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State economic blueprint seeks regionally tailored strategy, GO-Biz official says
Summary
GO-Biz senior adviser Derek Kirk described a new California Jobs First statewide economic blueprint intended to link regional strategies, sector priorities and workforce investments to expand good-paying jobs.
Derek Kirk, senior adviser for economic policy at the governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), told the Assembly Committee on Economic Development that the administration has launched a statewide economic blueprint intended to coordinate regional strategies and align investments to create higher‑paying jobs.
"The state economic blueprint ... is our representation of the first statewide data driven sector business and workforce strategy that the state of California has had in over 20 years," Kirk said, describing a community‑led process across 13 regions and investments the administration and legislature have made to support local planning.
Kirk said the Jobs First effort aims to balance investments in tradable, exportable sectors with support for anchor, local‑serving sectors such as child care, healthcare and housing so workers can access good jobs. He said the legislature and governor have invested roughly $286 million to support regional economic planning and that the blueprint is intended as a 10‑year vision document to guide targeted sector and workforce investments.
Kirk described four core goals: support sustainable and equitable growth across regions and populations; invest in the workforce for sectors of the future; create an attractive environment for job creators; and strengthen innovation and entrepreneurship. He said initial work will emphasize pilot sectors and regionally tailored initiatives and highlighted coordination with the labor agency and other state partners through a Jobs First Council.
Committee members from large jurisdictions said regional coordination will be critical. Kirk acknowledged capacity limits in some large urban areas and pointed to new county and city collaborations in Los Angeles as an example of the kind of cross‑jurisdictional planning the blueprint seeks to encourage.
The committee asked for follow-up on how the blueprint will be operationalized and what metrics will measure success; Kirk said GO‑Biz will provide more detail and regional implementation plans to committee staff.
