Lorenzo Vasquez:
What is the mission for the New Mexico Chambers Foundation? Be Pro, Be Proud New Mexico.
Benton Spradlin:
So, Be Pro, Be Proud New Mexico. Well, Be Pro, Be Proud started in Arkansas in 2016 and essentially the mission was to address the skills gap in the trades or technical professions, electrical, plumbing, welding, CDL truck driving, etc. and to also kind of heighten high school students' awareness of the potential careers in those areas and, you know, the high value nature of them, high demand, high pay. So that's pretty much the mission to the high schools, the students to go in the mobile workshop and experience the trades professions in an AR/VR environment.
Lorenzo Vasquez:
I actually had a question about the virtual reality and augmented reality. Are you able to elaborate more?
Benton Spradlin:
Yeah, sure. Let me get to something here that will help us. So, yeah, so the Be Pro Be Proud Mobile Workshop is a big tractor-trailer, 78-foot-long truck that aboard has 13 different stations. In where students can experience different careers, like the day-to-day tasks that in the trades or technical professional careers. So it's probably, I don't know, there's probably 400 square feet on there with 13 AR/VR simulators where students can experience carpentry, CDL truck driving, automotive and diesel tech, electrical, fiber optic tech. There's some healthcare professions, heavy equipment operation, HVAC tech, plumbing, electrical, utility lineman, Water work specialists in a welding. So those are all the different AR/VR simulators that are on the truck that students can experience and kind of get a feel for, you know, what they would do and how they would interact with the equipment in those different trades. This is what Be Pro Be Proud exposes them to and, you know, gives them an opportunity to consider them as potential careers.
Lorenzo Vasquez:
And based on like the different experiences they're able to have, is there certain businesses that will be participating that students will be able to interact with.
Benton Spradlin:
So when the students go through the Be Pro Be Proud Mobile Workshop and have an opportunity to interact with those different simulators, if they have an interest in something and , you know, something gets their attention and they would like more information about it, they have an opportunity as they come off of the mobile workshop to request additional information about training programs in those specific areas. So that there's a form that they fill out, a real short one, and then Department of Workforce, New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions captures that data and their career consultants then reach out to the student to let them know about training opportunities.
Lorenzo Vasquez:
Okay, and I actually had a question, like what are some other communities that you have been able to reach out to and work with?
Benton Spradlin:
In terms of for the interview workshop or just Be Pro Be Proud in general.
Lorenzo Vasquez:
Just the Be Pro Be Proud in general.
Benton Spradlin:
Okay, yeah, so the Be Pro Be Proud mobile workshop has been literally all over the state. It was established November 9th, 2023 in the mobile workshop, the truck. Since then, I'm gonna get to my statistics here. It's made, through the end of March 2026, just this past March, it made 212 tour stops all across the state, you know, from, I mean, every corner of this northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, all the central part of the state. So 212 tour stops, 90% of those high schools get to visited, 86 in New Mexico cities and towns. Along the way, over almost 23,000 visitors have gone through, you know, stepped on board the mobile workshop and gone through it and experienced the simulator. So it's really gotten around. It's very popular, you know, everywhere it goes. It catches everybody's eye and the students really enjoy it.
Lorenzo Vasquez:
Is there anything else you think that's important for people to know that I may not have addressed?
Benton Spradlin:
You know, what I would say, we do several other things. in additional outreach to students, not only just the tour stops, which are very important, but we have done three Be Pro Be Proud draft days where we do an event where we bring in students from schools in the area. and then employers from the area, and we set up interviews for students to interview for real jobs. We've had great success with that. A lot of students have had fantastic experiences with that, and they've led to jobs. So that's another thing I just wanted to bring up. We really work hard at additional outreach and just doing everything we can to, connect students to the technical professions and in the trades. So that'd be the one thing I'd probably add.
Lorenzo Vasquez:
Thank you for all the information and explaining more about the New Mexico Be Pro Be Proud.
Benton Spradlin:
Yeah, all right, Lorenzo. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate the time and thanks for your interest and Be Pro Be Proud.
Lorenzo Vasquez:
Of course, thank you so much.
Benton Spradlin:
All right, take care. Bye-bye.
