Established tenants understand how the premium amenities of Hacienda’s uniquely convenient live, work, and play environment support business success. They include outstanding transportation services, excellent restaurants, and ample lodging and conference facilities. Being located in the Tri-Valley, at the heart of the Bay Area, also offers a host of other important benefits, including access to talent across a broad geographical area. Perhaps less well-known are the services offered by regional and local organizations that have been created to support employers as well as job seekers.

The Role of Workforce Development Boards

In 2014, Congress passed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which went into effect in 2015. As the Department of Labor describes it, “WIOA was designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy.”

The act was intended to create employment and training services responsive to the needs of local area employers. It established local Workforce Development Boards that included business representatives. Local boards are required to develop Four-Year Local Plans and Two-Year Modified Local Plans to report progress made within the local landscape related to business engagement and services, training, service provider engagement, and partnerships that assist in accelerating community-aligned workforce development goals, according to Latoya Reed-Adjei, ACWDB Assistant Director.

The Alameda County Workforce Development Board (ACWDB) is the local organization tasked with administering the federal WIOA Title I program and periodic state initiatives, also known as discretionary projects or programs. Its work is also supported through a variety of other funding sources. The organization’s 2025-2028 Local Plan, which was recently approved, established the organization’s priorities through 2028. The priorities are to engage directly with business leaders on workforce development strategies and career education, collaborate strategically with business and industry associations, address employee retention as a business service and in career planning with job seekers, build pipelines of workers and support preparation of young people for careers, emphasize digital literacy and access, approach job readiness holistically, make greater use of work-based learning models, support asset-based recruitment and hiring, develop job seekers’ financial literacy, build job candidates’ core skills, facilitate information sharing across a broad range of organizations and programs, and be prepared to respond to a dynamic, evolving labor market.

“We aim to serve as many employers as we can. Alameda County is home to over 72,000 private establishments,” notes Reed-Adjei. “Most of those establishments are small businesses, which have less than 500 employees. We are targeting resources towards those in our community, which happens to be smaller to medium-sized companies.”

Those resources include a Business Services Unit (BSU), included within the ACWDB organization. “Working in conjunction with local economic development offices, chambers of commerce, industry associations, and regional partnerships, ACWDB’s BSU has the role of convening to align resources and work collaboratively on business talent-related issues impacting the local service delivery area,” according to the ACWDB’s BSU Business Engagement Plan 2025 - 2029. Agency officials “welcome businesses that want to partner with us on building talent pathways, being featured in a panel event, leveraging our reimbursement programs, and much more.”

One popular service is ACWDB’s free human resources business hotline at (888) 202-5668. Provided in partnership with the California Employer’s Association (CEA), the service answers business questions about hiring and firing, paid leave, employee handbooks, harassment prevention, and more. The no-cost hotline operates from 8 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday. CEA also offers a series of free employer webinars on relevant topics.

Additional Support

ACWDB also keeps employers up to date on how to comply with Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) requirements in Alameda County. Employers planning a mass layoff, plant closure, or relocation in California may be required to provide advance notice under the WARN Act. On January 1, 2026, new requirements for any employer issuing a WARN Notice went into effect. They include providing mandatory information on workforce development services and CalFresh benefits to all affected employees. In the case of mass layoffs or closures, ACWDB’s Rapid Response team works with employers and their staff to provide resources to help laid off workers find other employment.

Employers looking to hire can take advantage of the On-the-Job Training (OJT) program and reduce costs. If requirements are met, an employer hiring an OJT participant can be reimbursed up to 50% of the new hire’s hourly wage. ACWDB’s Customized/Incumbent Worker Training Program helps employers train and retain their workforce by helping subsidize training costs for eligible employers. The ACWDB also funds sub-regional career centers such as Hacienda tenant Tri-Valley Career Center (TVCC), which works with job seekers and employers to match talent with opportunities.

TVCC is managed by the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District and supports employers in a variety of ways. They are encouraged to post job opportunities to the TVCC’s job board, for example, free of charge. Company managers are encouraged to speak at TVCC events as part of a job fair or as part of an Employer Spotlight, which gives a single company about 45 minutes to educate members of the weekly job club on the employer’s specific needs. Las Positas College is also working to improve the workforce and economy of the Tri-Valley by establishing a Work-Based Learning Initiative. This is a collaboration with local business and industry “to develop career and work experience opportunities, internships and mentoring programs, and community work and study placements directly related to a vocational field of training,” according to college officials. “This partnership benefits both employers and students, ensuring a talent pipeline of skilled workers from our college to the workplace and reinforcing and expanding students’ classroom learning.”

Officials invite employers to partner with Las Positas on its Work-Based Learning Initiative and “join an active network of area government, businesses, school districts, civic organizations, centers of science and industry, and community groups seeking to build a strong workforce, promote economic prosperity, and enhance quality of life in the Tri-Valley.” Las Positas College is also working to improve the workforce and economy of the Tri-Valley by establishing a Work-Based Learning Initiative. This is a collaboration with local business and industry “to develop career and work experience opportunities, internships and mentoring programs, and community work and study placements directly related to a vocational field of training,” according to college officials. “This partnership benefits both employers and students, ensuring a talent pipeline of skilled workers from our college to the workplace and reinforcing and expanding students’ classroom learning.”

Officials invite employers to partner with Las Positas on its Work-Based Learning Initiative and “join an active network of area government, businesses, school districts, civic organizations, centers of science and industry, and community groups seeking to build a strong workforce, promote economic prosperity, and enhance quality of life in the Tri-Valley.”

In short, employers can find many avenues that lead to support in the Tri-Valley. “I want employers to know that we are here as a resource,” notes Rhonda Boykin, ACWDB Director. “We can work together to identify their needs in terms of employment opportunities and the kinds of skills that they're looking for. We want to be able to understand what their pain points are so we can help bring solutions such as enhanced training opportunities and job preparedness.” For more information about the Alameda County Workforce Development Board, please visit www.acwdb.org.

For more information about the Alameda County Workforce Development Board’s Business Services Unit, please visit www.acwdb.org/business-services.

For more information about employer services from the Tri-Valley Career Center, please visit www.trivalleycareercenter.org/employers.

For more information about the Las Positas Work-Based Learning Initiative, please email WBL@laspositascollege.edu.