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A Message from Carlos Gutierrez Talent Development Is a Key Ingredient for Economic Development What Economic Developers Should Know About Workforce Development and Community Colleges Workforce Development: A Region’s Key Business Retention and Expansion Tool New Governance Structures for Aligning Local Economic and Workforce Development Putting Inner Cities To Work  The Career Readiness Certificate – An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Manufacturing Skills Certification: A New Fast Track for Regional Innovation
Preparing Middle and High School Students for Careers in Science and Health Help Wanted: Smyth County, Virginia Subscribe
About Economic Development America
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Myths and Action: What Economic Developers Must Know About Workforce Development and Community Colleges (cont.)The Next Challenge“War is too important to be left to the generals.” (Georges Clemenceau, Premier of France,World War I) Today, more than ever, workforce development is too important to be left to educators. Economic developers can play important roles by dispelling myths, educating community leaders about key challenges, helping colleges meet high standards, and developing a policy agenda that addresses workforce development needs that will drive economic vitality. The greatest needs for building workforce development capacity will be in providing expensive technical-skills training, access to workforce training in rural communities, and providing educational opportunities for poor adults with low skills and limited-English-proficient adults. The cost of workforce development solutions will require innovative investments from philanthropy, employers, the public sector and thoughtful tuition structures. Importantly, it will take investments in political capital, as well as dollars to address the challenge. While the investment needed is high, the costs of failure will be even higher. Economic developers have long acknowledged that they cannot afford to settle for mediocre performance in the K-12 sector. Now, it’s time for economic developers to ensure the nation’s need for adult workforce readiness becomes a national priority.
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