Rep. Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield) and the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) hosted a Good Jobs Roundtable Friday morning with special guest U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer at Wawona Frozen Foods in Clovis. Photo by Frank Lopez

Industry, education and government continue to merge in the Central Valley to bolster the future workforce and ensure national food security.

Rep. Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield) and the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) hosted a Good Jobs Roundtable Friday morning with special guest U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer at Wawona Frozen Foods in Clovis.

Participants in the roundtable included EDC President Will Oliver, San Joaquin Valley Manufacturing Alliance CEO Genelle Taylor Kumpe, Fresno Chamber of Commerce CEO Scott Miller, Fresno EDC Workforce Development Vice President Chris Zeitz, and State Center Community College District Chancellor Carole Goldsmith.

Several business leaders were also present including Wawona Frozen Foods President Bill Smittcamp, Precision Civil Engineering CEO Ed Dunkel, Trillium Flow Technologies Plant Manager Stephen Avila and PNM Machining Director of Operations Mario Persicone.

The event started with remarks from Oliver, followed by an update on the Good Jobs Challenge, fueled by a $23 million federal grant awarded in 2022 as part of the American Rescue Plan. The program offers paid job training and placement in sectors including manufacturing, transportation, logistics and more.

“These programs are not only industry-aligned or industry-owned — they’re shaping the curriculum, the competencies, the hiring pathways. Whether it’s an entry-level role, such as manufacturing generalist, to a certified welder to a modern manufacturing apprenticeship, they are there every step of the way,” Oliver said.

The program has been rolling out in the Central Valley for 15 months.

According to a Good Jobs Central Valley program update for Q1 2025, there have been 600 graduates in the counties of Fresno, Madera, Tulare, and Kings, with 342 job placements.

There have been 82 job placements in transportation and logistics, 68 in manufacturing, 79 in business services and 113 in construction.

Zeitz said the goal of the Fresno EDC is to have 2,500 job placements by the fall of 2027.

He said the region is industrially heavy, and the Fresno EDC is always tuned into the needs of manufacturing and construction companies.

“We really have a continuum of manufacturing training, and we continue to build on it as we find each step that we need additional resources, additional training programs being flexible and responsive to business,” Zietz said.

Last November, the Central Valley Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) chapter was announced to develop integrated career pathway programs for the next generation of highly skilled manufacturing workers.

Zietz said the program will add robotics training in its second year.

Kumpe said partnerships with education and industry work fast to establish pathway programs and apprenticeship models to get workers trained.

“They want the skillsets, but we want them quickly, so we try to move it at that pace,” she said.

Persicone said there are different types of manufacturers in the Central Valley, which makes it difficult to establish training programs to cater to each one.

Communication, such as roundtables, and sharing of curriculums is very helpful for businesses. 

Chavez-DeRemer commended the group for their years of work to train and bolster the industry workforce.

She said the Trump administration is aligned with the industrial sectors to help companies get what they need.

“With my leadership, I get to home in on what the community needs,” Chavez-DeRemer. “Hearing this is music to my ears, about all the things that happen on the ground and in the community, and then taking that to Congress and then up to the presidential cabinet. That’s why he wants us on the ground.”

She noted that the agriculture industry has a short timeframe to get their products to market — they need the workforce to do that.

Chavez-DeRemer grew up in the San Joaquin Valley and earned a business administration degree from Fresno State.