What do kids do in high school nowadays?

That is a question many of us ask ourselves whenever talk of supporting education and public schools arises. We did some digging and found the answer to this question…. robots have taken over.

Let us clarify….we are referring to the FIRST Robotics program. FIRST Robotics was founded in 1989 and has hit international success with more than 295,000 youth involved in more than 50 countries.

Our local high school students are getting the chance to participate in this exciting program and need our continued support. This year Eastern Washington University will be one of 55 locations nationwide to host a FIRST Robotics regional championship.

This year each individual high school team will design a robot in just six weeks that moves by remote controls and human movement sensors. Microsoft Kinect donated Kinect software to each team to make this part of the challenge possible. This is the first year robots will be operated by human benefit for a brief time during each challenge.

Rebound Rumble is the theme for the competition this year and teams will need to design robots that can essentially play basketball like a pro. Want to see what we’re talking about? Watch the challenge video:

It is amazing to see just how bright our students are and how eager they are to receive challenges like Rebound Rumble. We need to remember that students learn a tremendous amount in high school and programs like FIRST Robotics help set them up for future success in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) vocations.

Students who compete in FIRST Robotics in high school upon entering college are:

• Ten times more likely to have an internship with a company
• Four times more likely to pursue a career in science and engineering (Aren’t those the fields President Obama just said we needed filled?)

In addition, young women in the FIRST Robotics competition are four times more likely to study science and engineering.

Our local youth are up to some phenomenal things. Mark your calendars for April 5-7 to make sure you see our future in action.

Interested in volunteering? There are lots of volunteer positions available. Contact Dale Garraway for more information.

With 2011 in the rearview mirror, it’s time to focus on 2012. What lies ahead for Spokane? What will happen, what might happen, and how will it affect the business community?

Let’s look into the crystal ball, shall we?

The huge Caterpillar plant on the West Plains is set to be up and operating by July. We recruited this company last year, and the distribution center is taking shape nicely along I-90., as you can see to the right (click on the image for a larger view).

Speaking of expansion, the Spokane Public Facilities District (PFD) is looking to expand and complete the Spokane Convention Center in order to attract larger conventions. Expansion will require a public vote. Stay tuned.

Also looking to expand is the WWAMI Program at WSU Spokane. Currently, first, third and fourth-year medical students study at the Riverpoint campus. WSU, GSI and many others are working to secure the second year of studies, bringing more students to our area, meaning more potential customers for you!

The legislative session in Olympia begins next week. We’ll take a delegation Jan. 18 – 20 to advocate on behalf of Eastern Washington. Last year, our trip was a success. This year, we’ll again be advocating for the remaining amount of money needed to fund the Biomedical and Health Sciences Building at WSU Spokane. We’ll also pursue funds to continue construction on the North Spokane Corridor to I-90. You can read our entire State Agenda here (PDF). Will we get what we want? With the budget problems the state faces, our work is cut out for us.

Ten years ago many folks said the North Spokane Corridor would never be built, and there would never be four years of medical education in Spokane. Look where we’re at now: The corridor is half built and construction of the biomedical building at WSU Spokane is ongoing. We’re on the cusp of creating a greater community.

While we’re on the subject of advocating in Olympia, GSI has been advocating for reform to unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation. We’re proud to say our efforts – and the efforts of many others across the state – will see the payoff this year. Governor Gregoire recently announced that workers’ compensation rates will not increase in 2012. Good news!

We hope to hear whether Fairchild Air Force Base will be home to the new KC-46A tankers in 2017. Boeing is currently on track to deliver 18 of its new tankers that year, and we hope to know before 2012 is over whether Fairchild will be home to some of the new tankers. Fingers crossed!

Speaking of Boeing, the company plans to build the new 737MAX in Renton, which is great news for the state. The demand for the planes exceeds the capacity of the Renton plant, so the Spokane region is ready to support overflow. Our region’s 80-plus aerospace supply companies could benefit and see increased operations in 2012. If Boeing decides to expand due to the increased demand, who knows, Spokane could be next on its list! This is all part of Project Pegasus, Governor Gregoire’s program aimed at keeping Boeing in Washington.

Some 2012 predictions are easy, like saying Ag Expo and Farm Forum will once again be a huge success, STEM education will be a hot topic in the business and education communities, and our area’s impressive small businesses will continue to be the heart of our economy.

And Spokane will continue to be the place to live and work. Here’s to 2012!

Fourteen area public school districts will have a levy on the Feb. 14 ballot (which drops in the mail Jan. 27). These levies fund vital programs and resources, such as textbooks, teaching materials, extracurricular activities, classified support staff and a lot more.

The levies will fund bus transportation and vital programs and resources, such as textbooks, teaching materials, extracurricular activities, classified support staff and a lot more.

The Executive Committee of Greater Spokane Incorporated voted on behalf of the Board of Trustees to support the school levies.

Here’s why:

Quality public schools are essential to maintain a vibrant community. Today’s students are tomorrow’s small business owners, CEOs, employees and more. Providing them the learning tools and skills today will help them transition to post-secondary education and their careers later in life.

Recently, Providence Health & Services announced it will be bringing 250 jobs to Spokane. An article in The Spokesman-Review stated:

“The health care programs offered at area colleges and universities ensure that Spokane has a pool of qualified workers and opportunities for further educational training.

‘That’s a big part of why the Providence board looked to Spokane,” said Providence spokeswoman Sharon Fairchild.’”

With the proper training tools in elementary, middle and high school, as well as at our colleges, universities, and vocational and technical schools, companies will be more confident in selecting Spokane as a place to do business and hire our area workforce.

GSI’s K-12 Roundtable works to drive education initiatives, while our Higher Education Leadership Group (HELG) focuses on higher education issues. Both groups bring educators and the business community together.

In the case of the upcoming replacement levies, the business community will benefit by having a talented workforce pool to choose from. If these levies fail, our students will not be properly prepared, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education will be impacted, high school dropout programs could be cut, and other programs and services will simply go away. A key economic driver is an educated child.

Local Effort Assistance (LEA) allows property-poor school districts to receive extra financial assistance from the state so the public education tax burden is more equitably shared among property poor and property rich districts. In Governor Gregoire’s proposed budget, LEA funding was completely cut. We don’t know what the final LEA funding amount will be once the legislative session is over, but it’s clear that these school levies are more important than ever to keep our public schools functioning in a way that fully supports the needs of our students. We do not want to put extra burden on our public school districts.

The bottom line: Levy funding contributes to our schools preparing our future workforce.

More information on area public school levies:      Online | PDF

We’ll discuss public education at our Jan. 13 Good Morning Greater Spokane Program. 

Top photos courtesy of Spokane Public Schools and West Valley School District

Our President and CEO, Rich Hadley, was quoted in the paper regarding Tuesday’s late breaking news that Providence Health & Services will bring 250 billing jobs to Spokane – from clerks to executives, as the story says. Saying it was a great “gift” for Spokane got us thinking.

What are some other recent “gifts” Spokane has received? Since it’s the gift-giving and receiving time of year, let’s take a look.

Some gifts our community and region received this year, in no particular order, include….

…..A superb harvest. Area farmers experienced great yields and an immensely successful season. Perhaps this is why the 35th Annual Ag Expo sold out so soon.

…..Caterpillar announcing it is expanding to Spokane County. The machinery manufacturer announced in June it will bring about 150 jobs to our area and construct a distribution center along Interstate 90 in West Spokane County. The photo above was taken in late October of this year.

…..$35 million for the Biomedical and Health Sciences Phase I Building at WSU Spokane. This will help bring the second year of medical studies to Spokane. It will also be home to the WSU College of Pharmacy, as well as the nursing and dental programs.

…..Smart educators! Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education is starting to trend throughout our region. Multiple school districts are implementing STEM programs, allowing our area students to dig into subjects and learn in ways that will benefit them and the business community in the future.

…..Boeing building the 737 MAX in Renton. Keeping Boeing in Washington was important to maintaining our area’s strong aerospace industry. Did you know more than 80 area companies in our area are directly or indirectly related to the industry? Boeing being in Renton means suppliers around here will benefit, and it also leaves the possibility open for expansion in Spokane County. AIR Spokane will ready our region for future aerospace expansion.

…..MILCON (Military Construction) Projects in the federal budget. Fairchild Air Force Base – the area’s largest employer – will see construction on its headquarters building and the survival school. It also just laid down a new runway. We’re working on advocating for the new KC-46A tankers to be based at Fairchild. Good things are coming!

…..Mark David Milliron. Our Annual Meeting keynote speaker inspired everyone with his speech on education for the future and how businesses and students need to be prepared for each other. The entire Annual Meeting was a call to create something greater for the Spokane region.

So those are a few of the gifts our region was fortunate enough to receive this year. What others come to your mind?

Here’s a stat that needs consideration:

Nearly 30 percent of the fastest-growing occupations in the next decade will require at least some background in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)*. With a large amount of our STEM workforce nearing retirement, a good amount of jobs will be available for the taking.

At our September 29 “Community Conversation on STEM Education,” businesses and educators came together to talk about how to advance STEM initiatives. At the event, Avista Utilities said 30 to 40 percent of workers in the electric power industry are eligible for retirement by 2013. 45 percent of utility engineers are eligible for retirement in the next five years. This isn’t the only industry that will need workers with skills anchored in STEM.

Today’s students will be crucial to our future economic success in those STEM jobs. After all, students today will be employees, business owners and CEOs tomorrow. Let’s take a look at what we’re doing to help prepare our students to enter the STEM workforce.

We’ve helped convene K-12, higher education and business leaders around state and local STEM initiatives. Jobs are on everybody’s mind right now, and looking down the road, it’s vital that we prepare our students to fill and grow jobs. STEM can help that. Occupations at Avista – for example – that involve STEM fields are:

• Line Worker
• Instrument/Control/Relay Operator
• Mechanic
• Electrician
• Dispatcher
• Engineer
• Conservation Program Administrator
• Energy Advisor
• Resource Conservation Manager
• Meter Reader
• Meter Technicians

To fill these jobs, we need educators to know how to develop curriculum in these subjects. That’s why initiatives like Project Lead The Way (PLTW) are important. We actively supported WSU’s successful bid to become the Project Lead The Way biomedical training affiliate to train teachers in bioscience curriculum. 13 local high schools are implementing PLTW, where middle and high school teachers are introduced to curriculum in STEM subjects.

Washington FIRST Robotics is another program that brings students closer to science and technology, inspiring them to pursue a career in those fields. In fact, Eastern Washington University will host the regional FIRST Robotics Competition in 2012.

As you can see, there are a number of programs and initiatives aimed at steering students toward careers with STEM backgrounds. It’s important we are proactive in these initiatives.

Our economy depends on it.

*From www.changetheequation.org

See how our community is driving STEM initiatives in this video, which was shown at our 2011 Annual Meeting:

Senator Patty Murray visited Spokane’s Triumph Composite Systems last week to lead a discussion on workforce development. Senator Murray spoke to a large group of aerospace companies, including members of the Inland Northwest Aerospace Consortium (INWAC), which was co-founded by Greater Spokane Incorporated.

Murray indicated that we are not only battling a financial deficit, but we are also facing an infrastructure deficit and an education and skills training deficit. Let’s see how she is helping reduce that deficit.

Senator Murray is currently working on a bill called the Promoting Innovations to 21st Century Careers Act. This bill calls for “$912 million in federal grants to support state and regional partnerships in developing creative strategies to help high school age youth prepare for a full range of postsecondary options and 21st century careers.” If enacted, this would help students gain real world job experience and acquire the skills they need to start a career.

A state report showed there are currently more than 2,500 open positions available in Spokane, but businesses are having a difficult time finding workers with the right set of skills. This suggests that businesses need to do a better job of communicating their needs and educators need to do a better job of offering programs geared more toward those needs.

Senator Murray is also working to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act, originally passed in 1998, to create public-private partnerships to get students the skills that businesses are looking for.

GSI’s 2011 Annual Meeting on Sept. 14 will feature Dr. Mark David Milliron of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who will talk about the importance of connecting the business and education communities to better position our region as a strong and competitive place to do business.

GSI’s Teach the Teachers program works to educate today’s teachers about various careers our region has to offer. The teachers then pass that information to their students. Today’s students will someday be our region’s CEOs, business owners, employers and more.

Senator Murray’s noble efforts to help ensure a strong future workforce can help grow our region’s businesses.

Updated – July 28

The United States government found that those with a college education receive on average $51,206 a year while those with just a high school diploma earn $27,915.

The region is filled with money making opportunities by being home to more than 13 different higher education institutions. Some of these universities include Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga, Washington State University Spokane, Whitworth and the Community Colleges of Spokane.

Let’s take a look at some local universities…

Eastern Washington University (EWU) was actually the first university in the nation to create a Children’s Studies curriculum.  It is the leader in this field educating future professionals in the development, learning and social issues that take place in children from birth to age 18. Greater Spokane Inc. has helped on behalf of EWU to receive funding from the capital budget to create a new building. Around $30.5 million was received to build Patterson Hall, which will accommodate new offices and classrooms.

The pronunciation of this next university is a national debate but the educational reputation is not. Gonzaga University has been voted by the U.S. News and World Reports as the fourth best “regional university” in the West. Its civil engineering program was voted the seventh best nationally among engineering specialties. This program annually gives back to Spokane by designing projects for Spokane businesses and agencies.

Washington State University Spokane is an active member in the field of research. Students attending Washington State University Spokane are given hands on experience in the nursing field by personal visits to Spokane’s renowned hospitals. WSU Spokane shares the vision of Greater Spokane Inc. that our region will become the best it can be by preparing students now for their future later. One project underway is the Biomedical and Health Sciences Building construction. Greater Spokane Inc. lobbied earlier this year and secured $35 million, which is half of the building cost needed for the project.   Greater Spokane Inc. and community partners will lobby for the second half of the building fund as well as the operating funds for the building. Once operating funds are secured,  WSU Spokane students will be able to complete all four years of medical studies instead of having to leave Spokane before their educational experience is complete.

Whitworth University is a small Liberal Arts university on Spokane’s north side. The close-knit campus has a renowned music program, and thrives on student service. Whitworth students are engaged with the community for various service projects, as well as projects in other countries. Serving humanity is one of the school’s main purposes, as well as churning out great graduates. Whitworth brings in students from all over the nation to our great city, and many of them remain in our region. The school’s diverse student population serves our community very well. Whitworth is very connected to the greater Spokane business community.

The Community Colleges of Spokane helps make the dream of receiving higher education more affordable. With two campuses (Spokane Community College and Spokane Falls Community College) both nestled next to the Spokane River, it provides an array of different degrees and certificates. More than 70 percent of the students attending are there to receive work-related education. Community Colleges of Spokane aims to equip the workforce of Spokane with updated educational information and experience that will benefit not just their personal lives but will positively impact the city as well from having a more efficient workforce. One positive change Greater Spokane Inc. helped to recently bring is a land trade that will permit Spokane Falls Community College to establish an Aerospace Technology Center. This new center will be able to benefit a new group of students and create new jobs as well.

Greater Spokane Inc. acknowledges how important education is to the future and present workforce of our region. By partnering with local universities and colleges we can continue to build upon the foundation of excellence and help our region.

So, sending the kids off to summer camp?

High school students from across the state were at Gonzaga University last week for a certain summer camp. But this camp didn’t have soccer balls or canoe rides.

Instead, it had stethoscopes, public speaking courses and real-life business scenarios.

Nearly 230 students last week came to Gonzaga to take part in either Washington Business Week or Health Care Week, sponsored by Association of Washington Business. Students interested in various fields were able to get hands-on experience at an earlier age than most.

For instance, those interested in health care were able to experience treating a patient through simulation. An instructor sat in another room on the viewing side of a one-way mirror and controlled a mannequin in a hospital bed. The instructor had the mannequin cough, indicate he was sick, and have a much-too-high heart beat.

The students had to decide how to nurse the patient back to normal levels by giving him oxygen, simply laying him back and checking his pulse every so often. It was a great experience for these students, and probably the earliest they’ve ever simulated being a nurse or a doctor. Most aspiring doctors and nurses don’t get that hands-on experience until college.

The students also learned about leadership, teamwork and the business of health care.

The students at Health Care Week (and many at Business Week, as well) show that interest in science is alive and well – and much needed. According to ChangeTheEquation.com, just 29 percent of U.S. high school graduates in 2010 were ready for college work in science.

Prepared students make for the perfect match for a prepared workforce. A strong workforce helps area businesses compete, which can enhance our local economy and bring new businesses to the area.

The weeklong camp at Gonzaga helped prepare students for what they might encounter once they enter college. Rather than walk into a university lab not knowing what they’re in for, these students are off to a head start.

Note: Mark your calendars for the Greater Spokane Incorporated Annual Meeting on September 14 where Dr. Mark David Milliron, Deputy Director, Postsecondary Improvement for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will talk about how a prepared workforce is important for a local, state and national economy.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? We aim to assist today’s youth with that question. We did that – and have been doing that the past three years – with Career Exploration Day.

This year’s event was at the beautifully remodeled Rogers High School. About 2,500 middle and high school students from all over the region were introduced to more than 60 area companies spanning a variety of different industries.

Here’s how cool this year’s event was:

Students were first given the opportunity to hear form GSI staff about what our goals were for them at the event. We strongly encouraged students to get some kind of education after graduating high school, whether it’s a four-year degree, a 2-year degree or learning a trade. We can’t stress enough the influx of opportunities when students continue their education.

Students watched videos on careers in transportation, health care, manufacturing, construction, business and the green industry.

With minimum wage only allowing people to make roughly $16,500 a year, we made it clear that we want students to continue their education and take advantage of all the great careers in our region. This will help keep students in town and grow our regional workforce.

The companies exhibiting had hands-on opportunities for the students right there at the booth, so the students knew what kind of work they would be doing in that particular trade. The broad spectrum of industries was perfect for students who were unsure of what kind of career they wanted. There were banks, the military, construction companies, engineering firms, interactive design agencies, medical companies, area universities and lots, lots more.

The Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. is in full swing. What better time than now to take a trip to our nation’s capital?

That’s what we’re doing here at Greater Spokane Incorporated. But we’re not going for the festival (although it’s a nice perk). We’re headed over to D.C. to advocate on behalf of Eastern Washington and North Idaho. Our region has more than 40 business leaders and the Greater Spokane Valley, West Plains, Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene Chambers of Commerce on our side.

Much like we did in Olympia in late January, our delegation will meet with our elected officials to ensure support for various projects in our area.

Want the North Spokane Corridor extended south to the Spokane River? We’ll advocate for that. Care to see brand new KC-46A tankers at Fairchild Air Force Base? We’ll advocate for that, too. Want more residency slots available to medical school students in Spokane? That’s on our list as well.

In fact, there’s a lot on the agenda our region is bringing to D.C.

So why do we travel to D.C. each year? It’s simple: to ensure Spokane and the Inland Northwest is a great place to do business. If we didn’t have a strong presence in D.C., how would we keep Spokane on the minds of our elected officials there? How would we secure a $35 million grant for the latest construction on the North Spokane Corridor?

It’s no secret these economic times are tough. Funding for different programs isn’t widely available. And that’s exactly why we’re going to our nation’s capital.

If resources are slim, wouldn’t we want to be face-to-face with the decision makers in D.C.?