What It Is
Fresno-based Regional Jobs Initiative (RJI) is a public-private partnership with the goal of creating 29,300 net new jobs in the Fresno region over a period of five years—from January 2004 through December 2008—by fundamentally changing the way the region approaches private business, using industry clusters and community task forces.
By the end of 2007, the region had added 17,100 new jobs within the designated industry clusters. Though the initial goal was likely not attained by December 2008, the region still saw job growth between 2003 and 2007 that outpaced that of the state as a whole--with many of those jobs sticking around (The Fresno Bee, March 29, 2008).
Industry Clusters
Industry clusters target industries that naturally exist in the local economy and which focus on available resources to develop those things most needed to grow—customized training programs, physical infrastructure requirements, specialized research programs at local universities.
RJI is based on a core of 11 industry clusters:
Advanced Manufacturing
Clean Energy
Construction
Food Processing
Health Care
Information Processing: Call Centers
Logistics and Distribution
Public Sector
Software Development
Tourism
Water TechnologyCommunity Task Forces
The second major component is the 10 community task forces. Business, community and government leaders work together to formulate and implement plans to make the region's business climate more competitive for RJI's target industry clusters.
The first of these is the Implementation Task Force-Leadership Council which monitors the RJI and makes policy recommendations as needed. The others are:
Communication
Customer Service
Finance
Government Affairs
Innovation
Livability
Physical Infrastructure
Technology Infrastructure
Workforce Development
