Yvette Walker
With KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker. This is IE Latino Voices, where we invite representatives from Latino led and Latino serving organizations to share their stories and their impact in our region. Joining me today is Matthew Mena, Executive Director at IEGO, Inland Economic Growth and Opportunity. Thank you so much for being with us here today, Matthew.
Matthew Mena
Absolutely. I'm glad to be here.
Yvette Walker
For those that may not be aware of the Inland Empire's economic potential, please share a brief overview of the trajectory and potential that exists within our region.
Matthew Mena
Number one, it's just on the human capital side, we're one of the fastest growing regions in California. We also have so many different academic institutions and want to acknowledge that we're here on the campus of Valley College that does an excellent job of training students for future workforce. Not just you get your two-year degree and you go on the Cal State, but also you get your two-year degree or certificate and you're ready to participate in our economy. We're graduating more students than we actually can provide jobs for, so this is huge for the region. And then on entrepreneurship, you know, those sorts of things, it's a really good place to start a business, because you don't have the types of costs that you would have, on the permitting and on rent, as you do in other areas of California, like LA and Orange County. So we're the economic powerhouse of Southern California. And I think people are starting to realize that we provide more workers for the coastal regions than any other area of California, and we're graduating really high skilled individuals to participate in these types of technologies.
Yvette Walker
Matthew, talk about specific sectors you're looking to support in the IE?
Matthew Mena
Through the California Jobs First report, about three sectors really kind of rose to the top, and that was cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, and clean technology and clean technology adoption. There are different industries that really employ quite a bit of people here in our region, but we wanted to focus on industries that were tradable, so industries that created goods or service here, and we can export that out. And then the locally serving, acknowledging that healthcare is huge in our region, and also logistics. The reason why those sectors rose to the top was they wanted jobs that they could raise a family on and buy a house on. And so cybersecurity is one of those that I'm really passionate about, because Cal State San Bernardino is one of 12 different programs in the United States that actually graduate students there. It's not just Cal State, though. It's K-12 programs, it's community college programs. There's an entire pipeline that we're trying to map out that can lead students from K-12 programs to Cal State, and hopefully keep them here, and really figure out a way that those jobs can stay here, and also really hoping that this opportunity brings in those students that are from disinvested communities, that can see themselves in this career path. Advanced Manufacturing was another one that we touched on. We have always been a manufacturing community here in the Inland Empire. I think even back during World War II, it was huge for us. And so really zeroing in on how we can maybe not attract new manufacturers, but keep manufacturers here, knowing that there's critical questions that are being asked about, you know, energy costs and those sorts of things, and then sustainable technology and clean technology. It's kind of a multi solver, if we focus in on how we can adapt clean technology in our facilities and our trucks, and how we build our buildings. And one, it's an economic driver for the region, but it also provides cleaner air, cleaner water, and really helps our communities grow and thrive.
Yvette Walker
Are there resources offered by IEGO to local businesses that they should know about, and are there requirements to benefit from these resources?
Matthew Mena
So part of California Jobs First, we have been granted $9 million for pre development projects. That's going to be a $3 million pot of money that we're going to be granting out to participants of this program. It is something that businesses can take advantage of. The only requirement that we're going to have is it has to help with some of the strategies that we're developing, and then there also has to be a community or equity aspect to it.
Yvette Walker
Sounds like a remarkable opportunity to really be a part of that momentum and effort that IEGO is prompting. So Matthew, for those looking to learn more and want to connect with you, please share the best way to do so.
Matthew Mena
Yeah, follow us on LinkedIn IEGO. And then you can also log on to our website and say, IEGOcollab.com.
Yvette Walker
Thank you so much for being with us today, Matthew.
Matthew Mena
Matthew Mena is Executive Director at IEGO, Inland Economic Growth and Opportunity. Join us again next week for IE Latino Voices. You can find this story and others on our website at KVCRnews.org/IELatinoVoices. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media and is funded by generous support from the CIELO Fund at IECF, uplifting and investing in the IE’s Latino community. For KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker.
