At the 2015 California Economic Summit on Friday, three ambitious new goals were unveiled—the One Million Challenges—that will be the focus of the work of the Summit’s growing coalition of business, environmental, labor, and civic leaders. This video opened up Summit activities on Friday, addressing the more than 400 attendees.
With Californians facing a widening opportunity gap, fast-rising housing prices, and dwindling water supplies, the Summit has highlighted three elements of its 2015 Roadmap to Shared Prosperity that must be accelerated in the years ahead for the state to thrive.
At the two-day Summit, participants were asked to sharpen a set of strategies aimed at producing, over the next decade:
- One million more skilled workers: With wages stagnating and income inequality rising—and millions of Californians struggling to make ends meet in low-wage jobs—industries from health care to manufacturing are still struggling to find skilled workers. The Summit has set a goal of improving the workforce pipeline—and closing this looming “skills gap”—by aligning the state’s expansive training and education programs with the needs of employers.
- One million more homes: With housing supply falling far below demand—and with more and more Californians unable to afford to rent or buy homes—the Summit will lead a comprehensive effort aimed at reducing the costs and increasing the supply of housing.
- One million more acre-feet of water each year: With Californians using substantially more water each year than the state’s infrastructure can reliably supply, the Summit will support a renewed push for watershed management solutions that conserve, capture, and re-use enough water to achieve a sustainable water balance.
