Welcome to your September news from Sierra Jobs First– and, welcome to September 2026– the finish line that we’ve all been marching towards since April 2023, when the Sierra Business Council team was first appointed regional convener and fiscal agent for the California Jobs First (then California Economic Resilience Fund) initiative overseeing the seven-county Eastern Sierra region, and when we first started collaborating with community leaders to form the core of what would become this passionate, invested Collaborative.
As things go with projects on the scale of California Jobs First’s $600 million in investments, being adaptable and nimble has been the name of the game. We learned earlier this year from GO-Biz/EDD, the administrators of the project in Sacramento, that qualifying projects would have the option of applying for a no-cost extension to move the deadline for expenditure of Catalyst award funds to June 2027.
Over half of our 38 contracted Catalyst projects are in the process of applying for that extension, while the remaining projects are working towards a September 30 close.
The Jobs First team has been hard at work providing technical support to those projects wanting to qualify for the extension and processing those applications, while also working with the projects that will be wrapping to collect closeout materials and impact statements to be able to share the full scope of the great work done across our region with the Collaborative later this year.
Our Industry Sector Coordinators, namely MLTPA and Sierra Focus Media on the Rec & Tourism side, Jennifer Burrows and Motherlode Job Training (MLJT) on Community Healthcare, and MLJT for other sectors including Agriculture & Working Lands, Workforce Development, and Clean Energy, plus our dedicated Tribal Coordinator, Travis Nabahe, will be wrapping up their formal work under Jobs First this month, however intend to continue working on behalf of our region in the industries they’ve been focused on (more on future opportunities for engagement below.)
And, given the extension of many of our projects to June 2027, we will continue updating the Sierra Jobs First website, blog, and project landing pages with news from the ongoing projects, and also bringing you this newsletter quarterly.
Thank you for being along for the ride as we work together with the projects to bring each to the finish line with maximum impacts for the Eastern Sierra!
Thank you,
The Sierra Jobs First Team
Updates from our Industry Sector Coordinators
Community Healthcare
(Provided by Jennifer Burrows and Sophia Kauffman)
Through Sierra Jobs First, we strengthened healthcare collaboration across the Sierra region, connecting healthcare employers, education and training providers, workforce organizations, public health agencies, Tribal healthcare partners, community organizations, and economic development partners around shared regional priorities.
A major achievement was the launch and growth of the Sierra Healthcare Industry Partnership (SHIP), which has convened partners through regional gatherings in Jamestown and Mammoth Lakes, quarterly virtual workgroups, and ongoing communications focused on healthcare workforce needs, funding opportunities, and stronger education-to-employment pathways.
The work also led to the establishment of the Mono/Inyo Behavioral Health Workgroup, creating an ongoing forum for partners to address behavioral health workforce and service needs in the Eastern Sierra.
On the education and workforce side, Jen worked closely with Cerro Coso Community College, convening healthcare workforce advisory discussions that helped inform development and expansion of programs including hybrid EMT, paramedic, physical therapy assistant, radiologic technology, and nursing pathways, while also facilitating new connections between Cerro Coso, Columbia College, Amador College Connect, Eastern Sierra high schools, and adult education partners.
The sector coordination work supported healthcare-focused Sierra Jobs First Catalyst Projects, including the hybrid EMT program, Toiyabe Indian Health’s dental initiative, and an assessment of healthcare workforce and access needs in the Eastern Sierra; helped advance dual-enrollment and career exploration opportunities for local students; supported regional grant development; and elevated issues including nursing and allied health shortages, clinical training capacity, women’s health, healthcare access, and workforce housing.
Perhaps most importantly, Sierra Jobs First created relationships across institutions and counties that previously had limited opportunities to work together, providing a much stronger regional foundation for continued healthcare workforce collaboration.
What Now?
While the Sierra Jobs First Healthcare Industry Sector Coordinator work concluded at the end of August, the partnerships and momentum it helped create will continue.
SHIP will remain active as a regional healthcare collaborative, with support from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants Program (SCC5) in partnership with Columbia College helping provide a runway for continued healthcare workforce coordination.
Mother Lode Job Training will remain engaged in this next chapter of the work, continuing to convene partners, strengthen employer-education connections, support healthcare workforce and career pathway development, share regional resources and opportunities, and respond collaboratively to emerging needs. Jen Burrows will continue to partner with regional partners, HealthForce Partners, and UC Davis to develop healthcare pathways throughout the region to create a sustainable local workforce.
Healthcare employers, educators, workforce and economic development partners, public health agencies, Tribal partners, community organizations, and others interested in this work are encouraged to stay involved through SHIP’s workgroups, newsletter, and online forum. Learn more and join the SHIP mailing list at mljt.org/ship, or reach out directly to Jen or Sophia to get involved.
Natural & Working Lands
(Provided by MLJT)
Through Sierra Jobs First, Mother Lode Job Training (MLJT) and the Central Sierra Economic Development District (CSEDD) helped build stronger regional infrastructure around the Sierra’s Natural & Working Lands and Sustainable Agriculture sectors, bringing businesses, workforce and education partners, Tribes, government agencies, nonprofits, and community organizations into a more connected regional network.
One of our proudest outcomes is the development of the LEAF Partnership (Land, Energy, Agriculture & Forestry), which grew from a regional convening into an ongoing partnership with a network of more than 450 contacts, virtual workgroups, the LEAF Forum, a 2026 Regional Report, and new suite of new tools designed to support collaboration and information sharing. We also advanced work around forest-sector entrepreneurship and biomass utilization by supporting regional workforce and training connections, and developed the Regional Funding Coordination Framework to help partners better understand and coordinate around funding opportunities.
The LEAF Partnership now offers Bieocomy Playbooks for five counties, a forestry entrepreneurship toolkit, and more impactful tools that are on the way. Collectively, this work has helped move the region from individual conversations and projects toward a more connected ecosystem for advancing natural resource stewardship, economic development, workforce, and the emerging Sierra bioeconomy.
What Now?
Although Sierra Jobs First Sector Coordinator funding has concluded, MLJT and CSEDD plan to continue building on the regional infrastructure created through this work. LEAF will continue as an active regional partnership, providing a venue for partners to share projects and opportunities, identify funding and workforce needs, coordinate across organizations and counties, and develop collaborative solutions around Land, Energy, Agriculture, and Forestry. Partners can stay involved by participating in future LEAF workgroups and convenings, contributing to the LEAF Forum, sharing funding opportunities and regional updates, and helping shape future tools and priorities. Information and LEAF resources are available through SierraIndustry.org/LEAF, and partners interested in getting involved or joining the LEAF mailing list can contact BusinessServices@mljt.org.
Recreation & Tourism
(Provided by MLTPA and Sierra Focus Media)
As Industry Sector Coordinators for the Sierra Region, MLTPA and Sierra Focus Media were proud to lead this work throughout the Sierra Jobs First Catalyst Phase. At the heart of our efforts was convening the Sierra Works Working Group, which we convened eight times over nine months to facilitate interviews and discussions with practitioners across the seven-county region and identify shared priorities.
That process culminated in the Sierra RICA (Recommendations for Implementation and Collaborative Action), a comprehensive framework we developed to guide strategies, priority actions, and opportunities to strengthen the region’s sustainable recreation and tourism economy.
Along the way, we hosted two in-person ShinDig gatherings to bring stakeholders and practitioners from all sectors together. The Sierra Industry ShinDig in Bishop, where we launched the Catalyst Phase with project tours and a regional summit at Cerro Coso Community College, and ShinDig 2.0 in Sonora, where we showcased the impact of Sierra Jobs First and marked the culmination of our work as Industry Sector Coordinators.
We also connected our regional efforts to the broader statewide audience through the State Recreation and Tourism Cohort, co-convening the Recreation and Tourism Symposium of Practice with Redwood Region RISE to help shape the State Cohort RICA, a roadmap for advancing sustainable outdoor recreation, tourism, and arts and culture projects across California.
What Now?
MLTPA plans to continue this work by convening the Eastern Sierra Sustainable Recreation Partnership (ESSRP) through monthly meetings to keep the collaborative momentum alive.
MLTPA will also continue advancing its own mission-based projects, deepening our work in the recreation and tourism sector to strengthen the Sierra Region for years to come.
Opportunities to get involved include joining the ESSRP monthly meetings, where regional partners and practitioners continue to collaborate on shared priorities for sustainable recreation.
Visit essrp.org to sign up for the mailing list and find meeting information.
Sierra Focus Media plans to continue this work by advancing projects such as Sierra Sourced, which will sustain the relationships we have built, bring together stakeholders from across the Sierra, and advocate for the needs and contributions of small businesses, nonprofits, and tribal partners. Through this continued collaboration, Sierra Sourced will help strengthen connections among local organizations, elevate their perspectives, and support a more informed and inclusive regional conversation.
Recap: ShinDig 2.0 Brings Sierra Jobs First Collaborators Together in Sonora
Sierra Jobs First stakeholders and Catalyst projects from across the seven-county Jobs First region gathered Friday, August 21st, in Sonora for a day of in-person updates and collaboration at the second annual Shindig. Last year’s Shindig was held in Mono County, highlighting the important lift of convening both East and West slopes of the Sierra to create a community-led, climate-forward, and inclusive financial future for our region.
Organized by Sierra Jobs First Industry Sector Coordinators at MLTPA and hosted by Motherlode Job Training, the day kicked off with networking and updates, followed by an afternoon of touring local Catalyst projects including a visit to Mariposa Arts Council’s Re-Vamp creative reuse store, Sierra Sourced, and the Sierra Compost program at Suchumumu Farm.
The day ended with the opening of the final leg of the travelling art exhibition From Here to There at the Chakachi-no Learning Center in Jamestown, presented by Sierra Seven Arts Alliance, a Catalyst-funded project that brings together arts organizations from across the Sierra Jobs First region, and which visited all counties in the region.
Sierra Jobs First Strategic Planning Informs City of Sonora’s Economic Development Strategy
(Provided by Kara Bechtle, Economic Empowerment Project Manager, Sierra Business Council)
One of the meaningful outcomes of the Sierra Jobs First initiative has been seeing the regional planning work translate into local action. Notably, in August, the City of Sonora adopted its 2026–2031 Economic Development Strategy, which draws on Sierra Jobs First’s Strategic Plan, alongside local community input and other regional and statewide planning efforts.
“By aligning Sonora’s efforts with these larger strategies, we can stretch our limited resources and position ourselves for state and federal funding,” said Sonora Mayor Ann Segerstrom in an interview with MyMotherlode.
In late 2024, following the Strategic Plan’s review by the Collaborative, approval by the Governing Council, and delivery to the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) on August 29, Sierra Business Council’s Sierra Jobs First team visited elected officials across the seven-county Jobs First region, among them the Sonora City Council, to socialize the plan’s Strategic priorities and provide the supporting research as a resource.
From my perspective as an SBC staffer living in Tuolumne County and leader of elected official outreach throughout the Jobs First initiative, it is particularly encouraging to see the priorities developed through Sierra Jobs First continuing to inform economic development conversations and decisions in our communities.
Sonora’s strategy focuses on practical actions related to business attraction and retention, placemaking, planning and policy, funding, and workforce development. This is a strong example of how the California Jobs First investment can have a lasting impact- providing communities with a regional framework they can build upon and translate into locally driven economic development strategies.
Project Spotlight: Eastern Sierra Business Resource Center Provides Vital Start-up Support to Blue Heron Farm
Demonstrating the collaborative nature of Sierra Jobs First, two Bishop-based Catalyst Projects, the Eastern Sierra Business Resource Center (BRC) and Blue Heron Farm, together created an impactful outcome for local food access in Inyo and Mono county, with the BRC providing vital help navigating the ups and downs of turning a thriving farm into a thriving business. Watch this video (courtesy of ChalkFox Studio) to learn more.
Project News: Sonora’s ReVamp Creative Re-Use Store Launches Monthly Newsletter
Creating a turnkey way to get news and information out to artists, crafters, and recyclable-goods donors in Tuolumne county, the ReVamp Creative Re-use Store has launched a monthly newsletter. Sign up here.
Sierra Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Partnership (Sierra CAMP) Invites You to Legislative Report Out
Sierra Business Council’s Government Affairs team will share updates and takeaways from the end of the 2026 legislative session on September 23 from 12–12:45 p.m. This 45-minute briefing will cover how climate priorities evolved through the final months of the legislative session and where state priorities stand heading into the fall, with plenty of time for questions.
Have a specific state budget or policy question? Send it to sierracamp@sierrabusiness.org in advance, and we’ll make sure it’s addressed during the briefing.
Register for the Zoom briefing
After several years as a members-only network, Sierra CAMP is now free and open to the public. To join the network and receive information about upcoming briefings and activities, email eswalander@sierrabusiness.org.