On November 7–11, San Diego BlueTech Week 2016, hosted by the Maritime Alliance, featured six events over five days created to showcase the booming BlueTech industry and promote BlueTech and Blue Jobs. This year’s theme was “Case Studies of Collaboration” as the group focused on international partnerships. Attendees enjoyed networking with international partners, rubbing elbows with senior government officials and industry executives, meeting investors, exploring career opportunities in the Blue Economy and discovering new maritime technologies from around the world.
Thursday’s 2nd Annual Blue Economy Workforce Development Day brought together industry professionals, job seekers, students and teachers for a day-long seminar on the future job needs of the Blue Economy. During this session, SDWP Vice President and Chief Program Officer Andy Hall took part in the “Education & Workforce Development for the Blue Economy” track, presenting an overview of the newly-released Blue Economy: Labor Market Analysis report. The second-half of the session was a panel discussion where Hall spoke alongside the following representatives:
- Cheryl Hibbeln — Executive Director, Secondary Schools, San Diego Unified School District
- Paula Keener — Dir., Education Programs, NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration & Research
- Sean Mahoney — Executive Director, Zero8Hundred
- Cheryl Peach, Ph.D. — Director, Scripps Educational Alliances, SIO
Hall spoke on growing jobs in the sector and how to build the blue economy talent pipeline. “The talent pipeline for the Blue Economy depends on exposing and connecting young people and adults to the great careers it offers,” said Hall. “Our research shows that 40 percent of BlueTech companies can’t find the talent they need. At the same time, there are 53,000 16–24 year olds in our county who are not working or in school. There’s a huge opporunity to connect these young adults to these jobs.”