Local Workforce
Participation and Economic
Impact Report
Economic Development & Technology Committee
September 24, 2026
Prepared by: Ronald K. Matthews Sr., Local Hiring Consultant In Coordination with: City of Pasadena Economic Development Division Background Information
2 • Adopted in 2004, Chapter 14.80, First Source Hiring, established a hiring program in the City of Pasadena aimed at increasing employment opportunities for qualified residents.
• The program supported the hiring of local workers on construction projects in Pasadena while providing financial incentives to developers. • From 2004 to 2022, the program was under the purview of Pasadena’s Finance Department. In 2022, responsibility for the program shifted from the Finance Department to the Economic Development Division. • The restructuring strengthened the City’s approach to community outreach, identification and referral of local workers, employment placement, contractor coordination, certified-payroll tracking, monitoring, and reporting of local workforce participation.
Background Information
3 Developers can participate in the program in two of the following ways:
• Mandatory: City-funded projects must hire 15% of their labor from Pasadena.
• Voluntary: Projects over $50,000 are eligible for a construction tax rebate of 50% of the salary and benefits paid to each Pasadena resident, up to 75% of the total construction tax paid. For example, a project valued at $15 million would pay a construction tax of $288,000 (construction tax is 1.92% of valuation) and could receive a rebate of up to $216,000. To meet their max rebate, they must pay $432,000 in wages to Pasadena residents.
4 Ten Project Workforce Overview
• The report covers ten construction projects reported through the City’s LCPtracker system.
• Project-level placements are not necessarily unique individuals because a worker may appear on more than one project.
• Pasadena, FWDB, 10-Mile Area and LA CO TARGETED are
overlapping geographic reporting areas and should not be added together.
• Reporting Period: January 2, 2020 – August 31, 2026
PROJECT-LEVEL WORKER
PLACEMENTS
5,127 1,060,647.79
TOTAL WORK HOURS
Cumulative project-level workforce
records
Reported construction hours across
ten projects
TOTAL PAYROLL + BENEFITS
$64.37M
$64,365,961.61 reported
compensation
5 Pasadena Resident Participation
• Pasadena’s share of hours and payroll exceeds its share of worker placements.
• This demonstrates why local workforce performance should be measured through placements, hours, payroll and career
progression—not worker counts alone.
• The Pasadena Central Library is included as Project 10 and contributes 21 Pasadena placements, 4,410.50 hours and $363,033.09 in Pasadena payroll + benefits.
PLACEMENTS WORK HOURS PAYROLL + BENEFITS
288 | 5.62% 141,348.51 | 13.33% $6.76M | 10.51%
Share of total project-level placements Share of all reported work hours $6,762,441.25 in documented compensation 6 Local Workforce Reporting Areas
Reporting Area Placements Hours Payroll + Benefits
Pasadena 288 141,348.51 $6,762,441.25
FWDB 309 146,970.64 $7,097,064.39
10-Mile Area 741 217,435.01 $10,761,634.91
LA CO
TARGETED
2,024 418,307.96 $22,806,796.43
Total Local Area 2,262 521,415.42 $28,244,737.22
Reporting note: Central Library does not separately track FWDB, 10-Mile Area or LA CO TARGETED. No Library values are assigned to those categories. FWDB remains 309 placements. 7 Pasadena Participation by Project
Project Pasadena
Placements
Pasadena Hours Pasadena Payroll +
Benefits
Centennial Place 44 12,096.67 $742,067.36
HHP Walnut Crossing 7 24,973.83 $654,527.40
Huntington Health MOB 35 21,824.82 $1,396,217.10
Olive Wood North 6 9,196.50 $281,935.54
Olive Wood South 7 4,688.83 $127,392.48
David & Katherine Lee
Home
9 3,273.67 $59,218.54
Salvation Army Hope
Center
52 14,814.75 $619,606.70
USC Keck Medical
Office
17 19,268.50 $1,135,261.53
Heritage Square South 90 26,800.44 $1,383,181.51
Pasadena Central
Library
21 4,410.50 $363,033.09
TOTAL 288 141,348.51 $6,762,441.25
8 Economic Benefit – Pasadena
0 2
4 6
8 10
12 Documented
Pasadena
Payroll + Benefits
Estimated Broader
Economic Activity
Millions of dollars
Amount
1.7 FACTOR IS DETERMINE BY:
• $6,762,441.25 × 1.7 = $11,496,150.13
in illustrative estimated broader
economic activity.
• The estimated additional/ripple activity
is approximately $4,733,708.88.
• The 1.7 factor is an illustrative planning
assumption informed by regional inputoutput concepts; it is not presented as a verified Pasadena-specific multiplier.
• Documented payroll and benefits
remain the verified workforce measure.
9 Workforce Development Pathway/Pipeline
1. Outreach & Intake: Identify Pasadena residents through community partners, workforce meetings, schools, training programs and unions.
2. Job Readiness & Pre-screening: Confirm trade interest, experience, certifications, work readiness and referral eligibility.
3. Union Dispatch/Apprenticeship: Connect existing union members to dispatch and new entrants to sponsorship, pre-apprenticeship and registered apprenticeship
4. Project Placement & Retention: Match qualified candidates with contractor needs and monitor starts, hours, payroll and retention
5. Career Progress: Track apprentice hours, wage progression and advancement toward journey-level careers.
10 Workforce Development Meeting
• Connects residents with contractors, subcontractors, unions, apprenticeship programs and local projects.
• Includes existing union members and residents seeking employment, union dispatch, sponsorship, apprenticeship and project placement. • Partners and presenters have included Pasadena City College, Flintridge Center, unions, contractors and City workforce resources. • Pipeline activity should be tracked separately from certified LCPtracker payroll outcomes to avoid double counting.
February 5, 2026 ≈100 residents Jackie Robinson
Center
Ongoing Thursday workforcedevelopment meeting
ESTABLISHED PASADENA DATABASE CURRENT LOCATION
Unique Pasadena residents in the
associated workforce database
Consistent intake, referral and followthrough point
11 Recommendations
• Continue to update and share the workforce dashboard across all reporting areas using consistent measurements.
• Keep Pasadena placements, hours, payroll + benefits, retention and career progression as priority measures.
• Coordinate apprenticeship pathways with Pasadena City College, Flintridge Center, FWDB, building-trades unions, registered apprenticeship programs and contractors.
• Increase early contractor engagement so trade needs and qualified Pasadena candidates are identified before hiring becomes urgent. • Track the full worker journey from intake through dispatch, project start, retention and advancement.
• Continue to monitor hours and payroll in addition to worker counts. 12 Estimated Economic Multiplier
• The report applies an estimated 1.7 analytical factor to illustrate potential broader economic activity associated with documented payroll and benefits.
• The approach is informed by Regional Input-Output Modeling System II (RIMS II) - a regional economic model developed by the U.S.
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) to estimate how a change in local economic activity ripples through a specific region
• The 1.7 factor is an illustrative planning assumption, not a published Pasadena - or Los Angeles County- specific BEA multiplier. • Documented payroll and benefits remain the verified workforce measure.
PASADENA: $6,762,441.25 × 1.7
$11,496,150.13
13 Economic Multiplier – All Projects &
Reporting Areas
Reporting Area Documented Payroll +
Benefits
Illustrative Activity × 1.7
All 10 Projects $64,365,961.61 $109,422,134.74
Pasadena $6,762,441.25 $11,496,150.13
FWDB $7,097,064.39 $12,065,009.46
10-Mile Area $10,761,634.91 $18,294,779.35
LA CO TARGETED $22,806,796.43 $38,771,553.93
Total Local Area $28,244,737.22 $48,016,053.27
**The $109.42 million calculation applies to the entire workforce regardless of residence and is not Pasadena/local economic impact. Geographic reporting areas overlap and should not be added together.
14 Local Workforce – Economic Engine
Every verified hour worked by a Pasadena resident represents income entering a household, experience building a career, and economic activity with the potential to circulate through the community.
PASADENA PAYROLL +
BENEFITS
ESTIMATED PASADENA ACTIVITY TOTAL LOCAL AREA PAYROLL
$6.76M $11.50M $28.24M
Documented across ten projects Illustrative 1.7 factor Documented broader local-area payroll • A strong local workforce strategy helps convert construction investment into lasting Pasadena opportunity.
• Investing in people today builds a stronger Pasadena tomorrow.
End of Presentation
Thank you!