The need for health care professionals—especially nurses—continues to grow throughout the state. Workforce development is partnering with schools to train the necessary labor force—building individual dreams along the way. BY: MATT JOCKS Shermarzsai Ramsey was born to help.

Small businesses are more susceptible to challenges like labor shortages, inflation and the COVID-19 pandemic. Workforce development boards can help, which is important for individual business owners and to California's economy as a whole. BY: RAUL CLEMENT Why Small Business Matters As of 2020, California was home to over 4.1 million small business.

One successful apprenticeship program is ARCH, which places high school students in--for example--a nearby elementary school as teachers' aides. BY: RAUL CLEMENT In 2018, in one of his first acts as Governor-Elect, Gavin Newsom laid out a plan to increase the number of apprenticeships in California to 500,000 by the year 2029.

Markitha Welcome (far right) and Malik Woods (center), pictured here with their four children, were helped by the Homeless Transitional Employment Program; both Welcome and Woods now have high-paying jobs with benefits. Photo by Anne Stokes BY: RAUL CLEMENT The Big Picture Like most social issues, the problem of homelessness doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

CityBuild has trained 1,400 low-income or disadvantaged residents for high-paying, in-demand jobs in the construction industry. BY: THEA ROOD San Francisco has long been known as a place where local government and community leaders are willing to experiment to solve social problems. One example of that is CityBuild, an academy that trains low-income or underrepresented local residents for jobs in the construction industry.

Across California, workforce development boards meet local employment needs while also helping workers get good-paying jobs. Photo courtesy of California Workforce Association BY: THEA ROOD California’s local workforce boards and a Sacramento-based nonprofit help people find good-paying jobs—and solve bigger social problems at the same time Matching a local worker with a local business seems straightforward enough.

COVID’s job losses and business hardships hit economically disadvantaged individuals and small businesses the hardest; homeless hiring incentives can address equity issues FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 16, 2021 CONTACT Bob Lanter blanter@calworkforce.org 916-806-1228   Sacramento – As part of the 2021-2022 budget, today Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 150 which includes the groundbreaking California Homeless Hiring Tax Credit that would simultaneously confront the homelessness crisis facing California, address the job losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic that have disproportionately harmed low-income communities, and ease the significant financial strain that many small businesses are currently experiencing. Originally introduced in the legislature this year by State Senator María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) and State Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) through a package of legislation - Senate Bill 424 and Assembly Bill 675 - the concept became a budget priority in both the State Senate and Assembly, reflected in the Joint Budget Proposal sent by the State Legislature to Governor Newsom earlier this month. Establishing a tax credit between $2,500 and $10,000 per qualified homeless individual hired will create access to meaningful employment and pathways to careers for up to 3,000 individuals.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, March 4, 2021 CONTACT Eric Flores – eflores@calworkforce.org   SACRAMENTO –Today a broad coalition of organizations representing employers, workforce development providers, homeless service agencies, and community based organizations came together to praise the joint work of State Senator María Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles) and State Assemblymember Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) who have introduced a package of legislation - Senate Bill 424 and Assembly Bill 675 - to create a groundbreaking California Homeless Hiring Tax Credit that would simultaneously confront the homelessness crisis facing California, address the rampant job losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic that have disproportionately harmed low-income communities, and ease the significant financial strain that many small businesses are currently experiencing. Establishing a tax credit between $2,500 and $10,000 per qualified homeless individual hired would create access to meaningful employment and pathways to careers for up to 3,000 individuals currently experiencing homelessness in California.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 17, 2021   California Labor & Workforce Development Agency Launches New Employer Portal for COVID-19 Industry Guidance  New portal serves as a central hub of workplace information for employers during the pandemic   SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California Labor & Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) recently launched a new Employer Portal, a one-stop hub for California employers to quickly find up-to-date state and local county COVID-19 guidance by business industry.

California Workforce Association FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 19, 2020 The California Workforce Association endorses CA Labor Secretary Julie Su for US Secretary of Labor Endorsement comes from Association Representing California’s 45 Local Workforce Development Boards As the candidates for the incoming Biden administration’s Secretary of Labor are vetted and explored, California’s system of local workforce providers resoundingly threw their support behind State Secretary of Labor Julie Su. In a letter to the Biden transition team, CWA Executive Director Bob Lanter cited Secretary Su’s experience leading California’s Labor Agency as critical for the incoming administration’s Department of Labor.

Six (6) months into the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID) pandemic, Solano County, like many communities, is facing historically high unemployment and severe financial strain within the business community. Business shutdowns imposed to reduce the spread of the pandemic have had a troubling effect on Solano County’s economy and community.

With 72 days until America’s 46th president takes the oath of office, National Skills Coalition released Skills for an Inclusive Economic Recovery: An Agenda for President Biden and Congress. The agenda includes specific federal policy proposals that would help achieve the Skills for an Inclusive Economic Recovery call to action that NSC released in September.

SACRAMENTO, October 29, 2020 – Following Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent Executive Order to accelerate climate change mitigation efforts and build a more sustainable and inclusive economy (EO N-79-20), the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) announced today the signing of a first-ever Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to ensure investments in clean energy and transportation sustainability result in high quality jobs and greater access to career opportunities for disadvantaged Californians.  To read the full story, please click here.

Angelov Farooq, Chairman of the California Workforce Development Board believes Americans deserve to have the dignity to access pathways with quality jobs that can provide for their families and meaningfully investing in our public workforce system ensures there is an infrastructure to equitably support workers toward that goal.