Talent development and retention;
Working to stimulate economic growth
Bexar County is connecting local college students with local private sector jobs. Who knew? Bexar County is home to over 14 universities and colleges serving 116,000 undergraduate students. These institutions generate enormous potential for the area, but when 80% of students surveyed indicate they plan to live somewhere other than San Antonio when they graduate, it makes it difficult for the region to compete with other Metropolitan Statistical Areas such as Austin, Denver, and San Francisco to name a few.
In April of this year, the County kicked off a new initiative called BUILD (Building Unique Internships for Leadership Development) to retain homegrown talent and support local businesses. The program is a result of relationships with San Antonio universities and businesses which allows BUILD to connect job seekers to job opportunities and reduce the likelihood of “brain drain,” similar to what Detroit suffered in 2008, as depicted in the image below.
Source: Forbes.com; Internal Revenue Service data. The IRS only reports inter-county moves for more than 10 people, so some moves are not shown on this map.
The mass exodus of Detroit is an economic developer’s worst nightmare; Wayne County, where Detroit is located, had its population decrease by 23,176 in 2009, 32,214 in 2008, and has lost more people (135,313) than any other U.S. County since 2000. Detroit’s decline can be tracked to its dependence on the struggling automotive industry and illustrates the importance of having a diverse and robust economy and multiple tools in place to support it.
Bexar County’s BUILD Program is well positioned to serve that support role by leveraging relationships, outreach, and market knowledge of the region; and recent successes show that it’s working.
The program, which began earlier this year, was recently contacted by Avanzar Interior Technologies to find several candidates needed to assist in the development of continuous improvement processes. Avanzar’s previous success in finding engineering talent with BUILD was reason enough for the manufacturer to seek the same assistance in filling these positions.
Mr. Carlos Martens, a partner at Avanzar, said, “You (Bexar County) were the first ones I thought of when this need came up, my partner and I are very interested in getting local organizations and institutions involved.”
Mr. Martens and his colleagues were working with a 14 day time line, so BUILD quickly leveraged relationships with university career centers to provide Avanzar with 18 applicants from schools such as St. Mary’s, UT-San Antonio, University of the Incarnate Word, and Trinity, in a matter of days. Seven candidates were eventually selected for the interviews held at UTSA on Monday, September 20th.
The students who interviewed were excited about the program and grateful for the opportunity with Avanzar. Masashi, a St. Mary’s graduate, said, “I am very appreciative of BUILD, because of this program I now have the opportunity for a position at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing facility, which is what I have been looking for.”
Jessica, a St. Mary’s student echoed the sentiment by saying, “This is a great initiative, without BUILD, I may not have known about this great opportunity.”
The candidates participated in two short interviews with Avanzar personnel and many felt confident about their sessions, while Avanzar representatives indicated that they were pleased with the candidates and expect to make offers to several of them soon.
In the end, five of the students were offered positions (including Masashi and Jessica), a huge success for all parties involved. A local business filled a need with qualified candidates, students and recent graduates were provided a career opportunity, and universities were able to work with a new business where relationships had not previously existed; exactly the kind of services and relationships the program works to foster.
Bexar County understands that sustained economic growth requires local initiatives, and Commissioners Court and the Economic Development Department believe that the BUILD Program is a great tool to further local growth. Businesses, students, universities, et al are welcome and encouraged to provide feedback and suggestions, or to just check in for any new opportunities. Much like Avanzar, BUILD incorporates continuous improvement processes and plans to grow along side the businesses and students it helps.
To stay plugged into the latest developments and opportunities coming from BUILD, check out www.bexarbuild.org, and let us know what you think!
Of course, none of this would have been possible if it weren’t for our great partners at the San Antonio Colleges and Universities Career Centers Association (SACUCCA) and our relationships through LinkedIn and Twitter. Thank you, all!
