River Cities Business Journal: Education

New group pledges to promote education; MEEDA plans to help create stronger workforce by inspiring students

River Cities Business Journal

A meeting in Kingman in June laid the groundwork for a new program designed to encourage young people in the region to continue their educations beyond high school.

Recruiting businesses that require skilled workers to the region is difficult because only about 10 percent of the area workforce has some certificate or degree beyond high school, Richard Biegel, managing general partner of Biegel & Co. LLC, and owner of Colorado Place, said.

While there are plenty of entities recruiting businesses and Mohave Community College offers a variety of programs, including a number of paths to four-year degrees, many area young people fail to see the benefits of higher education, Biegel said.

The group that met at the Dambar in Kingman laid the groundwork for a program to help develop the future workforce of the region by inspiring students to continue their educations.

The Mohave Education and Economic Development Association will consist primarily of business people from throughout the region.

MEEDA's statement of purpose is to “Develop the youth of today into the successful leaders of tomorrow.”

It will implement several programs to provide role models and training for students. The first program will be the “Stars of the Desert” awards to the most outstanding young leaders of the region each year.

It will also develop a speakers' bureau of area business and trades people to make available to local school teachers.

Also on the agenda is a “Future Stars Camp” that will offer training for future civic and business endeavors for students.

MEEDA hopes to have the programs running by the first of the year, but it will take strong support from the business community.

Meetings will be held in Lake Havasu City, Bullhead City and Kingman to organize the group later this year. Announcements will be made through the River Cities Business Journal and the group's Web site.

To find out more about MEEDA visit its Web site www.mohavebusiness.com