Report: Biotech Industry Has $22B Economic Impact on County

Biotech Employment

The biotech business has a $22 billion annual economic impact on San Diego County, according to a report released Tuesday by an industry trade group.

Biotech employs 42,000 San Diego County residents, who are paid $4 billion collectively. The industry, in turn, creates economic activity involving people in accounting, insurance, legal services, finance, real estate and administration, according to the 2012 Southern California Economic Impact Report from BIOCOMM.

The report said the number of area biotech jobs has increased by 5,500 in the last two years and is expected to climb to nearly 45,000 next year.

The biotech industry in San Diego includes around 1,700 companies in biopharmaceuticals, industrial biotechnology and biofuels, life sciences, medical devices and diagnostics, and research and lab services.

The report says the average pay ranges from $105,000 to $123,000 in the sectors, except for industrial biotechnology and biofuels, which has a typical pay of around $59,000 in San Diego.

Across Orange, San Diego, Riverside and Imperial counties, 97,000 people are employed at 3,500 life science companies. Those workers support an additional 151,000 jobs in the region, generating $57 billion in economic activity, according to the report.

"Our analysis shows that the job creation in Southern California can be attributed to the region's unique characteristics, including its research base, its business climate, strong support services and the strength of the existing cluster," said Joe Panetta, BIOCOM's president and CEO.

Biocom said it was the first report to look at biotech's impact on the Southern California region as a whole.

Sex Offender Management Council

The Board of Supervisors asked Tuesday for an ordinance to establish the San Diego Sex Offender Management Council.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis joined county Supervisor Dianne Jacob and Sheriff Bill Gore in calling for the ordinance.

"Through our collaborative efforts, San Diego County has become a model for sex offender management," Dumanis said. "The District Attorney's Office is proud to join Sheriff Gore and Supervisor Jacob in supporting the formalization of this critical public safety resource on sex offender management."

The SOMC was informally established about 10 years ago and has provided training, supervision standards and community education programs focused around sex offender issues. Formalizing SOMC by ordinance will help it seek grants to forge partnerships.

Recently, Gov. Jerry Brown removed Department of Justice employees from the Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force. Dumanis said San Diego County needed a collaborative effort to protect the public from sex offenders.

Escondido Homicide

An Escondido man accused in the shooting death of a 20- year-old woman whose body was found off a rural road near the Lawrence Welk Resort is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.

Jeffrey Steven McCreary, 42, is accused in the death of Morayma Denise Rodriguez, the mother of an 11-month-old girl.

The victim told her family the night of  Jan. 31 that she was going out with friends to a casino, but she never returned. Her bullet-riddled body was found about 1:15 p.m. the next day along Lawrence Welk Court.

McCreary was arrested Saturday morning after a car chase in Escondido.

A possible motive was not disclosed and it was not known how the victim and the accused knew each other.

According to court records, McCreary had prior convictions for armed robbery and possession of methamphetamine.

-City News Service