Clean tech conference Friday at Sony in RB

By Elizabeth Marie Himchak

Ways to make the North County Inland a clean technology corridor will be discussed Friday in Rancho Bernardo.

The “Cleantech Legislative Conference” is one step San Diego North Chamber of Commerce is taking to develop a clean technology manufacturing corridor along Interstate 15 north of state Route 52 and along state Route 78, said Debra Rosen, SDNCC president and CEO.

“Our goal for this conference is to demonstrate to our regional officials the importance and potential impact of bringing new businesses to the region to develop and manufacture clean tech products,” Rosen said. “(It) will also promote the discussion of what the city and county of San Diego are doing right and what still needs to be done in order to create and sustain a competitive advantage in the industry.”

The conference will be 8 a.m. to noon Friday, Sept. 16 at Sony Electronics, 16535 Via Esprillo in Rancho Bernardo. It will be followed by a networking luncheon and optional tour of local companies involved with clean technology.

Cost is $35 in advance and at the door. The site tour is an additional $15. To register, go to www.sdncc.com or call 858-487-1767.

Clean technology includes recycling, renewable energy, green products and transportation, and items that replace their conventional counterparts with ones causing less damage to the environment.

Rosen said this area is ideal for clean technology companies because of the region’s sunshine, education hubs, close shipping access, and clean technology research and development on the coast.

“We primarily want to attract manufacturing here,” she said, explaining to attract such businesses there must be a regional approach that unites cities and communities rather than having them compete on an individual basis. The chamber has been working on this initiative for a year.

The conference will have three sessions. The first will identify San Diego clean technology successes and opportunities. Panelists include Clark Crawford from Soitec, Joe Budano from Poway-based Energy Innovations and Rancho Bernardo-based Sony representatives.

The second will be evaluating practices from other clusters, infrastructure and resources. Panelists include Scott Green from the City of San Jose, Todd Johnson from Jones Day, Ding Wang from Mytec, Duane Roth from Connect and Andy Hoskinson from ECOtality.

The final session will identify legislative action items with politicians serving as panelists. They include San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and City Councilman Carl DeMaio, Congressman Brian Bilbray, and Poway, Escondido and San Marcos leaders.

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Posted by Steve Dreyer on Sep 14 2011. Filed under Archive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry