FRESNO, Calif. – Gov. Gavin Newsom is no stranger to stopping in the Central Valley when announcing new state investments.
This week, at the West Fresno Center, a satellite campus of Fresno City College campus, he announced the state will be investing $120 million under the California Jobs First initiative to generate hundreds of thousands of jobs in dozens of different trades through regional collaborations.
Standing in a new facility designed to build advanced clean-air vehicles, Newsom said the funding is part of a statewide effort to “leave no region behind.”
The initiative includes a large chunk for the central San Joaquin Valley – where local leaders previously laid out a plan to infuse more than $58 billion into the economy over the next 20 years.
The governor signed off on that plan, called the Sierra San Joaquin Jobs Initiative, and the new state investments would contribute to those plans.
“I've been looking forward to this, you don’t even know for how long,” Newsom said.
Newsom said the economic project has been in the works for years and has had input from leaders from the Valley.
The project largely aims to boost economic growth across the state and speed up development, especially in the rural counties that make up the Valley.
The governor’s visit was highlighted by other news outlets as a timely appearance in counties that voted for President-elect Donald Trump – many for economic reasons.
Fresno County broke for Trump in the election earlier this month after being a reliably blue county in past presidential cycles. But the Valley is, in general, a reliably red part of the state.
The region voted heavily in 2022 to recall Newsom. Though, in past remarks, Newsom has said the politics of the region does not deter him from still making efforts to invest in the region.
“There's a moment like this, to me, that distills a sense of well-being, optimism and that anchors in a very vivid way the work that we are doing every single day to try to connect this state together in a collective effort, a collective purpose – to leave no region behind,” Newsom said Thursday.
The governor was joined by various leaders, including state Assembly member Joaquin Arambula and state Sen. Anna Caballero. Ricardo Castorena, president of the Binational of Central California and Vice Chancellor Christine Miktarian of the State Center Community College District also attended.
Among the group was Ashley Swearingin, CEO of the Central Valley Foundation.
Swearengin, also a former Fresno mayor, said that if the regional economic plan is successful – it’ll create 138,000 jobs and the region will see $100 billion in economic growth.
The challenge, in her perspective, will be taking on what she said are deep-rooted issues.
“A thriving Sierra-San Joaquin region is essential to California's future," said Swearengin. “But the reality is that the challenges that confront the families in this region each and every day must be ever present in our mind.”
Swearengin told Newsom he could count on the region to take on the work.
“The work we're doing to lay out a new blueprint for a larger vision [will make it] so California could dominate the future, be more aggressive in permitting time to deliver projects, and be more accountable to producing results, not just talking,” Newsom said.
Local officials are expected to release detailed plans about how the money will be invested, and funding will begin rolling out in January. Meanwhile, Newsom said he will be back in the Valley next week for another announcement.
Editor’s Note: The Central Valley Community Foundation is a funder of KVPR.
