Tech on Tap

Today’s episode, Tech on social change, economic disparity, and social mobility. 

The Premise:

The topics of social change and technology seem disparate and disjointed. However, regions across the country like the Triangle are seeming to benefit from an innovation economy that is growing at an exponential rate. The collateral damage is the many disenfranchised individuals throughout our region. Their chances of benefitting from that growth is very much a pipe dream. We focus our attention on social mobility, a term that simply highlights the likelihood that someone who is born into one economic demographic will move upward into another. The southeast of the United States and more specifically North Carolina is amongst the worst states in the country for the people having the ability to break the cycle of generational poverty. In short, whatever economic situation you are born into in North Carolina, there is a high likelihood that you will die in that same economic situation.

The Guests

Kia Baker:

Kia Baker is the Founding Executive Director of Southeast Raleigh Promise, a community quarterback organization overseeing the revitalization of the southeast Raleigh area of our region. Southeast Raleigh Promise is the 16th Purpose Built Community in the US and seeks to affect change with a multilayered approach to community development. Using the tenants of a defined neighborhood, community quarterbacking, mixed-income housing, cradle to career education, and community wellness. SER Promise engages the community by providing a holistic approach to change. Baker talks about how to overcome the issues with our failing educational infrastructure, giving people tools for success and how to get hyperfocused in problem-solving.

Find out more about what SER Promise is doing and the new elementary school they are building in partnership with the YMCA in downtown Raleigh. 

Rob Shields:

Rob Shields is the Executive Director of the Recity Network, a coworking space for collaboration and operation for non-profits in the Durham, NC region. As an advocate for his community and the organizations holding up the city of Durham, Shields is always seeking to make connections that uplift the larget community while teaching others what it means to enlarge your circle. Shields sheds light on the disconnect between the growing number of nonprofits in the Durham region while the effectiveness of those organizations becomes more surface level and ineffective. He also sheds light on how we can all use our privilege to help a system, not built for some, succeed for all. 

Engage with Recity and follow them online to see how to get engaged with the solution.

Syretta Hill:

Syretta Hill is the Executive Director of Step Up Durham. Step Up Durham is a 501 c3 organization that works to provide job training and job placement to the most disenfranchised and the those most in need of a second chance. Working with a team of community organizers and engagers, Syretta focuses her attention on how to uplift a community by seeing the best in each individual and helping the individual to see the best in themselves. Hill details what specific systems are in place that keep people relegated to their economic station and goes further to talk about how to engage with communities from the standpoint of humility and a listening ear.

Find out more about how you can help the mission of Step Up Durham and look out for their many events throughout the year. 

Our Sponsor:

Johnson Automotive Group is a WRAL TechWire partner and the presenting sponsor of Tech on Tap.

James Amato, Strategy and Business Development Manager for WRAL Techwire, hosts a conversation with one of WRAL Techwire's valued partners. WRAL Techwire partners are a collection of organizations and brands that help to make the WRAL Techwire brand special.

This week, James sits down with the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) of Device Magic, Mike Welham. James and Mike talk about the unique value proposition of Device Magic and how their company contributes to the unique value proposition of the Triangle as a whole.

Find out more about how Device Magic is providing faster and more accurate data collection at DeviceMagic.com

Presenting Sponsor: Johnson Automotive Group

The team is back together to talk about the latest news in technology and innovation and how it impacts the lives of everyday people. There are so many stories coming out every month on the looming recession. Jason Eder, Michael Baylor, and Laura Blake read the tea leaves through personal experience and talk about how a future recession could mirror the one from 2008. The team talks about the storylines that juxtapose an impending economic downturn with the growth of startups based in the southeastern region of the United States. 

With the death of iTunes in the latest IOS update and most recent announcements surrounding Apple TV +, the team wonders what is Apple's great value proposition as a company. What should we expect from the company that brought us Macintosh and the iPhone in 2019?

To end the show, Laura Blake recaps the most recent Techwire Live Event, Fueling your Startup - Sponsored by Wells Fargo. The event featured an all-women panel sharing their relatable experiences of finding their passions, building their visions, and funding their projects. 

Presenting Sponsor: Johnson Automotive Group

Front Seat of Innovation: Terracycle

Techwire Live Event Speaker: Em Sexton - Founder, Flourish Market

James Amato, Strategy and Business Development Manager of WRAL Techwire, takes another deep dive into the companies and brands that help to make WRAL Techwire's brand special.

Lawrence Bivins is the Managing Director of Policy and Public Affairs with the North Carolina Economic Development Association (NCEDA). NCEDA's mission statement is simple. NCEDA serves as the voice for North Carolina’s economic development community – providing professional development, networking opportunities and advocacy to secure the state’s economic future. NCEDA works in both the public and private sectors to grow the inherent value proposition of North Carolina.

James and Lawrence sit down to define economic development, to talk about what NCEDA is doing to move North Carolina forward, and how to bridge the urban-rural divide.

Find out more about what NCEDA does to advocate for North Carolina's growth and development and register for their upcoming luncheons and networking events at NCEDA.org

Strategy and Business Development Manager, James Amato, sits down with an Opendoor representative about their impact and plans as an expanding startup in the local economy.

This week on Tech on Tap we are talking about the stories surrounding the AT&T employee strike and the growing gap between CEOs and employers. Michael and Jason detail the new Apple Card and if there should be cause for concern and the newly released pricing for the Disney Plus streaming service bundle and whether or not that will create a mass exodus from Netflix. 

After recognizing the company sitting in the front seat of innovation, we talk to Chantal Allam about the forthcoming Boxyard in RTP and the growing job market. 

Front Seat of Innovation: RDU Airport

Presenting Sponsor: Johnson Automotive Group

This week Jason Eder and Michael Baylor dig into the short-lived craze around the Face App whether we should have valid concerns about giving our information to developers outside of the US. The team also discusses whether or not there are actual benefits to Big Brother having his eye on everyone and if we could ever actually have a fair and free election. To cap off the show, we talk to James Amato and Quinn Novels (Strategy and Business Development Manager, Coordinator respectively) of WRAL TechWire about the abundance of stories around innovation coming from municipalities on the outskirts of the Triangle and across North Carolina.

Michael and Laura recap one of the biggest months in TechWire's history, surpassing readership numbers during the height of the Amazon HQ2 craze. The team gives a rundown of the surprise 2 weeks PTO for Epic Games employees and the highest ranked vacation spots in NC (as determined by Air BnB). The ink has finally dried on the IBM and Red Hat deal and the CEO weighs in on what that could mean for current and future employees. We also talk about the hottest show in streaming right now, Stranger Things.

Front Seat of Innovation Honoree: nCino

They were recently recognized as the best place to work in North Carolina by Glassdoor.

Sponsor: Johnson Automotive Group

As a simplified baseline, the Small Business Administration uses the threshold of 500 employees as the ceiling for any business to be considered quote-unquote small. That designation alone includes 99.7% of all businesses in the US according to the census bureau. When I think of the concept of a small business, I personally am more familiar with the shops, restaurants, and organizations with less than 20 employees, companies where the owners are just as much in the weeds as the customers. Even that threshold accounts for more than 86% of all businesses in America and as of 2013, there were 13 million companies that were being run with no employees at all.

Today’s episode in our Tech ON series is a celebration of the mainstreet businesses and entrepreneurs that make our communities thrive.

Guest: Katie Gailes - Wake Technical Community College

Sponsor: Johnson Automotive Group. 

Check out Launch Wake County online for the growing township partnerships Wake Tech is developing and the check out the Wake Tech Small Business Center for more ways to get involved and the free services they provide for business owners and entrepreneurs.

Partner Spotlight is our opportunity to highlight the organization and brands who make WRAL Techwire special. CBRE Raleigh is one of those companies and James Amato (WRAL Techwire's Strategy and Business Development Manager) sits down with Tom Fritsch (Senior Managing Director of CBRE Raleigh) to talk about the importance of their partnership with Techwire, their outlook on the region, and their civic engagement.