Members of the CSDI class with Joe Jackson, President of the Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance
In the June 2009 issue of the Atlanta Business Journal, I was fortunate to contribute the following article regarding the Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance’s youth outreach program the Construction Skills Development Institute (CSDI). This is an outstanding model for skills development, internship and enrichment to allow Atlanta youths to gain lifelong skills and jobs within the construction industry. The program is designed for success, well monitored and managed by the Greater Economic Alliance and their talented President Joe Jackson. More over CSDI is a model that can be replicated in many cities around the country that have a similar need to provide real skills to real people for real jobs.
The following is a reprint of my article in the Atlanta Business Journal, June 2009 Story:
Atlanta Business Journal June 2009
The Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance’s Construction Skills Development Institute Creates a Pipeline of Talent for the Construction Industry
Around the country, state and municipal governments are promoting “shovel ready” projects that will yield immediate stimulus package dollars and begin to change the landscape of tough economic times. With a long term view on impacting the community, the Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance (Alliance) is laying strong foundations in the lives of young people with their innovative mentoring and development program called the Construction Skills Development Institute (CSDI).
Growing from 10 participants in 2000 the first year of CSDI, the program now impacts the lives of 25-30 students annually. CSDI recruits, trains and retrains underemployed, unskilled and displaced workers throughout Atlanta. The CSDI provides individuals with the necessary elements to become skilled craftsmen and construction workers. As a training component of the Alliance, the program continues its efforts to increase the city’s construction labor pool while waging a campaign to increase awareness of this critical shortage.
Joe Jackson, President of the Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance with CSDI participants.
“Demographics show us that over the next four years we will need to fill over a million jobs in the construction industry,” said Joe Jackson, President and CEO of the Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance. “Construction is not a glamorous career. We noticed young people starting to shy away and we are changing that through our program while increasing the pool of skilled workers.”
CSDI employs a selective process for participants by engaging students and parents to encourage success. High school students ages 16-18 interested in construction, many of whom participate in the school system’s construction based curriculum programs, must be recommended by their instructors, test and interview for placement in the program. Qualified students attend a construction training course at Atlanta Technical College before starting their construction internships.
“We bring the interns in and provide training and orientation to sharpen their skills. Our courses include equipment and safety, math and science,” adds Jackson. “We want students to learn how to measure twice and cut once as they apply their education to their intern experience.”
After successfully completing the training course, interns are placed with companies specializing in the student’s field of interest (i.e. architecture, drafting, CAD, etc.) The Alliance and participating businesses monitor the intern’s progress and students are encouraged to provide feedback. All parties keep an open line of communication to promote a positive working environment and experience for both interns and participating firms.
Corporations and local businesses are important stakeholders in the project and contribute time, funds and resources to CSDI. Wachovia, a Wells Fargo Company, participates as a sponsor and active partner with the Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance giving much more than funding.
GAEA Recognition Received
“Wachovia didn’t want to just cut a check. They wanted to have a meaningful partnership. They assessed our program to determine how they could work with the Alliance and best benefit CSDI and our community,” added Jackson.
Wachovia’s Corporate Supplier Diversity group sponsored five students to participate in the CSDI program in 2008. The sponsored students participated in a breakfast meeting with Sonya Dukes, Director of Corporate Supplier Diversity and Todd Gray, Assistant Business Manager, Corporate Supplier Diversity. Students shared their experiences during CSDI and the lessons learned. The students were also guests of Wachovia at the Global Diversity Summit in Atlanta. During the summit students had an opportunity to meet Bob Bertges, Wachovia Head of Corporate Real Estate.
Joe Jackson with the GAEA partnered with Wachovia (a Wells Fargo Company). Sonya Dukes, SVP of Corporate Supplier Diversity and Todd Gray, Assistant Business Manager led the Wachovia participation.
“The breakfast with the participants was a confirmation that the students were impacted and CSDI is effective,” said Todd Gray. Gray played a key role in overseeing Wachovia’s participation with CSDI and the Alliance. “We value the development of our youth as they are the future leaders of the communities we serve.”
To read a virtual copy of the entire magazine, please click the following link to the Atlanta Business Journal’s Virtual Paper Archives: June 2009 Online Issue
Tags: article, Atlanta Business Journal, community development, Construction Skills Development Institute, Edward Cates, Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance, internships, Joe Jackson, June 2009, Nuance Marketing, President Obama, Sonya Dukes, stimulus plan, supplier diversity, Todd Gray, youth development
NCAABA Minority Business Advocate of the Year Award - June 4, 2009
On June 4, 2009 I was humbled to be among a distinguished group of honorees recognized at a reception on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. by the National Council of Asian American Business Associations (NCAABA).
Edward Cates accepts the Minority Business Advocate Award on Capitol Hill.
NCAABA is a 501C3 non-profit organization that focuses on increasing access, connectivity, influence and awareness of issues impacting Asian American and Pacific Island owned businesses pursuing corporate and government contracts. Over the past 8 months, Nuance Marketing has served as the Agency of Record for NCAABA thanks to the support and innovative development of Wells Fargo’s Corporate Supplier Diversity team.
Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA) receives NCAABA's Congressional Excellence Award
It has been my honor to work with Jamie Borromeo, Executive Director of NCAABA as she innovates a historic organization that has a rich history of work that benefits Asian American businesses through collaboration across ethnicities. In the course of 8 months, Nuance has helped NCAABA with an ambitious agenda including; revision of an existing website (working collaboratively with Colorado based Byte Technology), planned, organized and hosted a Stimulating Change Summit in Foster City, CA with 150 participants and a supplier round table. As an important part of the conference we documented video testimonials of Asian leaders and business owners sharing their challenges regarding discrimination and the corporate practice of supplier diversity. We established an NCAABA YouTube channel for the organization to share footage from the project “Our Mission, Our Voice”.
NCAABA was covered by national news and multiple news sites through a developed PR and press release strategy communicating their success and connectivity to key leaders in Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and President Barack Obama. From strategic planning to handing out name tags, together we’ve done exciting work that benefits us all as a country that was built on the premise of equal access and opportunity (and a history of having to fight for it).
I was honored to be in the NCAABA delegation participating in their Stimulating Change Roundtable. The roundtable partnered NCAABA with the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) to engage congressional representatives and federal agencies in a dialogue with delegates and representatives. Delegates spoke to key national leaders on issues such as public contracting, civil rights and I participated with commentary delivered to Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA) on President Obama’s stimulus plan and the need for diverse supplier inclusion goals, monitoring and management for compliance.
Jamie Borromeo, Executive Director of NCAABA and CaSondra Devine, VP of Wells Fargo Corporate Supplier Diversity present the honors.
In an unexpected turn at the end, Jamie Borromeo and CaSondra Devine honored my work with NCAABA and the community by presenting my the Minority Business Advocate of the Year award. My work with NCAABA has not been for glory or recognition. Rather, to support the organizations desire for growth and provide solutions. Although I’m not Asian, I am a fellow diverse business owner and recognize the challenges we face regarding entrepreneurship unify our efforts. Advancing the cause for any ethnicity of business owner advances the innovation, growth and success of American industry and entrepreneurship. I look forward to continuing this valuable work.
Tags: CaSondra Devine, communications, congress, Congressman Mike Honda, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, contracts, corporate, Edward Cates, federal, Jamie Borromeo, Marketing, Minority Business Advocate of the Year Award, National Council of Asian American Business Associations, NCAABA, Nuance Marketing, President Barack Obama, Press Release, private sector, procurement, public, public relations, Purchasing, Sachi Koto, Stimulating Change Roundtable, Stimulating Change Summit, strategy, supplier diversity, testimony, video production, YouTube
Off the grid and recharging on Lower Lake Sardine.
Too often our lives are dictated by schedules, connectivity and phones. Vacation in a lot of cases is simply a change of location for connectivity, not removal from it. It’s ironic how the one thing you don’t think you can live without is exactly what you need to remove (at least temporarily) to gain perspective.
Last year I made plans to vacation in the Sierra mountains near Sierra City with the warning that cell phone coverage would be spotty. I departed for vacation with a deadline pending for an article due to a magazine publisher, armed with an air card and confidence that spotty would do. The concept of disconnecting completely for vacation was foreign to me as I tend to have problem enough disconnecting for dinner each work day.
Arriving in Reno, NV we drove for 90 minutes through the Sierra Valley through Truckee, CA to an elevation of 6,500 ft to the Sardine Lake Resort and lodge.
Sardine Lake Resort a place to unplug.
When we arrived I was awestruck by the beauty of this mountain oasis with a reputation for outstanding trout fishing, excellent hiking and a lodge that served gourmet dinners 5 days a week with a cocktail hour at 5 pm in Poor George’s boat house on the lake. As a city kid from the Midwest and East Coast, I’d seen mountains before, but never slept beneath one for a week.
Lower Lake Sardine with a view of the Sierra Buttes.
There's a Ranger station at around 8,500 ft at the very top.
Cell phone coverage was far from spotty, it was non-existent. In anguish, with the article complete, I remember hurriedly asking the attendant at Bassett Station general store where to stand to get a signal and she laughed and responded smiling casually, “What do you need a cell phone signal for?”. Almost as if she recognized that I was chained to the network and system and needed to take it all in for a minute. Puzzled by her question and still in the rapture of getting my email out I ventured down the mountain 20 minutes toward Sierra City and got a signal while driving. I pulled over on the side of the mountain road, booted up my computer and air card and fired off my story. I returned a few voice mails and caught up on emails on my Blackberry. Driving back to camp I felt a sense of release as I could finally start to enjoy my vacation and did.
Sardine Lake Cabins (2br) with hot water, electricity, heat and no flat screens.
View from the cabin front porch.
This year we returned again and I was fully versed in how to vacation off the grid. Removed from the internet and the constant of ringing phones I settled into vacation mode much sooner. Surrounded by mountains, lakes and streams I returned to take advantage of the breathtaking natural beauty that invited me to settle in, chill out and enjoy. I came to look forward to morning coffee (spiked with a touch of Bailey’s) and fishing before breakfast by the spillway. I hiked to snap pictures and just take some deep breaths of mountain air. We had 17 members of our family in cabins and 15-20 more at the campground in tents and RVs and had amazing meals both at the lodge and our cabins and hit the bed exhausted by 9-9:30 p.m. as there was no cable, TV or radio to speak of either.
Sand Pond at Lake Sardine exclusively for swimming (with giant tadpoles).
Mountains have an amazing ability to provide perspective on life. In a world of big egos and larger than life media footprints it all seems small when you stand at the base of a mountain that was there long before you laid eyes upon it and would remain long after your time on earth is gone. Bald eagles nested at a corner of the lower lake and we watched them circle and swoop down on the lake to retrieve trout and return to the nest. An amazing sighting that was much better than 1080p HD on any size flat screen. I shared with one of my sons that most people only see that on National Geographic or Animal Planet so appreciate it.
Western Jay and Chipmunks abound at Sardine Lake
Waiting to be kissed a frog in the stream below the spillway.
When our family ventured down to the local town of Graegle, CA (with cell phone coverage) to go to the grocery store or horseback riding I was anxiously posting pictures to Facebook and updating Twitter about the beautiful surroundings I was camping in. I posted a photo of myself on horseback and a college friend whose husband and I have exchanged fishing stories, commented on the post, “Vinnie says less recreation and more fishing!”. While I wasn’t posting the abundant stringers of trout pics like I did last year it did seem like I was starting to understand vacation better, off the grid (sort of). It felt like an accomplishment and a secret I wish I knew about many years before.
View of Lower Lake Sardine at Sunrise with Fog on the Water from the Upper Lake.
Clear view of the Lower Lake after the Fog Burned off. Brief hike up from the cabins.
Ironically, I meant to make this post last year to remember, share images of a place that is special to our family and primarily encourage others who are as connected to their computers, phones and televisions as I am to venture out of cell phone range and coverage for vacation. But in my return to the hustle and bustle of business never made the time. Better late than never, I encourage you to use the time off the grid to connect to more valuable assets such as family, friends and the divine proof of a higher power in the beauty of nature.
Beauty even in death.
For more information about Sardine Lake Resort or to make dinner or cabin reservations (often booked months in advance) call 530-862-1196 or Click Here for more information.
Tags: Assets, Edward Cates, Family, Gourmet Dining, Graegle, Grid, Hiking, Lower Lake Sardine, Power Bait, Sardine Lake Resort, Sierra City, Sierra Mountains, Sierra Valley, Time, Trout Fishing, TV, Upper Lake Sardine, Vacation, Writer
