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New CEO Faces Relevancy Challenges in North County

It was Day Three of Mike Cully’s new job as CEO of the San Diego North Economic Development Council, and already his meeting calendar was packed.

“I’m looking at it and thinking, ‘I’m going to collapse in a few weeks,’” he said between sips from a tall cup of afternoon coffee.

It helps that Cully is a self-professed “adrenaline junkie,” a high-energy former TV reporter who steered Daimler AG’s U.S. launch of car-sharing service car2Go. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s a San Diego native who headed the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce from May 2008 to October 2010.

But even with those things going for him, he faces quite the challenge. He must rebuild an organization whose staff doubled in size the moment Cully joined it. The previous CEO, Carl Morgan, left seven months ago and is now working for the city of Indio.

At the same time, he must unify the region’s competing political and business interests – or find ways for them to co-exist productively.

Big Task Ahead

Established 25 years ago, the San Diego North EDC exists to promote the region as a whole to businesses considering relocating to the area. It also works to retain companies already here and encourages workforce development. Membership costs $5,000 per year at the low end.

The organization has struggled to remain relevant in recent years. Some say this is evident in the fact that Carlsbad, Escondido, Oceanside, San Marcos and Vista passed over San Diego North EDC when awarding, and recently renewing, a contract to run Innovate 78, a regional marketing and business development campaign.

The contract is serviced by the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp., which has 20 staffers to Cully’s two, a budget seven times as large as his roughly $450,000 per year, and nearly three times as many paying members, or “investors.”

“He’s going to have a job on his hands to establish the credibility of the group,” Ted Owen, president and CEO of the 1,350-member Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, said of Cully’s new assignment.

Even if Cully’s able to do that, Owen said, unity remains an obstacle. “A lot of factions in North County have to come (together) on the same page in order for him to be successful,” he said.

Mark Kalpakgian, president of San Diego North’s sister organization, the North County EDC, distinguished from the other mainly by its tax exemption status, said by email Cully’s priorities will be – in this order – to grow organizational membership beyond the current roster of 60, strengthen financial reserves, forge “vibrant community partnerships” and handle communications and branding.

Kalpakgian, whose board hired Cully jointly with the San Diego North EDC board, emphasized the need for collaboration.

“The tapestry of North County is diverse and multifaceted,” Kalpakgian wrote. “Our strength comes from building bridges, forging relationships and partnering on key initiatives that impact the region and grow our economy.”

“Nothing great happens without a good team, and that is never more true than in community-focused organizations like ours.”

Settling In

Cully sounded very much on board with this vision during an interview at his new office on the third floor of a San Marcos office building.

The man who earned an MBA in global business and entrepreneurship at San Diego State University talked about his plan to hire three new staff members to help with responsibilities ranging from marketing and promoting strong government relations, to business development and bookkeeping.

High on his to-do list was outreach. He said he wants to huddle with local business and government leaders – the people already overpopulating his meetings schedule – as well as local schools and colleges training the region’s future workforce.

Cully recited some of the questions he plans to ask of every person he meets during the course of his work day: “How can I help you?” “How can we support you and work with you?”

What he doesn’t want to do, he said, is press businesses to join San Diego North EDC out of a sense of obligation. They should get something out of it – advocacy, for example, though he declined to put a fine point on precisely what new value he sees the organization adding.

Fostering Harmony

One thing in particular he was clear about: The EDC needs to adopt a confidential “RFP” process, which stands for Request for Proposals, the solicitations a government agency issues when it wants to know which businesses are interested in bidding on a particular project.

Cully said his organization must reach out to various stakeholders the moment it hears a business is considering relocating to the region.

This idea reflects some of the “friendly competition” he sees existing among the area’s municipalities. He called it a natural phenomenon.

“There’s strength in numbers. Let’s put it that way,” he said.

Cully has a diverse history in business. Besides working as a manager in the private sector, he has led three regional business organizations.

Varied Experience

After spending many years as a television news reporter in several U.S. markets, he took a job as a communications representative with Kaiser Permanente in Fresno.

This led to a position as executive director of the Visalia Convention and Visitors Bureau, and later, executive leadership of the Visalia Chamber of Commerce.

After a stint as vice president of sales and marketing at San Diego web-based medical records system PatientClick, Cully joined car2go in September 2011 as San Diego location manager.

In 2013 he was promoted to regional manager, overseeing and developing 10 locations for Daimler’s U.S. car-sharing service. Car2go in San Diego struggled to build a sustainable model, switched from its all-electric fleet to gas vehicles and shut down at the end of 2016.

The variety of Cully’s positions, combined with his experience at the San Diego East chamber, give him a unique vantage.

He is at once an insider and an outsider – someone who knows and has worked with local officials, but who benefits by having what he calls the “apolitical” standing of someone coming from Portland, Ore., where his wife and two children still live as he scouts out living arrangements.

Cully prefers the view that he is an outsider, a “political unknown,” in his words.

He said this gives him an advantage to getting things done.

That may help, but there’s still a lot to do on many fronts.

“If you ask me what needs to be done, it’s everything,” he said. “It all needs to be done right now.”

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