Unlike the first year, the 2017-18 students had to accommodate the existing window graphic in the Fermentation Tank room (see story here). The winning design, by NHS student Ryan Harber, was printed by the incredible team of Phat and Kyle from Phat GFX and installed by Phat GFX and a team of students, including Ryan.

The project specifications and client meetings were developed and attended by ChehalemVIA’s board chair, Julie Marshall, and Ashley Lippard of ALD (we treat the students as a creative agency – we are their client).

Challenge #3 starts with the beginning of the 2018-19 school year – to tackle the next room – the Network Hub. Once again, the students will have to design icons/graphics that “resonate” with the graphics in the adjacent 9 windows.  But what a difference it makes!

• 1 minute company “pitches” – who, what, why and 1 interesting fact
• A brief explanation from the chief matchmaker (his words), Dean Bob Harder, about the mutual opportunities for employer and potential employee
• Round-robin meetings at bistro tables to exchange opportunities, contact information – and to break-out to a small room for a serious interview

I led off the pitch session – the only non-employer there – with the message: “When you graduate and decide to do you’re own startup, ChehalemVIA is here for you. And, one of our startups has an ongoing project with GFU Engineering Senior Design teams.”  While ChehalemVIA can’t offer employment, many students stopped by and ask about ChehalemVIA and left resumés and cards. And several of them, we can help connect to significant resources that might meet their goals.

Establishing a technology incubator was a plausible measure the community considered taking in order to attract more high-paying jobs to the area, but even after Newberg was eliminated from the contest the concept was identified as a high priority by the city of Newberg in its Economic Development Strategy. Read the rest of the story here

Special thanks to Ashley Lippard Designs, Icon Communications and Sign-on for getting this done! Ashley did the artwork (over and over… wash, rinse repeat), Icon took the measurements, did the mock-ups and helped marshal the sign application, and Sign-on took care of the sign! And thanks to the City of Newberg for getting us through this process!

Geez… Now we have all the amenities – coffee makers, a kitchen, a printer, a projector/room (courtesy of Fidgetech), the coolest graphic artwork in Newberg from Newberg High School and Phat GFX, our own entrance, great tenants/clients, great neighbors (CPRD) – what a difference a year makes! And it’s all community-led and supported!

Installing the sign is the exclamation mark on year one. We finished moving in. Now it’s time to get serious and build capacity.

“It wasn’t so long ago that people with a high-school diploma, a good work ethic, and a strong body could build solid, middle-class careers in blue-collar jobs like manufacturing and construction. That’s no longer possible. As traditional blue-collar jobs dwindle, another promising category of jobs is growing: jobs that require a baseline of technical skills but not necessarily a four-year degree. IBM CEO Ginni Rometty calls them ‘new-collar’ jobs…” Read the original article

The next stop was lunch at the Allison hosted by Austin Industries. We assembled over a dozen local business executives along with community representatives from the City and County to have a 2 hour round table discussion about skills gaps related to local industry hiring needs.  The discussion supplemented a Quarterly Gap Analysis provided by the Chamber of Commerce.  All of this information provided to PCC so that they can better determine programming at the PCC Newberg Center.

President Mitsui’s and team’s visit concluded with a tour of A-dec showcasing their incredible manufacturing and product quality capabilities.