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EconAlliance presented their Innovation Award to SpaceX, which was accepted by Vandenberg Director Eric Krystkowiak. Photo, L to R: Sam Cohen, Board President; Katie Burke, SpaceX Mission Director; Eric Krystkowiak; and the Honorable Jenelle Osborne, Mayor, City of Lompoc.

EconAlliance’s 2022 Future Forum Focused on Blockchain Technology and Recognized SpaceX Innovation

EconAlliance Board President Sam Cohen (Government & Legal Specialist, SY Band of Chumash) welcomed over 100 attendees Thursday night to the organization’s Annual Dinner/Future Forum held at the Santa Ynez Marriott. In addition to celebrating the organization’s year-long accomplishments, the event is held annually to recognize North County innovation and provide a peek into the emerging trends and technologies driving industry and social impacts. Keynote presentation for the 2022 event was given by Ryan Williams, CEO of The Blockchain Academy.

Blockchain “use cases” from various industries were presented – food safety tracing in agriculture, chain of custody support in medical labs and shipping, process tracking in manufacturing and transaction transparency in finance, for example.

See The Blockchain Academy presentation PDF in our Resource Library.

This surge of blockchain activity is driving the need for blockchain workforce skills, claims Williams. Williams cited a 2020 LinkedIn employer survey placing blockchain as the #1 in-demand hard skill needed, saying that there are 14 job openings for every currently qualified blockchain engineer. A highlight was the bonus for every attendee of the dinner event: Two free blockchain courses from the Academy! Story continues below slideshow.

Another highlight of the evening was the 2022 EconAlliance Innovation Award, presented this year to SpaceX for its inspiring record of over 50 successful launches to date this year, as well as a legacy of 30 total Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg since 2013. SpaceX Vandenberg Director Eric Krystkowiak accepted the Innovation Award for SpaceX, saying, “It is an honor to receive this EconAlliance recognition as we partner with the local communities to further grow our team and accelerate our Vandenberg launch cadence into 2023.”

Thank you to all of our sponsors and contributors for making this event a success!

EconAlliance is a cross-sector nonprofit organization with a mission to build awareness, advocacy, support and appreciation for Northern Santa Barbara County industries and communities. Our 2022 accomplishments are presented in our 2022 Annual Review (see PDF in library).