Lithium Valley Recompete Plan
*2023 Recompete Finalist
Application Title: Lithium Valley Recompete Plan
Lead Applicant: San Diego Regional Policy and Innovation Center
State(s) Served: California
Applicant-Defined Region: Imperial County, California
Contact: Karen Connolly ([email protected])
The Lithium Valley Recompete Plan, led by the San Diego Regional Policy and Innovation Center, requests approximately $65 million in funding to transition the regional workforce into a technology and innovation-based economy centered on the lithium industry. Due to overdependence on low-wage agriculture jobs, the region’s residents have experienced generational poverty and stagnant economic mobility. Through a vocational campus, mobile career centers, a small business incubator, a STEM education facility, and supportive services for workers, funding will be used to reskill workers and equip businesses to take advantage of the growing lithium industry.