PUBLIC FUNDS TO RETRAIN WORKERS

BYLINE: DARLA MARTIN TUCKER, THE BUSINESS PRESS

The United States needs to foster entrepreneurship and create high-wage, skilled jobs in the Inland Empire, according to a U.S. Department of Labor initiative.

In mid-December, the San Bernardino County Workforce Investment Board will present a contract to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to conduct work force development studies as part of a national effort.

The work force board wants to use a $40,000 Labor Department grant to jump start a so-called Innovation Corridor and promote sustainable entrepreneurship and skilled manufacturing and supplier jobs.

The grant that is part of a $15 million federal program known as the work force innovation in regional economic development, or WIRED award. The department bestowed the funds on a coalition of 60 economic development agencies, colleges, universities and businesses across 13 counties collectively dubbed the Innovation Corridor.

The coalition includes Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The California Space Authority in Santa Maria submitted a winning proposal and won the bid in February. It was one of 13 regional proposals across the nation that received millions of dollars in federal funds.

"The focus is on talent development and on driving job growth," said Michael Gallo, president and chief executive officer of Kelly Space & Technology in San Bernardino. Gallo is also chief financial officer of the California Space Authority.

Kelly Space, which in the 1990s developed reusable launch vehicles for space travel, created the Aerospace Research & Development Center in San Bernardino in 2005.

The United States can't compete with China and India on wages. "But where we can compete is on leading innovation and entrepreneurship," Gallo said.

Other participants in the 13-county project include Boeing Co., Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Southern California Edison and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

"We want to have the private sector buy in because ultimately they are the ones hiring these people," Gallo said.

Project leaders will survey 1,000 manufacturers and suppliers and devise community college training and certification programs with an eye on space and information technology.