Last week, a California task force commissioned by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors had its first meeting in Sacramento. The goal of the group is to close the skills gap and ensure workers in the state will actually be trained for the jobs that will be available in the future. "If we don't, the students that we teach, the people that we serve, the folks who are trying to get good jobs, won't have pathways to the good jobs now and over the next 10 years," said Tim Rainey, executive director of the California Workforce Investment Board and member of the task force. "If we don't build those bridges, we can't impact poverty, deal with underemployment, we can't provide the kind of economic opportunity that we want to provide. So it's a skills agenda and it's an economic development agenda, all in one. It's a jobs agenda." The main focus of the group will be to strengthen the curriculums and training programs offered by the state's community colleges. "Community colleges are the vehicle for the residents of California who are disenfranchised to have the skills to have employable, family-supporting jobs," said Bill Scroggins, president and CEO of Mt. San Antonio College.