The Orange County Center of Excellence (OC COE) is undergoing an exciting evolution. For the past six months, Mr. Jacob Poore has served as acting interim director while Dr. Jesse Crete stepped into the role of interim Orange County regional director for the Los Angeles/Orange County Regional Consortium. 

While in his role as interim director, Jacob added Mr. Nickolas Emilio as a short-term substitute research analyst to assist with the completion and release of several major projects:

• Labor market briefs in response to 110 program recommendation requests  
• Two in-depth reports: “Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Sector in Orange County” and “Jobs for Recovery: Occupational Training Opportunities for Displaced Workers in Orange County”
• The release of regional monthly labor market information (LMI) updates
• Analysis supporting the region in its Regional Consortia RFA application and 2021-22 Strong Workforce Program Regional Projects selection and NOVA entry 

Jacob also oversaw the Orange County Sector Analysis Project Refresh which will be published soon.

Now that Jesse has returned from her interim assignment, she and Jacob are working together to strategize how the OC COE can serve the region even more effectively. This includes adding to their team, better integrating their planned work with regional goals, and strategically working alongside the newly formed Orange County Regional Consortium which is the supervisory umbrella that the OC COE sits under at Rancho Santiago Community College District. 

Jesse and Jacob hope you will join them in the excitement for the upcoming year and next evolution of the OC COE.