(a) The economic and workforce development program shall operate according to all of the following principles:

(1) The program shall be responsive to the needs of employers, workers, and students.

(2) The program shall collaborate with other public institutions, aligning resources to foster cooperation across workforce education and service delivery systems, and building well-articulated career pathways.

(3) Program decisions shall be data driven and evidence based, investing resources and adopting practices on the basis of what works.

(4) The program shall develop strong partnerships with the private sector, ensuring industry involvement in needs assessment, planning, and program evaluation.

(5) The program shall be outcome oriented and accountable, measuring results for program participants, including students, employers, and workers.

(6) The program shall be accessible to employers, workers, and students who may benefit from its operation.

(7) The program shall provide guidance to local educational agencies on the allocation and oversight of apprenticeship training funds, consistent with the rules set by the California Apprenticeship Council for building and construction trades and for firefighters or by the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards of the Department of Industrial Relations for other trades.

(b) The mission of the economic and workforce development program is to do all of the following:

(1) To advance California’s economic growth and global competitiveness through education, training, and services that contribute to continuous workforce improvement.

(2) To advance California’s economic and jobs recovery and sustain economic growth through labor market-aligned education workforce training services, and sector strategies focusing on continuous workforce improvement, technology deployment, and business development, to meet the needs of California’s competitive and emerging industry sectors and industry clusters.

(3) To use labor market information to advise the chancellor’s office and regional community college bodies on the workforce needs of California’s competitive and emerging industry sectors and industry clusters, in accordance with both of the following:

(A) To the extent possible, the economic and workforce development program shall work with, share information with, and consider the labor market analyses produced by, the Employment Development Department’s Labor Market Information Division and the California Workforce Development Board.

(B) The economic and workforce development program may also use its own resources to bolster and refine these labor market and industry sector and industry cluster analyses to fulfill its mission.

(4) To provide technical assistance and logistical, technical, and communications infrastructure support that engenders alignment between the career technical education programs of the community college system and the needs of California’s competitive and emerging industry sectors and industry clusters.

(5) To collaborate and coordinate investment with other state, regional, or local agencies involved in education and workforce training in California, including, but not necessarily limited to, the California Workforce Development Board, local workforce investment boards, the Employment Training Panel, the State Department of Education, and the Employment Development Department.

(6) To identify, acquire, and leverage community college and other financial and in-kind public and private resources to support economic and workforce development and the career technical education programs of the state’s community colleges.

(7) To work with representatives of business, labor, and professional trade associations to explore and develop alternatives for assisting incumbent workers in the state’s competitive and emerging industry sectors. A key objective is to enable incumbent workers to become more competitive in their region’s labor market, increase competency, and identify career pathways to economic self-sufficiency, economic security, and lifelong access to good-paying jobs.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 704, Sec. 13. (AB 235) Effective September 22, 2018. Repealed as of January 1, 2025, pursuant to Section 88651.)