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YMVC Update to the Region - December 19, 2022 - Volume I, Number 13
CELEBRATING 200 YEARS OF MEXICO-US RELATIONS, AWC LEADER RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS AWARD, NAU PROGRAM SEEKS TO INCREASE HIGHER ED ACCESS, TAIWAN FIRM TO DRAMATICALLY INCREASE SUPPLY DEMAND IN ARIZONA
The United States and Mexico commemorated 200 years of diplomatic relationships in San Luis, Arizona. The staff of YMVC extends congratulations to Consul Jose Antonio Larios Ponce and staff for the opportunity to join you in this celebration of both the past and the future.
News from Education

Education Innovation is happening in our primary and secondary schools as well as regional community colleges and universities. Non-profits such as YMVC seek to increase innovation to improve outcomes incrementally, building on existing success. Find news here--both regional and beyond.
Partnership expands higher ed access
Northern Arizona University - Arizona is home to the country’s sixth-largest Hispanic population—a historically underrepresented population in higher education.

With parallel missions to broaden access and eliminate barriers to a high-quality degree, Northern Arizona University (NAU) and Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) are launching a partnership to support the state’s Hispanic communities and help remove barriers to higher education. This fall, the first cohort of high-achieving NAU-Yuma students throughout Yuma County has been awarded the Chicanos Por La Causa Scholarship, which covers tuition, fees, and other expenses and supports Lumberjacks in their pursuit of opportunity and excellence.

For more than three decades, NAU-Yuma has provided a rich, supportive community for all students and currently serves a student population that is nearly 80 percent Hispanic. The commitment to access, attainment and success at NAU-Yuma is emblematic of NAU’s bold vision to elevate excellence as the nation’s preeminent engine of opportunity, vehicle of economic mobility and driver of social impact for students and communities in Arizona.

“I am proud that our efforts to broaden participation and advance access to educational attainment align with important partners like CPLC,” NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera said. “The generous scholarship support provided by CPLC removes barriers for students and ensures that all members of our community have access to the exceptional educational experience that defines NAU.”

Efforts such as this provide incremental opportunities to the Greater Yuma region; YMVC welcomes as yet another important step for our region to increase economic opportunity for both our population and tech industries.
Board of Regents implement policy for qualified Arizona Dreamers to attend state universities with in-state tuition and qualify for financial aid
ABOR - On Tuesday, Arizona Board of Regents took action to allow Arizona Proposition 308 to take effect. 308 was designed to allow non-citizen students, except those considered to be nonresident aliens under federal law, to receive in-state college tuition when a student (a) attended school in Arizona for at least two years and (b) graduated from a public school, private school, or homeschool in Arizona.

Congratulations on this positive step to help achieve additional higher education access !
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.
Arizona's manufacturing growth cited during President Biden's TSMC visit; supply chain should include suppliers moving to or expanding in Arizona
Phoenix - On the heels of media reports that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was considering expanding in Arizona, the company confirmed that it will build a second fab in north Phoenix to produce 3-nanometer chips by 2026 and significantly increase its investment in the state.

To mark a significant milestone in Phoenix, TSMC recently held a tool-in ceremony for the arrival of its first batch of production equipment at the Arizona fab, where President Joe Biden, TSMC's founder Morris Chang, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra and numerous industry and elected officials were in attendance.

TSMC first announced its plans to invest in Phoenix in 2020. Since then, sources with knowledge of the company's plans have told the Phoenix Business Journal that the chipmaker's campus at full build-out could total six factories, while the company has also said it is working with 40 suppliers that are moving or expanding to the Phoenix area and in Pinal County south of the Valley.
Parachute system tested at Yuma Proving Ground returns Orion from 1.4 million mile space journey
YPG - After years of developmental and qualification testing at Yuma Proving Ground, the Orion Space Capsule’s intricate parachute system brought the craft safely back to Earth on December 11 after a 1.4 million mile round trip journey.

YPG has hosted developmental testing for NASA since the earliest days of the space program. The precursor to the lunar rover used during the last moon landings in 1971 and 1972, dubbed the ‘mobility test article,’ was tested at the proving ground in 1966.

Congratulations to all that participated in crucial testing that helped make this record-setting achievement such a success!
Workforce Development Update

The data-driven Strategic Plan Framework, built from the feedback of over 250 stakeholders and in consideration of best practices, provides recommendations for building on the incredible workforce development organizations and initiatives already benefiting the Greater Yuma Region.
AWC Workforce Development leader receives prestigious award
Arizona Western College - At Workforce Arizona's gathering/convening, AWC's Reetika Dhawan received the esteemed award of collaboration presented by both the Arizona Commerce Authority and Office of Economic Opportunity. Through a social media post, Dhawan expressed her sincerest thanks to the two organizations for their recognition.
AWC Governor allocates funding to expand career training programs
Office of Governor Ducey - The governor's office announced an investment of nearly $14 million to support career training and development programs for Arizona high school students and underserved communities.

The investments are directed to five job training programs that work with students and job seekers throughout Arizona. They include:

$9.5 million to address workforce shortages and economic challenges in five Northern Arizona counties. The newly created Northern Arizona Good Jobs Network will convene under the leadership of the Local First Arizona Foundation to develop a regional workforce training ecosystem. The network is designed to get individuals back to work and increase wage growth throughout in-demand sectors, while securing and retaining quality jobs. The effort will combine the work of community colleges, local employers and ARIZONA@WORK to develop employer-based curricula and training programs. 

Additional allocations included more than $1.6 million for the ACT WorkKeys Assessment to help Arizona high school students have access to quality career exploration and clear information about their readiness for any career pathway after high school, $2 million for Scholarpath, a tool that helps students find their ideal career pathway, whether it be postsecondary education, the military or an industry credential, $500,000 to assist African American high school students and their parents with the necessary resources to navigate the college admissions process step-by-step, and $250,000 for EMS Staffing Solutions to provide job and skills training, as well as housing and transportation to the formerly incarcerated, high risk population.
YMVC Board News

We are proud to have an engaged and active Board of Directors. To learn more about YMVC, please contact them or YMVC's President/CEO.
YMVC Directors join celebration of 200 years of US-Mexico diplomatic relations
San Luis, Arizona - The United States and Mexico commemorated 200 years of diplomatic relationships in San Luis, Arizona.

Authorities from both sides of the border say there's still a lot to be done at the federal level to continue growth in border communities.

"The United States and Mexico are working together on key issues economic development, security clean energy. we got so many opportunities. So we're taking this time to celebrate our history and to look forward to another 200 years," says Nogales Sonora U.S. Consulate Laura Biedenbach.

YMVC Directors Tony Reyes and Buna George as well as YMVC's CEO attended the celebration.
YMVC's 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.
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!
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