ORANGE COUNTY – Governor Gavin Newsom continued his California Jobs First tour in Orange County, spotlighting nearly $1.6 billion in state investments made in 2025. These funds supported the creation of more than 61,000 jobs and provided training for over 142,000 workers across California’s 13 economic regions. The initiative, designed to empower regional development strategies, focuses on high-growth industries and expanding access to well-compensated employment opportunities.
The announcement coincided with the rollout of Orange County’s regional Jobs First plan, targeting growth in life sciences, advanced manufacturing, high-tech sectors, and tourism. Governor Newsom emphasized that California’s approach demonstrates how investing in innovation and workforce development fosters inclusive economic progress.
“When we back local priorities and strengthen key industries, we create real opportunities for residents across the state,” Newsom stated. “These region-specific blueprints were developed by community stakeholders — from tribal nations to urban centers — ensuring economic development reflects the needs of those it serves.”
Launched in 2023 following a statewide planning process initiated in 2021, California Jobs First established regional collaboratives comprising labor groups, businesses, educational institutions, and community organizations. Each group formulated data-informed economic strategies identifying strategic sectors for growth.
In early 2025, the statewide California Jobs First Economic Blueprint was released, outlining a vision centered on ten priority industries aligned with regional plans. Since then, funding has flowed into communities, fueling economic expansion and job creation.
Key achievements from 2025 include:
✅ Regional Investment Initiative:
Implementation Phase: $80 million awarded in August 2025 to 11 projects across seven regions, supporting clusters in aerospace, defense, life sciences, agtech, and farm machinery.
Tribal Phase: $15 million distributed in June 2025 to 14 Native American tribes for economic development, job training, environmental stewardship, and business innovation.
Wildfire Relief: $3 million granted to the LA Jobs First Collaborative in February 2025 to aid recovery in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. Funds support tourism promotion, small business revitalization, and ongoing economic impact analysis.
✅ California Competes Tax Credit: 21 companies received tax incentives in 2025, leading to $2.56 billion in capital investment and 4,591 new positions.
✅ Film & Television Tax Credit: 155 productions benefited from tax credits, expected to generate nearly $5 billion in economic output and provide work for 33,391 crew members across 6,292 filming days.
✅ Employment Training Panel: Over $82 million invested through 299 contracts, enabling training for 70,544 employees.
✅ Apprenticeships: The Department of Industrial Relations allocated over $91 million to expand apprenticeship programs, benefiting more than 69,000 individuals.
✅ High Road Training Partnerships (HRTP): $18.5 million invested to improve access to quality jobs for underserved populations and support career advancement for current workers within strategic sectors. These efforts will train over 3,100 individuals.
✅ State Trade Expansion Program (STEP): During the 2025 federal fiscal year, 204 small businesses received STEP grants, reporting $33 million in export sales and preserving or creating 254 jobs across global markets excluding Antarctica.
✅ Emerging Sector Investments: California intensified support for frontier technologies like quantum computing and fusion energy. In November 2025, Quantum California was launched to unite government, academia, and industry in accelerating innovation. That same month, the 2025 California Fusion Energy Convening brought together stakeholders, signaling strong momentum in this emerging field.
“This year demonstrated what’s possible when state agencies and local partners align around shared goals,” said GO-Biz Director Dee Dee Myers. “Jobs First is delivering measurable outcomes across California, and we’re committed to advancing more high-impact initiatives.”
Stewart Knox, Labor & Workforce Development Agency Secretary, noted that 2025 marked a turning point in workforce alignment, with expanded training and partnerships preparing Californians for careers in growing fields. The recently released Master Plan for Career Education aims to serve 500,000 apprentices by 2029.
Additional progress includes legislative reforms signed by Governor Newsom in 2025, such as AB 130 and SB 131, which reduce regulatory barriers for housing and economic development projects under CEQA. The Business Ready Sites Program also launched, offering a digital tool to identify pre-zoned locations suitable for industrial, R&D, and corporate facilities.
Looking ahead, $45 million in implementation funding will be distributed this summer through the Regional Investment Initiative. A second investment summit is scheduled for April 2026 to connect regional projects with private and philanthropic investors.
— news from California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (.gov)
— News Original —
Governor Newsom’s statewide Jobs First investments created more than 61,000 jobs, trained more than 142,000 workers in 2025
ORANGE COUNTY – Today, Governor Newsom continued his California Jobs First tour in Orange County, highlighting the nearly $1.6 billion in investments from 2025 that went to train more than 142,000 workers and help create more than 61,000 new jobs across California’s 13 economic regions. This first-of-its-kind initiative is accelerating economic momentum across the state by empowering regional strategies, investing in high-growth sectors and expanding access to good-paying jobs. n nThese historic investments were announced alongside the celebration of Orange County’s Jobs First regional plan — which will help advance life science, high-tech, advanced and precision manufacturing, and travel and tourism in the region. n n“California is proving once again that when we invest in people and innovation, we build an economy that works for everyone. Jobs First is driving historic progress in every region of the state by backing regional priorities, doubling down on key industries, and creating opportunities for Californians where they live and work. n nThese plans were built from the ground up by local partners, for their communities. From tribal nations and rural regions to major economic hubs, California is leading the nation with economic development shaped by the people it’s meant to serve.” n n— Governor Gavin Newsom n nCalifornia 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. n nFostering Regional Engagement and Collaboration n nThroughout 2025, the California Jobs First Council, including nine Cabinet-level agency principals collaborating to promote economic development, met with leaders in four of the 13 regions — Redwood Coast, Bay Area, Capitol and Southern Border — to hear directly from regions about their economic priorities, Tribal economic development needs and emerging opportunities across communities. n nAnd as part of the Regional Investment Initiative award process, the Council also hosted an Investment Summit in San Francisco in June that saw 35 project leads pitch bold ideas to private philanthropy and funders, sparking funding for the innovations shaping the next wave of California’s economy. n nStrengthening Workforce Alignment n n2025 marked a major milestone in workforce development with the release of the Master Plan for Career Education by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Designed to complement the Jobs First initiative, the Master Plan aligns education, training and career pathways with the jobs envisioned in each region, ensuring California’s workforce is prepared to meet the needs of fast-growing industries. The Plan aims to expand access to good-paying careers by serving 500,000 apprentices by 2029. n nAccelerating building and development n nGovernor Newsom signed groundbreaking legislation in 2025 to cut red tape and streamline construction, building on the past six years of work with the legislature. Namely, AB 130 and SB 131 that provide regulatory relief for many critical housing and economic development projects, including for advanced manufacturing, from CEQA. n nIn addition, the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation launched a process to update the state level General Plan Guidelines, including updated guidance for economic development elements. n nOn top of that, the recently launched Business Ready Sites Program features an interactive web-mapping tool showcasing fully zoned and entitled sites suitable for headquarters, research & development and industrial manufacturing facilities. n nLooking ahead n nThe California Jobs First initiative will continue driving impact this upcoming summer with $45 million in implementation funding through the Regional Investment Initiative, which will help regions expand access to job training and business development. The Jobs First team will also host a second investment summit planned for April 2026, where regions will pitch their highest-impact projects to attract additional private and philanthropic funding. n nCalifornia’s economic dominance