth and create greater economic opportunity in cities.

Now in its tenth year, the ASU+GSV Summit is a convergence of education, workforce and technology. This year’s summit, centered on “the Arc of Human Potential,” added early childhood to its list of themes alongside K–12, higher education and workforce.

TechHire focuses on areas like digital marketing, software development and robotics. As the program has grown, a gap began to show in the form of an overabundance of TechHire candidates with IT (e.g. IT systems and network support) backgrounds and a relatively low demand for technicians, support specialists and other similar roles in San Diego caused by outsourcing. It was clear something needed to be done to help job seeking San Diegans get their foot in the revolving tech door. 

For over 50 years, Access Inc. has been serving the most vulnerable and under-served populations in San Diego County by promoting self-sufficiency and economic independence. There are three main programs at Access: Youth, Immigration and Microenterprise—all of which provide services that come from a heart of compassion and commitment.