LBBJ Perspectives Partnership

As the Executive Director of the Center for International Trade and Transportation (CITT) at California State University, Long Beach, SWTWC Director Thomas O’Brien was already a cooperative partner with the Long Beach Business Journal, and publishing biweekly articles on trade and transportation every other Tuesday for Perspectives. Perspectives covers a wide range of business and community issues, with special focuses on international trade, real estate and development, healthcare, tourism, aviation and aerospace, technology, financial services, the arts, education, environment, and legislation impacting local businesses. In 2016, SWTWC Director O’Brien expanded the partnership to include SWTWC, and to feature articles on current transportation workforceissues. Along with SWTWC Associate Director Tyler Reeb, O’Brien also coauthored articles to further expand the Journal’s readership. These special guests include: SWTWC Steering Committee Member and South Bay Workforce Investment Board Chief Executive Officer Jan Vogel and Long Beach City College Vice President of College Advancement and Economic Development Lou Anne Bynum.

In addition, Reeb expanded this partnership to include CITT’s ContainerCast to further promote awareness of transportation workforce issues. ContainerCast is a podcast that explores important issues in goods movement and international trade. Hosted by Mat Kaplan, the podcast also features CITT activities, including research findings and interviews with key decision makers from the trade and transportation arena. ContainerCast frequently invites O’Brien as a guest for industry interviews. In 2016, ContainerCast invited Reeb for an interview about transportation workforce skills titled: Workplace Training. In 2017, the cooperating partnership will also include articles promoting SWTWC Workforce Initiatives.

Key Deliverables

• Published article titled “Investing in Talent: Recruiting and Training Future Transportation Professionals” by SWTWC Associate Director Tyler Reeb in November 2016.
• Published article titled “Trade and Transportation Literacy” by SWTWC Director Thomas O’Brien in August 2016.
• Published article titled “Training the Supply Chain Workers of Tomorrow” by SWTWC Director Thomas O’Brien and Long Beach City College Vice President of College Advancement and Economic Development Lou Anne Byunm in April 2016.
• ContainerCast interview on “Workplace Training” with Associate Director Tyler Reeb in April 2016.
• Published article titled “Old School Workplace Skills More Critical than Ever in High-Tech Transportation Trade Fields” by SWTWC Associate Director Tyler Reeb and SWTWC Steering Committee Member and South Bay Workforce Chief Executive Officer Jan Vogel in January 2016.

Anticipated Outcomes

The purpose of this partnership is to increase local awareness of the importance of and opportunities available in the transportation industry. In addition, SWTWC will leverage this partnership to promote and garner increased support for the Center’s Workforce Initiatives.

In order to assess the effectiveness of this partnership, SWTWC will gather data through readership numbers and Web analytics. For instance, SWTWC will use Bit.Ly in 2017 to accurately identify which SWTWC portals are most effectively engaging transportation stakeholders.

Contribution Analysis

2016

• SWTWC Director Thomas O’Brien wrote two articles on workforce development thus far for LBBJ: Perspectives
• SWTWC Associate Director Tyler Reeb wrote two articles on workforce development thus far for LBBJ: Perspectives
  • Participated in a podcast interview with Mat Kaplan on ContainerCast
• SWTWC coordinated the following cooperating partnerships for coauthors
  • SWTWC Steering Committee Member and South Bay Workforce Investment Board CEO Jan Vogel
  • Long Beach City College Vice President of College Advancement and Economic Development Lou Anne Byunm
• SWTWC coordinated further promotion efforts by:
  • Archiving all LBBJ: Perspectives articles on CITT
  • Archiving transportation workforce articles from LBBJ: Perspectives on SWTWC.org

2017

• SWTWC will promote the Center’s Workforce Initiatives: (21^st Century Apprenticeships, GIS Training, Supply Chain Diversity, and Trucking); including related webinars, industry events, and partnerships.
  • Articles will be written by members on the SWTWC Team.

Documentation

Reeb, T. (November, 2016). “Investing in talent: Recruiting and training future transportation professionals.” Long Beach Business Journal: Perspectives. Retrieved from http://www.ccpe.csulb.edu/CITT/Documents/spDocuments/298_Investing_In_Talent_.pdf.

O’Brien, T. (August, 2016). “Trade and transportation literacy.” Long Beach Business Journal: Perspectives. Retrieved from: http://www.ccpe.csulb.edu/CITT/Documents/spDocuments/Trade_and_Transportation_Perspective_Documents_Trade_and_Transportation_Literacy_AUG30-SEP12_2016.pdf.

Bynum, L. and O’Brien, T. (April, 2016). “Training the supply chain workers of tomorrow.” Long Beach Business Journal: Perspectives. Retrieved from: http://www.ccpe.csulb.edu/CITT/Documents/spDocuments/Trade_and_Transportation_Perspective_Documents_160412_TrainingTheSupplyChainWorkForceOfTomorrow.pdf.

Vogel, J. and Reeb, T. (January, 2016). “Old school workplace skills more critical than ever in high-tech transportation trade fields.” Long Beach Business Journal: Perspectives. Retrieved from: http://www.ccpe.csulb.edu/CITT/Documents/spDocuments/Trade_and_Transportation_Perspective_Documents_160119_Old_School_Workplace_Skills.pdf.