For growing companies, expansion often starts with opportunity: the right site, infrastructure, incentives, and market access. A region may offer all of this, but without a reliable workforce, those advantages lose their value if a company can’t staff its operation.
The ability to grow ultimately depends on people. Without them, even the strongest expansion plan can fail.
That’s why Greater Palm Springs places workforce development high in the business equation. The result is a workforce ecosystem designed to help companies not only find talent, but connect with the education, training and support systems that keep the labor pool flowing.
Fueling A Full Talent Pipeline
Greater Palm Springs’ workforce story starts with the institutions preparing students and residents before employers need them. Colleges, universities and career-training providers across the region are expanding programs, facilities and support systems designed to move talent from the classroom to the workplace.
College of the Desert, the Coachella Valley’s local community college, enrolls more than 12,500 students and is expanding its regional footprint with a Palm Springs campus now under construction. For Val Martinez Garcia, the college’s superintendent and president, that expansion represents a direct investment in the region’s workforce .
“The future of Greater Palm Springs depends on talent,” he explains. “Our role at College of the Desert is to ensure that talent is developed right here in our valley. The new Palm Springs campus allows us to expand access to high-demand programs, strengthen partnerships with employers and provide the support students need to succeed.”
Just a little over 60 miles away, growth is also occurring at University of California, Riverside, which is adding agricultural programming. This includes a planned bachelor’s degree in agriculture in 2027 and an R&D facility in Thermal, an unincorporated community on the eastern side of Greater Palm Springs.
California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) Palm Desert Campus is investing in student support through a new Student Success Center while also preparing graduates in fields tied directly to regional needs, including nursing, hospitality management, cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, social work, kinesiology, and teaching credentials.
“The region is home to a talented, resilient, and highly motivated workforce,” says Edna Martinez, associate vice president of CSUSB Palm Desert Campus. “For companies looking to invest in Greater Palm Springs, the message is clear: The region offers a strong and growing local talent pipeline, supported by institutions that are responsive to employer needs and dedicated to preparing graduates who are ready to contribute, lead, and help drive the region's long-term economic vitality.”
Greater Palm Springs’ workforce development initiatives extend beyond traditional degree programs. The Center for Employment Training (CET), for example, is expanding its skilled-trades training capacity by more than 60 percent with the addition of an electrician program, building on existing programs in construction skills, HVAC, and business office administration.
CET offers open enrollment, allowing graduates to enter the workforce and fulfill critical roles throughout the year.
Melissa Corea, CET’s regional director, believes this is an important benefit, especially when the need for skilled labor threatens to outweigh the supply.
“A lot of the workers in these fields are retiring, so we’re building the next generation,” she says. “There is much more demand than there used to be, and these are some of the fastest-growing job demand skills out there. We can help companies fill those roles faster because there’s a robust pipeline of students graduating.”
Built With Employers, Not Just For Them
Training and educating today’s workforce isn’t a one-way funnel in Greater Palm Springs. Instead, it’s a continuous feedback loop.
“As the region's economy continues to diversify, we work closely with business leaders, community organizations, educational partners, and regional stakeholders to ensure our programs remain aligned with current workforce demands and future industry trends,” Martinez says.
At CSUSB Palm Desert Campus, program advisory boards, including hospitality management and nursing boards, give regional employers a direct voice in the skills students are developing. Advisory members share insights on hiring needs, evolving technologies and industry challenges, helping faculty adapt programs accordingly.
“The value of these partnerships is that employers have a direct voice in shaping the talent pipeline,” Martinez continues. “This collaboration strengthens the connection between classroom learning and real-world application, ensuring students graduate with the skills employers seek.”
CET’s employer connections are similarly hands-on. The center’s career services manager works daily with local businesses to understand hiring needs and connect students with available roles. CET was also instrumental in bringing a chapter of the National Hispanic Construction Alliance to the Coachella Valley, creating a network of about 100 industry leaders in construction, electrical, and related trades.
“Greater Palm Springs is a growing region that constantly sees new business come in,” Corea says. “What we do directly aligns with the employment opportunities those companies create. Businesses know CET can be a resource for them as they look for talent.”
That alignment matters because Greater Palm Springs doesn’t develop talent in a silo. It’s building workforce capacity around a diversified economy with real hiring needs.
Tourism remains the region’s cornerstone industry, generating $9 billion in economic impact and supporting one in four jobs. Healthcare employs more than 21,000 workers, while agriculture generates more than $600 million annually. Growth across clean energy, construction, technology, and the creative economy only expands the need for talent that is trained and ready to work.
For employers, the Greater Palm Springs advantage is more than access to training programs. It’s access to talent that calls the area home – and plans to do so for a long time.
“The majority of students want to stay local,” Corea adds. “So, you have a built-in employment base and access to qualified candidates.”
Martinez sees that local connection as central to the region’s long-term workforce strategy.
“The most sustainable workforce strategy is not attracting talent from elsewhere,” she says. “It is identifying, developing, and retaining the talent that already exists within our community."
