TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an agreement, and any necessary documents, subcontracts or subsequent amendments, including amendments to the grant term or award amount, with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to accept and expend grant funding in an amount up to $1,670,000 for the creation of a new Space Beach program, a skills training program to enroll opportunity youth in aerospace careers, for a three-year period beginning May 1, 2022. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
City Council approval is requested to enter into a contract with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and accept up to $1,670,000 in funding to support the Economic Development Department in the creation of a new Space Beach program, a skills training program to enroll opportunity youth into aerospace careers.
Over the last ten years, Long Beach has made investments toward transforming itself through inclusive innovation and creativity that is equity-informed. The entrepreneurial spirit of the region’s booming aerospace industry has resulted in unprecedented job growth, filling the void that was felt after the closures of Boeing’s C-17 Globemaster III’s and Gulfstream’s manufacturing plant. Companies like Relativity Space, Virgin Galactic, SpinLaunch, and SpaceX, are bringing back to life, Long Beach’s historic aerospace industry and transforming the city as the go-to destination for startups and workforce talent. Pacific Gateway requested a grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to pilot Space Beach, a career pathway program that will connect 150 underserved disconnected youth over three years to the invaluable social capital of the aerospace industry, creating rich and meaningful connections between the region’s innovations and entrepreneurs, exposing them to emerging technologies and careers, and placing them on pathways leading to family-sustaining jobs.
Pacific Gateway administers the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and other employmen...
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