Sacramento, CA – We Prosper Together unveiled its Regional Plan: Strategies for a Thriving and Inclusive Economy, a community-driven framework providing the blueprint for a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable economy for the Capital Region.
This strategic plan—the result of a two-year-long collaboration—identifies key priorities that will shape future investments, including those supported by We Prosper Together through California’s Regional Investment Initiative.
We Prosper Together said it “is working to elevate diverse voices, encourage investments, amplify local solutions, and create living-wage jobs for families in Colusa, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba counties.”
“The completion of We Prosper Together’s Regional Plan is another step towards building an equitable and sustainable regional economy,” said Evan Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Valley Vision. “Shaped by economic research and input from communities across our region, this economic framework will create more quality jobs by helping to move innovative ideas to fruition, bring projects to life, and accelerate the region toward a future where all families can thrive.”
The Regional Plan outlines actionable strategies to achieve more high-quality jobs, lower barriers to access, and foster more equitable outcomes for local families. The plan identifies two primary strategies:
- Target Sector Strategies: Strategies focusing on investments in four high-growth sectors with the greatest potential for quality job creation. These sectors include Business Services, Precision Manufacturing, Working Lands, and Research & Development.
- Economic Mobility Strategies: Approaches connecting disinvested communities with existing high-quality job opportunities ensuring future economic growth results in equitable outcomes for the region’s residents. These approaches include workforce development, outreach and awareness, transportation, childcare, and housing.
Developed through robust community feedback, stakeholder interviews, surveys, and comprehensive research conducted by Brookings Institute-affiliated Cities GPS, the Regional Plan takes into account the distinct needs, strengths, and opportunities across the region to create a collective vision for the future.
Among the five priority economic mobility strategies for the region:
- Workforce Development: Closing skills gaps and connecting disinvested communities to job opportunities by ensuring they possess the skills and resources needed to qualify for and access high-quality jobs.
- Outreach and Awareness: Increasing outreach and awareness of training programs, high-quality jobs, and support systems to address the disconnect that can prevent people from accessing critical opportunities.
- Transportation: Enhancing transportation to improve connectivity across the region and facilitate access to job opportunities.
- Childcare: Removing barriers to affordable and accessible childcare, expanding our region’s workforce through increasing the number of available workers.
- Housing: Tackling the lack of affordable housing to reduce the burden of housing costs on families, shorten costly commutes, and open up access to employment opportunities.
“The Regional Plan not only exemplifies the strength and opportunity of cross-regional collaboration but also sets us up to make targeted investments that can transform our region,” said James Corless, Executive Director of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. “Only by coming together can we create a local economy that works for everyone and ensures all have access to the resources they need to prosper.”
The Regional Plan: Strategies for a Thriving and Inclusive Economy serves as a unifying roadmap cultivating a resilient, sustainable, and equitable economy empowering all local residents. The Regional Plan builds upon July 2023’s Capital Region Economic Assessment, a holistic assessment of the Capital Region’s economic, climate, and public health as part of the California Jobs First program. The Regional Plan concludes a two-year planning phase that included establishing We Prosper Together’s Collaborative, extensive community engagement, and the development of a shared regional strategy. We Prosper Together will now transition from planning to implementation, leveraging existing strategies and subregional efforts to drive progress.
The full Regional Plan can be found at https://www.weprospertogether.org/our-regional-plan.
