Area organizations push innovation under program.The 101 Corridor is home to many internationally known technology companies creating innovative products. But those companies don't interest Bill Baratto as he leads the Ventura County Economic Development Association in finding tech companies to include in a state-wide data base. The association instead digs deeper to find the small- to medium-sized entrepreneurial companies hidden in industrial parks in the west San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . "That's where significant amounts of innovation in technology are happening that doesn't get recognized and is flying below the radar screen," said Baratto, president and chief executive officer of the Ventura County EDA (1) (Electronic Design Automation) Using the computer to design, lay out, verify and simulate the performance of electronic circuits on a chip or printed circuit board. . The database of technology companies is among the projects funded by a $15 million federal grant to the California Space Authority The California Space Authority (CSA) is a nonprofit corporation representing the commercial, civil, and national defense/homeland security interests of California's diverse space enterprise community in four domains: Industry, Government, Academia, and Workforce. , a not for profit agency finding ways to keep the state's aerospace industry competitive in the global marketplace. The database fits that goal in that it will stimulate relationships among businesses to create new technologies. "The starting point Noun 1. starting point - earliest limiting point terminus a quo commencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, starting time, beginning, start, kickoff, first - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the is you have to know where everybody is and what everybody is doing," Baratto said. The Ventura County EDA is among the more than 60 partnering organizations chosen by the authority to take part in the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development, or WIRED, program. The partners were chosen from a 13-county area dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. the California Innovation Corridor stretching from Alameda County in the north to San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. County in the south. Among the partners from the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. area are the Ventura County Workforce Investment Board Workforce Investment Boards (or "WIBs") are regional entities created to implement the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 in the United States, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of Palau and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. , the Greater Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Economic Alliance, the Antelope Valley Board of Trade, the City of Lancaster The City of Lancaster (2002 population: 133,914) is a local government district with city status in Lancashire, England. Its main town is Lancaster, from which it obtained its city status. Other towns in the district include Morecambe, Heysham, Slyne, and Carnforth. Redevelopment Agency, Antelope Valley College Antelope Valley College is a comprehensive community college located in Lancaster, California, USA. It is operated by the Antelope Valley Community College District, with a primary service area of 1,945 square miles covering portions of Los Angeles and Kern counties. , and College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. . The WIRED program promotes innovation in technology, creating workforce training and education programs for the manufacturing sector, and rejuvenating aerospace manufacturing through better supply chains. All that adds up to helping California companies maintain their competitive edge in the face of foreign countries taking away business. "We have to be responsive and be able to produce a workforce that will be competitive and maintain an economy that will be competitive," said Les Uhazy, dean of mathematics, science and engineering at Antelope Valley College. The college's part in the program is helping to survey 1,000 companies in the California Innovation Corridor on their needs to prepare their workforce to create and maintain efficient supply chains. The follow up to the survey is creating a training program for employees made available through the state's community college system. Taking part in the WIRED program is an opportunity for the college to provide workforce training responsive to what manufacturers need, Uhazy said. Staying competitive, whether in local or global markets, requires a skilled workforce and ability by companies to adapt to changes in the market, Uhazy added. "If there is a particular need for a particular component that goes into CD players or a satellite dish satellite dish n. A dish antenna used to receive and transmit signals relayed by satellite. satellite dish A parabolic antenna used to receive signals relayed by satellite. or involved in the production of aircraft or spacecraft, and if people are going to be doing this in the most cost effective way with great efficiency we have to be prepared for that," Uhazy said. The Antelope Valley Board of Trade, the Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance along with the Kern County Economic Development Corp. are compiling a list of innovation companies and federally-funded research labs in the area to include in a database. Providing information on the companies, research labs, and universities doing research makes it easier for capital investors to find them so work stays in California, said board of trade Executive Director Cathy Hart. The board is also involved with forming a supply chain advisory council to learn the needs of manufacturing suppliers in terms of workforce and equipment. "We need to find out what is holding our suppliers back from competing in a globally competitive way," Hart said. College of the Canyons is addressing the workforce shortage in high-tech manufacturing by developing programs for middle school students, said Dena Maloney, the school's dean of the economic development division. The focus on middle school students parallels things the school is already doing to start planting seeds early to spark an interest in technical education programs that students pursue into college, Maloney said. LOCAL PARTICIPANTS IN WIRED Antelope Valley Board of Trade. Antelope Valley College City of Lancaster Redevelopment Agency College of the Canyons Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance Ventura County Economic Development Association Ventura County Workforce Investment Board BY MARK R. MADLER Staff Reporter |
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