Matthew Sanford

Matthew Sanford has spent roughly 15–20 years in the San Diego County economic-development landscape. A graduate of San Diego State University, his first job out of school was in the office of then-Councilmember (later California Senate President pro Tempore) Toni Atkins. He went on to work with the San Diego North Chamber of Commerce before moving into regional economic development. He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) and has completed executive coursework through Harvard Business School Online.

For roughly eight years he served as Senior Director / Director of Economic Development at the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (sandiegobusiness.org), where he built public-private partnerships and managed grant-funded programs supporting innovation across the defense, technology, and life-sciences sectors. This is the role tied to his [hidden] email.

He subsequently became Economic Development Manager/Director for the City of Carlsbad, overseeing business attraction and retention strategies and an annual budget of more than $1 million. There he helped execute and oversee Innovate78 — a collaboration among Carlsbad, Oceanside, Escondido, Vista, and San Marcos to promote shared prosperity along the SR-78 corridor — and led creation of the city's first economic-development strategic plan. He also launched the Job Readiness Room, a free workforce-development program offering soft-skills training and micro-credentials for manufacturing, office administration, and hospitality roles.

In March 2026, following a competitive nationwide search that drew more than 300 applicants, Sanford was named President and CEO of the East County Economic Development Council, based in El Cajon.

• Works at the ecosystem and policy level — attracting, retaining, and growing employers and connecting them to grants, talent, and partners — rather than writing personal seed checks.
• Prioritizes public-private partnerships and grant-funded innovation programs in defense, technology, and life sciences, the pillar sectors of the San Diego regional economy.
• Strong emphasis on workforce development and equity/inclusion — e.g., the Job Readiness Room, designed to "support the 'hidden' or vulnerable workforce and help our employers unlock new worker segments."
• Backs regional, cross-jurisdiction collaboration (Innovate78) on the premise that neighboring cities prosper together rather than competing for the same companies.
• Focused on linking education to local jobs — Carlsbad's first economic-development strategic plan under his tenure included working with K-12 and higher-education systems to tie students to the local workforce.