City of San Leandro Celebrates “Made in San Leandro: First Jobs” Pilot Program

The inaugural Made in San Leandro: First Jobs manufacturing pilot program has concluded with resounding success, setting a strong foundation for a scalable, community-driven workforce model. This past summer, five recent San Leandro High School graduates completed paid work‑study internships with leading local manufacturers Torani and Five Star Fixtures. These five participants were selected from an applicant pool of fourteen, underscoring the strong demand for career-track opportunities in the manufacturing sector.

Designed as a first‑of‑its‑kind, community-built initiative, First Jobs brings together the City of San Leandro, San Leandro Unified School District, the San Leandro Chamber of Commerce, the Boys & Girls Club of San Leandro, workforce partners, and dedicated manufacturers to create a unified pathway from classroom to career. Participants began with a week of pre-employment readiness training focused on workplace fundamentals, followed by seven weeks of hands‑on, paid experience in high-performance manufacturing environments. Despite early start times and real production demands, interns demonstrated professionalism, reliability, and an eagerness to grow—key indicators of the program’s effectiveness in preparing young adults for long-term workforce success.

This pilot program reflects San Leandro’s legacy as a city of makers and innovators while responding directly to industry needs. As local manufacturers face growing retirements and talent shortages, the program offers a low-risk, high-impact way to engage emerging workers and cultivate the next generation of skilled talent. More importantly, it ensures young adults gain exposure to well‑paying, advancement‑oriented careers that do not require advanced degrees—broadening economic opportunity and strengthening local prosperity.

The program’s collaborators convened in August to celebrate the inaugural cohort and will reconvene in September to refine the model and expand employer participation. By growing the coalition of local manufacturers, First Jobs aims to deepen its impact and further reinforce San Leandro’s commitment to aligning education, workforce development, and industry growth.

The First Jobs pilot is already proving to be a powerful catalyst for both youth opportunity and industrial vitality. As the program enters its next phase of scaling this model, it continues to strengthen the city’s talent pipeline and demonstrate what is possible when partners across sectors unite behind a shared vision: a future where opportunity, innovation, and community move forward together.