Gov. Gavin Newsom has 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.

“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,” Newsom said.

Co-chaired by Dee Dee Myers, senior advisor to Gov. Newsom and director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, and Stewart Knox, secretary of Labor and 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 Myers. “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.

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.

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.”