Building the Foundation for Regional Investment in the Inland Empire Requires Partnership

By Matt Mena, Senior Director, IEGO

Three years ago, when I stepped into my role at IEGO, one of the largest and most complex responsibilities before us was clear: we had to manage and strategically deploy millions of dollars in state funding across the Inland Empire.

Through the California Jobs First initiative and in close partnership with the Inland Empire Labor Institute (IELI) IEGO has been entrusted with more than $9 million in state investment to support economic development, workforce innovation, and industry growth in our region. That level of funding is not simply the result of strong proposals. It reflects the state’s confidence in our ability to manage complexity, coordinate diverse stakeholders, and ensure public dollars generate measurable impact.

Managing this process was not straightforward work. These investments require multi-sector collaboration, strict compliance and reporting standards, and the ability to move from planning to implementation quickly while delivering outcomes that matter to workers, employers, and communities. When I began this role, we understood that success would require more than administrative oversight. It would require building trust, establishing structure, and ensuring every dollar was deployed with intention.

IEGO has approached this responsibility as a regional backbone organization. We do not operate as a standalone program administrator. Instead, we serve as a neutral convener and implementation partner, aligning local governments, educational institutions, employers, labor leaders, and community-based organizations around shared priorities. That alignment allows state investments to be deployed strategically, fill gaps in the regional economy, strengthen priority industry clusters, and direct resources to the partners best positioned to execute.

The $9 million we have managed has supported initiatives across workforce development, cybersecurity, clean and emerging technologies, advanced manufacturing, and community-centered economic development. From day one, our focus has been on integrating these funds with existing regional assets, avoiding duplication, and maximizing long-term impact rather than concentrating resources in a single institution or geography.

The reality is that distributing funds at this scale is complex. It requires careful governance structures, clear partner agreements, performance tracking, and constant communication. It also requires difficult decisions. Our team worked diligently to ensure compliance with state requirements while maintaining flexibility for partners working on the ground. The balance between accountability and adaptability is one reason the state continues to trust IEGO.

Equally important, we have grounded every investment in employer demand and labor market data. State dollars must translate into tangible results, including businesses choosing to grow here rather than elsewhere, workers accessing quality career pathways, and emerging industries taking root in the Inland Empire.

What I have learned over the past three years is that effective regional economic development is not the responsibility of any single organization. It is about building infrastructure for collaboration. Complex challenges, workforce shortages, technological shifts, and economic transitions cannot be solved in isolation. They require coordinated regional leadership.

IEGO is proud to play that role. The trust placed in us by the state and the partnerships that make this work possible position the Inland Empire not just to compete for public investment but also to deploy it responsibly, strategically, and at scale.