Business View Magazine - Sept 2023

142 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 9 employment and opportunities. “With that narrative comes the realities of inflation, and interest rates that make capital much more expensive, which is why we’re promoting for the second year in a row legislation that would provide an investment credit to manufacturers, for making an investment here in California,” says Hastings, suggesting that support from the state in the form of an incentive would encourage a reinvestment renaissance. “That will really go a long way to reducing the cost of capital and allowing manufacturers to double down on California as a state to do business,” he asserts. Addressing Workforce Challenges California remains at the top of the list as the largest manufacturing state in terms of number of facilities and employees. However, Hastings points out that the state also faces unique challenges, including higher costs, and a higher regulatory burden. Despite these obstacles he says, “We do have 40 million people, of which we need to make sure that there’s at least 1.3 to 2 million trained and ready to work in our sector. That’s one of the commitments we’re making outside the legislative environment. Workforce development for us is really the issue that keeps everyone up at night.” The Employment Training Panel, a state- funded agency within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency allocates funding for on- the-job training, which serves as one source of support to tackle workforce challenges in the industry. Another strategy involves educating individuals about alternative options beyond traditional four-year degree programs. “The community colleges are well positioned to help those who may not have a complete career path identified, to develop some skills and training through credentials or certificates, that really get them into a good paying situation,” conveys Hastings. “That could be welding, it could be introductory electronics, it could be process management, and those kinds of things. If you started in the