Regional Jobs Initiative
In 2004, a group of private- sector-led community leaders wrote a sizable report on proposed solutions to Fresno’s chronic jobless and poverty rates. Called the Regional Jobs Initiative, its goal is to create 30,000 new jobs over five years through a cluster-based approach. The report details the targeted clusters and using multipliers, projects increases in industry if companies agreed to collaborate to solve problems within individual clusters. As everyone could predict, the primary issue revolves around workforce development and the size of the unskilled labor pool. Of equal importance, some consideration should have been made as to whether Fresno companies could expand to accommodate new jobs.
The RJI’s mission is to develop a short and long-term comprehensive strategy aimed at creating 25,000 to 30,000 net new jobs within five years at an average salary of $29,500. The additional jobs are projected to create an annual economic impact of over $885 million to the area. The EDC’s role in the initiative is to provide marketing directed toward the clusters in the attraction, expansion and retention of clients. Towards that goal, the EDC’s CEO and staff attend all RJI cluster, leadership and implementation meetings and report on the progress the EDC is making toward generating companies that, primarily but not exclusively, fit into the clusters.
The challenges facing the community are regional in nature and require collaboration between various government entities and private sector organizations to solve. Led by city, county, business, education, civic, and labor leaders, the ultimate objective of the RJI is to generate long-term, sustainable economic development in the Fresno area by diversifying the industrial and economic base of the area to combat chronic, double-digit unemployment.
The RJI is based on the idea that regional economies are made up of a series of related industries, or clusters, that benefit one another. The RJI task forces are charged with identifying the existing and emerging industry clusters in which our region has a competitive advantage. Once the clusters are identified, each of the task forces will develop plans to expand those industries to achieve the job creation goal. If eight clusters produced 1,250 jobs each within the next five years. And in turn, those jobs created 2,500 'multiplier', or supporting jobs, then the goal of 30,000 additional jobs would be achieved.
First promoted by the Economic Development Administration in the mid-1990s, cluster-based economic development involves targeting the industries that naturally exist in a local economy and focusing available resources on developing the things most needed to grow those targeted industries, such as customized training programs, physical infrastructure requirements, and specialized research programs at local universities. The industries targeted by the RJI include:
- Advanced Manufacturing
Advanced Manufacturing refers to highly flexible, short-to-medium run production, as opposed to high-run assembly line production. The San Joaquin Valley is poised for growth in its manufacturing sector. - Construction
The Construction Cluster is comprised of designers, contractors, suppliers, building trade organizations, apprenticeship programs, home builders, industry associations and educators, all representing both public and private aspects of the construction industry. - Food Processing
The "food technology" industry cluster encompasses the public and private organizations in the region engaged in research, development, manufacturing, and/or delivery of goods and services related to the production, sales, marketing, and distribution of food. - Healthcare
This cluster consists of a network of hospitals, training centers, clinics and other health-related service providers. - Info Processing: Call Centers
"Information Processing" represents a group of interrelated occupations that share similar training and skill requirements that cut across several industries, namely back office operations, call centers, third party administrators and information technology. - Innovative Energy
The Innovative Energy project is the first initiative undertaken in the creation of a local Renewable Energy/Clean Tech cluster. It is designed to help reduce energy consumption and generate clean, renewable power where possible in order to improve the local economy and benefit the environment. - Logistics & Distribution
Advanced Logistics and Distribution refers to the transportation, storage, and allocation of products. The Logistics Cluster focuses on the industry that provides these services. - Software Development
The Software Development Cluster consists of businesses or divisions of businesses whose primary function is software development, as well as educators whose goal is the training of software developers. - Tourism
The Tourism Cluster consists of all businesses, such as hotels and motels, tour operations, and restaurants, related to the various aspects of tourism that can be found in the Fresno region. Agri-tourism, amusement parks, gardens, historical sites, casinos, museums, nature tours, three national parks, performing arts, outdoor recreation, parks, a planetarium, shopping, sports venues, golf, snow skiing, water sports, and zoos are among the many tourist attractions in the Fresno region. - Water Technology
The International Center for Water Technology is an industry-university partnership housed at California State University, Fresno that focuses on the manufacturing and deployment of technology that enables water reuse, conservation, energy efficiency, lower cost innovations, improved water quality and water exploration. It is in the process of constructing a five-suite incubator in association with the Central Valley Business incubator, which is geared toward water and energy start-ups.
The RJI’s biggest achievement to date is the formation of state and federal government task forces, with $5 million in funding resulting from the San Joaquin Partnership, to offer solutions for solving the stubborn forces that keep the Valley from effectively competing. This partnership is proving to be extremely effective in forcing the State of California to reckon with a region long ignored. For information, see http://www.fresnorji.org/