Greater Yuma

After laying down the groundwork in the first phase, Phase 2 calls for commissioning a consultant to conduct a market analysis to evaluate the present and future needs for a skilled workforce in Greater Yuma. The project will help outline a plan to attract new primary employers to the region.

EDA’s 80% match grant will cover about $110,000 of the total project cost of $130,000. The rest will be covered with smaller grants and in-kind contributions.

Data collected from the study will be used to collaboratively develop a five-year action plan. Regional primary employers, education leaders, elected officials, governmental agencies and nonprofits focused on education and workforce development will be invited to participate in the project that is expected to take nine months to complete.

The request for proposals will be posted this week, with the expectation of having a consultant working on the project by early June.

“Through the collaborative efforts between the Multiversity and Greater Yuma EDC, we will now be able to execute Phase 2 of the critical development of the Yuma Multiversity. This truly is going to change the dynamic of Yuma County as well as positively impact Imperial Valley,” said Julie Engel, GYEDC president and CEO.

Promoting educational excellence and high wage and skill job creation are listed as top priorities in GYEDC’s “Six Pillars for Economic Success.” With the missions of both the multiversity and GYEDC aligned, Amber Shek, economic development specialist at GYEDC, worked with Jim Schuessler, multiversity president and CEO, to secure the grant.

“As YMVC is a new nonprofit, GYEDC served as the crucial conduit with EDA so that the next steps can be taken,” Schuessler explained. “We appreciate the alignment with GYEDC. YMVC’s success will assist the overarching mission of GYEDC.”

In 2019, Yuma Mayor Doug Nicholls led the creation of a steering committee to develop a full university presence in Greater Yuma. The vision was to foster a culture of degree-earning and higher education by providing support and continued expansion of the state’s universities and colleges locally.

With the support of grant funding from the APS Foundation and Arizona Community Foundation in February 2020, the YMVC appointed Schuessler to serve as head of the newly formed organization. Since that time Schuessler has invested well over a thousand hours directly engaging primary employers, education and nonprofits focused on education and workforce development.

The future of the Yuma Multiversity Campus doesn’t necessarily mean a brick-and-mortar building, but rather an organization that helps existing colleges and universities with the needed resources to help more Yuma County residents earn advanced degrees.

Regional companies employing skilled workers requiring advanced degrees are often forced to hire people from outside the area. Many employers prefer to hire from within the area, provided people have the necessary skills.

“Greater Yuma employers have consistently noted that if we can develop the talent here in Yuma County there is a desire to hire locally,” Schuessler said.

Each year GYEDC performs a business, retention and expansion survey to better understand the needs of local industries and employers. The annual survey consistently reveals recruiting and retaining a skilled workforce is a prevailing problem. In addition, 100% of respondents have indicated that Yuma needs a four-year university presence or technical training facility to create a local skilled workforce.

“Both Maricopa County growth and Yuma County’s strategic international location have created opportunities for us to attract additional employers to our area to fuel supply chains. From San Luis to Yuma, we offer great opportunities to existing and potential new employers because of our growth, our youth and sites for industrial development,” Schuessler said.

He illustrated the direct link between higher education access and degree attainment by pointing out Coconino County, home of Northern Arizona University. Coconino County, with a much smaller overall population, boasts 50% more adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher as compared to Yuma County.

Schuessler noted that those advanced skills can lead to greater success in attracting high-tech employers. For example, Flagstaff, located in Coconino County, recently announced a new $60 million vehicle components manufacturer that will ultimately bring 350 new jobs to the community. That project broke ground this month.

“While Yuma County’s population has increased nearly four-fold in the past 50 years, higher education infrastructure has not kept up,” Schuessler explained. “While Arizona Western College significantly exceeds their peers in successful outcomes, students are often forced to leave Greater Yuma to complete baccalaureate degrees, which causes increased student costs and often leads to degree attainment incompletion.”

YMVC seeks to bring more resources here so that AWC, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and University of Arizona can achieve even more access and greater education outcomes, Schuessler added.

YMVC also recently announced support for the Phase 2 feasibility study from the Arizona Community Foundation’s Arizona Venture Fund for Quality Education.

“As the state’s largest independent provider of college scholarships, ACF understands the importance of higher education,” said Steve Seleznow, ACF president and CEO. “But even more importantly, we understand the very necessary groundwork that is needed to enact system change for broad community impact. For those reasons, the YVMC study aligns perfectly with our vision for building a better Arizona.”

“We are proud to invest in a project that will have such a profound impact on Yuma’s future,” said Veronica Shorr, ACF Yuma regional director. “This grant exemplifies one of the many benefits of working with the Arizona Community Foundation: leveraging statewide funding to support the unique needs of local communities.”

“We appreciate ACF’s deep commitment to seeing real advancement in higher education access and outcomes,” Schuessler said. “We would not have made it this far with the Multiversity project without their initial commitment.”

More information about the YMVC initiative is available at www.YumaMultiversity.com.

By Mara Knaub, Sun Staff Writer