Forbes recently hailed the Austin-San Antonio region as "America's Next Great Metropolis" with San Marcos at the heart of the momentum. With recent major announcements like Best Buy's first and only Texas e-commerce sales operation center and Coast Flight's new training facility at the San Marcos Regional Airport, along with Amazon's monumental first holiday season, our boom is just getting started.
With the ever-changing landscape of the economy and the constant evolution of jobs, what should we expect to see coming up from employers and how are we in the corridor working to train our talent to fill those jobs of the future?
Hear from Ady Advantage senior vice president Shabaka Gibson about what he is seeing in terms of workforce development trends and what best practices we can look at to prepare tomorrow's workforce today. Mr. Gibson, a former US Army military intelligence officer whose experience includes nearly a decade with ExxonMobil, is passionate about building vibrant economies and strong communities.
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In addition to Mr. Gibson, the program will feature a panel of workforce development leaders from the Austin-San Antonio Corridor. The panel will look at what local efforts are being made today to prepare the corridor's talent pool for the jobs of tomorrow. Panelists include:
-Mr. Aaron Demerson, Director, Employer Initiatives, Texas Workforce Commission (Moderator)
-Dr. Daniel Brown, Dean of University College, Texas State University
-Dr. Charles Cook, Chief Academic Officer, Austin Community College
-Mr. Chester Jenke, Director, Central Texas Technology Center
-Mr. Lonnie Hall, Director, Gary Job Corps
-Commissioner Ruth Hughs, Texas Workforce Commission
San Marcos Mayor John Thomaides, Wells Fargo Vice President of Business Banking David Case, and GSMP President Adriana Cruz will provide opening remarks.
Shabaka’s passion is building vibrant economies and strong communities. As senior vice president at Ady Advantage, he leads initiatives for a wide range of organizations. Shabaka works to position communities for successful futures, as well as, help retain, attract and expand businesses. In addition Shabaka consults and gives talks on talent issues and strategies.
Shabaka’s background is in community and corporate interactions. Prior to joining Ady Advantage, Shabaka spent nine years with ExxonMobil working in corporate affairs. There, he focused on brownfield remediation and site redevelopment, public policy, socio-economic development and corporate social responsibility, business and municipal tax policy, and workforce development with an emphasis on education reform.
Shabaka has worked as a municipal manager in southwest Michigan, managing all aspects of a small community. Prior to that, he worked in economic development focusing on brownfield redevelopment, downtown redevelopment and manufacturing retention and recruitment for Berrien County, Michigan.
Shabaka is a former US Army military intelligence officer. He served 10 years with an extended tour as a joint operations company commander in Iraq.
"In the past, the rule in business was ‘If you build it they will come.’ With the advancements in communication technology, businesses now settle on the areas that have the right talent. Today, successful economic development rests partially on a community’s ability to strengthen and sell its talent assets."
Aaron Demerson (Director of Employer Initiatives at Texas Workforce Commission) - Moderator, Dr. Daniel Brown (Dean of University College at Texas State University), Dr. Charles Cook (Chief Academic Officer at Austin Community College), Chester Jenke (Manager of Central Texas Technology Center), Lonnie Hall (Director of Gary Job Corps), and Commissioner Ruth Hughs (Texas Workforce Commission).