Diamond Level
The San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce is the largest business organization in the eastern part of San Diego County. We have grown to over 850 member companies, employing approximately 15,000 hard working East County residents.
After the issue of Sequestration was vetted in our Government Affairs Committee, the Board of Directors of this Chamber of Commerce has voted to take a strong position of OPPOSITION to Congress’ impending Sequestration of Defense Department funding. Sequestration would have a highly negative impact on the regional economy of San Diego County and all of California.
Locally, active duty and retired members of the uniformed military services, combined with defense contractors, comprise roughly 28 percent of the gross regional economy. One in every four pay checks in our region is a part of the military-defense complex.
The proposed draconian cuts would have a horrendous impact on hard-working families on limited government incomes, defense contracting businesses endeavoring to survive this challenging economy, and the myriad businesses that provide goods and services to these families. A recent report by the Center for Security Policy states that if Sequestration goes into effect, and the defense budget is slashed by an additional $600 billion over a ten-year year period, California could lose 125,789 jobs and see a $10.79 billion decrease in Gross State Product (GSP).
