SAN DIEGO-Helping the traded economies of uniformedmilitary, convention and tourism,and innovation will help the region’s economy as awhole survive and thrive, said panelists at this week’sNAIOP Lunch & Learn Series presentationtitled, “A New Model for Economic Development in San Diego.” Thesethree sectors that are unique to San Diego will help the localeconomy thrive and drive up the area’s gross regional product fortoday and the future.

“These economies—sometimes called clusters—all employ about thesame number of people and are on the upswing of their growthpotential,” said Duane Roth, CEO ofCONNECT. “Our goal is to help people understandthat as these economies grow, they’ll help other parts of theeconomy.”

Roth, along with panelists Mark Cafferty,president and CEO of San Diego Regional EconomicDevelopment Corp., and Ruben Barrales,president and CEO of San Diego Regional Chamber ofCommerce, contend that every job created in these tradedeconomies leads to 2.5 jobs in the local economy. Roughly140,000-180,000 people are employed in each of the three tradeeconomies here, and “every job is important,” said Roth.