{"id":388931,"date":"2026-07-07T07:07:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T07:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/388931\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T07:07:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T07:07:17","slug":"a-key-step-toward-institutionalizing-regions-up-californias-proposed-office-of-regional-economic-development-initiatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/388931\/","title":{"rendered":"A Key Step Toward Institutionalizing Regions-Up: California\u2019s proposed Office of Regional Economic Development Initiatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photo Credit: California Jobs First State Economic Blueprint<\/a><\/p>\n

By Egon Terplan and Kate Gordon<\/p>\n

Since its founding\u00a0nearly 20\u00a0years ago,\u00a0California Forward<\/a>\u00a0(CA FWD) has\u00a0been focused on bringing regional voices into the state policy and political mix. As Californians face economic uncertainties around the impact of AI, shifting global alliances and supply chains, and climate disasters, we feel more than ever that\u00a0California\u2019s\u00a0key to successful economic development is regional leadership<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We also know that economic development takes time. For our diverse regions to thrive and build long-term resilience, it\u2019s important to lock in durable structures for funding, capacity building, and strategic growth\u2014enabled by the state but led by our regions themselves.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we applaud the Governor and Legislature for establishing the \u201cOffice of Regional Economic Development Initiatives\u201d (REDI) within the Governor\u2019s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz<\/a>). While the regional functions at GO-Biz have existed for some time\u2014notably leading the state\u2019s work to implement\u00a0California Jobs First<\/a>\u2014a more permanent structure and staffing were only just formalized through the passage of budget bill\u00a0SB 172<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The REDI office will provide key support from the state to regions working to implement their economic strategies, something CA FWD and our partners at the California Stewardship Network<\/a>, along with\u00a0allies across the state<\/a>, have\u00a0specifically called for<\/a>\u00a0in a set of papers and recommendations over the past two years. Here are just a few of the office\u2019s key functions:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMaintain, update, and implement, in coordination with the Labor and Workforce Development Agency,\u00a0the California Jobs First\u00a0State Economic Blueprint<\/a>, which is a statewide economic development strategy built on the priorities of California\u2019s distinct regions.\u00a0
\nCoordinate interagency activities\u00a0to promote job creation, attraction, and access in alignment with the statewide economic development strategy and with feedback from employers and industry, as\u00a0appropriate.\u00a0
\nSupport regional partners in\u00a0developing,\u00a0maintaining, and implementing\u00a0their\u00a0regional economic development strategies<\/a>.\u00a0
\nProvide technical\u00a0assistance\u00a0to local governments and economic development partners, including, but not limited to, project financing,\u00a0utilizing\u00a0place-based and other geographically targeted economic development programs, and conducting\u00a0site development<\/a>\u00a0and certification activities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Importantly, SB 172 also includes a fifth function to the state\u2019s economic development approach with a directive to \u201ccollaborate with the Office of Emergency Services to support disaster preparedness and response activities, as well as recovery efforts, with regard to regional economic impact.\u201d At CA FWD and through our broader\u00a0Climate-Smart Economy project<\/a>, we are laser focused on the impacts of climate disasters on our regional economies, and the importance of finding\u00a0new and dedicated funding streams\u00a0to drive greater climate resilience.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bottom line: These five functions are a great foundation\u00a0for\u00a0regional economic development, and\u00a0we\u2019d\u00a0love to see even more. Earlier this year, we laid out an ambitious\u00a0Vision for State and Regional\u00a0Economic Partnership<\/a> that builds on the regional work at GO-Biz and the Administration over the past seven years.<\/a>\u00a0We took a hard look at\u00a0what other states are doing<\/a>\u00a0to coordinate and drive strong state-regional economic development models. We also engaged\u00a0closely with the Brookings Institution on\u00a0their\u00a0just-released playbook<\/a> for new governors as we began to put together our own set of recommendations for the incoming Administration.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Next\u00a0<\/p>\n

With a new Governor arriving in 2027, when so many macroeconomic factors are in flux, we believe\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0time to truly lean in on a durable model for sustainable, resilient, and inclusive economic growth. That means:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

providing consistent ongoing funding for regional plans and projects,\u00a0\u00a0
\nembedding state staff in regions,\u00a0\u00a0
\ncreating a shared state-regional economic data platform, and\u00a0
\nformalizing the interagency coordination function\u00a0in a key body within state government, such as the Strategic Growth Council.<\/p>\n

These activities may require\u00a0unifying\u00a0the state\u2019s economic development programs under one\u00a0agency or department\u00a0\u201cthat explicitly\u00a0aligns economic strategy<\/a>\u00a0with state climate, energy, workforce, and education goals.\u201d\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0something we see in most other states and countries, and it may be time to build it here in California as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SB 172 gives California a strong foundation for action. We look forward to building on it, working alongside GO-Biz, the Legislature, and the incoming Administration, as we strive for an even stronger economic future. Because if we weren\u2019t striving and imagining the future, we wouldn\u2019t be Californians.<\/p>\n

You can read more of the CA FWD regions-up white papers here<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo Credit: California Jobs First State Economic Blueprint By Egon Terplan and Kate Gordon Since its founding\u00a0nearly 20\u00a0years…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-388931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}