Cenla Work Ready Network 2012 Summit

February 16, 2012 Larry Good

Corporation for a Skilled Workforce lagood@skilledwork.org

Enormity of the skills gap

The stakes – economic prosperity

Why being a Work-Ready Community matters

What results can you achieve?

Skills are central in 21st Century global economy

Lumina Foundation Goal: 60% with 2-yr degree +

Today’s reality: Leading competitor nations: 50% now and increasing U.S. nationwide: 39% and holding Louisiana: 27%

Data is clear: those with credential beyond high

school are doing much better than those without

Employers across many industries competing based on skills – and facing skill shortages today

Core part of economic development strategy

Committed to increasing skills attainment

Sets baseline skills metrics and uses them

Focuses on industry-defined skill needs

Brings together employers and educators

Communicates work-readiness as economic development message

Georgia originated

Several other states/regions built own versions

ACT national Certified Work Ready Communities initiative just launched

National Career Readiness Certificate

Educational Attainment Levels

ACT Job Profiling

Industry Sector Partnerships

Based on WorkKeys assessment scores in: Applied Math Reading for Information Locating Information

Being used in 40+ states

Evidence-based credential

Reliable predictor of workplace success

High School graduation rates

Post-secondary degrees

Industry-valued certificates

Articulating the skills needed in specific jobs

ACT’s inventory broad & deep across industries and occupations

Provides a key part of common language

Bringing together employers within an industry in a region with education & workforce development to: Identify talent issues/needs Craft solutions

More than 1,000 partnerships nationally

A model that works – for employers, workers

Understand and express clearly skill needs Job Profiling Sector Partnerships

Gauge job applicants’ competencies

The ability to credibly promote the region as

a site for employers to grow in based on skills

Increasing educational attainment

Forging meaningful partnership with

employers

None of us can solve the skills gap alone Work-Ready Communities can be a unifying

idea that meaningfully links: ◦ Employers ◦ Educators ◦ Workforce Agencies ◦ Economic Developers

Georgia as biggest example so far: 250,000 Work Ready Certificates 19% earned Gold-level Certificates (ready for

90% of jobs) 205 Employers Completed Job Profiles 80% of Georgia high school students

graduated in 2010

Mutually committing to make Cenla a region that:

Leads in closing the skills gap Creates a clear understanding about skills

employers need and those job seekers have Integrates across silos to achieve these ends

Cenla has opportunity to become a globally

competitive place – based on skills