Newsmakers2013: February
CAFFERTY TO ADDRESS SD VULNERABILITY TO TEXAS RAIDERS
Mark Cafferty, the San Diego Press Club's second Newsmaker of 2013, will address San Diego's vulnerability to Texas job raiders at a breakfast forum at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, at the NewSchool of Architecture & Design, 1249 F St. in downtown San Diego.
The cost is $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Reservations and payment may be made online at www.sdpressclub.org The event is open to the general public.
Cafferty, 41, is the president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., a nonprofit with 150 company and institutional members that works to retain, grow and attract business to the county.
In recent weeks he has been commenting on Texas Gov. Rick Perry's visits to San Diego and other California cities in a campaign to lure local companies away by touting Texas' low-tax, lax regulatory environment.
Prior to joining the EDC in January 2012, Cafferty headed the San Diego Workforce Partnership for four years from 2001 to 2012 and was deputy director of the Boston Private Industry Council.
He earned a BA in marketing and communications at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. He was born in Boston and is married to Dr. Charlene Kakimoto. They have two children and live in Point Loma.
Mark Cafferty became President & CEO at San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC) in January 2012. Cafferty has more than 18 years' experience in creating jobs and fostering job growth and recently recognized as the San Diego Business Journal's Most Admired Nonprofit CEO and one of The Daily Transcript's Top Influentials for 2011.
Previous to joining SDREDC, Cafferty was President & CEO of San Diego Workforce Partnership since 2008 and was earlier their Chief Operating Officer. He increased the workforce training organization's budget by more than 30 percent, managed a one-time award of $25 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and secured more competitive grants than at any time in the past six years.
Earlier in his career, Cafferty served as the deputy director of the Boston Private Industry Council before moving to San Diego in 2001. A Boston native, Cafferty earned a BA in Marketing and Communications from Assumption College in Worcester, MA and advanced certification in Performance Measurement and Non-Profit Management from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. In 2007, he was selected as a Center for Social Innovation Fellow for Non-Profit Leaders at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
He is a member of the Board of Directors at CONNECT, San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, South County EDC and CleanTECH San Diego. Cafferty and his wife, Charlene Kakimoto, M.D., have two children and live in Point Loma.