Job training begins at Sacramento’s Aggie Square, despite not having any tenant companies

Aggie Square, the innovation district under construction at the UC Davis Sacramento campus, is supposed to bring thousands of new jobs to the area, including 20% set aside for members of the community who have lacked economic opportunities in the past. .

Job training, courtesy of a $5 million state grant announced in August, is scheduled to begin early next year to help the what the grant writers described as the underserved: English learners, the homeless and those struggling to make rent payments, people with disabilities, veterans, immigrants/refugees.

But there is a twist.

Life science or health companies have yet to sign leases at Aggie Square, meaning it’s unclear what positions will be available when the first two buildings, one eight stories and another seven stories, are scheduled to open in 2025.

“In an ideal world we would know which companies are coming to Aggie Square,” said Jennifer Hernandez, executive director of the Sacramento Employment and Training Administration. ”But we can’t wait two years because then we just keep prolonging the opportunity for folks to get trained and skilled and be ready to go into jobs.”

Hernandez said the training will likely focus on preparing people for jobs such as lab technicians and administrative assistants — jobs that future Aggie Square tenant companies are bound to offer.

Hernandez’s agency, which is jointly run by the city and county of Sacramento, is directly responsible for administering the $5 million grant.

Aggie Square is part of the city of Sacramento’s efforts to show that the city is more than a state government town. The six building campus along Stockton Boulevard in the Oak Park neighborhood is supposed to house some 4,000 life science and health jobs if all goes as planned.

Community groups had originally protested the construction of Aggie Square, even suing to stop the project because of concerns that it would increase gentrification in the historically Black neighborhood.

As part of a settlement in 2021, the city, UC Davis and developer Wexford Science & Technology agreed to a community benefits district.

In addition to the promises of 20% of the jobs for the underserved, another $50 million in housing funds will be made available, aimed at keeping people in their homes and preventing increased gentrification.

Much of the funding was aimed at Oak Park and nearby Tahoe Park, Meadowview and the Del Paso Heights neighborhoods.

Hernandez said job training for the underserved residents, who don’t have a degree beyond high school is essential to help them move up the mobility ladder with positions that pay decent wages.

She said too often people without college degrees have been slotted for dead-end jobs, such as janitorial jobs with no chance of advancement.

Sacramento Employment and Training Administration’s application for the state job training funds notes that the median hourly wage for lab technicians, one of the occupations training will be offered for, is from $24 to $35 an hour, well above the median salaries for most entry level positions.

What Aggie Square jobs will materialize?

The administration’s officials admit their sooner rather than later training approach comes at some risk because companies that come to Aggie Square may have specific job needs that can’t be anticipated right now.

“We don’t have a crystal ball,” said Roy Kim, Sacramento Employment and Training Administration (SETA) deputy director of worforce deveopment.

He said SETA hopes to pivot quickly if necessary to put together job training to suit particular Aggie Square tenants.

Partners that could offer the job training, according to Kim, include Sacramento City College and the UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education program. The non-degree Davis division is scheduled to be housed in Aggie Square, an added part of the close coordination between job training and potential jobs at Aggie Square.

Kim said he expects the job training programs would begin next April, and the plan is to train 300 underserved individuals within a two-year period.

An employment fair will be held sometime in November to give residents information on the job training opportunities, Hernandez said.

It’s unclear when companies moving to Aggie Square will be announced.

Thomas Osha, executive vice-president of developer Wexford Science & Technology, said companies have expressed strong interest in moving to Aggie Square.

“We’ve talked to a number of prospective tenants,” he said. “We can’t name them yet.”

Hernandez said SETA has started meeting with various educational and social service partners to do its best to make sure the job training it will be offering for Aggie Square is relevant, given the lack of precise information on specific jobs that will be available.

“We don’t want to be in a situation where a training program is developed and there are no jobs,” she said.” It needs to all line up. The priority is areas where we know there will be jobs in the long run.”

This story was originally published September 8, 2023 at 5:00 AM.