The San Jose clean technology strategy uses traditional business retention and attraction approaches combined with sophisticated networking of technology and governmental partnerships that are:

Providing incentives and services at every stage of growth to encourage both established clean technology companies and start-up firms to stay and grow in San José;
Incubating next-generation technologies through partnerships with local universities and the US Department of Energy?s National Renewable Energy Laboratory-backed Environmental Business Cluster;
Providing city demonstration opportunities for innovative clean technology products;
Creating opportunities for local residents to receive training for employment in clean technology industries;
Advocating for legislative changes that will support the clean technology industry's growth.

As one of the largest environmental and clean technology incubators in the United States, the Environmental Business Cluster has assisted more than 150 companies since its founding in areas such as water purification, advanced transportation, wind and solar energy, waste heat recovery, sustainability, social networking, power management and testing, and alternative fuels. The Environmental Business Cluster supported 22 companies as of August 2010.

San Jose's Green Vision programme provides goals and milestones so the U.S. city of one million can leverage the Silicon Valley's leading base of technology and business model innovation in the creation of clean technology economic development. In addition to partnering with a nationally supported technology innovation center, the Environmental Business Cluster, San Jose tracks the number of local clean technology sector jobs and has set longer-term job creation goals for the city's clean technology sector. San Jose has attempted to utilize a number of operational tactics for supporting clean technology industries by making its buildings, land and operations open to pilot project collaboration, as well as matching smaller clean technology and energy efficiency companies with contract opportunities provided by the city's many large corporations.