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Sector Partnership Decision Brief · SP-TULARE-AG-01

Tulare Agriculture & Ag-Adjacent Workforce Sector Partnership Brief

Keep TKASP as the employer table, but move quickly from grant-incubated coordination to a durable employer-owned operating model with explicit worker advancement and post-grant support.
Market: Visalia / Tulare CountyReviewed: September 24, 2026
← Back to California Sector Partnership ExplorerSustain and formalize industry-led Ag Skills Partnership / secure permanent backbone
95/100Partnership Opportunity · High
83/100Organizing Readiness · High
AEvidence Confidence
91/100Host Fit
TransitionalFunding durability
Screen 0Pass with technical-progression condition; post-grant backbone and worker voice remain development needs
How the scorecard works + component scores

Partnership Opportunity and Organizing Readiness use weighted 0–4 evidence dimensions converted to 0–100. 75–100 = High, 55–74 = Moderate, below 55 = Low.

Evidence Confidence: A = direct/current/authoritative; B = strong evidence with limited caveats; C = directional/proxy evidence with important limitations; D = weak, stale or poorly aligned; U = insufficient. The grade describes the evidence, not the sector.

Host Fit separately assesses backbone suitability across industry credibility, convening power, neutrality, staffing/resilience, worker/community connection, education/workforce integration, regional reach and fiscal/administrative capacity. It does not grant employer-governance authority.

Funding durability is a qualitative status, not another score. Screen 0 tests multi-employer structure, a shared workforce problem, collective-action leverage and Worker Value; a high numeric score never overrides a failed or materially unresolved gate.

Opportunity components · 0–4
Shared problem 4Job quality & mobility 3Collective action 4Scale / regional importance 4Demand / change pressure 4Future relevance 4
Readiness components · 0–4
Employer leadership 3Employer density 4Trust / collaboration 3Urgency / timing 4Worker / labor 2Education / workforce alignment 4Resource willingness 2
Decision

Keep TKASP as the employer table, but move quickly from grant-incubated coordination to a durable employer-owned operating model with explicit worker advancement and post-grant support.

Why this case matters

TKASP is active, meets monthly and has identified maintenance, automation, equipment and quality roles. But the $1 million Ag Skills grant that helped incubate the work runs through September 2026. The partnership now has to prove that employers will own actions and support the backbone when catalytic funding ends.

$30.88/hrindustrial machinery mechanic median
$36.00/hrproduction supervisor median
750projected production-supervisor openings
$1MAg Skills grant available through Sept. 2026

Worker value

Tulare County's single-adult living wage is $24.46/hour. Some technical and supervisory roles clear it, while the $23.39 median for farm equipment mechanics illustrates why progression cannot be assumed.

Local operating story

The partnership has reached the sustainability test.

TKASP launched in 2025 and now convenes monthly. Its January 2026 industry report identifies maintenance, automation, equipment and quality roles, including areas with no local training. At the same time, the Ag Skills grant supporting the work is available only through September 2026. This is exactly when an incubated partnership must decide what employers will own and fund after the grant.

Open source →
Model worth borrowing from

California Farmworkers Advancement Program · Round 1

JFF's 2026 review found that 12 organizations used training, supports and employer partnerships to advance economic mobility for more than 1,000 farmworkers. California's 2026–27 round now explicitly centers family-sustaining wages, benefits, predictable hours, advancement and worker voice, providing a useful worker-value benchmark for TKASP.

Open comparable model →
A practical path forward

What a WDB or regional convener could do next

The sequence is staged so the partnership becomes more formal only as shared employer action and worker value become more concrete.

0–30 daysFrame the problemName recurring employer action owners and clarify the minimum backbone functions that must survive grant expiration.
31–60 daysTest capacitySelect a small set of technical occupations and map wages, worksite demand, training supply, incumbent access and worker/farmworker barriers.
61–90 daysCommit to actionAdd structured worker/farmworker voice and secure explicit employer commitments to the first shared action and post-grant governance.
Months 4–6Run the workRun a technical progression or paid WBL/upskilling action tied to verified maintenance, automation, quality or equipment needs.
Months 7–12Measure + sustainTrack pathway starts/completions, wage progression, worker voice, employer-owned outcomes and the share of backbone cost covered by recurring non-grant resources.
Decision gate: Formalize only if employer ownership and recurring support survive the September 2026 grant transition and the pathway shows measurable worker advancement.
Go deeper

Evidence and decision logic

What the score is saying
Opportunity and Readiness are weighted 0–4 evidence dimensions converted to 0–100. This case clears Screen 0 for multi-employer structure, shared workforce problem, collective-action leverage and Worker Value. The scores support the posture above, but they do not create a launch mandate.
What remains unresolved
Post-grant backbone funding; recurring employer action ownership; worker/farmworker voice; technical-pathway outcomes; Kings County Worker Value before broader regional expansion.
What would cause a redesign
Formalize only if employer ownership and recurring support survive the September 2026 grant transition and the pathway shows measurable worker advancement.
TKASP →January 2026 sector report →Ag Skills grant →JFF Farmworker Advancement →
Workforce Wonkery Sector Partnership Readiness & Design Model v1.0. Comparable-model outcomes are analogues, not predicted local outcomes. Missing evidence remains unknown rather than being converted to a weak score.