Educators Line Up To Back Tech Center Supporters Hope Technology Center Will Spur Growth

Spokane’s aspirations to become a regional leader in technology education took another step forward Thursday as dozens more education leaders from the region joined in support of the emerging Inland Northwest Technology Education Center.

“We are inviting everyone in,” Charles Taylor, chancellor and CEO of Community Colleges of Spokane, told the crowd of roughly 80 people who attended a half-day conference in Spokane that outlined the vision of INTEC. “Let’s not continue to be competitors.

Let’s work together for the good of all.”

INTEC, which was initiated by Taylor and Spokane developer John Stone earlier this year, seeks to train workers in emerging technologies through cooperative partnerships among business, industry, school districts, colleges and universities in the region.

Supporters believe INTEC, once developed, will spur economic growth by retaining and attracting high-tech businesses with a pool of workers trained in information technology.

“The technology in the (state) appears to be like air currents,” said Peter Allison, president and CEO of Allison Johnson Venture Partners of Spokane. “It goes up the Cascade Mountains and doesn’t come down until it hits Minneapolis.”

But that could quickly change, he said.

“This region, right now, is ready to launch,” he said. “The critical component is the work force. If we don’t provide the work force, the companies will fail or will move out of the region.”

During the meeting, several area business and industry representatives said good-paying jobs exist in the region. However, too few trained workers are available to fill them.

“We are experiencing a shortage today of skilled people to fill our entry and advanced levels of technical and professional job openings,” said JoAnn Matthiesen, chairwoman of the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce and an Avista vice president.

“This issue is not a shortage of people in the labor market. It’s a shortage of matching skill sets to the positions that are open.”

INTEC grew out of the Symposium Series, which Stone organized. It so far has more than 120 supporters representing the private and public sectors. Thursday’s meeting brought together education leaders from Eastern Washington, Idaho, Montana and Canada to broaden support.

Since being proposed in February, INTEC now has four committees working to develop it. They are broken into four components: program development, marketing and finance, legislative, and facilities.

The good news, says Taylor, is that INTEC’s steering committee isn’t reinventing the wheel. Rather, committee members are studying similar centers around the country - including the Northwest Center for Emerging Technologies at Bellevue (Wash.) Community College.

“We are going to take the best of centers nationally and bring them to this region,” he said.

It’s undecided whether INTEC would develop into a virtual center that uses existing educational facilities for training or one that occupies its own building.

The INTEC committee will eventually seek funding from the private and public sectors to support the venture. Ideally, INTEC’s services will offset costs, said Kim PearmanGillman, senior vice president of Avista Development Inc., a subsidiary of Avista Corp.

“Businesses would pay the market rate to have their people trained here,” said Pearman-Gillman, who along with Taylor ran Thursday’s meeting.

Just how soon will INTEC be operating?

“It’s already started and it will move as fast as we as the committee can push it,” she said.

Those interested in joining one of the four INTEC working committees may call 533-7401.