State passes on Kern coalition's economic grant application
May 31—A local coalition's first attempt at competing for state economic development money fell short last week as Sacramento officials passed over the group's proposal to expand and extend an upcoming summer internship program.
The application put forward by a group known as The Kern Coalition was not among eight projects selected to receive a total of $39 million awarded to support California's transition to a low-carbon future. The plan had been to give out $50 million, but the judges said no other proposals — Kern's included — met the state's strict criteria.
Although the grants marked the start of implementation of a program local officials have anxiously anticipated for about two years, they do not represent Kern's last chance to win a share of some $500 million still available to help qualified local economies. Expectations are that local leaders will study the winning applications and adjust future bids accordingly.
Still, the loss comes as something of a surprise, if not a disappointment, given that Kern County's B3K Prosperity economic collaboration served as the inspiration for the state program, called the Community Economic Resilience Fund, which has awarded Kern and 12 other regions planning grants of $5 million each.
A spokeswoman for the local coalition said by email Wednesday the group continues to convene local meetings as it plans for future grant opportunities.
"We will continue to prepare our region for the implementation grants that will be forthcoming," spokeswoman Norma Rojas-Mora stated.
Kern's absence from the May 24 grant recipients list should not be taken as "a sideline or a snub" on any of the regions whose applications were unsuccessful, said spokeswoman Emily Breslin with the Governor's Office for Planning and Research, which was one of three agencies that helped select winning proposals.
"The Kern region has done nothing wrong," she said. "This is a separate but related pot of funding, and it's really just about, do regions have projects that are shovel ready?"
She added that part of the idea in awarding early-stage implementation grants was to illustrate the kind of projects the state considers worthy of grant money.
Most of the eight successful grant applications, ranging in size from $2.1 million to $10 million, originated in Northern or Southern California. One from the northern San Joaquin Valley won $36 million in support of the area's focus on "bio-based innovations" and ag-related manufacturing cluster.
Another application won $10 million for its plan to create jobs in renewables, advance entrepreneurship and expand access to capital for minority business owners through technical assistance and accelerator programs.
The Kern Coalition, led by the Kern Community College District and supported by B3K, Community Action Partnership of Kern and the Kern, Inyo & Mono Counties Central Labor Council, proposed broadening an internship program led by the Kern Economic Development Corp.
That program, set to launch soon, is expected to place interns from the Kern High School District's Career & Technical Education Center in paid summer jobs at local manufacturing companies. The initiative was funded by Bank of America.
The idea put forward in the grant application was two-fold. One aspect would have expanded the program to allow interns from Bakersfield College and Cerro Coso College to work internships not only in manufacturing but also local aerospace.
The other part would have expanded the program's capacity by working with local community organizations to recruit and identify potential internship candidates in outlying areas with limited or no access to CTEC.
Rojas said the coalition continues to build a foundation for equitable, comprehensive, resilient and sustainable economic and workforce development.
Business editor John Cox can be reached by phone at 661-395-7404.
