Fresno-based Regional Jobs Initiative (RJI) is a public-private partnership aimed at creating 30,000 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.
Eleven industry clusters are the core of RJI: advanced manufacturing, clean energy, construction, food processing, health care, information processing: call centers, logistics and distribution, public sector, software development, tourism, and water technology. The clusters target industries that naturally exist in the local economy and focus available resources on developing the things most needed to grow such as customized training programs, physical infrastructure requirements, and specialized research programs at local universities.
Another major component of the RJI are the 10 community task forces including business, community and government leaders working to formulate and implement plans that will make the region's business climate more competitive for the RJI's target industry clusters.
Implementation of RJI is monitored by the Implementation Task Force/Leadership Council, which also makes policy recommendations as needed. RJI task forces have been formed in the areas of Communication, Customer Service, Finance, Government Affairs, Innovation, Livability, Physical Infrastructure, Techology Infrastructure, and Workforce Development.