Economic Development Department (EDD) and Workforce Solutions officials updated legislators on efforts to prepare sites, staff a trade-port program and expand workforce pipelines for science, technology and skilled-trade jobs.

EDD Secretary Rob Black said state teams have characterized 28 public sites as part of an initial site‑readiness pilot and that a contracted program will continue site characterization for up to four years. He said the legislature provided $24 million for the site-readiness fund — “$8,000,000 a year for 3 years” — to improve basic infrastructure and environmental reviews so sites can be marketed to businesses.

Black also told the committee the agency has received at least one application under SB 170, the utility pre-deployment statute, and expects additional applications from investor-owned utilities within weeks. The agency is setting up an advisory council and staff for a newly formed trade-ports program backed by $50 million in infrastructure dollars, Black said, and expects the Technology and Innovation Office to announce the first $25 million for the quantum innovation hub in August.

Workforce Solutions Secretary Serena Nair summarized recent apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship activity and training pipelines. The agency reported more than 1,250 pre-apprenticeships launched since 2023, with about 242 in STEM and roughly 331 in skilled trades. The state currently supports roughly 2,500 active registered apprentices and recorded 328 apprenticeship completions in calendar year 2024. Nair said the department received $600,000 this year for STEM pre-apprenticeships and cited first-round recipients of Community Benefit Fund grants and infrastructure career-pipeline funding.

Officials highlighted several workforce initiatives tied to these investments: the BePro Be Proud mobile career-truck that exposes people to trades and health-care modules; MC3 pre-apprenticeship partnerships with building trades that include classroom and work-based learning; CNM and Sandia initiatives for quantum workforce training including Q Camp and a planned quantum boot camp; and a foreign credential crosswalk program to help internationally trained workers translate qualifications for local employers.

Legislators pressed agency leaders for measurable outcomes and asked about federal funding risks. Nair and Black said federal workforce programs remain important to the state’s efforts but flagged potential federal budget proposals that would cut multiple national workforce programs and AmeriCorps; Nair said the department is studying the at-risk populations not in the labor force and expects preliminary survey results by the start of the next legislative session.

Secretary Black asked for continued partnership with the legislature on metrics and long-term funding: “We need to think through, and I welcome the partnership of the LFC … what are the outcomes that we want to measure that align to this?” he said. Officials said they will deliver more data on program outcomes and asked legislators to consider how to sustain and scale promising pre‑apprenticeship and apprenticeship efforts.