Minutes from the general meeting held on March 4, 2021
DVTI Meeting
March 4, 2021
Present: Colleen Awad, Bill Bankhead, Shaun Bern, Jim Blair, Ryan Buckley, Nichol Carranza, Paul Crooker, Ed Del Beccaro, Vicki Gordon, Jeanette Green, Joellen Heaney, Jags Krishnamurthy, John Matthesen, Carlyn Obringer, Zach Seal, Marie Suvansin, Sean Trambley, Linsey Willis
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Ryan opened the meeting at 3:00 pm with introductions.
Approval of February 4, 2021 minutes:
Motion: Ed; 2nd: Carlyn; Unanimous
No Public Comment
Economic Development
NorCal SBDC Update: John and Jim attended the bidder’s conference for new hosts and centers for SBDC. Now is the time for DVC to become an SBDC center. It will be good for job and economic development to have it in our area. DVTI should align with whoever gets the designation center and get them into our group. Jim will keep the group apprised.
CSUSB/Cybersecurity Grant (Carlyn):
CSUSB moving forward with the Cybersecurity program. Given some of the programs DVC is working on, there may be an opportunity for a partnership between CSUSB and DVTI or DVC.
Jim talked to Martinez's city manager about establishing an Industrial Cybersecurity program.
Next steps:
Need more information about the grant to see how we can work with CSUSB
Jim and Ryan will work on a location for a regional center within the DVTI area.
Carlyn suggested forming a workgroup of those interested in researching
City Manager's Meeting: Met with Concord, Pleasant Hill, and Martinez city managers who represent CMA regionally. They will share information about DVTI with industries that might not be aware of us.
Workforce Development:
New Course - Tech Sales: Selling Software as a Tech Startup
Technical selling with a focus on the roles and responsibilities of an inside sales representative.
Emphasis on Internet technology - how it builds and serves Internet applications and how it is used by sales reps at tech companies.
Not for credit course; two parts this fall. Marketed through Community Ed department at DVC. Will eventually get approval for a for-credit course.
Presenting to the Business AB board today.
Marketing
Business and Resident Surveys:
Business (economic development side): https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/dvti Purpose: quantify what tech businesses need more of. DVTI will use the data to help accelerate the tech economy here.
Resident (workforce development side): https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/diablo Purpose: quantify the appetite of residents to obtain tech jobs.
How can we market the surveys?
Connect to the tech sector through nextdoor.com networking service
Focus on Black and Latino youth:
Student groups: Mesa, Year Up, STEM in Color
East Bay organizations like Rubicon and Opportunity Junction.
Concord Young Professionals – part of Concord Chamber. Rebecca will follow up.
Ask simple questions; be mindful of the equity component. Some residents will have a strong reaction. Some cities may be unwilling to use their logo or sponsor the survey.
Jags: Completing surveys could be a project for DVC students.
Drone Outreach
Thanks to those who reached out to drone CEOs. Many of those who responded are not aware of what’s going on at Bucannon and Byron.
There is a benefit to this outreach. The people who could use our resources aren’t aware they exist. We are reaching decision-makers who could do business in Contra Costa County (Concord or East County on Byron side).
There is more outreach necessary. We need contacts closer to the Bay Area.
Improving DVTI.org
DVTI.org is getting more traffic. The more blog posts we write and the more specific pages we put up, the more traffic we will get.
The domain is easy to use, and we can help the county and cities by using tech expertise to drive organic traffic. This is a preferred approach to cold emails.
Using SEO Analysis (drone keywords)
Business Interviews: Ed will help set up and do interviews with Ryan, initially with cybersecurity companies that are already here. Paul and Vickie volunteered to help.
Flyers
Sean and Ryan are working on one-page flyers. Need a good overview of DVTI and the drone program. The better we look on paper the more serious we’ll be taken.
John suggested creating DYK’s using transit metrics and commute statistics to show how the Diablo Valley compares to SF, Emeryville, etc. in terms of public transportation and traffic.
Need help with the design. Ed has a graphics contact; Jags has a contact who does digital design. Ed and Sean will work on content.
Bandwidth is crucial in bringing in tech companies
Ed helped the city of Antioch apply for a federal grant to study advancing high-speed fiber optics. Will report if successful.
Jeanette and Carlyn are working with BART and other entities on fiber. Trying to expand Concord’s fiber line through the city and looking at collaborating with BART and the county.
BART has fiberoptic lines up and down the system and is adding more. Cities along 680 should be lobbying to get them. Should be cataloging infrastructure items. Could survey city managers and make sure we are putting our best foot forward.
