|
|||
|
|
|
|
|
|||
 |
 |
|
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
|
Talent Development Is a Key Ingredient for Economic Developmentby Emily Stover DeRocco, Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, U.S. Department of Labor The following article was adapted from a speech given by Assistant Secretary DeRocco to the Economic Development Administration’s Symposium for 21st Century Economic Development.
The theme of the day has obviously been economic development. For those of you who have been in this business for awhile, you know that economic development was always synonymous with targeted tax breaks. Cities and regions would design incentive packages to entice companies to locate operations in their area. In the static, industrial-based economy of the 20th century, this type of tactical economic development was effective. But the world has changed. We are no longer competing against one another, but against countries from across the globe. And this new economy requires a new strategic approach to economic development. It means that we must establish, through policy and actions, the conditions that best encourage innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. The Council on Competitiveness, in their groundbreaking report Innovate America, identified the three key areas needed for economic growth. The first is infrastructure. Do regions have the transportation system to support a robust economy and do they have the technology assets required to enable success? The second is investment. Is the capital available to support the risk required in today’s economy? Are the government’s policies designed to encourage capital risk-taking or restrict it? Together, these two areas provide the basic tools required for economic development. But they are also useless without the third and, in my opinion, most important component of an economic strategy, the development of human talent. It is the development and use of talent that will ultimately decide the fate of the United States and every other country in the global economy. To stay ahead of the global competition, we must look at and improve the way we develop our talent. And that means bringing reform to our education and training systems. Education, as all of you know, is a locally controlled activity in this country. Schools vary considerably across districts and states. This diversity, though, is part of our strength. Communities on the East Coast are not like communities in the Great Plains and our schools should reflect that. However, regardless of where you live or what you expect to do in life, there are foundational skills in math, reading, and science that are critical to success. That is the basis for the No Child Left Behind Act and the President’s new High School Initiative.
|
 |
