Mark Cafferty has a big job. He leads the San Diego Regional EDC, the engine that helps businesses solve problems and grow our local economy. He also is a devoted husband (his wife Charlene is a physician) and a father to two boys who lead active lives. Kids ground us, Mark says, and even if he’s working on a deal to bring a new airline to the San Diego Airport, nothing matters more than getting his son to his baseball practice. Tony and Juan unpack all that and more with Mark, who grew up in Boston, where he was surrounded by strong women role models throughout his family, and some tough neighborhood kids who always seemed to have his back. They helped shape him, as did his parents. 

His leadership style? He’s too modest to shine a bright light on it, but he points to making people feel special, making life easier for the people he works with, and empowering them to find the best versions of themselves. 

A lot of great businesses start here in San Diego in large part because of the talent that comes out of two local universities: UCSD and SDSU, Cafferty said. But too often those businesses leave for Texas and other states, and while that’s not always a reflection on San Diego, we do lose jobs, talent and businesses because too many people, especially recent college graduates, can’t afford to live here. Everything is more expensive in San Diego, especially housing, and those costs frequently prove to be too much for young professionals who can and do say no to our beautiful, vibrant and breezy culture.

“The challenge for us these days is if young people growing up here can't afford to live and stay here and can't see themselves succeeding here, and if the best and brightest from around the world want to come here and then suddenly see how expensive it is and then they bail and go somewhere else – that's the problem of our time,” Mark says. 

He continues: “It's that and…the current political environment is the craziest I've ever seen coming out of Washington and it makes things harder every day. All that aside, we have got to, as a region, our leaders need to be leaning in real heavily to housing, quality of life and affordability efforts, in a way that we're just not right now.”

Tune in now to check out this new episode of Dear San Diego to learn about Mark, leadership, and the strengths and weaknesses of our local economy.

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