Standing outside a newly-minted junior college campus in the heart of one of the nation’s most impoverished regions, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new multi-million-dollar jobs program on Thursday aimed at spurring the economy that just fueled the re-election of Donald Trump in places like Fresno County.

The announcement, made at Fresno City College’s West Fresno Center, in a new clean vehicle mechanic training facility, opened the gates for $120 million in competitive grants to be awarded to job creating projects directed by regional collaboratives under the state’s California Jobs First initiative early next year.

“Some people talk about (how) this economy is booming, inflation is cooling, lowest unemployment in our lifetimes, lowest Black unemployment, Hispanic unemployment, lowest unemployment for women, lowest unemployment for people with disabilities — all of that may be true,” Newsom said.

He later acknowledged there’s a disconnect between what economists say and what people feel.

“That’s cold comfort for certain regions in this state that don’t feel that they’re fully participating in that economic output, that don’t feel like they’re fully engaged in the prosperity that is the state of California.

While Fresno isn’t guaranteed funding, Newsom highlighted the work of the Sierra-San Joaquin Jobs investment plan, which calls for 138,000 new jobs in clean energy, carbon capture, food systems, and manufacturing sectors, and an anticipated $100 billion of economic impact, according to Ashley Swearengin, chief executive of the Central Valley Community Foundation, who led the planning work.

“Today is celebratory, but also there’s some expectation that we’re all going to continue to work really, really hard on this, to make sure that when we create green energy, the people that benefit are the people in our community, that they see the reduction in what they have to pay for energy, that they have the ability to have a good job while we’re doing that,” said Sen. Anna Caballero.

The governor’s visit to Fresno – a historically purple county that flipped from Biden to Trump in the latest election – underscores a move by Democratic politicians to bolster their credentials on many of the blue-collar economy issues that helped swing the places like Fresno, Merced and Stanislaus counties from blue to red.

President-elect Trump won Fresno County with 52% of the vote, the first time the county has voted for a Republican since 2004. The Nov. 5 election also had the lowest voter turnout of any general presidential election in Fresno County in more than 50 years, with just about 62%. 

Newsom added later in the conference that an additional $15 million grants for tribal nations will be available.

‘Gamechanger:’ West Fresno clean vehicle auto center lauded

Christine Miktarian — the vice chancellor of operations to the State Center Community College — opened the news conference commending the state-of–the-art automotive center, funded in part from another state program, Transformative Climate Communities, along with local dollars.

West Fresno community college student Aidan Ortiz called the new car facility a “gamechanger.”

“The training offered to us from our manufacturing partners, along with the option to receive an associate’s degree after the program is finished is just incredible,” Ortiz said. “Compared to a trade school where you’re spending between $30,000 to $50,000 for a less personal, less hands-on experience, and no option to receive a degree at the end of that. It’s just, in my opinion, a no brainer.” 

Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arambula emphasized that the roots of the training center came from a community-driven, participatory budgeting process in 2017. 

“The community insisted that we give them this campus so that we could train future generations and give them economic development,” he added.

A downtown commitment renewed?

After securing a historic $250 million state commitment towards downtown revitalization, leaders have been quietly worrying about whether the state will make good on their promise.

The city has received $50 million, but $200 million was kicked back until the ‘26-’27 fiscal year as the state made cuts to escape a budget deficit ahead of the current fiscal year. Another $50 million to support new housing in downtown and Chinatown, awarded last year, is still expected to arrive.

Responding to a Fresnoland question regarding the funding delay, Newsom said he was “committed” to it.

“I’ll be putting out a detailed budget plan in a matter of weeks…I think it goes to print in a couple weeks and then it’ll be presented the first or second week of January — that will be in there,” Newsom said. “It’s a commitment we made together with the legislature.”

“I’m gonna need the help of the community, need to help the mayor, city council and those that support that grant, just to make sure it stays in there,” Newsom added. 

“But I’m not ‘interested’ in that investment, I’m totally committed to it. I want you to understand there’s a distinction between being ‘interested’ in something and ‘committed’ to something. I want to get it done at the peril of the former mayor tracking me down,” referring to Swearengin, the former mayor of Fresno and Central Valley Community Foundation chief executive.

Disclosure: Fresnoland receives funding from the Central Valley Community Foundation. Our donors cannot assign, pressure, or review stories prior to publication under our editorial independence policy.

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