Page 6 - Aerotech News and Review March 3 2017

Conference aims to ‘Fire up the Future’
by Diane Betzler
staff writer
The theme this year for the Ante- lope Valley Board of Trade’s Annual Business Outlook Conference was “Fire Up the Future,” and fired up the conference was, attended by some 800 people or more from many walks of life.
Celebrated at the Antelope V al- ley Fairgrounds in Lancaster, Calif., this, the 45th A VBOT Annual Busi- ness Outlook Conference, predicted a bright and prosperous future for the growing Antelope Valley.
The conference was opened by A VBOT President Kelly Hanley who welcomed everyone and talked about what she called the “great work” being done here to inspire and educate the valley’s local youth, today’s young people destined to become the valley’s next workforce generation.
“So today, join us on a journey not just to forecast our future, but to facili- tate, drive and determine our destiny,” she said, adding that a lot depends on how parents and educators prepare the valley’s students for the workforce of the future.
The Lancaster High School Junior ROTC performed the presentation of colors and student Hailey Callison sang the National Anthem, giving conference goers a peek at some of the valley’s outstanding young people.
Conference Chairperson Ed Knud- son presented this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award to local busi- nessman Dante Simi. Simi is CEO and founder of the Learn4Life Charter Concept Schools, an education orga- nization considered to be an innova- tive educational system geared toward preparing young hardship students for the 21st century workforce.
Knudson described Simi as a man with a vision and an unabated desire to serve local dropout students who were failing in traditional schools. He said Simi opened the first Learn- 4Life school in Lancaster in 2001 and by 2016 there are Learn4Life schools throughout California that have served nearly 40,000 students throughout the state.
“Hundreds of those students live and work here in the Antelope Val- ley,” Knudson said.
Accepting the award Simi said he was honored and speechless. He talked about Learn4Life students and shared several success stories. One in particular about a young fe- male high school dropout who joined Learn4Life at 14, “She did very well,
went on to AV Community College and graduated with an AA at 16 and a half.”
Knudson said the student earned a scholarship to UCLA and after gradu- ating from the university she went to work at the White House.
“All the way from Lancaster to the White House, that’s what it’s all about,” he said.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger, 5th District Los Angeles County, pre- sented Simi with a proclamation for his Lifetime Award achievement.
Barger talked about how business is growing in the AV and credited leadership, “It’s all about working together to build a stronger base than we already have,” she said.
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris agreed that success is about working together, and pointed to a picture of him sitting next to Palmdale Mayor James Ledford. “For the first time in 20 years we’re starting to work to- gether and when that happens, look out, great things are happening,” he said.
“This is an exciting time for the Antelope Valley,” Barger said. “Great
Photograph by Allen Hoffman
Congressman Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks to the 45th Annual Antelope Valley Board of Trade Business Outlook Conference Feb. 24.
“The next 20 years in the Antelope Valley are going to be like nothing we’ve ever seen.”
Jim Ledford, Palmdale mayor
things are moving forward,” she said. “Within two years every UPS truck will be built in the Antelope Valley,” Parris said. He said those trucks will be electric and all local buses will be
converted to electric.
Parris said there are plans for build-
ing a manufacturing facility here on 150 acres, “In a very short time if you’re unemployed in the Antelope Valley it’ll be because you want to be unemployed,” he predicted.
Lancaster Council Member Raj Malhi also talked about leadership
working together and predicted a bright future for the A V .
“We’re working on making the Antelope V alley inviting enough for students graduating from the universi- ties to come back to the A V ,” he said, adding that local leaders are working toward building a world class infra- structure.
Local economist Paul Silvern, Part- ner HR&A agrees the future looks bright for the High Desert. “The vi- sion that city officials have presented
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