Cal Poly Maritime Academy will receive $5.8 million through California Jobs First to expand maritime education, workforce development and industry partnerships in the Bay Area and Delta region.

“This investment gives us an opportunity to connect Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing approach directly with the workforce and industry needs of the region,” said Corey Cook, vice president and CEO of Cal Poly’s Solano Campus. “By bringing together education, training and industry, we can create clearer pathways into maritime careers while helping strengthen an industry that is critical to California and the nation.”

The funding supports two major initiatives designed to strengthen the region’s maritime workforce and create new pathways into maritime careers.

Mare Island Innovation Campus — $4.3 million

The investment will support development of a new academic and innovation center on Mare Island that connects education, applied research and industry. Plans include four new labs focused on quality assurance and nondestructive testing, machining, propulsion and digital shipbuilding, as well as an accelerator and incubator to support innovation and industry collaboration.

Workforce Integration Network — $1.5 million

The Workforce Integration Network will focus on developing a maritime career pathway connecting students, education providers and employers. The initiative includes workforce training support, updates to community college curricula and youth programming designed to introduce more students to maritime careers.

The Cal Poly Maritime Academy projects are part of a broader regional investment in the maritime economy. An additional $2.4 million was awarded to the Solano Economic Development Corporation to establish a Bay/Delta maritime industry backbone, helping coordinate employers, education and workforce partners across the region.

The investments come as federal, state and regional leaders increasingly look to the Bay Area as a potential center for strengthening the nation’s maritime industrial capacity and workforce.

“There is a great deal of discussion in Washington right now about rebuilding America’s maritime capabilities,” U.S. Rep. John Garamendi said at a Maritime Summit he hosted at Cal Poly Maritime Academy in September. “I believe the Bay Area should be an important part of that effort.”

Together, the investments will expand Cal Poly Maritime Academy’s role in preparing the skilled workforce needed to support shipbuilding, maritime transportation, and the growing maritime economy of the Bay Area and Delta region.