2. Today, thousands of high-paying higher-skilled jobs are going
unfilled due to leaky education & hiring pipeline resulting in more
poverty and less prosperity for our community
Tech Talent Development & Hiring Pipeline
Not enough quality computer/tech classes
Not enough computer science teachers
Analytics & computing skills viewed as
“special” not core competencies
Technology myths dissuade people from tech
Employers won’t hire people without work
experience & non-traditional education
Talent we do have leaving town because not
enough opportunity
No organization, nor overall shared-community vision driving holistic
tech education/economic-development strategy
Too much focus on calculus, when rarely used
Businesses struggle
to find people they
need, & people
struggle to find
prosperity they
deserve
Not enough affordable & easily-accessible
classes for people already working
3. Closing the gap between the demand and our educational/hiring
capacity, represents hundreds of millions in incremental income &
economic activity each year
3
Unfilled jobs = lost income, taxes &
business growth
10. We’re entering an era where humans & machines are granted
new super powers, as science fiction becomes reality
Intelligence Sight Strength
11. As employees leverage AR & VR to blend the physical &
digital as well as augment their intelligence in real time
Car Repair = Human
Intelligence + dumb
tools
18. In the process, making every company a tech company
“This is the end of ‘tech companies’. The era of “tech
companies” is over; there are only ‘companies’, steeped
in technology, that will survive.”
- The End of Tech Companies by Rob Thomas
19. Resulting in a Technami of automation
McKinsey Supply Chain 4.0
Innovation Survey
20. Wiping out low & mid-skill repetitive work
50% of transportation & warehouse
jobs in jeopardy of being automated
over next 15 years
21. Presenting both peril & promise for Memphis
“Compared to other cities, Memphis may have the most to win or lose
by advances in automation.”
“Memphis is one of the largest distribution centers in the world,
employing over 60,000 (more than 40,000 of which are African
American) people in distribution, warehouse, freight and other jobs
that are vital to providing employment, and a tax base for the city and
Shelby County.”
Daphene R. McFerren, JD and Elena Delavega, PhD1 Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change -
THE ROBOTS ARE READY! ARE WE? AUTOMATION, RACE, AND THE WORKFORCE
22. If we act now, the Technami represents huge opportunity!
23. Unless we take action, inability to fill higher-skill, higher-paying jobs,
along with disappearance of low-skill work, will be disaster for Memphis
23
Unfilled jobs = lost income, taxes &
business growth
Lost jobs = Financial ruin for many,
lost taxes & lost business
24. We need to take action now so we can meet the growing demand for
tech talent tomorrow, and avoid being crushed by the Technami
The Billion Dollar Workforce
Challenge
1.Increase education capacity to
match demand
2.Move people in low & middle-
skill jobs of today to high-tech
jobs of tomorrow
25. The Billion Dollar Challenge is designed to galvanize Memphians to take
action, so we can surf the Technami, instead of being crushed by it
2025 Billion Dollar
Challenge
Make Memphis the leader in
inclusive tech, lifelong learning and
automation adoption in order to
drive an incremental $1B in income
& economic activity by 2025
Today
• Shortage of high-paying
positions
• Difficult to access affordable,
effective tech training
• Lack of qualified tech talent
impeding businesses growth
• No umbrella tech organization
driving overall strategy and
collaboration
• Technomic laggard with no
overall tech, education,
innovation and collaboration
strategy despite demand &
opportunity
• Technami set to wipe out up to
50% of low-skill jobs & put
Memphis companies at a further
disadvantage
After
• Surplus of high-paying tech careers
• Easy to access affordable education
and upskilling opportunities
• Full pipeline of diverse tech talent
powering their growth
• New umbrella organization drives
comprehensive strategy and
community-wide collaboration
• Technomic leader with an inclusive
tech, education, innovation and
collaboration strategy that drives
billions in new economic activity
• Technami lifts thousands to
prosperity as Memphians work
together to help people and
businesses thrive
26. It only takes adding another 10K tech workers to achieve the
Billion Dollar Challenge by 2025
$-
$200,000,000
$400,000,000
$600,000,000
$800,000,000
$1,000,000,000
$1,200,000,000
- 1 2 3 4 5 6
Billion Dollar Challenge Year
Cumulative Annual Income & Economic Impact by Year
300
900
2100
4500
9300
Cumulative # of Tech
Workers
27. Impossible, you say! Actually tech jobs & six-figure career-
paths possible after just six months
“A little over a year ago, I was a 19-
year-old cashier with no job prospects
or sense of direction. Now I’m a
software developer, doing something
I love and making over four times
what I was earning working in a
warehouse.” Ray Green, CodeCrew
Code School Grad
28. The good news is we already have many different organizations
working to tackle these challenges from many different angles.
28
29. However, need new coalition devoted to building the local tech and
innovation ecosystem required to achieve Billion Dollar Challenge
After
• Technomic leader with an
inclusive tech, education,
innovation and
collaboration strategy that
drives billions in new
economic activity
New umbrella alliance devoted to building the local tech
ecosystem by connecting people and organizations with each
other, and resources they need to innovate and scale
11/1/2019 29
Today
• Technomic laggard with no
umbrella organization nor
overall tech, education,
innovation and
collaboration strategy
despite demand &
opportunity
MAIKE
Memphis
Alliance for an
Inclusive
Knowledge
Economy
K-12
Schools Pupils &
Parents
Career
changer
s
Tech
Pros
Local
Firms
Tech
Firms
Tech
non-
profits
Other
non-
profits
User
Groups
Govmts
Colleges
30. Education&
Employment
MAIKE Vision: Drive community-wide collaboration and policies along with
shared services required to achieve Billion Dollar Challenge goals
30
Shared Services & Infrastructure
One-Stop Shop for Research, Fundraising, Personnel, Marketing, etc.
Advocacy
Measurement&
Continuous
Improvement
Collaboration
Technomic
Development
Results
Leader in Inclusive Tech,
Lifelong Learning & Automation Adoption
Billions of dollars of new income & economic activity
31. So what have we done, and where are we going?
Start
• Conduct the initial research, and groundwork required to launch the initiative into the
broader community
• Status: Developed vision. Created core team to lay ground work. Hired 3rd-party to quantify
opportunity & refine/ refute hypotheses. Engaging key community stakeholders.
Launch
• Announce Billion Dollar Challenge and gain agreement on vision as move from concept to
execution.
• Status: October 22 Upskill 901 Workforce Summit Panel to discuss Billion Dollar Challenge,
share research and invite broader public to join initiative.
Execute
• Build coalition, deliver quick wins, raise funds, and lay foundation as drive toward larger goal
• Status: Chamber of Commerce taking leadership role to drive collaboration, strategy &
execution
31
32. What can you do?
1. Attend Upskill 901 on Oct. 22! http://www.upskill901.com/
2. Stay tuned! More details and next steps to come out soon
3. Reach out! Contact Kevin Mireles kevinjmireles@gmail.com, Sondra
Howell showell@memphischamber.com, or Ernest Strickland
EStrickland@memphischamber.com for more details
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