1. Building & Design
This industry cluster represents nearly 8,700 jobs in the County and includes the following sub-groups:
- Building & Construction – this cluster sub-group includes residential building construction, highway, street, and bridge construction, land subdivision, etc., and represents approximately 6,400 jobs in the County.
- Design – this sub-categorization represents offices of real estate agents and brokers and other real estate activity along with architectural, engineering, and related services. This sub-cluster employs nearly 2,300 workers in San Luis Obispo County.
Source: SLO EVC
2. Green Energy
This cluster employs over 1,400 workers in San Luis Obispo County and includes nuclear, solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and other electric power generation as well as environmental consulting services.
Source: SLO EVC
3. Health
This industry cluster employs approximately 12,100 workers and includes San Luis Obispo County locations that can be categorized into the following sub-groups:
- Allied health – this sub-cluster represents over three-fifths of employment (7,550) in the larger cluster and includes all ambulatory health care services and hospitals in the County.
- Residential care and rehabilitation services – includes nursing and residential care facilities, individual and family services, and vocational rehabilitation services (4,500 employees).
Source: SLO EVC
4. Knowledge & Innovation
This cluster consists of over 5,300 workers in San Luis Obispo County and can be separated in the following three categories;
- Internet, Knowledge & Consulting – this is the largest sub-group within the cluster with over 4,100 employees and includes data processing and hosting, internet publishing and broadcasting and web search portals, management consulting services, etc.
- Computer software, hardware & training – this sub-cluster employs just over 900 workers and includes electronic computer and computer storage device manufacturing, software publishers, computer training, etc.
- Telecommunications – this sub-group represents just under 300 workers in the County and includes all wired telecommunications carriers, satellite telecommunications, and communication equipment repair and maintenance.
Source: SLO EVC
5. Specialized Manufacturing
This cluster employs nearly 3,400 workers in San Luis Obispo County and consists of the following sub-clusters:
- Commodity manufacturing – this cluster sub-group includes plastics, rubber, cement, and clay product manufacturing, footwear manufacturing, soap, cleaning compound, and toiler preparation manufacturing, etc. The sub-group employs approximately 430 workers in the County.
- Advanced manufacturing – this sub-cluster represents just under 3,000 employees in San Luis Obispo County and includes glass and glass product manufacturing, engine, turbine, and power transmission equipment manufacturing, aerospace product and parts manufacturing, etc.
Source: SLO EVC
6. Uniquely SLO County
This cluster is the largest examined with nearly 21,800 employees in the County in 2014. This cluster can be split into the following industry sub-groups:
- Recreation and Accommodation – This sub-group employs the majority of workers in the larger cluster (17,380) and includes breweries, wineries, golf courses and country clubs, hotels, bed-and-breakfast inns, drinking places, full-service restaurants, etc.
- Wine and Agriculture – Nearly 4,400 workers in San Luis Obispo County work within the sub-group that includes crop production, soil preparation, planting and cultivating, farm management services, etc.
Source: SLO EVC
