In 2025, California’s Jobs First program delivered significant economic outcomes across the state, generating over 61,000 jobs and providing training for more than 142,000 workers. Initiated in 2021 and formally launched as a statewide strategy in 2023, the initiative empowers each of California’s 13 regions to develop localized, data-informed economic development plans. These regional collaboratives include diverse stakeholders such as labor groups, educational institutions, environmental advocates, and local governments, ensuring inclusive planning.
The California Jobs First Economic Blueprint, released in early 2025, established a unified vision centered on ten strategic industry sectors. Since its rollout, funding has been directed toward high-impact projects that align with regional economic priorities.
Key achievements from the past year include:
✅ Regional Investment Initiative: In August 2025, $80 million was allocated to 11 projects across seven regions, supporting clusters in aerospace and defense, life sciences, agtech, and farm machinery. An earlier phase dedicated $15 million to 14 Native American tribes for economic development, workforce training, and environmental initiatives. Additionally, $3 million was granted to the LA Jobs First Collaborative to aid wildfire recovery in Altadena and Pacific Palisades, supporting tourism promotion and economic analysis.
✅ California Competes Tax Credit: Throughout 2025, 21 companies received tax incentives to expand or relocate within the state, driving $2.56 billion in capital investment and creating 4,591 new positions.
✅ Film and Television Production Incentives: The state awarded tax credits to 155 film and TV productions, projected to generate nearly $5 billion in economic output and support 33,391 jobs across 6,292 filming days.
✅ Workforce Development: The Employment Training Panel invested $82 million through 299 contracts, facilitating the training of 70,544 employees. Meanwhile, the Department of Industrial Relations distributed over $91 million to expand apprenticeship programs, benefiting more than 69,000 individuals.
✅ High Road Training Partnerships: A $18.5 million investment in 2025 focused on connecting underserved populations and current employees with career advancement opportunities in targeted industries, aiming to train over 3,100 workers.
✅ International Trade Support: The California State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) provided grants to 204 small businesses during the 2025 federal fiscal year, resulting in $33 million in export sales and the creation or preservation of 254 jobs, with trade activity spanning all continents except Antarctica.
✅ Emerging Technology Sectors: California intensified its focus on frontier industries like quantum computing and nuclear fusion. In November 2025, the state launched Quantum California, a cross-sector initiative to accelerate innovation and job growth. The same month hosted the 2025 California Fusion Energy Convening, marking growing momentum in fusion energy development.
Dee Dee Myers, Director of GO-Biz, emphasized the collaborative strength behind the initiative: “This year demonstrated what’s possible when state agencies, regional bodies, and local partners align around shared goals. Jobs First is channeling investments in ways that produce tangible, long-term benefits for communities statewide. The progress seen in 2025 is just the beginning.”
Stewart Knox, Labor & Workforce Development Agency Secretary, highlighted workforce gains: “Through California Jobs First, we’re building stronger bridges between people and stable, well-compensated careers in expanding fields. In 2025, we expanded training access and regional cooperation—and this year, we’re scaling those efforts to reach even more residents.”
These 2025 accomplishments build upon prior investments exceeding $286 million through the Regional Investment Initiative.
In Orange County, the regional plan prioritized life sciences, high-tech industries, advanced manufacturing, and tourism. The medical technology sector alone employs over 21,000 people in the region and contributes significantly to California’s status as home to more than 13,600 medtech firms—responsible for over 30% of U.S. medical device industry revenue.
— news from California State Portal | CA.gov
— News Original —
Governor Newsom’s statewide Jobs First investments created more than 61,000 jobs, trained more than 142,000 workers in 2025
California Jobs First: Bold vision, realized locally n nIn 2021, Governor Newsom launched a statewide economic development planning process which became California Jobs First in 2023. The objective was to create good-paying, accessible jobs and sustainable economic growth across the state’s 13 regions, with each region launching a planning body — or collaborative — with representation from a wide variety of community partners, including labor, business, local government, education, environmental justice, community organizations, and more. The collaboratives then wrote their own data-driven, community-led economic plans, including identifying strategic industry sectors. n nLaunched in early 2025, the California Jobs First Economic Blueprint laid out a statewide economic vision anchored in ten strategic industry sectors and informed by those 13 region-specific plans. Since then, funding has flowed into communities across California, growing the economy and creating job opportunities up and down the state. n nNotable state investments and activities from the past year include: n n✅Regional Investment Initiative: n nImplementation Phase: In August 2025 $80 million was awarded to 11 projects spanning 7 regions as part of the Regional Investment Initiative’s first phase of implementation funding. Funding was awarded to four project clusters, focused on sectors including aerospace and defense, life sciences, agtech and farm equipment. n nTribal Phase: In June 2025, the state awarded $15 million to 14 California Native American tribes to support economic development initiatives, job training programs, environmental stewardship projects, business growth and research and development. n nWildfire Relief: In February 2025, $3 million was awarded to the LA Jobs First Collaborative to support the region in recovering from the wildfires that impacted the Altadena and Pacific Palisades communities. This funding is supporting a campaign to promote the local tourism industry and small businesses community, as well as quarterly comprehensive economic impact reporting and analysis. n n✅California Competes Tax Credit: Over the course of 2025, California awarded tax credits to 21 companies choosing to expand or relocate in the state, spurring $2.56 billion in capital investment and creating 4,591 new jobs. n n✅California Film & Television Tax Credit: In 2025, tax credits were awarded to 155 film and television projects, which are collectively expected to generate nearly $5 billion in economic activity and 33,391 cast and crew jobs across 6,292 filming days. n n✅Employment Training Panel: In 2025, the panel invested over $82 million through 299 contracts with California businesses to support the training of 70,544 workers. n n✅ Apprenticeships: The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and its Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) awarded over $91 million in 2025 to expand apprenticeship opportunities, benefiting more than 69,000 apprentices and pre-apprentices. n n✅ High Road Training Partnerships (HRTP): The 2025 HRTP investment of $18.5 million aims to increase access to existing High Road jobs for underserved populations and create pathways for incumbent workers seeking job growth with High Road employers. These projects will train over 3,100 workers and are tailored to focus on one or more of the strategic sectors in their region(s) as identified in the Jobs First Blueprint. n n✅California State Trade Expansion Program (STEP): Throughout the 2025 federal fiscal year, STEP grants supported 204 California small businesses, resulting in a reported $33 million in export sales and the creation or retention of 254 jobs. These export activities took place on every continent except Antarctica, highlighting the global reach of California’s small business community. n n✅“Bet” Sector Investments: California is doubling down on its emerging “bet” sectors, including fusion and quantum. In November 2025, the state launched Quantum California, a new statewide initiative uniting government, academia and industry to accelerate quantum innovation, grow jobs and secure California’s leadership in this critical field. November also saw the first major gathering of the state’s fusion ecosystem at the 2025 California Fusion Energy Convening, signaling significant momentum in another frontier technology sector. n n“This year showed what California can accomplish when state agencies, regional collaboratives and local partners rally around shared priorities,” said GO-Biz Director Dee Dee Myers. “Jobs First is aligning sector investments and business development in ways that create measurable, lasting impact for communities up and down the state. The progress made in 2025 is only the beginning, and we look forward to supporting the next wave of high-impact projects across all thirteen regions.” n n“Through California Jobs First, we’re strengthening the pathways that connect people to stable careers in growing industries. In 2025, we expanded training, apprenticeship, and regional partnerships across California,” said Stewart Knox, Secretary of the Labor & Workforce Development Agency. “This year, we’re scaling that work so more Californians can access clear routes into good-paying jobs.” n nAll these key investments from 2025 build on more than $286 million in prior years’ funding through the Regional Investment Initiative. n nAdvancing state-of-the-art sectors in Orange County n nToday’s event, hosted at Medtronic, celebrated the implementation of Orange County’s Jobs First regional plan, which identified life science, high-tech, advanced and precision manufacturing and travel and tourism as priority sectors for their region. n nThe medical device technology (medtech) industry is a critical sector for the continued success and growth of Orange County’s regional economy, employing more than 21,000 workers. Across the state, there are more than 13,600 medtech companies, accounting for more than 30% of the medical device industry revenue across the United States.