Regional Innovation Ecosystem
The future of innovation in the North San Joaquin Valley starts with our students. Our goal is that by 2030, students across the region are actively leading and creating innovation, supported by education, workforce and community systems that remove barriers and expand opportunity.
To get there, we’re learning what programs and pathways already exist, where students face barriers and how schools, colleges, employers and community partners could work together to open more doors.
Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. We’re looking at what entrepreneurs need at each stage of growth, including how anchor institutions could open procurement opportunities. The focus is on disinvested communities and underrepresented business owners.
Catalytic Skills and Talent Development
Our priority sectors depend on a skilled local workforce. We’re learning what training and education programs already exist, how well they line up with industry needs and where earn-and-learn models, such as apprenticeships, might grow.
Climate-Smart Infrastructure
Our region faces real climate risks, from extreme heat to flooding and drought. We’re mapping these challenges and the organizations already working on them. We’re also exploring how nature-based solutions, sustainable land practices and water management could build resilience and create jobs.
Placemaking and Amenities
Arts, culture and outdoor spaces help make a region a place people want to live, work and visit. We’re looking at how the region’s cultural and natural assets could support a growing creative and experience economy.
Generational Well-Being
Families can’t fully take part in the economy without access to care. We’re exploring needs around eldercare and culturally and linguistically appropriate healthcare, and how residents find information about the resources available to them.
Regional Coordination and Alignment
Merced, San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties are stronger when we move forward together. We’re exploring ways to better align economic development, workforce and infrastructure efforts across the region and with our neighbors in the Northern California Megaregion.
Where We Are Today
Six work groups are currently exploring these strategies. They are:
- Generational Well-Being
- Catalytic Skills
- Creative Economy
- Innovation
- Climate-Smart Infrastructure
- Regional Coordination and Alignment
The groups are researching and cataloguing the work already happening across the region. Where coalitions don’t yet exist, they’re starting to build them. We’re still early in this process, and what we learn will shape where North Valley THRIVE and its partners focus next.
Doing work in one of these areas? Contact us so we can learn from you and include your efforts in our regional picture.