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President Obama "Right now, three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require more than a high school diploma, and yet just over half of our citizens have that level of education... So tonight I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be a community college or a four-year school, vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma."

--President Barack Obama


Capitol Briefing Matches Green Jobs Rhetoric with Reality (and Opportunity)

EDGE Green Jobs Capitol Briefing Local, state, and federal governments have pinned a lot of hopes on the "green economy" as the next engine for innovation and growth. But what are realistic expectations for green job growth? And how can we best upgrade the skills of Californians for this emerging sector?

On March 26, EDGE and a diverse group of co-sponsors presented a briefing inside the Capitol to provide nearly 50 top legislative and agency staffers with answers to these questions. During the briefing, titled "Building a Strong, Inclusive Green Economy in California," expert speakers presented new data on the job creation potential of the green economy and model training programs.

Now you can share this inside information! Click here to listen to recordings of the speakers, review key information from the briefing, and download presentations and fact sheets.


Follow the (Stimulus) Money

Recovery.gov Economic recovery and the federal stimulus continue to be the leading topics of discussion in Sacramento and in the workforce development world. Below are some updates and resources on these subjects that may be informative:

State Launches Health Training Initiative

Lab worker On April 13, Gov. Schwarzenegger announced a new $32 million Allied Health Initiative to train more workers for the health care sector. $32 million in public and private funds will be dedicated to expanding educational capacity for careers like imaging specialist, lab technician, and respiratory therapist - professions that are in demand despite the recession.

28 community colleges have already been awarded grants for the fall semester, and a Request for Application for the next phase has been released. The CSU Chancellor has also issued a Request for Proposals for programs in that system. The Allied Health Initiative is intended to last for three years.


EDGE Welcomes Interim Exec. Dir.

The California EDGE Campaign is pleased to welcome Susan Rosenthal, MPA, MSW, as our new Interim Executive Director!

Susan has an extensive background in workforce education and training as well as state policy. She has developed educational partnerships, training programs, career ladders programs, and labor-management partnerships, most recently with Kaiser Permanente. She also has experience with the State Legislature and in the labor movement. See Susan's bio here [PDF document].

EDGE Executive Director Sharon Huntsman will be on maternity leave through the end of June. Please join us in wishing Sharon and her husband Bill congratulations on their impending new arrival!


What the Stimulus Means for California

The $787 billion federal stimulus bill will bring a significant infusion of money into California's infrastructure, energy and energy efficiency, and workforce systems. Now, attention is turning to understanding how the monies will be disbursed and how to ramp up effective programs quickly. Three national EDGE partners have made available analyses of the funding that will come to California to support workforce education and training and low-income families: Money Puzzle

  • The Workforce Alliance has developed a summary of key workforce provisions included in the final bill, as well as a side-by-side analysis comparing the final bill with the House- and Senate-passed bills. Both are available here.
  • The Working Poor Families Project has forwarded two documents prepared by Congress and the White House (but not available online). The first chart (Excel spreadsheet) breaks out the funding that was allocated to each state for support of low-income families, by program. The second chart (PDF) estimates the benefits of the plan to each state in numbers of people receiving additional services and dollar amounts.
  • Green for All and PolicyLink recorded a podcast, "Bringing Home the Green Economy," outlining key environmental and green-jobs provisions in the stimulus. Green for All has also prepared other resources, including a toolkit of local actions for a "Green Recovery."


Learning About State Sector Strategies

On October 29, EDGE co-sponsored a Learning Session on Sector Strategies with the California Workforce Investment Board (CWIB) in Sacramento. More than 80 leaders participated in the day-long session - including CWIB members, state officials, legislative staff, and local workforce board members - to learn about how states can support focused, comprehensive initiatives at the regional level. People of Different Careers

While many WIBs, community colleges, labor/management partnerships and community organizations in California have effectively worked in industry sectors for years, there is little state funding or policy in California to encourage and support this kind of collaboration at the regional level. Speakers and table discussions at the learning session explored the application of sector strategies in other states and how state-level sector strategies could be used in California. EDGE will continue to work with the CWIB, local leaders, and others to develop more awareness of the effectiveness of state-level support for regional sector strategies.

Click here for more information about the learning session, including presentations and other related documents.


Hear the Business Perspective on California's Skills Shortages

State policymakers and other workforce leaders heard the business perspective on California's workforce challenges at the EDGE Campaign's "Linking Economic and Workforce Development Salon" in Sacramento. Business Executive

During the July 31 Salon, national workforce experts presented their findings from extensive interviews about recruitment and training with nearly 50 state business leaders. The participants then heard directly from two regional business executives about their own difficulties finding skilled workers and the innovative investments that they have made to overcome these problems.

Click here to watch a video of the Salon and learn more!




The California EDGE* Campaign is a nonprofit coalition of major employers, educators, regional workforce development leaders, labor, and industry associations working together to propose sound policy that will prepare Californians for the high-wage, skilled jobs that will drive our state’s economic recovery.


* EDGE is an acronym for "Education, Diversity, and Growth in the Economy"




The campaign is endorsed by:

  • Alameda County Office of Education
  • Alameda County Workforce Investment Board
  • Allan Hancock College
  • Alliance Worknet of Stanislaus County
  • American Composites Manufacturers Association
  • Anaheim Workforce Investment Board
  • Appian Engineering, Inc.
  • Bay Area Economic Forum
  • Big Brown Eyes Productions
  • The Boeing Company
  • California Association for Microenterprise Opportunity (CAMEO)
  • California Budget Project
  • California Coalition for Construction in the Classroom
  • California Commission for Economic Development
  • California Labor Federation AFL-CIO
  • California Manufacturing and Technology Association
  • California Science Education Initiative
  • California Space Authority
  • California Space Education & Workforce Institute
  • California Transportation & Logistics Institute
  • California Workforce Association
  • Calloway & Associates
  • Career Ladders Project
  • CathedralFinancial Group, Inc.
  • Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy
  • Center for Employment Training
  • Central Valley Asian-American Chamber of Commerce
  • Central Valley Opportunity Center
  • Cerritos College
  • Chabot-Las Positas Community College District
  • Children and Family Futures
  • City of Hayward
  • City of Sunnyvale
  • City of Watsonville
  • Colton Joint Unified School District
  • Community College League of California
  • Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley
  • Economic Development Administration of San Joaquin
  • El Monte/South El Monte Chamber of Commerce
  • The Entertainment Economy Institute
  • Fast Future
  • Financial Statement Services, Inc.
  • Foothill-De Anza Community College District
  • Foothill Workforce Investment Board
  • Gateway Cities Partnership, Inc.
  • Greater Long Beach Workforce Development Board
  • Golden Sierra Workforce Investment Board
  • Golden Valley Health Centers
  • Goodwill Industries of San Francisco
  • Hacienda La Puente Adult Education
  • Human Services Agency
  • Information Technology Consortium
  • Insight Center for Community Economic Development (formerly NEDLC)
  • International Association of Nanotechnology
  • Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California
  • Jewish Vocational Service
  • Job Impact!
  • Kaiser Permanente
  • Kelly Space & Technology, Inc.
  • Kern, Inyo, Mono Workforce Investment Board
  • KP Consulting
  • LA Works
  • Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
  • Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles
  • Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
  • Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation
  • Los Angeles Health Care Workforce Development Program
  • Madera County Workforce Investment Board
  • Marin Employment Connection
  • Mendocino County Workforce Investment Board
  • Merced Adult School
  • Merced County Workforce Investment Board
  • Monterey County Business Council
  • Mother Lode Job Training
  • Mt. San Antonio College
  • Napa Workforce Investment Board
  • National Association of Working Seniors
  • New Ways to Work
  • Next 10
  • North Bay Veterans Resource Centers
  • North Central Counties Consortium
  • NOVA Workforce Board
  • Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
  • Palomar College
  • PolicyLink
  • Private Industry Council of San Luis Obispo
  • Project HIRED
  • Riverside County Workforce Development Board
  • Scaramento City College
  • Sacramento Works, Inc.
  • San Bernardino County WIB
  • San Diego Workforce Investment Board
  • San Diego Workforce Partnership
  • San Francisco Chamber of Commerce
  • San Francisco Center for Economic Development
  • San Joaquin County Worknet
  • San Mateo Community College District
  • Santa Ana Workforce Investment Board
  • Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce and Convention-Visitors Bureau
  • Santa Cruz County Workforce Investment Board
  • Santa Monica City College
  • Say it Better Center LLC
  • SEIU Local 1877, Building Skills Partnership
  • SFWorks
  • Skyline College
  • Southeast Los Angeles County Workforce Investment Board
  • Southern California Indian Center
  • Sonoma County Human Services Department / WIB
  • Sonoma Valley Adult School
  • South Bay Workforce Investment Board
  • South Hayward United Methodist Church
  • State Building and Construction Trades Council of California
  • State Center Community College District
  • Tinetti Realty Group
  • Tulare County Workforce Investment Board, Inc.
  • United Way of Greater Los Angeles
  • Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA)
  • Verdugo Workforce Investment Board
  • West Los Angeles College
  • Western Hardware Company
  • Westside Economic Collaborative
  • The Workforce Alliance
  • Workforce Investment Board of Imperial County
  • Women At Work
  • Women's Initiative for Self Employment
  • work2future
  • Worker Education & Resource Center, Inc.
  • Workforce and Economic Development Program, California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
  • Workforce Investment Board of Humboldt County
  • Workforce Investment Board of Imperial County
  • Workforce Investment Board of Marin County
  • Workforce Investment Board of Solano County

Endorsements as of March 6, 2009

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