Grambling and LED partner to expand technology education

25th February 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer

With a Louisiana economy still climbing out of the recession, a large crop of ambitious and talented young men and women heading to college, and the rising need for cutting-edge business ventures in key areas of technology such as cybersecurity, Grambling State and Louisiana Economic Development on Feb. 12 announced a joint effort to create and enhance tech careers for Grambling students.

The $1.2-million, four-year memorandum of understanding (MOU) takes numerous steps toward this goal, including the creation of a Technology Advisory Council aimed at strengthening partnerships with leading tech companies, CenturyLink, IBM Microsoft, GDIT, DXS Technology and CGI to foster new degree programs at Grambling; creating the first digital library at an HBCU; and fund scholarships, internships and similar hands-on learning ventures that match student education courses with the needs of technology employers.

“Our partnership with Louisiana Economic Development is a major step in making sure our students succeed in North Louisiana’s growing technology corridor,” Grambling State President Rick Gallot told The Louisiana Weekly last week. “As companies like IBM and Century Link expand in our community, this agreement focuses on making sure our students are ready to support and benefit from their growth.

“For Grambling State, we are grateful to LED for the impact this agreement makes possible,” Gallot added. “The investments in our student, faculty development and equipment help us grow both our student body and impact. We’re growing in enrollment. We’re growing with our new cybersecurity degree. This agreement will ensure that growth continues.”

LED Secretary Don Pierson said the evolution of cutting-edge curricula at Grambling serves as a perfect match for LED’s desire to boost the state economy by fostering a new pool of potential talented and trained African-American employees.

“Grambling State University is making technology education a priority, and technology companies have acknowledged the school and its students as a potential new pipeline for talent,” he said. “Louisiana Economic Development is excited about seeing the positive results that will emerge from this new agreement.

“With universities making these commitments,” Pierson added, “coupled with [the] state’s other resources to recruit businesses, we see the new agreement with Grambling State as a key recruiting tool to attract more technology companies and new career opportunities for Louisianians.”

Pierson said the MOU will encourage Grambling students to pursue computer-science degree programs, with eyes on promoting young adults’ careers in technology. Not only will the students benefit greatly from such college curricula and work experience, he said, the creation of a new crop of ambitious, educated, young African Americans will hopefully lure existing technology companies to relocate or expand in Louisiana.

“When it comes to recruiting new businesses to Louisiana, one of the first things companies look for is an available, talented workforce and the likelihood that the state can support continuous growth in its pool of available talent,” Pierson said.

He added that at this point, pegging exact numbers to the potential increase in employment stemming from the MOU might be difficult, those involved are extremely optimistic about the possibilities.

“It’s difficult to provide an exact number of jobs created by this partnership, but the Memorandum of Understanding is intended to advance technology careers for Grambling State University students,” Pierson said.

“LED FastStart [the agency’s statewide workforce development program] and university educators will collaborate with technology employers in the state to customize the curricula in computer science, computer information systems and cybersecurity to ensure students are well-prepared for today’s technology job market,” he added.

While much of the MOU effort will focus on north Louisiana, where Grambling is located, leading business organizations in New Orleans lauded the Grambling-LED announcement.

Hyma Moore, vice president of external affairs for Greater New Orleans, Inc., a regional economic development alliance serving the 10-parish region of southeast Louisiana, said the new partnership should dovetail perfectly with GNO, Inc.’s mission and growing success.

“You’ll see an interesting trickle down effect [between regions],” he said.

Moore said GNO, Inc. sees the MOU as another connection between higher education and the business community that will give young employees and entrepreneurs an understanding of how the technology industry works, how to create new technologies and how to succeed in the quickly blossoming tech business.

“This is a knowledge-based economy in many ways,” Moore said of the tech field, “so we need to be persistent in our efforts to establish partnerships between the state and businesses.”

Moore cited the decision of global computer-development firm DXC Technology to open a downtown New Orleans office last year as an example of businesses rising to meet the needs of a growing crop of tech-focused aspirants by tailoring their recruitment efforts to that demographic. DXC is expected to bring roughly 2,000 new jobs to New Orleans over the next five years.

Moore said the large African-American population in the New Orleans area – especially those with a solid computer-science education who are finding jobs in the field – exemplifies the potential of such efforts as the Grambling-LED MOU.

Just as vital to the potential success of the MOU program will be, in addition to boosting the employment prospects of individual students, spurring young Grambling graduates to launch and nurture their own start-up tech companies in Louisiana.

Officials said such a prospect of individual, small-business entrepreneurship will hopefully join and enhance a rapidly developing computer-science industry in the state, especially the flowering technology corridor in northern Louisiana.

“The growth of technology hubs, where technology companies locate in proximity to one another, can create industrial communities that support the growth of companies large and small, including startups,” Pierson said.

“Louisiana cities are seeing these clusters of technology companies begin to emerge,” he added, “and many of them are supporting the growth of small businesses and startups. Many of the skill sets and degree programs developed by Grambling State University are highly transferable to the skills entrepreneurs need to launch a company of their own.”

One successful African-American tech entrepreneur, Alana Ward Robinson, also welcomed the announcement. A 1972 Grambling graduate, Robinson joined with her husband, E. O’Neal Robinson, in founding Robinson Group Consulting, Inc., in 2004, with Alana serving as president and CEO, and O’Neal becoming executive vice president and CFP.

After more than 30 years working in several large technology corporations such as IBM, Alana Robinson decided in 2004 to take the plunge with her husband and form their own company, RGC, a consulting firm based in Chicago, IL.

RGC collaborates with business and industry leaders to assess, design and execute technology solutions tailored toward an enterprise, with a goal of strengthening effectiveness and efficiency.

Robinson said the company prides itself in hiring not only African-American employees, but creating a staff covering multiple demographics. She said that in addition to the type of technology education the Grambling-LED MOU should enhance, young entrepreneurs and ambitious executives need to learn how the survive and thrive as businessmen and women.

“Not only do they need technology skills,” she said, “they need social communications skills… When forming a company, they need to learn about budgeting, marketing, product development and service. They need to broaden their thinking to make a whole business with sustainability. It’s more that developing the next app. They need to develop strategies to improve the state of their business.”

That holistic approach to entrepreneurship is what makes programs like the Grambling-LED MOU so vital in growing an adept, focused employee base of young adults. She said methods to reach that goal include fostering internship opportunities for students, investing in university programming and providing faculty with real-world teaching training.

Robinson noted in particular that representation of African Americans in tech centers like Silicon Valley is “embarrassingly low,” adding that economic development partnerships can help change such poor percentages.

As an example, she said that at the time she and the other 11 students formed Grambling’s first computer-science graduating class in 1972, IBM representatives came to the campus to recruit them for employment. That gave the graduates vital experience and an entrance into the technology industry.

Finally, Robinson pointed to another significant challenge for young tech entrepreneurs who want to start the own companies – the lack of start-up funding. She said aspiring Black businesspeople often have an extremely hard time soliciting the necessary investment funds to launch a small business.

“We need to address how hard it is for minorities to get funding for their own company,” she said. “Getting the money to start is significant challenge on its own.”

Gallot said the Robinsons serve as both role models for aspiring tech graduates, and as examples of African-American success in the field. Hopefully, he added, the MOU will cultivate more such guiding lights in the industry.

“This partnership with LED helps continue our long legacy of developing successful technology leaders,” Gallot said. “That legacy has always included corporate leaders and entrepreneurs like Alana Ward Robinson, who have helped grow companies using their Louisiana roots.

“This investment combined with efforts like our new library and involvement with BRF’s Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program create the perfect environment for students to grow a company while they get their education at Grambling State.”

Under the MOU, the effort will occur over the next four academic years, concluding in 2023 and impacting such majors as cybersecurity, computer science, engineering and other STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) courses.

Total funding is tagged at $1,190,000, with $980,000 of that figure going toward student recruiting and retention scholarships. About $60,000 will go toward internship support, $60,000 to curriculum development and $90,000 toward equipment and software.

“Grambling State University is not only one of the most important historically Black colleges and universities,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said in an official statement announcing the MOU. “Grambling is one of our most successful HBCUs. Under President Gallot’s leadership, Grambling is laser-focused on preparing its students for career success.

“With a strong commitment to computer science and cybersecurity, with a strategic location on the I-20 Cyber Corridor, and with our state commitment to grow technology careers here, Grambling is poised for greater success as a technology leader in higher education.”

About 70 percent of Grambling students are classified as in-state. Gallot said the Robinsons represent the type of bold, confident business leaders that hopefully will be cultivated among newer Grambling alumni.

This article originally published in the February 25, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.