Luther Jackson, Program Manager of NOVA, a federally funded non-profit that provides workforce development services to Bay Area communities, invited Gerald Bernstein, ATRE Deputy Sector Navigator of the Bay Area Region and Pam Gutman, ATRE Director to tour Prospect Silicon Valley (PSV).
Career Pathways Initiative Connects Talent with Transportation Industry
NOVA and PSV are leading a career pathways initiative to better connect the region’s talent supply pipeline with the transportation industry in the Bay Area. They are focusing their efforts on high schools, colleges, universities, and apprenticeship programs.
While touring PSV, Bernstein and Gutman previewed some of the technologies that are being developed in Silicon Valley for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and other transportation-related connective technologies. PSV demonstrated how cars are communicating with each other on roadways and with local transit signaling systems.
After the tour, Gutman and Jackson exchanged information about the accelerating pace of technological developments in the automotive sector. Jackson was surprised to learn how many automotive manufacturers, suppliers, and high tech companies are working in the Bay Area — on technologies to support autonomous vehicles, connective in-vehicle infotainment systems, and more advanced safety systems.
As he began to understand that Silicon Valley, with its VC investment resources and its penchant for disruption, is also changing the automotive industry’s business models (car-sharing/ride sharing impacting both private and public transit models), Jackson decided to change the name of his program to “Advanced Transportation.”
ATRE and NOVA Educate Faculty, Industry, and Government Officials
Gutman and Jackson have partnered as co-speakers at CTE and Career Pathways events to educate high school and college faculty about the transformation of the automotive industry and the subsequent impact on jobs and work skills. They recently spoke at the CTE Steering Committee Meeting of San Mateo County Office of Education, facilitated by Dr. Vera Jacobson-Lundeberg. Over 50 educators, industry and government officials attended and were informed about the rapidly evolving automotive sector and its impacts on workforce skills and curricula.
As Mary Barra, General Motors Chairman and CEO recently stated: “the automotive industry will change more in the next 5 to 10 years than it has in the last 50.”
