A Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy sets the stage for growth and investment. From left, State Center Community College District Carole Goldsmith, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, The Penstar Group's Scott Anderson, Sen. Alex Padilla and Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval look over plans for the Bank of Italy building in Downtown Fresno, planned home for F3 Innovate, during an October 2022 news conference about the grant.

The Fresno County Economic Development Corp. is updating its five-year Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), a framework designed to boost regional growth and attract investment.

The CEDS was developed with input from local businesses, community organizations and stakeholders.

“We’re conducting a lot of public engagement on that end,” said Will Oliver, the CEO of the Fresno County EDC. “We are now rounding the corner and finalizing that engagement, and once that’s complete, our consultants, as well as project organizers at the county and the EDC, will be synthesizing that input.”

“We’ll be identifying a number of key initiatives, ideas and solutions to be responsive to what comes out of that engagement process,” Oliver added.

The EDC will host a virtual community workshop on Feb. 13, where members of the business community are invited to join and weigh in on the CEDs. The Business Journal is a media partner for the event.

One of the plan’s several focuses is securing new funding, whether from federal, state or private sources.

The CEDS document has helped in that area in the path, such as in 2022.

That year, grant awards including the $23 million Good Jobs Challenge and $65 million Fresno-Merced Future of Food (F3) Initiative, part of the federal Build Back Better Regional Challenge, have shown the value of a strategic approach to economic development.

The Good Jobs Challenge enabled the Fresno EDC to work with industry and educational partners to design free training programs to place 2,500 people into in-demand jobs.

“What we saw over the last several years is there’s been a pretty substantial inflow of federal and state dollars, so it’s been very advantageous to have these plans and these tables set to be organized to speak with one voice in order to secure funding and investment,” Oliver said.

 

Over the past several months, the EDC has held more than 35 roundtable discussions with city leaders, employers and education institutions across Fresno County. They’ve also held rural roundtables in Caruthers, a small town south of Fresno.

One significant initiative tied to the county’s economic development efforts is its workforce training programs. The EDC is working on workforce readiness by offering accessible training opportunities.

Some of the programs currently offered include manufacturing, machining, pre-apprenticeship construction, human resources and truck driver training. Many of these programs are designed to accommodate non-traditional students, including working adults and those transitioning into new careers.

“We’re doing our best to make training available after hours or on the weekends so that folks don’t have to jeopardize employment or a paycheck to go and get skilled and a better-paying career,” Oliver said.

Fresno City College hosts several of these training sessions. Oliver explained why the community college is an ideal spot for training sessions.

“The community college system, in general, is such a workforce engine, and so it makes sense for us to co-locate and also invest in their structure,” Oliver said.

“We want to make sure that it is a framework that is valuable as times change, that it can be updated and that it is incredibly responsive to our small cities and stakeholders,” Oliver said.

Oliver said the updated CEDS is expected to be completed around April, with a 30-day public comment period before its official approval. Unlike traditional economic plans, the CEDS will be a living document, meaning that it can be continuously updated whenever needed.

It will be available online on the EDC website in English, Spanish, Hmong, and Punjabi. Lauren Nikkel, the director of business services for the EDC, said that more languages will likely be added in the future.