Paving the Path to Opportunity: How Revive Oakland Innovated a New Model for Inclusive Economic Development

Revive Oakland’s Good Jobs Policy is a case study demonstrating how publicly funded development projects can create widespread economic opportunity. Thanks to an innovative good jobs policy, the warehouse and logistics complex envisioned can pay over 3,000 workers a living wage and reserve half of the jobs for Oakland residents, transforming the old Army base into an economic engine for the city and its people. The policy will make it easier for the formerly incarcerated to find work and provides protections against exploitative temporary work arrangements so common to the sector. The good jobs policy limits the use of temporary hires, reserves jobs for disadvantaged workers, and bans employers pre-screening job applicants for criminal records. These policies can help provide a national model for community-driven economic development.