Banking and Financial Services A wide variety of banks and financial institutions support San Diego's thriving business community and provide services to its residents, from national banks to community banks and credit unions. Also supporting San Diego's businesses and residents is a diverse group of local and national bookkeeping and accounting firms. They offer a wide range of value-added consulting services and include specialists in auditing, international business, taxation, nonprofits, start-ups and general accounting. Biotechnology/ Biomedical San Diego is home to the third largest concentration of bioscience companies in the country, trailing only the five-county San Francisco Bay area and the New England region. one out o~ five American bioscience-biotech companies are in San Diego County, with 1998 revenues estimated at $810 million. Approximately 29,000 people work in the region's 250 companies, not including university researchers. The biotech industry began a new era in 1998 when several companies moved from research ventures into production. Though the Food and Drug Administration only approved one local drug, more than a dozen San Diego biotech companies should have new products out within the next few years. According to a recent Deloitte & Touche survey, biotech sales should rise by more than 10 percent in 1999. |
