Inland Empire battles low college grad rates to gain higher tech jobs and businesses

“Transportation logistics are literally in our DNA,” Burrows said.

The former air force base came with 500 acres of open land, so airport officials teamed up with developers to build 16 million square feet of industrial and office space — the equivalent of about 277 football fields —  to host clients ranging from Stater Bros. grocery markets to Fender Guitar manufacturing.

By 2022 the airport and business park reported creating 17,757 direct jobs, more than the jobs lost from the base closure.

Behind the executive jet terminal, cargo planes offload freight into hangars, connecting global markets to U.S. consumers. Everything from satellite components and drones, to medical devices and transplant organs, crosses the tarmac.

“It’s kind of like a freeway,” Burrows said. “You want it to always be open.”

One airport tenant is entirely devoted to painting planes, with a hangar equipped as a massive paint stall. It takes about eight weeks to complete an aeronautical paint job, Burrows said.

The logistics and distribution industry has generated plenty of press for the air pollution it generates. So the airport’s goal has been to go greener, Burrows said, with electric vehicles deployed in 2010 and plans for an on-site hydrogen fuel station, to produce the fuel for vehicles and ground support.

In 2022 the airport reached another milestone with the introduction of commercial flights.

“That has been our North Star,” Burrows said.

Breeze Airways, founded by the creator of Jet Blue, offers a quirky selection of flights from San Bernardino to San Francisco, Utah, Arizona and Connecticut under the motto “less pricey, more nicey.”

Bansree Parikh, President, Bank of America Inland Empire

The Inland Empire is known for its commerce and for smog and traffic. Bansree Parikh aims to turn that around and position the region as a worldwide leader in “sustainable logistics.”

“That means electrification, hydrogen, technology, robotics,” Parikh said from her Ontario office.

The plan is to generate advanced manufacturing jobs in partnership with educational institutions.

“Economic development, quality of life, environmental protection; I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive at all,” Parikh said. “I think they’re complimentary.”

Various parts of the region have their own characteristics and business opportunities, she said.

For the Coachella Valley it’s hospitality, tourism and entertainment, with boutique hotels, restaurants and golf courses. The Coachella Festival draws hundreds of thousands of music fans each year. And Disney is fusing Hollywood fantasy to resort housing, with its master-planned “Storyliving” development in Rancho Mirage.

In Temecula and Murrietta, manufacturing, bioscience, construction and business parks drive the economy, she said, along with agri-tourism at the area’s bucolic wineries.

The High Desert runs on logistics and distribution, healthcare and commercial and residential real estate. That’s expected to get a boost with the Brightline high-speed rail project from Southern California to Las Vegas, which broke ground April 22.

Parikh says the objective for each region is to generate enough local jobs to support the families who live there. Shorter commutes would also mean less traffic and pollution.

“It’s a quality of life game changer when you can live and work in the Inland Empire,” she said.

Juan Carlos Belliard, Assistant Vice President for Community Partnerships, Loma Linda University Health

With more than 17,000 employees, Loma Linda University Health is one of the biggest employers in the region and a highly ranked medical center.

It encompasses a university with eight healthcare schools and six hospitals, making it both an employment hub and a workforce pipeline, said Juan Carlos Belliard, Loma Linda health’s assistant vice president.

“What I would say our region needs more of is that linkage between education and workforce,” he said.

To support that, Loma Linda pairs with local school districts to offer summer mentorships for high school students.

“That is getting the students to envision what it takes to become a physician or a public health professional or a nurse,” Belliard said.

Loma Linda also employs community health workers, called promotores, who survey community needs and connect residents with services for disease prevention and treatment.

Belliard views Loma Linda’s array of services and training programs as a microcosm of the region’s entrepreneurial character.

“The focus from the outside is on the negative, what hasn’t worked here, or what used to be, and it’s too bad we don’t have what we had before,” Belliard said. “I really see the opposite of that deficit model, and see people who move here for opportunity.”