Sector Partnerships 101

What is a Sector Partnership?

A Sector Partnership brings together employers from the same industry with the education, training and other community support programs needed to implement solutions and services that ensure the target industry thrives.

Ideally, Sector Partnerships take on more than workforce issues, such as infrastructure, broadband, supplier development, to name a few.

2Growing The Talent Pipeline

Designs by

Today’s Sector Partnerships:

• Are employer-driven• Are regional• Are convened by a credible third party• Act as a coordinating body across multiple education,

workforce development, economic development and other programs

• Create highly customized responses to a target industry’s needs, and therefore highly accurate responses

• They are about more than workforce training• Treat employers as partners, not just customers• Are NOT a grant program, a short term project, a passing fad;

they are a long term partnership

They are Different From:

o Your local workforce investment boardo Your regional or city economic development

boardo Your Chamber of Commerceo An industry associationo Your Community College Advisory Boardso Customized Job Training

Greater Metro Denver Healthcare Partnership, COChallenges: •Surging demand for HC services•Rapid facility expansion•Difficulty filling positions•Employers being asked by too many programs, councils, program staff to partner/help

Solution: •One Greater Metro HC Partnership•7 Major Hospital Systems•8 Educational Institutions•4 Economic Development Orgs•3 Workforce Investment Boards

• Activities: – Narrowed highest priority need down from 145

different occupations to 4: • Nursing (ADN, RN, BSN)• Laboratory Technologists• Medical Laboratory Technicians• Surgical Technicians

– 5 New Education and training pathways to direct employment in middle-skilled, higher wage jobs

• Impact: – Exceeded all training and placement goals– Single point of contact for industry– Pooled resources and expertise– Surprise by employers that they shared

problems and that solutions better implemented as a group

– Regular discussions about HC policy in region and state

Power Generation Skill Panel, WA

“The Power Generation Skill Panel has effectively met the needs of employers, workers, and the training system through collaboration and focused work on critical issues. By meeting the demand driven skills needs of industry we are all more competitive.” --Bob Guenther, IBEW Local 77

•Convened by the Centralia Community College•Involves major power generation plants (coal, hydro, and wind), plus major public utilities around the state•Key partners are Labor, community colleges, workforce Boards, and industry experts•Products include:

• 17 articulated “skills standards”manuals for key occupations

• Shared purchase of OJT key curriculum• Revised apprenticeship program• Creation of hands-on training facility at an un-

used nuclear power plant

The Green Alliance (Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy Manufacturing), PA

•J&J Mechanical, a small commercial HVAC company, quadrupled their employee base as a result of expanded connections to residential retrofitting needs

= 20 NEW JOBS•Maccabee Industrial, a steel fabricator, expanded product line to include windmill skeleton construction

= NEW PRODUCT LINE, 10 NEW JOBS•Gerome Manufacturing, steel fabricator, expanded wind mill parts production, added new product line to product brackets for construction of green buildings

= NEW PRODUCT LINE, 18 NEW JOBS•Therm-O-Rock East, Inc., manufacturer of vermiculite (material used to insulate batteries) discovered through the Partnership that the material could be used in retrofitting insulation, as well as in green soil for potted plants and gardens

= 2 NEW PRODUCT LINES, 20 NEW JOBS•Tri-State Biofuels, a small woodstove pellet manufacturer, connected with Marsalis Shale oil and gas drilling companies via the Partnership, researched uses of wood pellets as absorber of drilling waste, and invented a new product.

= NEW PRODUCT LINE, 25 NEW JOBS= TRIPLED SAWDUST PURCHASES FROM LOCAL SAWMILLS

•World Kitchen, formerly Corningware, now makes pyrex glass for solar panels. •Via Partnership networking, added new production line to meet regional demand

= NEW PRODUCT LINE= 60 NEW JOBS

* Launched in 2010, over 153 jobs created by Summer 2012

The Keystone to Connecting Career Pathways to Industry Cluster Growth


This slide created by Collaborative Economics, Inc.

A. Defining the Scope of Your Sector Partnership

1. Make the case for a new approach

2. Create a regional sector strategy team

3. Assemble a shared set of facts

4. Focus on working definitions

5. Develop workable solutions


B. Preparing to Launch Your Sector Partnership

1. Designate a sector strategy convening team

2. Focus on civic entrepreneurs

3. Identify and recruit employer chairs

4. Build the list of potential employer champions

5. Make the right ask and follow up


Civic Entrepreneurs are the Key


C. Holding the Launch Meeting

1. Choose a disciplined process (the hook)

2. Start with opportunity

3. Move to requirements for action

4. Ask for champions around priorities

5. Agree on a clear next step


D. Organizing the Aftermath

1. Immediately expand the circle of employers

2. Give space for the employer voice to emerge

3. Build coalitions of the willing around priorities

4. Stay agile and opportunistic

5. Create just enough organization


Sector Partnerships 101

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