Millennials are a must have to boost Coachella Valley economy
Business is booming and prospects are high according to hundreds of business owners who made it out to the Coachella Valley Economic Summit today.
“It’s about building bridges between local communities,” said Jim Spee, Business Professor with the University of the Redlands. “People aren’t just saying I’m here from Palm Desert or I’m here from Coachella, it’s I’m here from the valley, and what can we do to support local business across the valley.”
One thing that most of these business owners and educators can agree on is there needs to be more emphasis of attracting a newer more vibrant workforce.
“I don’t think the valley has come together to recognize that it needs to do more to realize that it need to provide a place for kids to stay in the valley after they figure out what they want to be when they grow up,” said Liberty Naud the CEO of Science Math and Robotic Technology Education or SMART.
“Millennials are a really interesting group because a lot of them have that Mark Cuban effect. They see such success from a business entrepreneur and they want to be Mark Cuban,” says Maria Wren, Co-Founder of SMART Education.
Speakers say having a talented Millennial workforce can entice big companies to come out to the Coachella Valley.
“If you have a company like, for example Google, who is looking to build a new plant some where their not going to go somewhere that they need to import a workforce,” says Wren.
Another big topic up for discussion was trying to find ways to keep the economic engine going during the summer months.
“Bring year round employment,” say Spree, “because it think that’s the name of the game. We have people working in the winter time and in the summer you don’t have anything to do and business close down.”
“Our economy really relies on agriculture and hospitality, the healthcare sector is strong here but we need to diversify for us to produce the kinds of jobs that are going to keep our top talent and really build a healthy economy for the future,” says Sheila Thornton, VP Workforce Excellence for Coachella Valley Economic Partnership.
More than 750 people came out to the event.
