Business in San Diego: A History

 

San Diego, California, is well known for many popular reasons for both entrepreneurs and residents. Based on the Pacific coast, San Diego has long since been associated with the U.S. Navy, and therefore many military-associated businesses and groups. However, as a thriving city, San Diego can also be a popular choice for many startup businesses, and especially those wanting to get into the tourism sector.

Starting a Small Business in San Diego: Is the Economy in the City Reliable?
The economy within this city for startup businesses is a good one, with Forbes listing San Diego as one of the best places for businesses and careers (reported in 2019). Forbes listed job growth in San Diego as 2.3%.

Which Businesses is San Diego Known For?
San Diego is known for many large sectors within the military, trade, tourism, and manufacturing. The city is also the home to the headquarters of several national defense contractors. One of the biggest industries within this city is tourism, due to attractions like sandy beaches, amusement parks, and its famous zoo.
One of the most well-known and popular tourist attractions in this city is the San Diego Comic-Con, which takes place every year.
As a city that is popular for many business professionals, it's also attractive for startups. Many budding entrepreneurs may also turn to San Diego banks for credit union loans to help with their startup companies.

Examples of San Diego-based or -Founded Businesses
Sony San Diego
San Diego Studio is a video game developer that works under the company, Sony. Based within their headquarters in San Diego, this development company was first founded in 1997 by the merger of companies 989 Sports and Red Zone Interactive. The latter was already a development studio based in San Diego, founded in 1997 by former Sony employees.
989 Sports was originally known as Sony Interactive Studios America but was eventually renamed.
The official San Diego Studio was founded in 2001.

Bumble Bee Seafoods
Now headquartered in San Diego, this business produces canned seafood and actually began in Oregon in 1899 by a group of salmon canners.

GoFundMe
This is perhaps the most famous crowdfunding platform, but it may not be common knowledge that it was originally founded in San Diego, California. In 2017, it was revealed that the platform had managed to raise over 3 billion dollars in 7 years since its founding.
The platform is now based in Redwood City, still within California.

The UPS Store
The UPS Store has thousands of locations across the U.S. and Canada and is a well-known name in the world of postage and shipping. The UPS Store currently has its headquarters in San Diego and was originally formed following the original Mail Boxes Etc., idea, which was created as an alternative to the traditional post office.
Other Top Employers Within San Diego
At the very top is Naval Base San Diego, which has the most employees at approximately 24,000 military and 10,000 civilians.  
The list also includes:

• Sharp Healthcare
• Scripps Health
• University of California
• Kaiser Permanente

 

 

 

 

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