WTCSD's 2025 Annual Report
OUR CORE PILLARS
- Exports :Â 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 :Â 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.
EXPORTS
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. In 2025, WTCSD’s export pipeline program supported $10 million in new international sales, a 104 percent increase from 2024.
BY THE NUMBERS
44
new San Diego hires
77
new global employees
32
new international contracts
295
jobs impacted
WTCSD on tariffs
As tariff threats loomed, WTCSD published a note from Executive Director Dr. Nikia Clarke on what trade volatility means for our binational region, the future of the USMCA, and the jobs tied to global commerce in San Diego.
WTCSD leadership also presented to key regional leaders on tariffs, including to the County of San Diego on Jan. 29, at Business Beyond Borders Real Estate on Mar. 27, and to the City of Carlsbad on July 29, and to media like Axios San Diego and ABC 10.
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
WTCSD works to 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.
FDI BY THE NUMBERS
15
company projects
1.9K
jobs impacted
$5.1B
total FDI
Key FDI projects
Project Wafer
 Impact Acoustic
 EDAN Diagnostics
Route support
WTCSD collaborates with regional businesses and partners to support the development and retention of direct routes to key markets. These route services reflect years of behind-the-scenes work by San Diego International Airport and the Port of San Diego, with WTCSD contributing critical support through data-driven market insights, business community letters of support, and targeted trade missions to international markets.
Panama
 Netherlands
 Japan
GLOBAL IDENTITY
WTCSD works to enhance the San Diego region’s reputation and visibility to underpin investment retention and attraction efforts, as well as global connectivity goals.
Rep. Scott Peters, Mayor Todd Gloria, and WTCSD lead business delegation to France
France is a leading source of foreign investment in San Diego, with strengths that align closely with our key industries, including clean energy, life sciences, defense, and tourism. Boasting one of the cleanest energy grids in Europe and producing more than half of the EU’s nuclear energy, France is also home to the ITER fusion energy project—the largest international scientific collaboration in the world. These shared priorities naturally position San Diego and France as ideal partners.
For four days in September 2025, Representative Scott Peters, Mayor Todd Gloria, and WTCSD led a delegation of 30+ senior leaders to bolster public-private relationships with French partners and create opportunities for high-growth small and medium-sized San Diego businesses looking to expand into Europe.
Highlights from the trip included:
- Spotlight on San Diego: 35 French companies attended this private event, which spotlighted San Diego’s economy, the SDSU Innovation District, UC San Diego Science Research Park, Chula Vista Entertainment Complex, and the Port of San Diego’s Blue Economy Incubator and real estate opportunities. The investment attraction event included a networking lunch and media interviews with Politico and Le Figaro (France’s second largest national newspaper).
- Sister City Celebration: San Diego and Marseille inked a sister city relationship that formalizes a more robust local infrastructure tying the two cities and regions together. This elevated relationship status ensures that the binational efforts advanced during the trade mission can endure for years to come.
- Sanofi FDI attraction: The delegation visited the headquarters of Sanofi, France’s largest life sciences company, which had announced investments of more than $20 billion in the United States by 2030. The delegation put San Diego’s excellence in biotech front and center as it pitched specific regional developments as ideal locations for Sanofi to continue building out its local presence.
- Life Sciences MOU: Biocom and its French counterpart Eurobiomed reaffirmed their shared commitment to growing foreign investment and transatlantic opportunities for their respective life sciences clusters. This builds on a years-long effort by France’s Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region to gain a foothold in San Diego, through chartered flights and participation in major conferences such as BIO (returning to San Diego in 2026).
- San Diego contributions to nuclear fusion at ITER: California–and San Diego in particular–are leading the charge to realize nuclear fusion, spearheaded by General Atomics. This visit to the home of the world’s most ambitious nuclear fusion project highlighted San Diego’s technical contributions and allowed for a deep-dive discussion into what is required for the region to scale this transformative technology in the decades to come.
Other trade shows & conferences
- Paris Air Show:Â WTCSD joined GO-Biz and a delegation of 30 aerospace companies and organizations to position the state as a leader in defense and aerospace technologies.
- Chamber delegation to Mexico City: WTCSD attended the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce’s trade mission to Mexico City, which serves to strengthen ties with San Diego’s largest trading partner. WTCSD contributed data and intelligence highlighting the scale of cross-border commerce and the nature of the highly-integrated supply chain in Cali Baja.
- SelectUSA:Â WTCSD participated in SelectUSA, the largest FDI attraction conference in the U.S., as part of the GO-Biz/California delegation.
- Support for Philippines mayoral trip: WTCSD equipped Mayor Todd Gloria’s office with economic intelligence and presentation materials for Mayor Gloria’s trip to the Philippines, which highlighted our regions’ strong ties in tech and defense.