California Jobs First - Southern Border Coalition

The Southern Border Coalition is part of the $450M  California Jobs First Regional Investment Initiative. 

The Coalition aims to foster long-term economic resilience across San Diego and Imperial Counties and coordinates competitive applications for additional funding from the state government.

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Regional Plan

The Regional Plan is an Economic Development Administration approved Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), meaning projects can seek funding from the government by aligning with the plan.  The Southern Border Regional Plan includes 2 parts:

• The Regional plan Part 1 presents a baseline of the region. It considers the region’s stakeholders, assesses the factors affecting the region’s economic, environmental, and health conditions, and conducts detailed economic and workforce analyses. 
• Built on the findings of the Regional Plan Part 1, the Regional Plan Part 2 provides a holistic economic development and transition roadmap with strategies that prioritize the creation of high-quality jobs, equitable access to jobs and resources, and emphasizes developing sustainable and resilient economies and industries. 

Activation Plans

Activation Plans are a project  management tool for strategy execution: 

• Prioritize tactics from the list of ideas in Regional Plan Part 2. 
• Convert tactics into specific tasks with timelines for completion. 
• Assign tasks to organizations or individuals.  
• Identify budget needs and sources. 
• Hold partners accountable for progress. 

Regions can use Activation Plans to operationalize distributed implementation:

• Extend beyond project lists to planning for organizational capacity, daily activities, and focus of mainstream programs. 
• Include tasks to refine tactics to the point of execution. 
• Update regularly based on changed circumstances. 

Catalyst Phase

Following a comprehensive Planning Phase, where the Southern Border Coalition (the Coalition) conducted an in-depth regional analysis and developed targeted strategies for economic advancement in Imperial and San Diego Counties, the Coalition launched the Implementation Phase of the CA Jobs First Initiative. 

The Southern Border Region has secured $9 million from the State of CA Employment Development Department to fund project predevelopment activities that advance strategies set forth in Southern Border Coalition Regional Plan Part 2.

Two rounds of Requests for Proposals were launched: the first in March 2025 and the second in July 2025, both of them looking for projects that promote economic resilience, equitable growth, and workforce development across high-growth industries identified by the Coalition in the Planning Phase. These projects align with the California Jobs First core goals of creating quality jobs, advancing sustainability, and prioritizing disinvested communities throughout the Southern Border Region. As a result, 19 projects were awarded in the first Round and 16 in the second one between both counties.