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More than 1,000 people connected to good jobs across our region!
Regional partners gathered at Total Concepts in Fresno to celebrate a major milestone for the Good Jobs Challenge and the work underway across the Central Valley to connect residents with good jobs and family-sustaining wages.
Total Concepts was a fitting location for the celebration as one of the first businesses in the region to hire job seekers through the Good Jobs Challenge. During the press conference, Congressman Jim Costa highlighted the Central Valley’s role in creating opportunities for residents to gain the skills they need to build successful careers. Will Oliver, Director of the Fresno Economic Development Corporation, also reflected on the scale of investment being made in the region. The Good Jobs Challenge is one of two grants representing a combined $88 million investment in the Central Valley.
The regional Good Jobs Challenge initiative began providing services in 2024 and has since helped more than 1,200 people find good jobs with family-sustaining wages.
The Workforce Investment Board of Tulare County (WIB) was proud to join regional partners for the celebration and to share how the initiative is strengthening connections among businesses, education, and workforce partners in Tulare and Kings counties.
WIB Executive Director Jennie Campos Bautista thanked the Fresno Economic Development Corporation, lead agency for The Good Jobs Challenge, for its leadership and partnership in bringing the regional initiative to life.
In Tulare County, the Good Jobs Challenge has helped the WIB put its employer-driven approach to workforce development into action through the Tulare-Kings Industrial Partnership.
Led by Chair Charles Basso of Anlin Windows and Doors and Vice Chair Adrian Garza of Central Valley Meat Co., the partnership brings manufacturing and distribution businesses together with education and workforce partners to identify critical workforce needs—and turn those needs into action.
That collaboration is already making an impact:
🔹 302 employment matches — After industrial partners projected a need to fill approximately 300 critical jobs in 2026, the WIB partnered with the Visalia Economic Development Corporation to expand Industrial Job Fairs. Across three events, 80 businesses connected with 2,263 local job seekers, resulting in 302 employment matches.
🔹 More hands-on experience for future Maintenance Technicians — When employers shared that recent program completers needed more real-world experience, community college and workforce partners began aligning training programs with the WIB’s On-the-Job Training initiative to help graduates transition into employment.
🔹 Stronger connections between industry and education — When employers emphasized the importance of early exposure to industrial careers, the WIB partnered with local school districts to provide teachers and workforce professionals with opportunities to tour local facilities and learn firsthand about industrial workplaces, careers, and skill needs.
🔹 New local training for Refrigeration Technicians — When employers identified a gap in local training, the College of the Sequoias Training Resource Center partnered with Macha PSM to establish a Refrigeration Technician training program designed to respond to local demand.
This is what an industry partnership can accomplish: businesses identify what they need, education and workforce partners listen and respond, and together we create stronger pathways for local residents into good, in-demand jobs.
The more than 1,200 placements celebrated through the Good Jobs Challenge demonstrate what is possible when employers, education, workforce, economic development, and community partners work together toward a shared goal.
We are proud to be part of this regional effort—and proud of what our Tulare-Kings partners are accomplishing for workers, businesses, and communities across our region.
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