Altadena Rebuild: Emerging Challenges

Pam Sornson, JD on July 7, 2026

Altadena’s reconstruction after the 2025 wildfires is perhaps the largest ‘rebuild’ effort in Southern California’s history.  Not surprisingly, emerging and unexpected concerns are arising daily, confusing many of the entities and people working in that community, slowing progress, and sometimes stopping efforts altogether.

Fortunately, there are ongoing conversations among public and private entities about what they’re experiencing and seeing, so there are opportunities to collaborate around solutions and ways forward. One such opportunity for discussion was the first of three Future of Work webinars hosted by the Economic and Workforce Division at Pasadena City College (PCC EWD) on June 4th, 2026. Six panelists joined the discussion:

These professionals share their views, expertise, and projections as their agencies continue to press forward with the rebuild project.

 

A Long Slow Rise from the Ashes

Perhaps the biggest challenge is the fact that nothing like this – the restoration of an entire urban community – has been done before. In this case, virtually all of Altadena’s public assets (sewers, water supply, power grid) were destroyed or rendered inoperable by the fires. Over 9,000 buildings were flattened, including their infrastructure and systems. Those that weren’t directly affected were affected by association. Neighboring buildings were either scarred by burns or had their systems destroyed, even if their structure remained standing. The city itself must now determine how to reconstruct its infrastructure; a full-blown redesign appears necessary, not just a replacement of what was. And homeowners, even those with permits, are struggling to find the contractors they need to get started.

Consequently, according to webinar panelists, the challenges the community is facing are often unexpected and perplexing. Webinar panelists were happy to share their concerns and realities, as well as how their organizations are proceeding into the confusion. Three major hurdles were presented:

 

Not Enough Money

Most people and businesses are facing an uncomfortable reality: not having the funding needed to complete the rebuild. All the panelists agreed that the full expense of rebuilding the entire city is in the billions, not millions of dollars.

At the 18-month mark after the flames were extinguished, assessments reveal significant gaps in funding across almost all recovery efforts.

  • For lower-income families, the actual cost of replacing their losses is probably beyond their means even after insurance is applied.
  • For families with insurance, often that resource is depleted well before the needs are covered. And rising costs are driven by many factors:Building supplies are low due to high demand, and supplemental or other options often aren’t available at all. Even when they’re available, their prices are higher than anticipated.
    • A llimited access to capital means many families have relied on insurance funds to finance their living situation for the full 18 months since they lost their house. When that source is gone, so will their opportunity to rebuild their home.
    • Area renters, those who had sweetheart deals with owners to live in ADU’s and other available spaces attached to private homes, may not have the opportunity to return at all. Their living accommodations are gone, and it may be too expensive to add that amenity to the homeowner’s eventual tab.

The panelists also described a completely novel challenge: many of Altadena’s homeowners were ‘grandfathered’ into that ownership – their houses had been in the family for generations. Replacing those dwellings to the standard of their former glory is virtually impossible, given the rise in home and lot prices in the area. No one knows what will happen if they can’t afford to replace their home. Estimated costs for completing a single-home rebuild are typically $500,000 to $600,000 higher than originally expected.

Compounding these challenges is the fact that the federal government has yet to respond to Altadena’s $8 billion request for assistance.

 

Garbled Communications

This problem stems from the sheer number of entities on the ground trying to address their particular concern of the day; Altadena was served by seven separate water companies, each of which is trying to recover its assets and restore its service base. One company may be attempting to connect new home construction to the grid, but by doing so, it impedes another company’s efforts to get its water services work done that day. These confusions are also multiplied when there are conflicts between residential and commercial builders, each of which has a different set of building standards to follow.

  • Homeowners have been compelled to become property developers.
  • Volunteers are asked to provide professional services.
  • Small businesses are having difficult conversations with the owners of the buildings in which they were tenants. Each of those separate entities have their own needs for the rebuild, and those differences can cause conflict.

And because the devastation covers the footprint of an entire city, everyone must sometimes work within the same geographical area, which can cause transportation and parking issues in streets still under construction. According to County Representative Anish Saraiya, Altadena will need $2.5 billion to adequately replace the public systems it lost.

 

No Unified Collaboration Systems

While many organizations have stepped up to coordinate services and activities within their scope of enterprise, an overarching network of integrated messaging and communications systems that encompasses the entire rebuild effort has yet to surface. Without that, no group or service provider can accurately assess their priorities, nor are there comprehensive plans available to tie the efforts of all to a single, cohesive strategy. This current situation compounds the confusion found in the field.

One response to this concern was given resoundingly by PCC President/Superintendent Dr. Jose Gomez. He shared his concerns that there are no construction programs presently available in local high schools to feed into college programs in order to develop an adequate workforce. Conversations intending to remedy this situation are already underway.

Dr. Gomez was also quick to offer PCC as a hub for collaboration for all concerned. Its location, just three miles from Altadena, makes it a convenient place for holding meetings. Its partners throughout the region have expertise and capacity that will benefit many involved in the reconstruction. And the school itself is now viewing Altadena’s recovery as a project for its constituents:

  • PCC’s new Construction Trades Lab is already training a new class of relevant workers;
  • Its Small Business Development Center and Women’s Business Center are engaging with Altadena residents and responders to provide guidance and support.
  • PCC is also exploring adding new programs related to sectors beyond construction: infrastructure, utilities, services, and the like, so that all the values Altadena lost can – and will – be returned, better, more effective, and more efficient than before.

The webinar demonstrated that the value of these conversations will be seen in the end result of the rebuild effort. The discussion underscored the panelists’ shared focus on achieving what Altadena residents want most: to return home. How that looks will become more evident as the recovery process rolls on.

In the Public Interest: The Altadena Rebuild Community Speaks

Pam Sornson, JD on June 16, 2026

Altadena, California, suffered immense losses in the 2025 wildfires. More than 6,000 homes were lost, in addition to hundreds of businesses, companies, and commercial buildings. After the rubble was cleared away, the full scope, depth, and breadth of the losses were staggering. Whole streets were gone; schools and high-rise buildings left in ruins, and even the sidewalks, sewers, and water mains were destroyed. In a region where wildfires are fairly common, and many communities have suffered horrific losses in those flames, it’s become apparent that breathing life back into Altadena would require the largest rebuild and recovery effort to take place so far in the Southern California area.
In light of that challenge, on June 4th, 2026, the Economic and Workforce Division of Pasadena City College (PCC EWD) convened its first of three webinars to focus on which entities are actively involved in the reconstruction process and what they are learning from their respective perspectives. Representatives from these six public and private entities shared with attendees the process they’re following, the challenges they’re facing, and their prognosis on what needs to happen next.

The Panel

As always, the panel participants at PCC’s Eighth Annual Future of Work Conference (now split into these three webinars) are deeply committed to their work and bring short-, mid-, and long-term views of the paths they are on. Their information is both inspiring and shocking: unforeseen realities are impeding progress; funding from all sources is drying up well before the work is complete, and the residents of the little City are struggling, not knowing if they will ever actually return ‘home’ again.

Public Entity Panel Members:

Dr. Jose Gomez, Superintendant/President, Pasadena City College (Gomez)

Dr. Gomez and his PCC colleagues are already on the front line of the fire recovery effort. During the conflgration, PCC was the central coordinating spot for fire responders. The Rose Bowl was used as a staging site for firefighters, and the school hosted a myriad of agencies providing food, medical services, and more. In January 2026, he oversaw the opening of the EWD’s new Construction Industries Lab, a campus-based construction and related trades training facility. He is actively looking for guidance on how PCC can continue to contribute.

Anish Saraiya, Director, Altadena Recovery, Office of Supervisor Kathryn Barger (Saraiya)

Saraiya says his office is proud of the work they’ve completed so far, although there is still much more to do.  Of the 6,000 destroyed homes, only 1,500 are in the actual rebuilding process. At least half – 3,000 – haven’t even begun yet. Just one reason for the large disparity in progress is the lack of a workforce. The effort will require thousands more workers across all construction sectors to achieve full recovery. For that reason, Saraiya says, he’s on the panel to advocate for the development of a construction industry talent pipeline.

Private Entity Panel Members:

Joshua Humphries, Senior Advisor, California Community Foundation  (Humphries)

With a focus on the region’s most urgent problems, Humphries develops new tools, practices, and systems to alleviate LA’s complex housing, economic, and neighborhood issues. He is most alarmed at the rapidly dwindling financial resources available for these projects. Working with two private companies, Snap Inc. (SNAP – famous for developing Snapchat and Bitmoji) and the Department of Angels (DoA), Humphries is now focused on securing funds to bridge widening economic gaps. Many homeowners are still waiting for the Corps of Engineers to complete the infrastructure before they can begin building, assuming they can still afford it. According to Humphries, each home recovery will be $500K-$600K short, even after application of insurance proceeds.

Anders Corey – President & CEO,  Altadena Recovery & Rebuild Corporation (ARRC) (Corey)

In his role as CEO and as an expert in disaster recovery, Corey continues his earlier work in economic development, housing, land use, and legislation. In Altadena, his agency is working with homeowners to help them recover their most prized asset. He sees why the financial gap is large and widening: “Commercial and industrial infrastructure, and social and public services have yet to get started, which is delaying completion of residential builds.” The ARRC coordinates effective collaborations between public and private organizations and is concerned about how the whole community can recover when only a certain segment of assets (private homes) is the current construction focus.

Bryon Wong – CEO, San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity (Wong)

Obviously, providing housing is the primary concern for this busy Habitat enterprise, which makes the Altadena project particularly painful. Too many people still need not just housing but shelter. Emergency, short-term, and long-term housing remains in high demand as resident-tenants wait for space to open up so they can return to the town they love. The lack of a workforce is especially challenging; Wong says his volunteers are already overworked, mostly because federal policies affecting migrants and immigrants are discouraging those potential workers. And even if a workforce were within reach, how to pay them for their work would remain a mystery.

Community Representation Panel Member:

Freddy Sayegh – Founder, Altadena Coalition (Sayegh)

On the panel, Sayegh represents homeowners and business owners who have lost everything and are seeking resources to recover their assets. One aim is to ensure community members have a say in how the community rises up. They are also invested in returning Altadena to its prior glory, as much as possible. That might be difficult, however, because the cost of a full recovery is in the Billions, not the Millions, and Sayegh says there don’t appear to be any deep pockets heading their way. Making matters worse, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is a potential contributor, as the agency that manages federal assistance dollars. Reported experiences with that entity so far, however, have been challenging, as those overseers are restrictive in their requirements and less than generous with their funding.
This stellar panel provided exceptional information and some surprising insights during the conversation, which is presented in the next edition of the Pulse.

Rebuilding Altadena: the Focus of the PCC EWD Future of Work Webinar Series

Pam Sornson, JD on June 2, 2026

The city of Altadena was partially destroyed in the 2025 wildfires. The people of Altadena are determined to build it back to its former glory, if not more, so they’ve launched Rebuild Altadena to coordinate efforts into accomplishments. Achieving that goal, however, will take time, money, and a whole lot of patience. As a good neighbor, the City of Pasadena is deeply invested in helping its community cohort revive its presence, and Pasadena City College (PCC) is just one of its entities to have stepped up to the plate.

In response to the crisis, the California Community College is reorganizing its annual ‘Future of Work Conference’ into a series of webinars to educate and inform regional residents about the ongoing recovery effort. The three-part webinar series will share the excitement around the synergy arising from public and private investments, how ‘resilience’ will be built into the new systems, and how Southern California’s emerging construction industry workforce demands will be met. The first webinar happens Thursday, June 4th, from 10 AM to noon. Register for the series here – it’s free to join. 

Altadena Rising

The flames destroyed more than buildings; they also took out much of the area’s infrastructure and systems. Sewers, water supply, electrical conduits, and other grid-sized elements were eroded or destroyed altogether, and in many cases whole systems failed beyond repair, so replacing them will take time. Inspectors have already determined that most of those replacements should also be upgrades to today’s technological standards, in order to meet the emerging demands of near-term and future users. The ‘finished’ status of infrastructure assets will also guide the selection of materials and systems by home and corporate builders, because their choices must be compatible with the elements of the larger infrastructure. The ultimate recovery will demonstrate the success of the myriad collaborations now underway between business owners, contractors, city and county personnel, and other entities affected by the fires.

PCC is just one of those collaborators, but its participation and contributions aren’t insignificant. Early on, even while the fires burned, the school opened its campus to provide a variety of immediate services – parking, meeting places, resource distribution centers, and the like. And in January 2026, it broke ground for a new construction training facility aimed at educating the next wave of construction professionals and workers. The San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity organization has partnered with PCC to help both fire survivors and the school’s learner population rebuild the region while building their personal futures and careers.

PCC’s Future of Work Webinars: Rebuild Altadena!

The webinars take place over the course of three days: Thursday, June 4th, Thursday, September 3, and Thursday, November 5th.

The conversations will further the ongoing communications that are cycling through the community:

  • What are Altadena’s most pressing issues now, and what tools are available to alleviate those?
  • Who needs to be involved in these discussions? Who’s missing from this table?
  • What resources are sufficient and available? What resources are needed but not yet accessible?
  • How does the community collaborate to ensure all aspects of loss, growth, and opportunity are explored and addressed?

As a school, PCC is enthused about growing its student population, yes, but also about the opportunity to realign its courses and programs to meet the current and future needs of the Rebuild Altadena plan of action. That premise is well within the college’s mandate of providing workforce training for existing and emerging industries. As the Rebuild process moves forward, PCC will be deeply involved in designing and implementing new approaches to the building process, so that newly minted construction industry workers are fully qualified and trained for their first day on site.

June 4th: Webinar #1 – Public-Interest Rebuild and Community Delivery Systems

This conversation aims to educate viewers about how the multitude of service providers, industry professionals, civic leaders, and educational institutions are working together to develop an optimal recovery timeline and reimagined infrastructure. Their focus is on existing and emerging public services and service delivery systems and how those can be used moving forward.

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the recovery process is determining which of these remaining assets are still viable. The past 18 months have been spent cleaning away fire detritus and discovering the full extent of the damage done to underground, ground-level, or overhead services. Those assets that remain in use must also be tested for their soundness and capacity, as well as their possible integration with the advanced technologies being contemplated for the final iteration. The questions that arise from these assessments will have different responses based on who is analyzing the concern. Following these developments over time also requires much collaboration, as emerging data can suggest when and where different courses of action will ultimately result in different outcomes.

September 3rd: Webinar #2 – Resilient Infrastructure and Environmental Recovery

There’s a silver lining around the cloud of smoke produced by the fires: the opportunity to reinvent what was but in an enhanced, more efficient, and environmentally friendly form. Much of Altadena’s infrastructure was over 75 years old, and it was rife with materials and substances that are now known to be toxic to humans. At the same time, climate change is forcing the industry to address the unforeseen realities of devastating floods, droughts,, and more fires, which are occurring at a faster pace than before and pose substantial risks of even greater devastation. Planning for these contingencies will be the center of this webinar.

November 5th: Webinar #3 – Rebuilding the Talent Pipeline

Not surprisingly, PCC’s Economic and Workforce Development Division (EWD) is as invested in growing the economy as it is supportive of student success. The fires have spurred a growth frenzy in the supply chains that feed the broader construction industry, and there is more work available in those fields and occupations now than ever before. As Altadena gets put back together, its residents, neighbors, and communities will all experience the financial growth that typically flows from this type of urban overhaul. New jobs, businesses, and even sub-industries, initiated by the flames but driven by strong recovery winds, will replace those lost and provide existing and newly trained workers with well-paying jobs and true career opportunities. How that talent pool grows will be the subject of the third PCC EWD webinar.

PCC’s Future of Work Webinar Series Focuses on Wildfire Recovery

Pam Sornson, JD on May 19, 2026

Pasadena City College is excited to introduce its 2026 Future of Work Webinar Series. The school is hosting three webinars on Thursday, June 4th, Thursday, September 3rd, and Thursday, November 5th to inform and engage its constituents in the wildfire recovery process. The 2025 Altadena Fire came dangerously close to the campus and affected thousands of PCC’s students, families, employees, and neighbors. The webinar series is designed to give all concerned the opportunity to contribute to the recovery while improving their personal and professional economic situations at the same time.

Contending with the Fallout From the Disastrous Altadena Fire

The 2025 Altadena wildfire (the Eaton fire) wiped out the entire community. Over 9,400 buildings were destroyed, and 17 people lost their lives. Thousands more lost their homes, businesses, schools, parks, cafes, shops, restaurants, and more. In its aftermath, unexpected environmental concerns began popping up, escalating the already eye-popping financial losses that are believed to exceed $200 Billion (including actual losses and insurance claims). Local governments and agencies were responding well before the flames were quelled, finding temporary housing, food supplies, and healthcare resources for affected residents. After extinguishing the fires, those entities launched the ‘recovery and rebuild’ process: identifying and removing hazards before construction crews moved in, carting off the thousands of tons of debris, and clarifying where and how public utilities and resources needed repairs or replacements.

Now, ~18 months after the fires exploded, site inspectors are finding evidence that the fires released more toxins and environmental hazards than were first anticipated. Workers are discovering high levels of lead, heavy metals, asbestos, and even arsenic in the ashes and remains of the buildings, which are preventing many locals from even entering their property, let alone beginning the rebuilding process. Consequently, not only is there a high demand for well-trained construction workers, but the demand for specialized workers is on a swift rise, those trained to address the added concerns of toxins and health threats that are evolving as the neighborhood continues its recovery process.

As a neighbor and deeply invested community member, Pasadena City College (PCC) is stepping up to address these workforce challenges. A leader in workforce development initiatives, PCC’s Economic and Workforce Division (EWD) is hosting a series of webinars designed to engage all aspects of the rebuild process – businesses, employers, industries, and labor entities. The intent is to gather together as many resources as possible around a series of webinar discussions, allowing attendees to contribute their perspectives to the decisions needed to achieve as complete a recovery as possible.

PCC’s Future of Work Webinar Objectives

As a premier college within the California Community College system, PCC is unique for its forward-leaning approach to workforce and economic development. This three-part webinar series is another demonstration of the College’s innovative workforce development initiative. It focuses on educating its constituents about the realities of the recovery process while offering opportunities to enhance their personal and professional lives at the same time:

  • While all the area’s employers are critical to a fully successful recovery, many of them may be overwhelmed by the challenges posed by recovery processes. Webinar #1 (June 4, 2026 – 10 AM – 11:30 AM) is designed to give both for-profit and non-profit entities structure and insights into what’s happening and how existing resources can benefit their activities. The conversation will encourage increasing levels of collaboration across businesses and business sectors.
  • The aftermath of the fires revealed not just the weaknesses that caused the failures of aging public systems, but also the absence of capacities that were capable of responding more effectively to the conflagration. The goal of the rebuild process is to embed a newly resilient infrastructure to replace that which was destroyed by the flames. Further, newly discovered – and unexpected – environmental hazards have been complicating recovery efforts so far. These also need a full vetting to ensure they are properly managed. The second webinar (Thursday, September 3, 10 AM – 11:30 AM) will cover these issues and topics.
  • Ironically, the fire recovery effort has also opened doors to new employment and occupational opportunities. Just as businesses and industries are evolving to meet these challenges, so are workforce standards regarding skills and talents. While too many construction jobs remain unfilled due to a lack of appropriate talent, almost all occupations are adding technological skills to their mandates, making it more difficult to find work even in this hiring environment. Accordingly, PCC’s EWD is focused on rebuilding the ‘talent pipeline directive’ within its courses and programs. Webinar #3 (Thursday, November 5th, 10 AM – 11:30 AM) addresses these efforts, as PCC shares its growth in these critical training programs. Companies that have landed rebuilding contracts need a fully trained labor force to complete those obligations. PCC is working to ensure that it can provide that workforce when it’s needed.

While each installment focuses on specific topics, the trio of conversations is designed to:

  • build relationships across sectors and entities
  • improve employer relations with the school and its community
  • educate students on job and career options in existing and emerging occupations, and
  • establish a communications and engagement infrastructure to ensure an ongoing collaboration across community assets that transcends these issues and supports the region into the future.

Additionally, each webinar will address how distinct populations can participate in the recovery process. Employers need new workers; industries need more business members; workers need more training. PCC’s EWD is uniquely situated to connect all these resources into a stronger, more resilient recovery effort by giving each a forum in which to raise their concerns, air their needs, and find responses to their challenges. Please register to attend one or all – Altadena and the greater LA region are depending on your support.

LA’s 2026 Growth Drivers: Climate Change

Pam Sornson, JD on May 5, 2026

Despite the insistence by some that petroleum should be the world’s primary energy source, the usage of renewable energy sources is expanding globally. The evolution of the renewable energy industry is laudable, especially given the pushback it’s faced from the petroleum sector. The reality is that the accelerating climate crisis is driving the global expansion of clean energy sources, and California is leading the way with its substantial investments and even higher expectations.

Petroleum Fuel is Under Fire

While climate change isn’t the only reason the world is converting to non-petroleum fuels, it certainly underscores the wisdom of making that decision. Recent research demonstrates clearly the connection between oil and gas emissions and global heat waves. A 2025 study published in the journal Nature actually connects the dots between each of the world’s 180 ‘carbon majors’ (cement and fossil fuel producers) and 213 historically notable heat waves. The analysis rests on a well-established framework, published in 2020, that made it possible to measure how much the emissions generated by any particular company or industry contribute to the reality and significance of an actual heat wave. Labeled the field of ‘extreme event attribution,’ the research looks at the causes of these events (as opposed to the damages they created) and identifies the organizations that were most likely to have contributed to their occurrence.

The 2025 study followed the circumstances of 226 heatwaves reported in 63 countries between 2000 and 2023. Each heat ‘event’ was notable for its size, the damage it caused, the fact that it triggered a state of emergency, or required international assistance. The data collected during each event consisted of (among other indicators):

  • the average temperature during the event
  • the geographical region affected
  • the intensity of the temperature in relation to pre-industrial data, and
  • the change in the Global Mean Surface Temperature (GMST) compared with temperatures taken between 1950 and 2023.

The comparisons across weather reports over time, coupled with the frequency of the heatwaves themselves, provide insights into how global warming is affecting the planet now. For example, the science indicates that the heat intensity experienced during the ‘heat dome’ that covered America’s Pacific Northwest in summer 2021 was 4.4° C hotter than it would have been in an earlier era.

From there, the researchers examined emissions data from the world’s many Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Methane (CH4) emitters, the ‘carbon majors.’ According to this data, these 180 entities are responsible for 57% of all human-generated emissions. Further, when segregating out only the petroleum and cement producers, the percentage of attribution rises to 75%. The top 14 (of 180) carbon majors are believed to be responsible for 30% of the total CO2 output, while the other 166 equal that volume collectively. (For clarity, 33 carbon majors are American and account for 10% of the total global emissions of these gases. Another 33 are headquartered in China and account for 12% of the global total.) Combining the data sets (temperature changes and emissions information) allows scientists to determine the extent to which each carbon major contributed to the specific heat wave.

The study compelled a series of difficult conclusions:

  • The average intensity of heatwaves increased by .8 °C between 2000-2009 and 2020-2023, from 1.4 °C to 2.2 °C.
  • The carbon emissions from the most egregious emitters ‘caused 16 heatwaves to become at least 10,000 times more likely’ than they would have been before the climate crisis arose.
  • The findings are likely an underestimation of the threat’s scale. One of the scientists suggested that the real consequences of this unfettered climate pollution ‘are probably far greater.’

As this body of science grows, it seems inevitable that it will continue to clarify and identify who is responsible for climate disasters and how they might be held accountable.

The Use of Renewable Energy is Rising  

Not surprisingly, those areas that have experienced significant losses due to climate change are also very invested in avoiding similar events in the future. California is one of those regions, and the State is investing heavily in its evolving and emerging clean fuels industries.

The 2025 fires were just the latest indicator that California is on the front lines of the climate change battle. Since 2000, the State has suffered hundreds of billions of dollars in damages from climate-related disasters, most notably fires, but also droughts, floods, and heatwaves. In fact, the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), a sector of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA), asserts that the decade between 2010 and 2020 had more than twice as many billion-dollar disasters as the decade between 2000 and 2010. Without significant intentions to slow that growth, California will be adversely affected by climate-related events for far into the foreseeable future.

Consequently, Governor Newsom is investing billions in a multi-billion-dollar budget that will (hopefully) slow the progress of climate change across the State while also reducing its capacity to cause damage. The goal is to achieve state-wide carbon neutrality by the year 2045 through several high-profile, very expensive projects:

  • Electric Vehicles – Automobile emissions are highly toxic, and a switch to all-electric vehicles will remove this form of pollution from the atmosphere. California now has over 200,000 public or shared charging ports and another 800,000 privately owned terminals.
  • Solar power will eventually replace other forms of electricity generation as the most efficient and widely deployed energy source. California already generates more solar-powered electricity than any other state, which accounts for 33% of the state’s electricity usage. Additionally, with over $120B in investments, California’s solar industry now employs over 78,000 people, and is expected to continue on that growth trajectory.
  • And in the year since quelling the 2025 wildfires, the State has learned a lot about its causes. The World Weather Attribution organization estimates that the likelihood of a devastating fire in that region increased by 35% on the day the LA fires began. Of course, California’s natural windy and dry environment lends itself to wildfires at the best of times. Add in the complexities of climate concerns (see above), and it’s clear that much remains to be done to prevent future disasters like this.

So, considering the damage that California has already suffered due to climate change, and in light of the escalation of that reality into the future, it appears reasonable and wise that the State of California is now working to reduce the contributors to climate change by building out safer, less toxic industries. The rise of renewable energy industries in the State is growing,

 

LA’s 2026 Growth Drivers: Construction

Pam Sornson, JD on April 21, 2026

While the 2025 wildfires are definitely playing a strong role in shaping California’s infrastructure investments, they are not the sole reason why the region’s construction industry is on the rise. The reality is that the Los Angeles region has been struggling for years to find enough homes for all those choosing to live within its jurisdiction.

Fortunately, LA’s Center of Excellence for Labor Market Research has crunched the numbers and presents a comprehensive overview of all the work being done (and the work that still needs doing) as the LA Basin continues its recovery from the flames and looks forward to hosting the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Housing Headaches for Generations

The 2025 wildfires were unlike any disaster LA had previously experienced. Over 16,000 structures were destroyed, which left great swaths of open, scarred landscapes gaping in the sun. Approximately one year later, fewer than 10% of the homes had been rebuilt, and commercial construction progress is also still lagging behind. And housing remains equally scarce in areas not affected by the flames; well before the fires, thousands of Los Angelenos were unable to find an affordable house to buy, which made the rental market soar and prices climb out of range for many potential tenants and homeowners.

There are many reasons for the housing shortage, but perhaps the most significant influence was the failure of analysts to properly assess the long-term impacts of the 2008 ‘housing bubble burst.’ In the years leading up to that collapse, activities in the home lending sector had drastically changed how mortgages were managed. Lending standards were relaxed, and many people with less-than-stellar credit histories were permitted to sign up for huge home loans, while paying only interest for the first five years. Then, at the five-year mark, when their incomes failed to cover the new level of debt they had assumed, most were compelled to lose their homes to foreclosure.

Making matters worse, after the crash, potential home buyers often found themselves left out of the purchase process by new, much more stringent lending rules and banking requirements. While industry watchdogs and rule-makers were attempting to prevent another ‘housing bubble’ from forming, they were also interfering with the home-buying dreams of thousands of people born to Generation X. The long-term result was that many fewer homes were built between 2008 and 2020 than were actually needed, which jacked up the price of those that were available, and forced hundreds of thousands into long-term rental units.

The plans for recovery after the 2025 fires include addressing these housing stock gaps as well. Accordingly, LA’s construction industries are booming, creating both jobs for those who want to work in this sector and houses for those who want to feel the joy of home ownership.

Construction Leads the Way

Analysts looking at the charred remains of the Eaton and Pacific Palisades fires have assessed the workforce demand to rebuild those neighborhoods back to their previous state, with a common conclusion being, “We need more workers.” Up to as many as 45,000 new workers, according to LA County Forward, a publication by LA County designed to explain the region’s rebuild needs and the government’s plan to achieve those goals. With an estimate of ~3.5 thousand workers per $1 billion invested in construction projects, just the fire-affected neighborhoods will require a massive expansion of the labor force to achieve a full, community-wide rebuild.

Note, too, that the additional workers needed to rebuild the fire-damaged neighborhoods are NOT going to alleviate the pre-existing housing shortage. In addition to the ~16,000 homes and businesses lost, LA County intends to add more than 450,000 new housing units in the area by October 2029, so its forecast for future construction workers is much larger than those needed in the burned communities. To attain this goal, LA County is expanding its workforce training opportunities across its 88 cities and 4,083 square miles, and is accessing all its resources to ensure success. Among those resources: the County’s own Department of Economic Opportunity, America’s Job Centers of California, the locally based Economic and Workforce Development Boards and agencies, and, of course, its 19 community colleges, including Pasadena City College.

Pasadena City College Gears Up for Construction Careers

The fact that the Eaton fire burned less than five miles from the Pasadena City College (PCC) campus is just one driver of the school’s recent ramp-up in construction-related courses, programs, and facilities. On the first anniversary of the fires’ ignition, PCC launched its newest project, a state-of-the-art Center for Constructive Arts Center. The 55,000-square-foot facility leverages the design capabilities of its partners, including the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools group, to provide cutting-edge training services for a myriad of construction jobs. Not constrained to the building trades alone, the new school will also address and provide learning opportunities in environmental fields such as restoration and sustainability trades, as well as green construction technologies.

Colloquially known as the ‘Construction Trades Lab (CTL),’ the new resource responds to the needs of both the community and the college. Yes, the community will need the workforce to recover from the disastrous 2025 conflagrations, but the school needs to offer access to well-paying jobs and careers. The new facility responds to both those demands. Funding for the CTL is coming from a variety of sources:

  • The Walter Family Foundation has donated $2.8 million to connect two of its critical causes: social equity and conservation.
  • The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) also contributed $500,000 to the Lab, part of its $1.5 million designation to schools to defray costs incurred during the fire calamity.
  • The Ballmer Foundation, the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, and the PCC Foundation all added resources and support.

Additionally, many of the area’s non-profit groups, trade councils, and elected representatives have voiced their enthusiasm for the project.

For PCC, the CTL is just one more effort to address learners’ needs by connecting them to current events and existing career options. Just a few months after the firefighters quelled the flames, PCC launched its Summer Construction Careers Program, a paid training program offering hands-on classes in welding, electrical work, and building inspection, among many other course options. As part of its ‘Skills to Rebuild’ initiative, PCC exposed regional 11th- and 12th-graders to the many occupations in the building trades through a community-based partnership with retailers, career professionals, and industry leaders. Industry-recognized credentials assured the learners that their summer wasn’t wasted and that their future could be secured within the construction industry.

The 2025 wildfires certainly triggered LA’s intense effort to rebuild its infrastructure and neighborhoods. The need for well-paying jobs and careers and affordable housing, however, will keep the momentum rolling forward for years after the two burned communities are back up and functioning fully.

 

The Rise of Workforce Intermediaries

Pam Sornson, JD on April 7, 2026

For many seeking employment, somewhere between needing a job and finding a job is a workforce intermediary (WI) – a person or entity that connects a person’s specific skill sets to the job opening best suited to those talents. In some cases, the WIs provide training to ensure the employer knows the worker is fully ready to take over the task on Day One. In other cases, the WI might offer hiring incentives or even ‘work-and-learn’ opportunities, allowing HR staff to vet the ‘fit’ between the apprentice and the occupation. In all cases, intermediaries can play a leading role in building and sustaining an equitable workforce by opening all available opportunities to all available job seekers.

LA Tackles Labor Challenges with WIs

The LA region is very aware of its workforce challenges. The 2025 wildfires have generated a hiring frenzy as businesses – both those affected by the flames and those at work in response to them – look to rebuild the lost assets and the devastated neighborhoods where the fires occurred. At the same time, the FIFA World Cup soccer games begin in Los Angeles City on June 12th, 2026, and preparations for the 2028 Summer Olympics continue unabated. Finding, training, and hiring the workforce needed to successfully manage all of these demands requires coordination and focus, both of which are clearly demonstrated by the WI’s currently at work on the task.

Los Angeles Basin Regional Planning Unit (LABRPU)

This comprehensive organization is populated by representatives from seven different LA-region workforce development boards (WDBs):

Together, they are addressing the key considerations that currently exist within LA’s complex workforce development environment. Most notably, there is a persistent mismatch of skills versus jobs. In many industries, the number of job openings is significantly larger than the pool of job candidates with appropriate skills to fill them. Further, with a current 5.0 to 5.1% unemployment rate, the region has thousands of potential workers who simply need proper training to qualify for hire. Analysis of that worker pool reveals a challenging and complex makeup of populations, educational levels, and occupational achievements. all of which need addressing to ensure the potential worker has all options available to become the actual worker.

Fundamental educational achievement is a major factor in skill development and, as such, is attracting a lot of attention in the WI sphere. In the LA region:

  • Approximately four in five residents (81.3%) have a high school diploma, while
  • Just over one/third (36.5%) have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
  • Only 12.4% hold graduate degrees, and
  • 11.8% have not attained even a high school credential.

These data are made more complex when viewed through the realities of today’s communities and job markets. For example, race continues to have an impact on employment or education attainment. Even though Hispanics comprise a significant segment of the population, they are less likely than their Asian or White counterparts to have advanced education credentials. Also, while many job skills have expanded to include technology and, especially these days, Artificial Intelligence, very few training providers are fully up to speed in providing that educational resource. These are just a few of the barriers and challenges facing today’s employers as they seek the workforce they need to remain competitive and economically sound.

Accordingly, in the RPU’s four-year plan (2025-2028), the WIs noted above are focusing on four specific strategies to address the divide and reduce unemployment.

  • Sector Specific Training – California has designated eight distinct geographical sectors, each with its own assignment of dedicated industries. The industries correlate to that region’s best economic assets and potential. In the LA region, which includes Orange County, several sectors are identified as strategic to regional economic growth. Regional WIs are focused on developing training options to feed these sectors:
    • Construction
    • ‘Selected’ Manufacturing (which includes Fashion, Aerospace, Analytical Instruments, Pharmaceuticals, and medical devices),
    • Logistcs
    • Entertainment and Information Technology
    • Health Services, and Leisure and Hospitality
  • Industry-Focused Training – Industries within each sector encompass a wide variety of businesses and occupations. In addition to infrastructure development driven by the fires, these industries are experiencing growth and are in need of well-trained workers:
    • Healthcare and social assistance (which is growing due to the current trend of an aging population),
    • Transportation and warehousing,
    • Arts, Entertainment, and Information,
    • Manufacturing,
    • Construction, and
    • Leisure and Hospitality.
  • Regional Collaboration – The State mandates that regional cohorts work together to resolve joint concerns. The LABRPU selected two indicators to use to track its workforce development collaboration activities:
    • a shared target population across regional borders, and
    • shared pools of resources to meet the target population’s training and employment needs.

Along with a shared website, the LABRPU has also assigned a dedicated Regional Organizer who works with each of the seven separate WDBs. The overarching collaboration aims to develop an apprenticeship portal that combines resources from the area’s public schools, adult education programs, and the LA County Office of Education. The portal’s focus is to guide learners toward CTE pathways that take them to the high-quality jobs they seek.

  • Inclusive Hiring – The LA Basin is home to a diverse community, encompassing people of all races, genders, and capacities. The LABRPU has identified six sub-groups, each of which experiences enhanced barriers to economic success:
    • Wild Fire affected – Thousands of people were directly affected by the 2025 wildfires, many of whom are struggling to find work, a home, a community, and, in some cases, all three. This population has been designated as a vulnerable group and worthy of extra attention.
    • Those needing technology support, meaning both access to it and training to engage with it. The work of tomorrow will almost certainly require at least a fundamental understanding of connecting through the internet.
    • The developmentally disabled are also often unnecessarily left out of workforce development plans. At the Verdugo CNC Machinist Academy, people affected by neurological or developmental conditions get the hands-on instruction they need to find work in the world.
    • Young people, too, are highlighted in the LABRPU’s strategy. Former foster youth and transitional-aged young people who are not enrolled in school or college now have access to job-training resources from over 120 community partners. The Horizons 32K Strategic Plan offers a ‘Roadmap to Self-Sufficiency’ to ensure that youths ages 16 to 24 have access to the employment, education, and well-being programs they need to find their future.
    • Those experiencing homelessness are also a focus of the LABRPU. With the largest homeless population in the country, the LA Basin struggles to find housing, health care, and work for the thousands of people now living on the street. Five of the seven WDBs collaborate on the Regional Homeless Opportunities for Meaningful Employment Initiative.
    • Formerly incarcerated people are also included in the LABRPU’s list of primary constituents. The regional WDBs work together to find, educate, and employ these individuals as they work to regain their place in society.

Los Angeles City is home to almost four million people (3,878,704). Los Angeles County is home to 9.7 million people. The regional economy supports over 4.5 million jobs, and its 2024 GDP totaled more than $886 billion. It is experiencing significant growth across all its industries, and those companies and businesses need workers to become and remain competitive. These seven collaborative Workforce Intermediaries, combined with the efforts of other workforce development entities, including the area’s Community Colleges, are helping them find those workers through communication, innovation, and a shared vision for the future.

LA Regroups for a Resilient Recovery

Pam Sornson, JD on March 17, 2026

While the causes are disparate and varied, the effects are the same: extreme weather events like the 2025 LA wildfires result in higher economic losses in the United States each year than in any other country. Floods, fires, storms, and freezes driven by changing climate conditions are taxing a nationwide infrastructure that was not designed to withstand those pressures. In many cases, the only response in their aftermath is to rebuild a stronger foundation to act as a shield against similar future destructive forces. Which is exactly what Los Angeles intends to do.

LA Region Losses Drive Workforce Development Focus

The region has a deeply vested interest in replacing what it’s lost with better, stronger, and more resilient assets. It simply cannot afford to experience losses like these again. As time passes, the full extent of the 2025 wildfire losses is being revealed:

  • The actual number of deaths attributed to the fires may be rising. While 30 people definitely lost their lives during the conflagration, more than 440 deaths also occurred within the first month of the fires (January 2025), well over and above the typical number of deaths usually posted in that timeframe. Analysis suggests that fire-related circumstances may be the true cause of these deaths, given their effects on human health. Poor air quality – smoke, ash, and toxic chemicals – often contributes to premature death, as do delays or interruptions in health care services, which certainly occurred as the flames burned on.
  • And the ‘dollar loss value’ of the fires is also rising. The Bureau of Labor Statistics uses a ‘Consumer Price Index’ (CPI) inflation calculator to estimate the financial loss caused by the fires; that figure currently approaches (or passes) $28 billion ($28,000,000,000). The 2018 Camp Fire that destroyed the California town of Paradise consumed over 153,000 acres but cost a relatively low $12.4 billion, in comparison.
  • Not insignificantly, roughy two-thirds of job losses caused by the fires were within the Palisades fire perimeter, which represents 26% of that area’s total employed workers. Those jobs aren’t coming back until the region completes its rebuild, and that outcome isn’t expected to be achieved for several years.

Making matters worse is the reality that the federal government isn’t as responsive to these concerns as it used to be. As the fires burned, the federal government pledged just $5.7 billion for disaster relief purposes, well below the $33.9 billion requested by Governor Newsom. A year into the recovery effort, full funding for the rebuild and recover effort is still not available.

Consequently, the LA region and California as a state are looking inward to find the resources needed to accomplish their long-term goal of full economic and social recovery: they’re looking at the existing and potential workforce capacities already in place.

Data Structures Goal Strategy

LA County has been hard at work this past year, gathering data needed to develop recovery strategies. The County has much work to do, considering that the 2026 Olympics begin July 14, 2028. Research gathered by the government and the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) shows that several fundamental civic resources require attention:

  • Direct ‘rebuilding’ needs – those directly tied to fire losses – are estimated to generate somewhere between 140,000 and 200,000 ‘job years’ spanning several years into the future. These occupations primarily focus on construction activities, including the development of the infrastructure assets that were damaged or destroyed.
  • Industrial damage must also be recovered. The majority of jobs lost to the flames were in primarily consumer-facing sectors, including hospitality, accommodations, retail, and recreation. As these jobs are not critical to life or limb, their replacements are not necessarily prioritized in the rebuilding scheme. However, those occupations and the industries that they comprise play an immense role in the region’s overarching economy. Replenishing those revenues is critical to the area’s longer-term success.
  • Not least, the impact on LA’s tourism sector has been significant. Most of the County’s prime travel destinations – its museums, cultural centers, and theme parks – were not affected directly by the fires. However, disruptions to travel and leisure systems continued to cause a significant drop in tourism throughout the year.

On January 21, 2026, the County and LAEDC released their newest update on the impact of the 2025 wildfires in both the ‘direct burn’ areas and the Secondary Fire Areas (SFA). The report presents data on five major LA-based economic factors: rebuilding costs, business activities, housing market fluctuations, employment numbers, and tourism-related endeavors. In their joint estimation, while the fires had the most impact within the ‘direct burn’ communities, the region’s ‘interconnectedness’ – geographically, economically, and industrially – caused significant disruptions across the entire LA County zone and beyond. While not unexpected, the two groups note that the region’s deeply entwined industrial/economic/social infrastructure makes its overall recovery effort beyond the burned areas that much more difficult and time-consuming.

However, there is also strong support for the rebuild effort, ‘from the bottom up,’ as suggested by the Milken Institute. In January 2026, this think tank provided data related to recovery activities outside the official government channels. The Institute is looking at a ‘bottom-up’ strategy that leverages private funding and resources to achieve what will ultimately be public resources. The numbers it reports are encouraging:

  • Inside the Institute, the agency’s Financial Innovations Lab is working to attract private capital and financing to the project(s), focusing on resilience and the ‘lasting insurability’ of the rebuilt neighborhood.
  • Its Community Infrastructure Center coordinates the grant process for entities looking for rebuilding and recovery funding. Many organizations work through this portal to ensure their particular focus – green energy, infrastructure, and equity, as examples – is reflected in the final product.
  • Outside the Institute, the housing recovery is in full swing, gaining assistance, direction, and momentum through the LA Builders Alliance Homeowner Portal and the Resiliency Company’s PILLAR Platform. Both of these organizations offer guidance and leadership on achieving a safer, more resilient home using materials and service providers skilled in resiliency construction practices.

The damage caused by the LA wildfires is compelling new ways for the City and County to interact with each other and their constituents. Data shows that regional recovery will take coordination and collaboration across industries, governments, and community groups. It is also revealing how the area’s industrial complex is more interconnected than previously thought, underscoring the need for even greater cooperation across those sectors. Further, private entities have as much to gain as public entities and will play a significant role in achieving full recovery into a resilient, economically sound future.

Colleges Assess for Job Training Capacities

Pam Sornson, JD on March 3, 2026

Just one impact of the 2025 LA Fires is their influence on 2026 educational priorities. In addition to the regional renovations going on in preparation for the 2028 Olympics, the LA basin is now also ramping up its construction and related industries to rebuild the burned neighborhoods. As was revealed by recent research completed by the Centers for Excellence (COE), those resource upgrades are coming just in time – there are literally thousands of jobs now available (or coming online soon) that need filling, if the area is going to meet its goal of infrastructure repair by 2028 and full residential recovery by 2035.

California Community Colleges Focus on Recovery Occupations

Throughout 2025, even while the fires were burning, the California Community College Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) was assessing how it could leverage its existing LA-region training resources to respond more directly to the emerging demand for construction tradespeople. Seeking clarifying data, the Office turned to the COE for an in-depth analysis of its LA-based programs, courses, and trainings. Further, after the fires were extinguished, the CCCCO requested data on the anticipated labor demand for recovery efforts.

The COE responded with a detailed set of documents that provides insights and guidance for all entities engaged in the recovery effort. The resulting LA Fire Recovery dashboard consists of six sections, each related to an integral element of the recovery process:

  1. Navigation
  2. Labor Demand and Supply
  3. Educational Program Capacity
  4. LA-based CCC Programs Analysis
  5. LA-based CCC Programs Listings, and
  6. Overview, Methodology, and Data Sources.

The information gathered offers anyone interested or invested in the recovery process a detailed and comprehensive view of just how immense the recovery project will be, and of the thousands of jobs and careers it has the capacity to launch.

The February 3rd edition of the Pulse introduced the LA Recovery strategy and the funding being distributed to LA-region colleges to support it. The February 17 edition introduced readers to the Labor and Demand section; that analysis revealed a massive gap – 104,996 workers! – between the expected demand for an appropriately trained workforce (109,183) and the expected supply coming available within the year (4,187). Clearly, there is much educating to be done.

Fire Recovery Educational Program Capacity – All Available Training Resources  

The research tracks the number of learners enrolled in various fire- and construction-related courses in the three primary sources of occupational training in the LA area:

  • the 19 local community colleges (using metrics from the ‘23-’24 academic year),
  • the Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL – four program years starting 2019, ending 2024), and
  • other facilities offering Adult Education training.

Within those timeframes, the numbers are less than imposing:

  • Of the 80,070 community college students attending 34 construction-related courses at the 58 colleges within 100 miles of the fires, only 2,507 earned an academic or CTE (Career Technical Education) award within the time frame, while 2,854 earned a NC (non-credit) ‘workforce milestone’ (typically a credential of some kind), and almost 20,000 (19,747) earned more than nine Career Education Units. The math indicates that only 31.35% of all relevant students advanced in their occupational education journey over that period.
  • The Adult Education data shows that 16,133 students were enrolled in 432 courses during the listed timeframe, but does not report the outcomes of those training activities.
  • The ETPL data reveals that 3,963 individuals received training, and of those, 2,653 ‘exited’ their program. There is no clarification for the word ‘exit.’

The good news: these programs are in place and actively training new workforce members in the skills they’ll need to find work within these chosen industries. Now, the school’s impetus is to scale them to attract and serve more learners.

Fire Recovery Community College Programs – Specifically

The data presented on community college fire-related training efforts are comprehensive and provide an excellent view into the depth, breadth, and scope of the training opportunities offered by these 58 schools. The COE has parsed the information into three main categories per school and across the region:

  • There are a total of 34 fire-related Programs (organized by Taxonomy of Programs code (TOP), from Architectural Drafting to Telecommunications Technology. Graduates from each course will have the training and skills needed to find and maintain jobs and careers in their chosen field.
  • The report identifies 39 Standard Occupation Classifications (SOCs) that define the ultimate accreditation received through each training program. These are the familiar occupations that spring to mind when considering a construction-related job: roofers, painters, drywall experts, etc.
  • The site also identifies the specific ‘Award’ or Credential offered by the program. Many training programs issue certifications and/or ‘noncredit’ awards: their durations are shorter, they train on specific skill sets, and they do not generate transferable academic credit. Graduates can earn their award quickly and get into a job, sometimes within weeks. Additionally, in many industries, certifications are becoming ‘stackable,’ with each advanced course adding more skills to the baseline, and typically commanding a higher pay rate as a result.

This element of the CCCCO website is particularly helpful for those seeking the best-paying jobs with training opportunities close to home. Again, the numbers reveal plenty of opportunities to enter several occupational fields, based on one’s aptitudes and preferences. As examples:

  • Maintenance and repair workers will be highly sought after for decades. With demand for over 27,000 such workers in the Industrial Systems Technology & Maintenance program, only 187 candidates were available in that supply chain during the study period.
  • Architectural drafters are also needed. With an expected demand of over 2,700 certified drafters, only 1099 are in the pipeline now.
  • Not surprisingly, electricians are also in high demand, with a projected need for almost 11,000 (10,997) within the next few years. However, as with the other examples, there were only 362 in training during the study period to achieve that skillset.

Also of note is the reality that the burgeoning artificial intelligence (AI) capacity is swiftly layering into these training courses and programs. As the rebuild continues, it will also include substantial upgrades to ensure present and future residents have the technological capacity they’ll need to compete in the economy of the future. As the California Community Colleges revise their programs and courses to address the overwhelming demand for skilled construction and fire-related workers, they’ll also be including AI comprehension and mastery into that mix.

The immense impact of the 2025 LA Fires can’t be understated, from the destruction they caused to the economic growth they now promise. Since they were extinguished, the LA region has been hard at work removing the debris and detritus, while strategizing its next steps toward rebuilding. There is already a growing demand for workers in most fields related to this work, and that demand will continue to grow. The CCCs and their Chancellor’s Office are hard at work expanding their capacities to provide this elevated workforce, and will be doing so for many years to come.

CCC’s Use Data to Direct Fire Recovery Efforts

Pam Sornson, JD on February 17, 2026

In December 2025, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) issued its ‘Compendium of Allocations and Resources,’ a roadmap of strategies that pursue the agency’s commitment to student success. Building on the established California Community College (CCC) principles of ‘Vision 2030,’ the Compendium aligns current state spending mandates with its long-term higher education goals. And, at the base of both initiatives, lies data, the fundamental element that both provides direction and guidance to activities, as well as confirmation of their success.

Data as a Policy Driver

One CCC project relying heavily on data is the CCC’s LA Fire Recovery project, launched in response to the 2025 wildfires, which uses data to inform its approach to rebuilding the region’s areas that were destroyed by the flames. The CCC relies on information gleaned by and for the Center of Excellence for Labor Market Research (COE), a research entity utilized by the Los Angeles Regional Consortium of Community Colleges (LARC) to identify and explain market forces.

For the LA Fire Recovery project, the COE pulls both labor market data and industrial information to determine which occupations are most needed and which industries they serve. The resulting Dashboard of information is now used to inform the CCCs about which programs and training strategies are, or will be, most in demand in the coming months and years, as well as the schools that are now, or will be, best suited to host those courses.

Four Steps to Workforce Growth

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the Dashboard is how it connects the demand for labor to the specific schools already training for those occupations. The process follows four steps:

  • Demand and Supply – This section examines which occupations are most needed for the rebuild effort and the levels of labor supply required to meet current and growing demand. It includes going wages for these jobs, too. This data sets a baseline for decision-makers who must balance the demand for these programs with other popular courses.
  • Educational Program Capacity – This section measures the number of current students enrolled in programs with the highest expected worker demand. The data is notable because it includes not just students enrolled in community colleges but also those participating in Eligible Training Provider (ETP) programs and other adult education institutions.
  • Community College Program Analysis – This section examines the CCCs that already have related training programs available, the types of diplomas and degrees offered, and the courses that have the highest number of graduates. A high graduate number indicates that the program is both popular and successful for both the learner and their future employer. Programs that meet this level of success are more easily extended and replicated to quickly and effectively increase the supply of qualified workers.
  • Community College Program List – This section evaluates the number and types of local fire-recovery-related programs available at the various schools. Often, courses that provide similar training modules aren’t consistently labeled across a school system. This dataset eliminates the confusion that that can create.

The organizational structure of the LA Fire Recovery Dashboard clarifies for researchers, administrators, and educators where skilled labor is in short supply, where labor demands are growing, and where training for these skilled workers is available now. The information both quantifies and qualifies funding and staffing decisions, providing critical credibility for those who are responsible for budget and financial determinations.

Deeper Dive: Step One – Demand and Supply

For many people, the concept of ‘supply and demand’ is pretty simple: it helps markets set prices by evaluating the relationship between product availability (supply) and customer intention (demand). And while that principle is evident in the CCC ‘Demand and Supply’ dashboard, the data also provides a much deeper, more specific analysis of that concept within the context of labor and occupations.

This dataset provides insights into 56 housing construction trades and occupations with a fire-related rise in demand, the types of jobs available within those sectors, and an estimate of the total number of workers needed to achieve a fully populated labor force.

The Drafting, Design, and Surveying Example …

The numbers are revealing (as of September 2025), as is evidenced by the Occupation Group for Drafting, Design, and Surveying:

  • There are four listed occupations:
    • Architectural and Civil Drafters
    • Mechanical Drafters
    • Electrical and Electronics Drafters, and
    • Surveying and Mapping Technicians.
  • Demand for these occupations is currently high (a total of 4,216 in these four categories), but supply is decidedly low (only 1,702) coming available through current training programs:
    • 2,765 are needed in the Architectural category, but there are only 913 listed in the ‘supply’ column;
    • The Mechanical Drafters category needs 610 workers now, with only 350 coming available.
    • There is a need for 413 Electrical drafters, but only 200 are coming available soon, and
    • There’s a gap of 188 surveyors, with a demand for 428 and a supply of only 240.

Also identified in this data is the wage range for these occupations, which can help undecided students envision their future in a specific job. Across these occupations, the entry-level average is ~$27/hour, with wage growth up to almost $42/hour for experienced workers.

And all four subcategories are experiencing an increase in demand because of the fires. While the demand for mechanical, electrical, and surveying workers rose by approximately 40% over pre-fire levels, the need for architectural drafters rose by over 58%.

… Is Mirrored by Other Occupational Groups

The other Occupation Groups show similar high demand with equally low supply:

  • Heavy Equipment and Construction
    • Most notable: the demand for First-line Supervisors across the construction trades is currently 12,763, while the supply chain shows only 584 coming available any time soon.
  • Helpers and Laborers
    • As of September 2025, there were NO helpers available across all trades, leaving untouched the demand for over 1,000.
  • Maintenance, Repair, and Inspection
    • These jobs are also in high demand, with almost no supply of workers. Data shows a demand for over 43,000 with an expected supply of only 858.
  • Mechanical, Electrical, and Systems
    • Again, there’s a dearth of supply (900) rising to meet the immense demand (26,015).
  • Structural and Finishing
    • Not surprisingly, the current (9/25) supply of 74 carpenters (within the housing construction subsector) can’t come close to meeting the demand for the over 8,000 needed to rebuild all the homes lost in the fires.

The COE – LARC Dashboard is a lodestone of information for every entity invested in assuring LA’s recovery from the wildfires of 2025. Not only is it helping people find training and jobs in occupations of their choice, it also gives the CCCs the information they need to build out relevant, in-demand programs for the Rebuild and Recovery project.

 

Workforce Development Efforts Track Wildfire Responses

Pam Sornson, JD on February 3, 2026

In the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO), the drive for innovation is alive and well today, as it has been since the inception of the higher education system in 1907. The CCCCO’s response to the Los Angeles wildfires of 2025 is just another example of its dedication to providing its students with the best job- and career-focused opportunities available.

Even as the fires were spreading across northern LA County, the CCC Chancellor, Dr. Sonya Christian, was in Los Angeles, meeting with leadership at the schools most affected by the conflagration: Glendale Community College, Santa Monica College, and Pasadena City College. She was seeking information about how the colleges might respond to the crisis, both in the instant moment (as the fires burned) and subsequent to their containment. Her conclusion? California’s community colleges are the exact right entity to provide the workforce that will help the city and region recover. And her strategy to accomplish that goal is equally innovative: find the schools that are already training for occupations related to the rebuilding project and invest in extending their activities. The result: meet the CCC’s LA Fire Recovery Community Colleges Programs, aka Rebuild LA.

Step One: Identify Available Resources

The initial push for the CCCs (and for all entities seeking to help) was to identify who needed help and what kinds of help were available. Almost immediately, Pasadena City College (PCC) offered the Rose Bowl facility as an Emergency Command Center and a fire support hub. That decision gave the first 4,000 responders a place to suit up and stay informed about day-to-day firefighting activities.

Firefighter supports, however, were just one aspect of community college support efforts. There are 19 CCCs in LA County, and Chancellor Christian realized that all of them offered a panoply of relief and response opportunities, regardless of their proximity to the flames. Coordinating their contributions became the initial focus of the Rebuild LA project.

  • Of the 19, the three colleges closest to the fires – Glendale, Santa Monica, and Pasadena – had the highest number of affected people. Hundreds of students, staff, and faculty all lived or worked within the fire perimeters, and many lost their homes and jobs. Other schools also had personnel who were affected by the disaster for the same reasons. Finding food, shelter, transportation, and medical resources for all who were directly impacted was the first order of business.
  • Beyond those immediate needs, the schools also had a rudimentary infrastructure in place upon which to build out the industrial supports the communities would need to repair and rebuild. Specifically, the construction industry was clearly going to boom once the fires were contained. Whole neighborhoods would require reconstruction, from relaying underground water and electrical systems to replacing the homes and commercial spaces that had been destroyed. Very early on, Chancellor Christian began conversations with individual schools to determine which had programs already in place to provide the relevant workforce needed to accomplish the rebuild projects. Schools that had other resources and which could provide a foundation for future occupational training capacities were also explored for the short-, mid-, and long-term opportunities they might offer.
  • Not least, the Chancellor needed reliable funding to underwrite the rebuild initiative that was emerging. The ‘Rebuild LA’ strategy would develop in tandem with the CCC’s “Vision 2030,” which provides a roadmap for the development of the Community College system as a whole. (Updated in July 2025, the revised Vision 2030 incorporated lessons learned prior to the fires, as well as those that arose from the challenges that the fires ultimately posed.) At the center of both projects – Vision 2030 and Rebuild LA – is the concept of ‘access,’ and, as of Summer 2025, the CCC system doubled down on its goal to ensure that as many people and entities as possible would have access to all the resources that are embodied within this higher education endeavor.

Step Two: Catalyze Existing Effort

Remarkably, the fire recovery situation in LA facilitated the actuation of a long-term goal of the CCCs. For several years, that system has been working to streamline community college programming to maximize its value at each school while reducing unnecessary duplication across the CCC network. Consequently, many individual colleges have been developing high-quality programming that meets very specific industrial workforce demands. Chancellor Christian approached these schools and asked if they could ramp up these specific focused activities to meet the newly emerging demands, too. She also inquired about sharing training practices with other schools, so that the overall training capacity would be multiplied to meet the soon-to-be-explosive demand for workers in these jobs. The Chancellor’s actions as the crisis unfolded jump-started the recovery effort before the flames were fully contained.

At the same time, the State of California came through with critical funding for this specific rebuilding project. In its 2025-2026 budget for the community colleges, the State allocated a total of $5,000,000 to be distributed in accordance with the Los Angeles Rebuild criteria. Over these next two years, the CCCs will build standard and CTE (Career and Technical Education) programs to respond to urgent, LA-based workforce needs, including retraining and upskilling capacities for current workers. The construction, emergency response, and infrastructure sectors are the most notable beneficiaries, as jobs in those occupations will be in very high demand.

In addition to covering costs for subject matter training, the funding also offers stipends of up to $1,400 per student for support services aimed at un- and underemployed learners. The three schools that are most affected by the fire will receive dedicated funding to move them quickly into ‘production’ mode:

  • Pasadena City College will receive $1,000,000 for the LA Rebuild project and another $500,00 for the LA Rebuild Regional initiative.
  • Glendale College receives $340,000 for its LA Rebuild efforts, and
  • Santa Monica College is receiving $900,000 for the LA Rebuild and another $500,000 for the Regional Rebuild effort.

The CCCs will be using data collected and developed by its research arm, the Centers of Excellence, to guide the selection and implementation of training programs.

As this new year begins, these schools are already at work building out the resources they’ll need to pursue the LA Rebuild initiative. And the focus on the construction industry can’t come at a better time; even with all this contribution to building out those training and education resources, the gaps in trained labor for construction work will still prevent a fully employed sector any time soon.

Engineering Resilience as a Noun and a Verb

Pam Sornson, JD on January 20, 2026

Resilience’ is more than an attitude that encourages optimism in the face of disaster. From an engineering perspective, ‘resilience’ is also a practice that assesses the short-, mid-, and long-term impacts of calamities to ensure the recovery process includes a full scope of safeguards and considerations to prevent similar events in the future. In LA’s current recovery efforts, engineers of all types are evaluating both existing and emerging tools and systems to determine which offer the best response to their then-specific concern. By developing repair and rebuilding capacities using both traditional and innovative lenses, recovery professionals are intending to bounce back from the fires while improving protections and preventions at the same time.

Engineering Processes Embrace All Elements

In the ‘built’ environment, engineers are assessing structures above, below, and within buildings that have been damaged or destroyed by the fires. They’re also assessing the often hidden infrastructural aspects of the community, including roads, water systems, underground sewers, above-ground power grids, and the like. Each element, individually, is a critical component of the community’s fundamental operating system; the connections between them ensure that the community benefits from comprehensive interactions among them all. Accordingly, as the rebuild process continues, each individual project will consider and make adjustments for all of these elements as they pertain to the specific system under repair or reconfiguration.

A Fortified Foundation

At this moment, ‘rebuilding LA’s foundation’ post-flames means more than just replacing its literal hardscape. Even apparently sound concrete walls can have hidden cracks and crevasses that will fail under the right circumstances. Further, the rebuild opportunity itself allows for expanding service capabilities and defenses against future environmental challenges beyond fires, including floods and earthquakes. A series of emerging tools and skillsets offer as-yet unmatched insights and expertise:
  • Software programs now provide end-to-end solutions for all aspects of a foundational build, from bidding out projects to code compliance analysis. Today’s AI and 3D modeling facilitate comprehensive investigations not just of materials but also of strategies, blueprints, and plans. Some include ‘sustainability calculators’ that direct users to alternative, green options they might not previously have considered.
  • Actual building and construction tools and practices are also evolving:
    • Robots and automation are now making many on-site tasks easier and faster to complete, as well as safer and longer-lasting.
    • 3D printing is being implemented as a foundation-building tool, crafting 3D-printed foundation parts and systems. These sophisticated devices reduce the time and labor previously needed to frame, pour, and cure a concrete footing.
    • ‘Smart’ materials and tools provide on-site data with unparalleled accuracy. Clever solutions like ‘self-healing’ or translucent cement, and IoT (Internet of Things) sensors allow users to make decisions based on real-time data, and select and deploy the environmentally appropriate materials they choose to use.

A Hardened Exterior

Specifically in relation to fire danger, fortifying a building’s exterior provides preventative barriers and automatic retardant features to reduce the likelihood of a fire’s ignition or the spread of an existing conflagration.  In the LA region, newly constructed homes and businesses are using concrete and metal for exterior surfaces, replacing the wood- and shingled exteriors of the past. Steel framing, metal roofs, and even ember-resistant venting systems will slow or extinguish a spark before it can flare up into a more dangerous flame.

An Integrated Solution

As a silver lining to fire-caused losses, a rebuild that resolves existing fire-damage problems and integrates features that protect against both flames and earthquakes is an optimal choice. A comprehensive evaluation of the land on which the building sits is necessary to detect its capacity to withstand an earthquake. Data collected from that assessment can be used to select appropriate materials and to develop overarching systems and strategies to protect the structure during the next event, whether it’s a fire or an earthquake. Not only will the resulting construction be more solid and secure than its predecessor, but it will also provide a more structurally sound basis for the surface finishes that will follow.

An Upskilled Workforce

The demand for an enhanced built environment post-2025 fires is also driving innovations in workforce development. Construction skills have advanced well beyond hammer-and-drill capabilities; today’s digitally based construction tools and machines also often require advanced training so users can realize the full value of those investments.
  • Building Information Modeling (BIM) uses cutting-edge technology to create data-rich project elements, including plans, blueprints, designs, and operational details. Properly configured, these sophisticated tools can guide all aspects of the building project, including highly detailed visualizations (to keep everyone on the same page), budgeting, crew oversight, code compliances, and more. The 3D renderings offer collaborative opportunities and project-wide management capabilities that connect the efforts, activities, and goals of all involved professions and trades.
  • Not surprisingly, data analysis is a critical component of today’s construction industry, as it is in almost all industries. Both on-site and in the design studio, modern sensors and embedded software gather information that’s relevant to virtually all members of the design and build team. Well-trained analysts use that data to identify cost savings, safety concerns, scheduling challenges, and even resource allocation, reducing waste and improving long-term performance for the construction team.
  • ‘Green’ building expertise is also on the rise as an in-demand construction skill. The global nature of today’s markets requires most high-level construction professionals to be aware of international environmental mandates, even if they aren’t required for the specific project at hand. “ESG” goals – environmental, social, and governance – help every company develop and maintain a sustainable, ethical, and environmentally sound building practice that invites accolades and new clients. These days, investors are increasingly seeking ESG-standard investment opportunities, seeing those values as the foundations for future wealth and stability. ESG-related data can also shape corporate expectations, attract talent, and enhance a company’s reputation.
At a minimum, the rebuilding of LA and its fire-ravaged communities requires investment and effort to replace what was recently lost and protect against threats that will certainly emerge in the future. As that process moves forward, the community will gain in many ways:
  • its economy will recover through the rebuilding process;
  • its built environment will be better able to withstand future environmental threats, and
  • Its workforce will be better skilled to provide the services and capabilities demanded by those enhanced physical environments.
In short, LA is building ‘resilience’ into its infrastructure, so that the community – and the City itself – is better able to withstand future threats and concerns, confident that losses will be minimized and progress can continue on.
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