The City of Loveland, Colorado Chamber of Commerce & Visitor's Center put together a summary of information regarding the ACE-Loveland technology project which is projected to bring thousands of new jobs to Colorado.
"After a three month process where the city of Loveland worked with the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology (CAMT) to consider the Agilent Campus for the Aerospace Clean Energy (ACE) project, it was confirmed that the Agilent Campus has been chosen as the sole existing space left in the running, along with two undeveloped sites in Greenfield." -- City of Loveland Chamber of Commerce.
Employment Information or Business Owner Information:
"If you seeking information about employment, or a business owner who needs information concerning ACE-Loveland, please click here. http://www.loveland.org/ACE-Loveland-Business-and-Employment-Information"
For current summary information click here. http://www.loveland.org/ACE-Loveland
Mission: A professional organization of Human Resource Professionals, and others, who foster an understanding of diversity and support/promote companies who instill an appreciation and respect of diversity in the workplace.
Invite you to attend
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
HOTEL VQ ,14th Floor, 1975 Mile High Stadium Cir · Denver
The pay gap between men and women is -- on average -- 20 percent lower, even after forty-eight years since President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis addressed the issue on Equal Pay Day.
(Photo listed above: President Kennedy signs the 1963 Equal Pay Act into law as Business and Professional Women/USA (BPW) president Dr. Minnie Miles (second from right) and members of the BPW look on.)
Here is the transcript.
Greeting everyone: This is your friend and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.
Today we recognize Equal Pay Day. And here's an important fact about equal pay.
It actually takes a woman one year, three months, and twelve days to earn what a man earns in a year.
There's no question: Women have and continue to make extraordinary contributions to the prosperity of our country. Women continue to go above and beyond in jobs that once upon a time were reserved only for men. Yet men continue to earn more. We must close the pay gap. So today we highlight the pressing need for EQUAL PAY.
When people walk into my office, one of the first things they see is a picture of John F. Kennedy. I look up to him, because he was committed to making our country a more just place for all Americans -- particularly for women. Forty-eight years ago, President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act. It's a law that promised women equal pay for equal work. Nearly five decades later, we've narrowed that pay gap, but not nearly enough...
In fact, in the past ten years, the gap has changed very little. Today, women are paid on average, only 80 cents for every dollar paid to men. That's about 70 cents for Black women and about 60 cents for Latinas. But while the pay gap may seem like 20 cents, the actual cost is much higher. You see, every time a woman starts at a new job, every time a woman asks for a raise, she is doing so from a lower base salary. And over time, that gap - "the pay gap" -- becomes wider and wider. The proof is in the numbers. When we look at what a woman loses in earnings -- from the start of her career to the end of it -- we see that, over a lifetime -- she stands to lose nearly $360,000. The REAL COST of a twenty cent pay gap is actually a lifetime of slipping deeper and deeper into the red -- whether you're white, black or Latina... whether you're a waitress, a doctor or an executive -- In the end, we are all losing.
The average working woman, that "twenty cent pay gap" is $150 less in your weekly paycheck. It's nearly $8,000 less at the end of the year. This problem doesn't just affect women -- it affects families, too. Its 20 percent less food you can put on your table. Its 20 percent less to spend on your kids' education. It's 20 percent less gas in the car.
The bottom line: When Women start at a disadvantage, we stay at a disadvantage.
President Obama and I are committed to closing the pay gap once and for all. That's why we've spent the past two years protecting women in the workforce by:
Fixing Bad Policies;
Leveling the Playing Field for employers that do play by the rules;
Cracking down on those who DO NOT;
and Creating opportunities for workplace flexibility -- so women can make choices to provide for their families without being penalized for it.
We've met with experts and listened to employers, advocates, workers and community leaders, who have told us what works and what doesn't. And, last year, Congress was just two votes shy of passing the Paycheck Fairness Act. This law would have closed the loopholes in the Equal Pay Act. And it would have prohibited employers from retaliating against women for talking about what they earn -- because let's be honest, we're never going to fix the problem if we can't even talk about it.
There's no doubt: We've made incredible progress. But we still have a long way to go. In the last fifty years, we've narrowed the pay gap considerably. But, President Obama and I are committed to closing it once and for all. We remain committed to transforming President Kennedy's promise into a reality. And together we will make this nation a more equitable place for everyone.
Colorado leaders urge General Electric to build its proposed U.S. "thin-film solar factory" in here in Colorado. The plant will employ 400 people and produce enough solar panels to power 800,00 homes a year. Ten states are in the running for the proposed plant.
Recently, (April 7, 2011) the Denver Business Journal reported:
General Electric on Thursday announced it will invest at least $600 million in solar technology, including the purchase of Colorado’s PrimeStar Solar Inc., a thin-film solar panel manufacturer, and a plan to build the nation’s largest solar panel manufacturing plant.
General Electric was urged today by Colorado political leaders and public research institutions to build a new solar panel manufacturing plant in Colorado - a facility that would employ 400 people.
GE announced plans to build the plant somewhere in the United States after announcing that PrimeStar Solar Inc., an Arvada thin film technology company, had produced a record-setting panel produced on PrimeStar's 30-megawatt manufacturing line in Arvada.
WASHINGTON, DC – (15-Apr-2011) The Obama Administration released the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC), which seeks to better protect consumers from fraud and identity theft, enhance individuals’ privacy, and foster economic growth by enabling industry both to move more services online and to create innovative new services. The NSTIC aims to make online transactions more trustworthy, thereby giving businesses and consumers more confidence in conducting business online.
“The Internet has transformed how we communicate and do business, opening up markets, and connecting our society as never before. But it has also led to new challenges, like online fraud and identity theft, that harm consumers and cost billions of dollars each year,” said President Obama. “By making online transactions more trustworthy and better protecting privacy, we will prevent costly crime, we will give businesses and consumers new confidence, and we will foster growth and untold innovation. That’s why this initiative is so important for our economy.”
“We must do more to help consumers protect themselves, and we must make it more convenient than remembering dozens of passwords,” said Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, speaking at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Working together, innovators, industry, consumer advocates, and the government can develop standards so that the marketplace can provide more secure online credentials, while protecting privacy, for consumers who want them.”
The goal of NSTIC is to create an “Identity Ecosystem” in which there will be interoperable, secure, and reliable credentials available to consumers who want them. Consumers who want to participate will be able to obtain a single credential--such as a unique piece of software on a smart phone, a smart card, or a token that generates a one-time digital password. Instead of having to remember dozens of passwords, the consumer can use their single credential to log into any website, with more security than passwords alone provide. Since consumers will be able to choose among a diverse market of different providers of credentials, there will be no single, centralized database of information. Consumers can use their credential to prove their identity when they're carrying out sensitive transactions, like banking, and can stay anonymous when they are not.
Once the Identity Ecosystem is developed, a small business, for example, would be able to avoid the cost of building its own login system and could more easily take its business online. Consumers would be able to connect with the new business with a credential they already have, thereby avoiding the hassle of creating another username and password while also being more secure. The small business can take advantage of this interoperability to focus on its product or service instead of on managing users’ accounts. The small business has also expanded its ability to reach new customers across the nation and around the world.
Separately, there are many services for which consumers must go to a physical store--or sign a sheet of paper and fax it to a business. In the Identity Ecosystem, consumers would have the option of proving their identity online, which would enable industry and government to both move brick-and-mortar services to the online world and to create innovative new services.
More secure credentials will also help consumers and businesses better protect themselves from identity theft and online fraud, which annually cost our economy billions of dollars and impose a significant cost in time and money to those who fall victim. In the worst cases, it can take a consumer over 130 hours to recover from having their identity stolen. According to industry surveys, a consumer will also suffer an average out-of-pocket cost of $631 when their identity is stolen--and millions of consumers suffer this experience each year.
The Identity Ecosystem will provide more security for consumers; it will also provide better privacy protections. Today, a vast amount of information about consumers is collected as they surf the Internet and conduct transactions. How organizations handle that information can vary greatly, and more often than not, it is difficult for consumers to understand how their privacy will (or will not) be protected. The NSTIC seeks to drive the development of privacy-enhancing policies as well as innovative privacy-enhancing technologies to ensure that the ecosystem provides strong privacy protections for consumers.
The NSTIC outlines a private-sector led effort, facilitated by government, to develop the technologies, standards and policies necessary to create the Identity Ecosystem and to enable a self-sustaining market of many different credential providers. The Identity Ecosystem will be built to provide more security and privacy to consumers, while also spurring economic growth by helping businesses move more services online.
For more details on the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC), click here, or read the full Strategy here.
"LOVELAND, Colorado - It could be the biggest economic development project Colorado has seen in 25 years. The prospect of 10,000 jobs would help Larimer County's unemployment rate, which has started to spike in recent months. But there are still a few steps that must be completed before the jobs are on their way".
Here is a press release from Dec. 13, 2010 with more details:
NASA Partners With Colorado In Technology Acceleration Initiative
DENVER -- NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr., participated Monday in a Space Act Agreement signing ceremony at the Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver to promote the commercialization of technology developed for the space program.
NASA's agreement with the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology (CAMT) created a Technology Acceleration Program and Regional Innovation Cluster for Aerospace and Clean Energy. A manufacturing park focused on rapid new product development and production will be developed to assist growing Colorado businesses.
"This park will use Colorado's existing competitive strengths to boost economic growth while creating new jobs and products for aerospace and energy industries," Garver said. "NASA is pleased to collaborate on new technology developments like the one being created through the Colorado Technology Acceleration Program and Regional Innovation Cluster."
Under the agreement, small and mid-sized businesses will have direct access to a NASA "innovation ambassador," an agency expert who can identify NASA and partner technologies ready for commercialization. The ambassador will conduct forums to drive partnerships among NASA and Colorado businesses and help identify businesses that can benefit from commercialization technical assistance.
"The new agreement with NASA is a perfect fit for Colorado because it will enhance our leading aerospace industry and growing high-tech business and research sectors," Ritter said. "Most importantly, this will bring high-tech jobs to our state. Colorado is a hub for innovation and continues to attract the best and the brightest workers. Congratulations to CAMT and NASA for making this historic agreement."
The Technology Acceleration Program will allow companies to work with NASA and expedite product development from an average of five years to as little as 18 months. New products will get to market more quickly, and new high tech jobs will be created.
"Aerospace and energy are the fastest growing industries in Colorado, sharing the same supply base and similar workforce needs," said Elaine Thorndike, chief executive officer of CAMT. "Through regional innovation clusters, public and private sectors can work together to increase business opportunities, technical assistance programs and market penetration for aerospace and clean energy manufacturing strength."
The NASA-CAMT partnership will provide technical assistance and identify gaps in commercialization and scouting services to help companies looking for space-developed technologies and services. It will help companies bridge the gap between prototype design, manufacturing and commercialization, while identifying commercial applications for NASA technologies.
Innovation is necessary to expand the U.S. economy and ensure competitiveness in a global economy. Many new, innovative technologies are developed by small and mid-sized businesses that do not have a robust, in-house product development capability and lack commercialization resources.
Through the agreement, NASA joins the state of Colorado, the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory and CAMT in a pathfinder collaboration to promote innovation and global competitiveness in the new energy economy.
CAMT is a statewide manufacturing assistance center dedicated to increasing the competitiveness of Colorado manufacturers. The association is the state affiliate of the national Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a program of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
As part of our overall goal to make the web better for users, last year we announced a new project: to provide a community with Internet access more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have today. After a careful review, we're very happy to announce that we will build our ultra high-speed network in Kansas City, Kansas. We've signed a development agreement with the city, and we'll be working closely with local organizations, businesses and universities to bring a next-generation web experience to the community.
Thank you to every community and individual that submitted a response, joined a rally, starred in a YouTube video or otherwise participated.
There are a range of jobs that will provide careers in the future, in the areas of High Tech, Medical technology, Social Media, Mobile Developers, and Energy Conservation careers applied across a broad range of traditional careers that have been updated with a technology twist.
For example: Watch this video:
"Choosing A College Major To Prepare For the Hot Jobs of the Future - ABC News."
Creating Jobs for the future. There will be jobs in Conserving Energy, Weatherizing, and other Clean Energy areas. New Job Skills training dollars are available from the Federal Government.
Here are two examples from Van Jones from the White House Council of Environmental Quality
Mobile devices sales are growing faster than desktop PC sales. This presents a new opportunity for developers to reach more people across the globe. There will be a need to create mobile applications on these devices. Here is one example from Google's Android Development Demo. P. S., Apple also has a development kit as well.
For example, small businesses are entering the growing exporting business with the help of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, by learning the rules of selling overseas, changing their websites to include other cultures.
For example http://www.pizzaovens.com learned how to become a "Worldwide Restaurant Equipment Specialist". They are a distributor who expanded their market by selling pizza ovens overseas. Later they convinced other dealers to let then sell other products overseas and now they are a success. If importers can sell U.S. consumers toaster ovens, why can't U.S. small businesses export pizza ovens? "In the first 11 months of 2010, U.S. businesses increased their exports by 17 percent over the prior year, to $1.7 trillion," according to the Wall Street Journal.
Mutual trade between countries is not a win or lose proposition. The Jobs of the Future will include selling outside of the U.S., which will provide jobs at home.
Businesses are collecting more and more data. There will be a need to analyze this information which is gathered from various data sources, organize it, use new software tools that turn data into business intelligence used for decision making. Here is an example from IBM.
5. All industry sectors will open up an opportunity to go mobile and transforms how society becomes a connected world. An article titled "Mobile Makes Millions — But It’s Not as Simple as It Seems | Wired.com" reports that its not a specific business model that will capture the market, it is the individual service that each consumer selects that counts. Therefore, there's room at the top and the bottom for everyone to stake a claim, even with today's methods of text-messaging, social media networks, blogging, websites, and email. It's all about information and business trade in a connected world.
Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 216,000 in March, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 8.8 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, health care, leisure and hospitality, and mining. Employment in manufacturing continued to trend up.
Photograph of J. W. Mauchly leaning over UNIVAC console, of the past.