California lawmakers talk about economic development in San Joaquin Valley

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(The Center Square) – Assemblymembers and leaders from Central California’s San Joaquin Valley talked about opportunities to further develop the highly agricultural region’s economy Wednesday, pinpointing artificial intelligence and technology as industries that could provide more jobs for more than 4.3 million people.

The hearing comes four years after a coalition of state agencies launched the Community Economic Resilience Fund, a $600 million effort meant to make the state’s economy more resilient to climate change and other challenges, according to a 2024 report from research organization The Urban Institute. It is not clear how much of that total went to the eight counties that comprise the San Joaquin Valley.

“While California has made recent investments, too many communities, especially our rural and low-income and historically underinvested communities, continue to face barriers,” Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, chair of the Select Committee On Community Economic Mobility And Investment, said at the outset of the hearing. “As a result, usually communities with the greatest need are least able to access resources.”

The Urban Institute report also shows that there is a significant mismatch in housing-wage jobs in the region and workers living in poverty-stricken communities, which the report described as disinvested. Impacts of “business as usual” industry growth, that report went on to say, resulted in a need for intervention that could minimize harm to those who live in such communities.

“Too many people are unemployed in low-wage jobs that don’t sustain their families, while at the same time, too many businesses have high-quality jobs that go unfilled,” Adam Peck, executive director of the California Workforce Association, said at a hearing held by the Assembly Committee on Community Economic Mobility and Investment. “Closing that gap is what the local workforce development boards exist to do.”

Officials in Wednesday’s hearing talked about California’s burgeoning tech industry as one sector of the economy that shows promise for job creation in a part of the state that needs good jobs. Local officials in the San Joaquin Valley told The Center Square that tech jobs, particularly in artificial intelligence, would be welcome.

“Any businesses that create jobs and also pay high wages, the Central Valley would be very interested in those types of jobs,” Nathan Magsig, a member of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors and a candidate for California State Senate, told The Center Square on Wednesday. “Where the Central Valley could really thrive is artificial intelligence as it relates to agriculture and farming techniques, so I think that could thrive in the Central Valley.”