Employment Training Panel approves 31 projects and $6.4M; adopts EVITP and Respond guideline updates
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Summary
The Employment Training Panel approved 31 proposals and five $200,000 SEED grants at its January meeting, adopted EVITP and Respond pilot guideline revisions, and heard an executive update about wildfire impacts and agency workload. Major contracts approved include Applied Materials’ critical proposal and several employer training contracts across the state.
The Employment Training Panel on a January morning approved funding for 31 projects — including single‑ and multiple‑employer contracts, delegation orders and one critical proposal — and adopted several program guideline updates.
Executive Director Jessica Grimes told the panel ETP is "standing in solidarity with all those impacted by the wildfires in Southern California," and said staff are providing technical assistance as part of a new Respond program action item designed to speed recovery training for affected contractors. Grimes also summarized the panel packet: if all proposals are funded today the panel would approve about $6.4 million and 31 projects; staff reported approximately 196 applications in demand with an estimated total value of about $103.7 million.
The panel approved the consent calendar with exclusions, then moved through pulled and main proposals. Highlights of approvals and votes at the meeting included:
- Scaled Composites LLC — contract ET250205 for $205,632 to train 204 workers in Kern County; panel discussed prior performance (47% achievement on a prior contract) and approved the contract following the contractor’s assurances about administrative fixes and new personnel.
- Applied Materials — critical proposal ET25‑0225 for $849,800 to train 607 workers at new facilities in Santa Clara and Sunnyvale; the company and its partners described apprenticeship plans tied to CHIPS Act investments to create a semiconductor workforce pipeline, and the panel approved the contract.
- Multiple SEED grants — five nonprofit awardees each received $200,000: Afghan Coalition; Chico Economic Planning Corporation (Chico Start); MCS Economic Development Corporation; Nurture; and UDW Resource Center.
- A range of employer contracts approved included Diamond IT ($110,740 with a post‑retention wage set at $22/hour), Carlton Forge Works ($382,592), True Air Mechanical ($310,464, ET25‑0218), Ball Seal/Balseal Engineering ($396,704, with an approved alternative record‑keeping allowance), Chevron ($459,200) and Recology Service Center ($164,220). Several other single‑ and multiple‑employer contracts and critical proposals were also approved by roll call vote.
Panel members asked staff and contractors to clarify several details on the record: wage‑modification tables (Recology had an apparent discrepancy between occupation tables and a reported wage modification that staff agreed to review), prior‑performance concerns (Scaled Composites), and the interplay between ETP funding and other workforce pipelines (Applied Materials’ apprenticeship strategy and California Baptist University's medical‑scribe training partnership with Efficient Care).
On policy actions, the panel approved the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program (EVITP) guidelines as amended to include professional trade associations and apprenticeship trainee committees in contractor eligibility. The panel also approved revisions to the Respond pilot guidelines (amended definition of "natural disaster" and editorial clean‑ups) and to the certified safety training guidelines (removing a cap on computer‑based training).
Public comment was minimal during vote items; staff and panel members noted continuing monitoring of performance metrics, and several members asked for future agenda items on workforce literacy and a deeper dive into safety‑training policy and wage progression practices.
The meeting adjourned at about 12:07 p.m.
