YMVC Update to the Region - November 7, 2022 - Volume I, Number 7
MARICOPA COUNTY RULES IN TALENT ATTRACTION (AGAIN), YUMA CATCHES THE EYE OF REAL ESTATE BUYERS, AND SBDC DOING THEIR PART TO ENHANCE THE ECONOMIC ECOSYSTEM
Welcome to YMVC's new outreach bulletin, focused on planned steps to increase high-tech education access and success to support existing and future high-tech industry and emerging best practices.

Each article has been selected to support the Ten Recommendations that were unanimously adopted by the YMVC Board of Directors following the completion of our data-driven 3rd party-sourced Strategic Assessment and Market Analysis that formed our Strategic Plan Framework. This work was done in collaboration with Greater Yuma Economic Development Corporation.

Our regional focus includes collaboration in Yuma and Imperial Counties as well as Northern Sonora and Baja Norte, Mexico.

We look forward to engaging industry, education, students, parents, and all other stakeholders as we advance to Phase 3 of our project.
We are on a mission.
We are a collaborative organization, bridging higher education, industry, and prospective talent to provide the means to achieve the skilled careers of today and the future.
Improving the Workforce Attraction
and Retention Ecosystem

The data-driven Strategic Plan Framework, built from the feedback of over 250 stakeholders and in consideration of best practices, calls for improving the economic ecosystem with amenities that will support workforce retention and attraction. This space includes ideas that support those objectives.
Maricopa County named #1 in the country with talent attraction; growth in education attainment increased 17%
Phoenix - Lightcast, the global leader in labor analytics gives Maricopa County the nod for best in the nation for success.

Lightcast launched their Talent Attraction Scorecard to help communities understand how they were doing at attracting and developing talent.

Maintaining its top spot, Maricopa County saw 17% growth in education attainment, 13% uptick in skilled job growth & 40k new tax filers in 2022.

Regionally, Yuma County ranked #127, Imperial County (CA) #288. Also, Pinal County ranked #26, and Pima County #66.

While higher education will be developing and executing the curriculum necessary to serve the pipeline between potential upskilled workers and industry, we certainly plan to do all we can to support a collaborative environment and best practices in order to reduce the time for degree completion. Success should help us improve our rankings in the future.
 
This plan can also be beneficial in attracting new students and employees to our region.
Yuma included in the top ten emerging real estate markets
Realtor.com - Home shoppers facing an increasingly hostile real estate landscape may be creating their own personal inflation-fighting plan.

The list reveals that homebuyers are on the move and chasing affordability. The list also reveals that homebuyers are casting a wide net to find an affordable home, with interstate buyers continuing to make up a majority of home shoppers.

Top 10 emerging real estate markets in the third quarter of 2022
Updates From High-Tech Industry

As the result of data and best practices, YMVC has pivoted to become both an industry-faced and tech workforce development organization seeking to advance a regional pipeline of skilled talent to support both existing and future tech industry in the Greater Yuma Region. Find news here about high-tech industry success both in our region and beyond.
Demand for EV cars spurring job creation for lithium battery recycling
Phoenix Business Journal - Heritage Battery Recycling, an affiliate of Cirba Solutions, plans to construct a lithium-ion battery recycling facility in Eloy, just southeast of the intersection of Interstates 8 & 10.

The Eloy facility will process lithium-ion end-of-life batteries and battery manufacturing scrap, with additional services including disassembly, sorting, warehousing, and diagnostic testing. The finished product will provide battery-grade salts for new cathode and battery manufacturing, such as nickel, cobalt, manganese, and lithium.

Located in Pinal County, the existing building will be expanded to 75,000 square feet and will support 75 workers and an estimated 110 permanent employees, the company said. The facility is expected to be in operation by mid-2023. A company announcement didn't say the exact location where the new facility would be located in Eloy.
News from Higher Education

Higher education Innovation is happening in our regional community colleges and universities. Non-profits such as YMVC seek to increase innovation to improve outcomes. Find news here--both regional and beyond.
U.S. Department of Labor provides job funds to Arizona for statewide coalition including six community colleges
ACA - New resources are being made available to help long-term unemployed individuals, dislocated workers, and workers impacted by the pandemic. Through a federal grant, workers will have access to skills training, career pathways, and job opportunities.
 
The Department of Labor awarded the $15 million grant to Arizona Quality Jobs, Equity, Strategy, and Training (QUEST), a statewide coalition that includes the Arizona Commerce Authority, six community colleges and Arizona@Work. The collaborative initiative will serve six local workforce development areas including the counties of Cochise, Maricopa, Mohave/La Paz, Pima, Yavapai, and Yuma.
 
“As jobs expand in our state, we are dedicated to ensuring that all workers have the opportunity to fully participate in the workforce,” said Sandra Watson, President and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. “As the pandemic displaced workers, the ACA along with our partners in industry, academia, workforce development and more stepped in to provide critical employment support services. These dollars will allow us to redouble those efforts and help more people find employment that enables them to thrive.”

The Arizona QUEST program will focus on individuals separated from employment and marginalized individuals including those who lack a secondary diploma, those in poverty, English Language Learners, disconnected youth (16-24), migrant workers, Native Americans, individuals in rural areas, persons who have interacted with the criminal justice system, veterans, and disabled persons.

Eligibility criteria will also include:
  • Individuals temporarily or permanently laid off as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic;
  • Long-term unemployed individuals;
  • Dislocated workers; and
  • Self-employed individuals who became unemployed or significantly underemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
ASU's Schools of Engineering achieve record enrollment
ASU News - The Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering has reached an impressive milestone — student enrollment hit a high of 30,000 students this fall. 

That’s up 12% from last year and 27% from 2017, making it the largest engineering school in the nation.

Kyle Squires, dean of Arizona State University’s Fulton Schools of Engineering, sums up the college’s recent success in two words: “high quality.” 

The Fulton Schools placed No. 33 overall in the 2022–23 U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of undergraduate programs, out of 212 universities included in the survey, and placed No. 19 among public universities.
In addition to that, ASU ranked:

  • No. 1 for innovation (for the eighth year in a row) by U.S. News & World Report.
  • No. 4 for the number of STEM graduates by Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
  • No. 8 for patents issued to universities worldwide by the National Academy of Inventors.
Community Development News
One way to attract and retain work force is to support existing businesses. SBDC, in collaboration with the cities of San Luis, Somerton, and Yuma and the Town of Wellton launched a campaign to do just that. Bravo, SBDC!
Collaborative program works to increase support for local business
Yuma County - Visitors and residents may have started noticing yellow flags in both Spanish and English supporting a campaign geared solely toward keeping business local.

The flags are bright yellow with a goal to catch the eye of shoppers and fellow business owners.

This collaborative effort also included working with the Yuma Sun and Bajo El Sol. YMVC congratulates all for a well-executed campaign to enhance the vibrancy of Greater Yuma's economic ecosystem.
YMVC PREPARES TO ADVANCE TO
PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION STAGE

Having received feedback and insight of over 250 area members of industry, education, elected officials, young professionals and other stakeholders, YMVC is preparing to present the results of the data-driven Strategic Plan Framework in public meetings and through multi-media outreach.
Do you know someone that would be interested in this bulletin? Please forward it to a friend!
Yuma Multiversity Campus Corp.
370 South Main Street
Yuma, Arizona 85364