Region 2000 Technology Council Newsletter
Thanks to all who attended our Business & Technology EXPO.
The event was a success with over 200 people in attendance
and 29 exhibitors. I want to also thank all of our event
volunteers, sponsors, panelists, and speakers - you were
excellent!
VA Business Magazine just released their November issue.
In it, the region was featured with intereviews from the
Technology Council, Economic Development Council, CAER,
Sisson Creative, IWT, and NovaTech. A web link to the
articles is
available here.
I want to encourage you to take some time over the next
two months to think about this region and what it means to
your business. After the first of the year, several of us
working together here at Region 2000 will be calling on you
to collect your thoughts about where the region is headed.
The question that needs answering is "What do we want to be
in Region 2000?" We are seven communities that are
represented by numerous civic groups that are all working
for the betterment of the communites they represent. But,
what is the one thing we can all work on together? What is
the vision for the region? This is what Virginia's Region
2000 has been doing since 1988, but with the constant
changes taking place around us, it has made it increasingly
difficult to keep up. Rather than be reactive, we have
always strived to be proactive. I hope you get a sense of
this when you read articles like the one featured in this
month's VA Business Magazine. So, gather your thoughts
because we will be calling on you.
Have a great Thanksgiving,
Jonathan Whitt, Executive Director
The Big “G” Event
Economic Futurist Roger Herman coming to Lynchburg
The Big “G” Event is a summit that addresses the
Generational Storm and the upcoming business trends that
will affect our workforce from nationally acclaimed Economic
Futurist Roger Herman.
The Lynchburg Regional, Altavista, and Amherst Chambers of
Commerce and Young Professionals of Central Virginia will
host this informative summit that delivers forecasts,
perspectives, and insights on workforce, workplace, and work
style issues to help businesses plan for the future. An
optional afternoon dialogue with Roger from 1:30 - 3 p.m.
will begin framing a regional strategy to attract and retain
talent. Cost includes lunch and program and is $30 for tech
council or chamber members and $45 for non-members.
Reservations are required by November 7. Contact the
Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce at (434) 845-5966.
Sponsored by AREVA, BWX Technologies, Inc., Genworth
Financial and M/A-COM Wireless Systems.
Among Roger's attention-getting forecasts are:
- An Unprecedented Churning in the Labor Market
- The New Breed of Workers He Calls "The Adaptables"
- The New Leadership Style is Emerging: Facilitative
Leadership
- Linear Career Paths Will Practically Disappear; It's
Hopscotch Time!
- People will choose where they work
Date: Wednesday November 9
Time: 11:30am-1pm
Location: Radisson Hotel Lynchburg
Request for Volunteers - Two Opportunites
Please Help
CVCC, in partnership with the Region 2000 school systems, is
looking for business and industry volunteers to participate
in the CHOICES program. CHOICES is an interactive classroom
seminar that gives middle and high school students a chance
to see into the future and recognize the importance of the
personal and academic decisions they make today. Last year
over 1,000 local 9th grade students benefited from this
program. We are looking for volunteers from Region 2000
businesses to help us deliver this important program again
this year.
Over the last few years, our local high schools have
organized and hosted a team of students in the FIRST
Robotics competition. This international competition
provides students with an opportunity to develop real world
skills in the area of design and operation of robotics
technology. In an effort to build a stronger pipeline into
this program we would like to increase the involvement in
the FIRST Lego League in our middle and upper elementary
schools. The FIRST LEGO League (FLL), considered the "little
league" of the FIRST Robotics Competition, is the result of
a partnership between FIRST and the LEGO Group. FLL extends
the FIRST concept of inspiring and celebrating science and
technology to children aged 9 through 14, using real- world
context and hands-on experimentation.
With the help of LEGO® MINDSTORMSTM Robotics Invention
SystemTM technology, young participants can build a robot
and compete in a friendly, FIRST- style robotics event
specially designed for their age group. Using LEGO bricks
and other elements such as sensors, motors, and gears, teams
gain hands-on experience in engineering and computer
programming principles as they construct and program their
unique robot inventions. The GO Center at R.S. Payne
Elementary School and T.C. Miller School for Innovation are
both sponsoring teams of 4th and 5th grade students in the
Lego League competition this fall. The teams of students
have already begun their work leading to the competition on
November 12. Volunteers from business and the technical
community are needed to work with the students on Tuesdays
and Thursday evenings from 6:00 – 7:30. Volunteer mentors
will work with groups of 2-3 students at a time to complete
a task in the project. Please consider providing some of
your time and expertise for this project.
If you are interested in helping with either program or
would like more information please contact Bob Bailey, NSF
Project Manager-CVCC, at (434)832-7764 or by e-mail at
baileyr@cvcc.vccs.edu.
|
