Newsom announces push to create jobs, opportunities

Audio By Carbonatix

(The Center Square) – With the Golden Bear training ship near CalPoly Maritime Academy behind him, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Wednesday morning that California is investing $429.5 million in taxpayer dollars to create jobs across the state.

That money is paying for 18 projects in 33 of California’s 58 counties and 20,000 jobs, according to Newsom’s office.

“There’s simply no other economy in the world like the state of California,” Newsom said at a press conference in Solano County, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. “It’s not just in A.I. It’s not just in technology. You talk about an ag economy. You talk about an economy of hunting jobs and forestry jobs.”

Roughly $14 million was disbursed already to startup companies, Newsom said.

That money was disbursed through the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, known as GoBiz.  Another $120 million covered project grants, $8.99 million of which went to beneficiaries in Solano County. And $48.5 million has gone to more projects.

Newsom said $8.2 million went to maritime-related projects ship building as part of an effort to make California a strong manufacturing hub again.

“It’s not what it once was,” Newsom said. “It’s not the vision of 1854, not when we were constructing, building the middle class, had an industrial policy in this country. We’ve got to get that back and jump start that again.”

The announcement comes just a day after a separate announcement from Newsom’s office, showing that the state added 135,534 jobs between the first quarter of 2025 and March 2026. Statewide weekly wages grew an average of 4.6%, his office announced on Tuesday.

Others who spoke at the press conference on Wednesday said the state's money helps create jobs for young graduates transitioning into the workforce and to build new ships and develop maritime technology, among other economic benefits.

“Today’s gathering is ultimately about opportunity,” said Jeff Armstrong, president of CalPoly and CalPoly Maritime Academy. “Here on Mare Island, we will connect students, employers, community colleges and industry leaders to create pathways to meaningful careers and strengthen California’s workforce through upskilling and retraining.”

Despite an enthusiastic crowd behind Newsom and the Jobs First Regional Investment Initiative – the program overseeing the disbursement of the money – one economist told The Center Square on Wednesday that Newsom’s rosy outlook is “just one side of the ledger.”

“The jobs that are being created are actually lower-paying than the technology jobs that are declining,” said Wayne Winegarden, an economist at Pasadena-based Pacific Research Institute.

“It’s kind of a worrisome trend in the sense that we’re seeing job creation in lower-paying jobs and losing jobs in higher-paying jobs," Winegarden told The Center Square on Wednesday. He said Newsom isn't accounting for lost jobs.

He’s spending money and can point to the jobs and projects he’s creating, said Winegarden, a senior fellow in business and economics at PRI.

“But he also has high taxes on the other side in order to get the revenues,” Winegarden said. “This goes for any project. You need the government program to be efficient enough so that the costs on the private side are less than the benefits on the public side, and he’s not pointing to that. He’s pointing to one-half of the equation.”