RIVERSIDE, CA (February 28, 2025) – Inland Economic Growth & Opportunity (IEGO), the Inland Empire Labor Institute (IELI), and the Inland Empire Community Foundation (IECF), as fiscal agent, congratulate Governor Gavin Newsom and his team for their continued commitment to economic development through the newly released California Jobs First (CJF) Economic Blueprint.

This initiative brings historic investments to Riverside and San Bernardino counties, fueling industry growth, expanding career pathways, and strengthening the region’s position as a hub for innovation and economic resilience.

As part of the Governor’s statewide collaborative economic blueprint, the Thrive Inland Southern California CJF Regional Plan outlines strategies to invest in high-growth sectors, workforce development, and infrastructure that will drive inclusive economic expansion across the region. For example, $3 million will be committed as part of a predevelopment fund.

With over 4.6 million residents and a rapidly growing labor force, the Inland Empire is well positioned to be a leading region in California’s evolving economy. CJF is set to support these efforts by targeting investments in:

• Industry Growth & Innovation: Expand high growth sectors of greatest potential including advanced manufacturing, clean technology, and cybersecurity sectors to create thousands of high-wage jobs.
• Workforce Development: Enhance training programs and career pathways through partnerships with community colleges, labor organizations, and regional employers.
• Infrastructure & Business Support: Improve access to capital and technical assistance for small and mid-sized businesses to foster local economic resilience.

“CJF is a game-changer for Inland Southern California,” said Matthew Mena, a co-convener of the CJF initiative and executive director of IEGO. “IEGO, IELI, and IECF are working together to ensure that Riverside and San Bernardino counties—home to a diverse and rapidly growing workforce—benefit from these critical investments. We look forward to building on this momentum to create lasting opportunities for our communities.”

“The California Jobs First Regional Economic Initiative has provided us with a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between affordability and unattainability for our communities by funding community-led research, planning, and coalition-building, and now through direct pre-development project investments. It is our goal to ensure that our working families have access to mortgage-and-family sustaining wages within a diverse economic local market to provide various accessible quality-jobs, while promoting union-based and worker-centered ventures,” said Esmeralda Vazquez, Executive Director of the Inland Empire Labor Institute.

As CJF co-conveners, IEGO and IELI are uniting labor unions, businesses, workforce leaders, and educational institutions to ensure CJF investments align with local economic needs. With IECF serving as the fiscal agent, the initiative is leveraging regional partnerships and public-private collaboration to maximize economic impact.

CJF’s regional strategy aligns with Inland Southern California’s need to diversify its job base, expand career pipelines, and attract new industries to drive sustainable, long-term economic prosperity. By fostering collaboration across sectors, CJF drives inclusive economic growth and ensures that local workers have access to high-quality, good-paying jobs.

As CJF continues to take shape, IEGO, IELI, and IECF remain committed to advocating for resources, infrastructure, and policy solutions that maximize the impact of state and federal investments in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

About The California Jobs First Economic Blueprint: This statewide plan guides the state’s investments in key sectors to drive sustainable economic growth, innovation, and access to good-paying jobs over the next decade. Made up of ten strategic industry sectors, this framework will help streamline the state’s economic, business, and workforce development programs to create more jobs, faster.

About Thrive Inland Southern California: California Jobs First fostered formation of the Thrive Inland SoCal collaborative. Thrive is envisioned as the start of a new era of inclusive regional economic development rooted in deep collaboration among businesses, economic development intermediaries, community members, workforce and education, the public sector, and other stakeholders. Taken together, these strategies chart a course for regional action in the years ahead.

About IELI: The Inland Empire Labor Institute (IELI) is the 501(c)(3) wing of the Inland Empire Labor Council, a regional AFL-CIO affiliate with 290,000 members across Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The IELI partners with economic, social, and environmental organizations to prioritize the needs of workers.

About IECF: The Inland Empire Community Foundation is the oldest and largest community foundation serving the Inland region. IECF has deep roots in the region and is committed to working with all who care passionately about improving the Inland Empire community.

Building and Construction Trades, Firefighting, and Personal Services Lead Inland Empire Industries Creating Apprenticeship Paths to Good-Paying Jobs

According to the Inland Empire/Desert Center of Excellence for Labor Market Information (COE), the Inland Empire, comprised of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, has 13,626 active apprentices as of September 2024, adding that the Inland Empire is training a higher share of apprentices than their share of workers in California. While the Inland Empire labor force accounts for 11.2% of all California workers, the region’s 13,262 active apprentices represent 14.2% of all apprentices in California.

The benefits to workers and businesses is immense. Registered apprenticeships are industry-driven career pathway programs that allow individuals to earn wages while learning skills for a specific occupation or trade and allow employers to develop and invest in their future workforce. Most Inland Empire apprenticeships are in building and construction trades (69%), firefighting (15%), or personal services (e.g., barber or cosmetology) (10%). The remaining 7%, or 922 apprentices, were registered in non-traditional programs, 473 were in advanced manufacturing programs. 449 were in other programs, led by health services (128), automotive repair (120), information technology (71), and food and food service (56) programs. While the number of apprentices is smaller in these non-traditional programs, they are the fastest growing.

“Creating pathways to high quality jobs is critical to keeping the Inland Empire economically competitive. It has made a major impact in workforce readiness by providing effective ways for young people to gain the skills they need for lucrative employment,” said Matthew Mena, Executive Director, Inland Economic Growth & Opportunity (IEGO).

Mena adds that a significant reason the Inland Empire has built an effective apprenticeship pipeline is that its community colleges work in partnership with intermediaries such as the LAUNCH Apprenticeship Network (LAUNCH), an intermediary and education provider for businesses adopting the apprenticeship model. The LAUNCH Apprenticeship Network leverages the workforce and education systems of the region’s community colleges, K-12 districts, and Workforce Development Boards.

“While the Inland Empire is a statewide leader in apprenticeships, there is still work to be done to create greater access for underrepresented residents,” adds Mena. According to the report, only 6% of apprentices in the Inland Empire are women, a smaller share than the 9% of female apprentices in California. The gender gap in the Inland Empire is driven by low rates of women in building and construction apprenticeship programs (2% female) and the CA firefighters’ program (3% female).

Citing the proven track record for the apprenticeship model, California Governor Gavin Newsom set an ambitious goal in 2018 of reaching 500,000 active apprentices by 2029. As a result, the state has significantly increased registered apprenticeship completions and enrollments. However, the current rate of apprenticeship expansion is insufficient to meet the statewide goal of 500,000 apprentices trained between 2018 and 2029.

“The Inland Empire can play a greater role in meeting these goals and supporting our residents’ future economic opportunities by working with intermediaries such as LAUNCH, improving access for underrepresented groups, and expanding the range of occupations with strong growth potential that use the apprenticeship model including education, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity and clean technology,” added Mena.

To read the full report, go to Apprenticeship in the Inland Empire - Centers of Excellence for Labor Market Research.

About Inland Empire / Desert Region Center of Excellence for Labor Market Information: The Centers of Excellence for Labor Market Research are part of California’s Workforce and Economic Development Division. As grant-funded technical assistance providers, the nine Centers are located strategically across the state to study California’s regional economies. The work supports the community colleges by providing customized data on high growth, emerging, and economically critical industries and occupations. The Centers produce reports and tools that provide a real-time picture of the labor market, where it is headed, and what programs and training are needed to meet future workforce demand. This research helps community colleges tailor their programs to support the state’s dynamic and competitive workforce.

Marek Gootman, senior fellow, Brookings Institution, provided a briefing from the California Jobs First report during the May IEGO gathering. The California Jobs First Report is a strategic document that will help to bring more investment to the region  

One of the first things addressed was a new approach for understanding job quality and concentrations within sectors, ranging from not just a fixed view of what a good job is by a median wage standard, but also promising jobs, and how people move in careers across occupations and across industries. He added, Brookings is focused on things that are produced or services that are delivered and sold outside the Inland Empire and bring new money and wealth in in addition to economic mobility and access.  

For his presentation, Gootman highlighted industry sector opportunities for the region. 

“Our region boomed and was sustained throughout the pandemic in job creation. But that job creation was driven by local serving industry where you simply circulate the money in the local economy,” Gootman shared. “While we’ve been fantastic in job creation, we have lagged in terms of average earnings and productivity. And by our analysis, the reason for those lags are tied to the less competitive value add part of the logistics industry.”  

The region is doing better in terms of whether folks are struggling to make ends meet. Nearly 60% of residents in the region can meet basic budget requirements for food, housing, transportation, and childcare. However roughly 60% of people who are struggling to make ends meet don't have more than a high school education.  

“When we look at opportunity jobs in the region, about 40% are quality jobs, which means they meet the standards of a wage that gets you to where you're able to get by and get ahead. If we want to cut the number of people who are struggling working families by 50% as a policy choice, then we need to find this number of jobs to achieve that goal,” said Gootman. Areas of opportunity noted by Gootman include advanced manufacturing and cybersecurity. 

His final comments noted, “A challenge for this region is that we think of ourselves as a suburb of Los Angeles. We are almost the same size as Phoenix. We're a different economy the same way that Sacramento is a different economy from the Bay Area. We are under invested if we think that we're going to be a different stronger economy” Gootman shared. 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Governor Newsom today announced the creation of a new state council focused on creating jobs and the awarding of $182 million in grants to jumpstart the Governor’s Regional Investment Initiative to accelerate economic and workforce projects throughout the state.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the creation of the California Jobs First Council and operational plan focused on streamlining the state’s economic and workforce development programs to create more jobs, faster. The Council and operational plan will guide the state’s investments in economic and workforce development to create more family-supporting jobs and prioritize industry sectors for future growth.

WHAT GOVERNOR NEWSOM SAID: “California has created more opportunities, more jobs, and more businesses than any other state, but we need to ensure that we’re all moving forward together. Through this new council and these investments, we’re aligning all of our economic resources to create more jobs, faster for Californians in every community.”

STATEWIDE ALIGNMENT ON TRAINING CALIFORNIANS FOR FAMILY-SUSTAINING JOBS

Co-chaired by Dee Dee Myers, Senior Advisor to Governor Newsom and Director of the Governor’s Office of Business & Economic Development, and Stewart Knox, Secretary of Labor & Workforce Development, the California Jobs First Council will bring together various state entities, including:

Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning & Research: promoting alignment with General Plan guidelines and land use policies

Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency: representing nature-based solutions and clean energy industries

Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture: representing the agriculture industry

Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency: representing the circular economy

Secretary of the California Health & Human Services Agency: representing the healthcare industry and promoting jobs for disabled and disadvantaged workers

Secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs: representing the more than 1.6 million former service members that reside in the state

President of the Public Utilities Commission: representing opportunities to advance California’s clean energy workforce of the future and economic opportunities for communities

“The California Jobs First Council is another piece of the puzzle in the Governor’s pursuit of creating a California For All,” said Dee Dee Myers, Senior Advisor to Governor Newsom and Director of the Governor’s Office of Business & Economic Development. “I am looking forward to working with my colleagues to align strategic investments that further economic growth and job creation in every region of California.”

The Council will coordinate the development of a statewide industrial strategy that includes a statewide economic snapshot and identification of priority sectors, a statewide projects portfolio, a business expansion, attraction, and retention strategy, and a workforce development strategy. The California Jobs First Council will also support the regional Jobs First Collaboratives to expand industry and create jobs locally.

The California Jobs First Council is an integral component of California’s broader strategy to prepare students and workers for high-paying careers. The Council will work alongside the Council for Career Education and in line with the Governor’s 2023 Executive Order that directed the creation of a Master Plan for Career Education to ensure that Californians have career pathways, develop the skills and find even more opportunities to be full beneficiaries of our state’s economy.

The Master Plan is largely aimed at aligning and simplifying the K-12, university, and workforce systems in California to support greater access to career education and jobs for all Californians. In connection with the Master Plan for Career Education, the Jobs First Operational Plan will highlight the ways in which workforce development can and should be a tool used by the State and the regional Jobs First Collaboratives to help Californians, particularly the most disinvested communities, in meeting the specific skillset needs of the State’s and our regions’ priority industry sectors.

$182 MILLION TO CREATE JOBS IN EVERY REGION OF THE STATE

In 2021, Governor Newsom launched the $600 million Regional Investment Initiative (formerly the Community Economic Resilience Fund, or CERF) to create high-quality, accessible jobs and help build resilience to the effects of climate change and other global disruptions impacting the state’s diverse regional economies. This investment has supported the creation of Jobs First Collaboratives in each of the state’s 13 economic regions, with representation from a wide variety of community partners including labor, business, local government, education, environmental justice, community organizations and more. These Collaboratives are in the process of developing roadmaps, including a strategy and recommended series of investments, for their respective regions.

Today, Governor Newsom announced that the state has awarded $14 million to each of the 13 Jobs First Collaboratives – $182 million total – to invest in sector-specific pre-development activities, enabling regions to take projects from exploratory and last-mile to ready-to-go projects that can access local, state, and federal funds, as well as private and philanthropic investments. The 13 Jobs First Collaboratives cover every region of the state: North State, Capitol, Redwood Region, Bay Area, North San Joaquin Valley, Eastern Sierra, Central San Joaquin Valley, Orange County, Los Angeles County, Kern County, Central Coast, Inland Southern California, and the Southern Border.

“California Jobs First represents a very intentional, inclusive approach to economic and workforce development,” said Stewart Knox, Secretary of the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency. “By maximizing state resources and investments, the state is empowering communities to chart their own futures in a manner that is inclusive and equitable.”

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:

Matthew Mena, Executive Director, IEGO (Inland Empire): “The Inland Empire region is one of the fastest growing regions in the State, and we need an all of government approach to helping our partners create quality jobs and a more accessible economy. The Governor has been a partner with us on this endeavor, and we look forward to working with the Council to make that happen.”

Evan Schmidt, President & CEO, Valley Vision (Capitol): “We are at a pivotal moment in the Capitol region, and we are grateful that the Governor is bringing his team together to collaborate with our regions to make strategic investments in projects that will create the types of jobs and opportunities we want and need.”

Ashley Swearengin, President & CEO, Central Valley Community Foundation (Central San Joaquin): “Governor Newsom and his administration have been proven partners with the Central San Joaquin Valley.  This new Council and the Operation Plan proves his commitment to our communities is not letting up.”

Stephen Cheung, President & CEO, Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (Los Angeles County): “The Governor’s commitment to the Los Angeles County region is clear. As we continue to work through the development of our regional Jobs First Strategy, it is exciting to know that this new Council will come alongside with us to implement our vision to create a more inclusive economy with quality jobs.”