Last month I found an article in La Prensa San Diego discussing the positive impact on the City of Chula Vista as a result of inclusion in the San Diego Enterprise Zone.  That article was a preview of a new study conducted by the National University System Institute for Policy Research released on February 12.  Here is a link to a PDF of the Executive Summary of that report entitled “A Powerful Engine For South Bay: Chula Vista and the San Diego Regional Enterprise Zone.”  The following is the text of the Institute’s press release:

FEBRUARY 12, 2009, SAN DIEGO – An economic analysis released today by the National University System Institute for Policy Research found that Chula Vista’s participation in the San Diego Regional Enterprise Zone created hundreds of jobs and greatly benefited local companies, namely small businesses. The analysis found that in 2008, Chula Vista’s participation in the San Diego Regional Enterprise Zone produced an estimated total economic impact of $11.57 million.

The Enterprise Zone has created hundreds of jobs for Chula Vistans – more than 650 hiring credit vouchers have been issued throughout Chula Vista’s participation in the Enterprise Zone program. The benefits are concentrated to those most in need – small businesses and local residents. In Chula Vista 65% of companies receiving hiring credit vouchers have less than 50 employees, and 90% of the hiring vouchers were for those residents living in the “targeted employment area” of the city’s designated west side.

“The EZ program encourages businesses to hire and retain more low-skilled employees, which is important in today’s economic downturn,” said Vince Vasquez, Senior Policy Analyst at the Institute. “These jobs may often be the first opportunities for employment these individuals have after reentering society, such as the case may be with an ex-offender or military veteran, and thus it provides a critical first opportunity to learn new skills that will enable them to reach for higher-paying skilled positions.”

California has 42 Enterprise Zones throughout the state, which are designed to increase jobs and investment opportunities within a limited, economically-distressed and high unemployment area. The Enterprise Zone program has successfully used tax breaks and other incentives to help retain businesses in some of the state’s most down-trodden areas through two recessions, spurring greater capital expenditures, and expanding workforce opportunities for disadvantaged and economically-challenged Californians.

Since 1986, California’s EZ program has been a net gain for San Diego’s economic climate – assisting in the creation and retention of more than 25,000 area jobs, and spurring nearly $1 billion in private investment.