Newsom visits Medtronic in Irvine to spotlight 'Jobs First' plan, state investments in workforce and medtech

Governor Gavin Newsom visited Medtronic's neurovascular facility in Irvine on Thursday to promote the state’s Jobs First regional planning initiative and spotlight investments aimed at linking local employers, training programs and regional economic priorities.

Newsom framed the visit as part of a broader effort to pair economic growth with workforce preparation and called Jobs First a bottom‑up strategy that directs funding and technical support to 13 regional plans. "We created 13 regional plans," he said, describing the approach as designed to match each area's strengths and address persistent gaps.

The Jobs First process in Orange County was presented to the governor by local partners. Jeff Ball, president and CEO of the Orange County Business Council, said the regional process contracted with 27 community organizations, convened a 70‑organization steering committee and gathered input from more than 5,000 respondents. "We contracted with 27 organizations, trusted messengers in our communities," Ball said, describing outreach in 11 languages and programs to align employer needs with education and training.

Ball and other presenters highlighted local investments funded through a Jobs First catalyst pool. Ball said $9,000,000 in catalyst funding supported 46 regional projects and that the initiative set aside $1,000,000 from that pool to support Orange County's priority industries, including semiconductors, health care, childcare, tourism, outdoor recreation and medtech. The presentation cited project examples ranging from wildfire response and recovery job training to medtech workforce pathways and a medtech permitting navigator initiative.

Stuart Knox, secretary of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, emphasized the alignment between regional planning and workforce programs the state supports, noting that the Employment Training Panel directed more than $82,000,000 toward worker training. He also cited expanding apprenticeship programs: "We've actually have over 600,000 earn and learn, through the Division of Apprenticeship Standards and all of our education partners over the last, 7 years." Knox said those investments help regions fill industry‑specific skills gaps.

Didi Myers, head of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GoBiz), praised Orange County's ecosystem and the partnership among employers, universities and workforce programs. Myers and other speakers also pointed to a broader state funding picture tied to Jobs First: presenters repeatedly referenced a roughly $1.6 billion annual set of statewide economic investments and named programs such as Cal Competes and the state's film and television tax credit as tools to leverage private capital.

Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie‑Norris, representing California’s 73rd Assembly District, welcomed the governor and framed Orange County as a major economic engine. "Orange County has an annual GDP of more than $300,000,000,000 making us the third largest county economy in California," she said.

Newsom provided a catalogue of state priorities and outcomes that he tied to the Jobs First approach, citing examples the administration views as evidence of progress: efforts to lower insulin costs by supporting domestic manufacturing (referred to in his remarks as a state‑supported $11 insulin effort), a large expansion of childcare and pre‑K that he said can save working families as much as $18,000 a year, and recent housing reforms enacted in the prior legislative year. He also said the state has advanced funds specifically for ready‑to‑go projects — mentioning an additional $14,000,000 for such efforts — and that in some early cases projects included awards such as a cited $3,800,000 micro‑farm grant.

On homelessness, Newsom said unsheltered homelessness in California is down 9% and presented that figure as early evidence of progress from multi‑year investments.

Organizers said Jobs First aims to turn regional plans into ongoing programs rather than static reports. Ball closed his presentation by formally handing the regional plan to the governor. Newsom thanked local leaders and participants and invited questions, marking the end of the prepared remarks.

The event was hosted at Medtronic’s Irvine facility and brought together state officials, regional planners, industry representatives and local elected leaders to discuss implementation steps for the regional Jobs First plan.