The BR&E team visited 4 companies in the month of October. In addition, Angies’ Artisan Treats (aka BoomChickaPop) hosted a tour of their new facility for members of the EDAWN sponsored Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and provided a great overview of their manufacturing and distribution practices. The BR&E team also co-led a meeting of the Northern Nevada Food Forum at TMCC in order to provide continued support to the growing food and beverage manufacturing sector in the region.
While the big event for the month of October was the Existing Industry Awards, EDAWN continues to co-lead the Regional Workforce Consortium. In October, EDAWN’s Program Manager Valerie Cotta, shared the Community Forecast which provided a detailed baseline of primary companies’ workforce needs to all consortium members to help them build programs for the future. Tesla was also on hand to present information about their culture and their current and future workforce needs.
Unfortunately, there were no winners for our Manufacturing Scavenger Hunt so those gift cards are just burning a hole in my pocket! If you would like to find out who manufacturers the products on the list, please see the attached and spread the word about the diversity of manufacturers in the region. And, if you would like to use those 10,  ten dollar gift cards for your staff, please contact me to discuss the potential of hosting a tour at your facility for members of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals or for students at Truckee Meadows Community College at mccormick@edawn.org.
Our participation in the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Conference provided over 12,000

students and professionals with a glimpse into the growth and opportunities that exist in Northern Nevada. Many thanks to student members of SWE from the University of Nevada, Reno and to representatives from Tesla who helped us with the booth. The team received many inquiries from Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical engineers and senior engineering students graduating this spring. The conference provided a great opportunity to encourage attendees to “Rethink Reno” and to promote our Remarkable, Energentic community, Natural beauty and Outstanding opportunities.
Thanks also to multiple staff members of the Reno Sparks Convention Center and Visitor’s Authority who helped with marketing components for the SWE conference, along with Plus Plus Design Reno, and we also appreciate the support of Digiprint, which produced the “RethinkReno.com “brochures used at the conference. 

Biggest Little Employee Tip:  Do you have Millennials in your workforce and do you understand what matters to them?  For a quick commentary from CNBC – go here.

The Year of STEM Education

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math

The 2016 STEM Challenge Grant request for proposal is open until December 21, 2016. This grant sparks the creation of lasting partnerships between industry and workforce training providers resulting in sustainable training programs that provide in-demand, industry-recognized STEM skills to training recipients and lead to full-time jobs in STEM industries. For more information, go here.

STEM matters to you, your children, employers and the State of Nevada! This is the year of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Governor Sandoval and The Office of Science, Innovation and  Technology (OSIT) launched the Year of STEM, along with the Nevada Stem Hub website in September. The demand for STEM trained professionals in Nevada is growing by 14%, versus 10% for non-STEM jobs, and the median salaries for Nevada STEM jobs are $37.34 per hour, versus $17.70 per hour for non-STEM jobs. For more information, go here.

Major Investor of the Week

Founded and headquartered in Reno, NV, Dermody Properties is a privately-held, national developer of industrial properties, with a 50-year history as one of the most agile and visionary private industrial developers in the country. Consistently ranked Nevada’s largest industrial developer, it has developed and leased more than 35 million square feet to many Fortune 500 companies across the nation. The company is actively doing Build-to-Suits and joint ventures, with a current portfolio of 3.5 million square feet.