LAS VEGAS—The Consumer Technology Association announced it will invest $1 million in five key initiatives to help create jobs in the United States. The announcement came during CTA president and CEO Gary Shapiro’s opening keynote at CES 2017, which runs through Jan. 8.
“Today, I’m pleased to announce that CTA is stepping up to advance our shared goals with President-elect Trump and his administration,” said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, CTA. “Specifically, we both want a strong American economy with good paying jobs. The U.S. consumer technology industry has a long history of creating high-quality jobs and improving the lives of consumers around the world. The investments we are announcing today reinforce this commitment and help support the development of a highly skilled 21st-century workforce.”
The five initiatives CTA will invest in include:
—The U.S. Tech Vets Program, an initiative CTA helped launch, which links U.S. employers and U.S. military veterans.
—Technical training and certification programs such as the Mobile Electronics Certified Professional, with a specific focus on assisting at-risk youth in receiving better paying technical jobs.
—A jobs fair to promote better-paying U.S. jobs.
—A contest to promote job creation among CTA’s 2,200 member technology companies, in addition to the millions currently employed by our members. Awards will go to the companies which produce the highest number and/or highest percentage of new U.S. jobs.
—Opening office locations of the association in at least two states to support CTA’s mission to promote innovation in America and enhance U.S. leadership in global competitiveness.
According to the U.S. Economic Contribution of the Consumer Technology Sector, a recent economic impact study released by CTA and produced in partnership with PwC, the U.S. consumer tech industry supports 15 million jobs, direct, indirect and induced, and creates $3.5 trillion in economic output accounting for 10 percent of U.S. GDP.
“The tech industry is the engine of the U.S. economy and we want to continue to do our part,” Shapiro said. “These five voluntary investments are a start that we hope other industries emulate. It’s time corporate America acts for a better nation rather than measures its ethics by its ability to follow increasingly complex rules and laws
