Graduate St Louis Directors Tom Jones and Michael Holmes present at the MAWD conference

1. GRADUATE ST. LOUIS
DEVELOPING COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
MAWD CONFERENCE 2011
Presenters
Michael Holmes, Rod Nunn, Tom Jones

2. Graduate St. Louis
• Community-Based Job Training Grant - $4.4
million – U.S. Department of Labor
• 3 key industries – Healthcare, IT, and
Emerging Green Jobs
• Modeled after Graduate Philadelphia

3. Challenges?
• Degree and certificate completion for adults
• Unemployment vs. Educational level
• Skills Gap
• Poverty vs. Educational level

4. Adult Completion
• Over 451,000 working age adults with some
college and no degree
– Many are Dislocated Workers
• In portions of St. Louis City/County only 8% have
college degree
• 30% live at or below poverty level
• 67% no certificate or degree

5. Unemployment vs. Educational Level
• Individuals with lower levels of education
were hit harder by the recession
• Unemployment rate by educational
attainment level U.S., 1992-2010

7. Skills Gap
• Missouri Middle Skills Occupations Report –
September 2009
– “Demonstrable middle skills gap” – positions that
require more than high school diploma or
certification but less than a four-year degree
– MERIC data “over 50% of all jobs in Missouri can
be classified as “middle skills”
– Most are Healthcare and IT jobs

8. Poverty vs. Educational Level
• Education decreases the likelihood of living in poverty.
• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the 2009 poverty
threshold for an individual was $10,956.
• The percentage of individuals living in poverty whose
highest level of educational attainment is a high school
diploma is about three times higher than for those
with a bachelor’s degree or more.

9. Poverty vs. Educational Level

10. What did we do?
Established a regional consortium to
address the challenges:
*Workforce Investment Boards
*Area Community Colleges
*Regional Commerce and Growth
Association (RCGA)

11. Workforce Investment Boards
– St. Louis City
– St. Louis County
– Jefferson/Franklin Counties
– St. Charles County
– Mid-America Workforce Investment Board
(Illinois)
– Madison Bond Workforce Board (Illinois)

12. Area Community Colleges
• Community College Partners
– East Central College
– Jefferson College
– Southwestern Illinois College
– St. Charles Community College
– St. Louis Community College

13. Proposed Outcomes
• Leverage
– Training for Tomorrow Funds
• Increase the number of adult learners
– 2,200 over 3 years
– Dislocated Workers, unemployed and incumbent
workers
• Greater access to financial resources, career guidance,
flexible education and training offerings
• Increase the number of credentials of value
– Associate Degrees, Certifications, Licenses, etc.

14. Outcomes To Date
• Capacity Building
– Strategic Alliances
– Engaging Business
– Course Design and Development
– Hiring more Instructors
– Work-based learning – Internships
– Scholarships

15. Graduate St. Louis Workforce
Consortium
• Evolving Strategy
• Increased community partnerships
– Talent Council
– College Access Pipeline
– Area 4 year Universities/Colleges

16. Economic Competitiveness
Many of our competitor regions have
significantly higher proportions of college
graduates.
St. Louis is tied for 17th with Pittsburgh out of 27
peer regions in bachelor’s degree or higher
attainment for the population aged 25 to 64.

17. Bachelor’s degree or higher attainment for population aged 25 to 64
49%
Boston
Research Triangle 45%
Denver
New York
37%
Chicago
Atlanta
35%
Philadelphia
Indianapolis
St. Louis 32%
Dallas
United States 30%
Houston
Phoenix
27%
Riverside
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

18. Financial Benefits of Education
• Education pays financial dividends to individuals.
• On average, individuals with a bachelor’s degree or
higher earn more money and are less likely to be
unemployed.
• Between 2005 and 2009, the average unemployment
rate for those in St. Louis with a bachelor’s degree or
higher was 2.7 percent, compared to 8 percent for
those with a high school diploma.

19. Financial Benefits of Education

20. Strategy

21. Talent Council
• The RCGA’s 16-member Talent Council, chaired by Brown
Shoe Co. Chief Talent Officer, Doug Koch
– Talent Council purpose:
• working with employers, educators, civic groups, government
agencies, job seekers and students,
• advocate talent as an advantage in the retention, attraction, and
development of business in the St. Louis region;
• Briefings and consultation with DWD and local area WIBs
• Educational institutions, non-profit groups, professional
orgs, talented people themselves

22. College Access Pipeline
• St. Louis Regional College Access Pipeline
Project
– Key Strategies:
• Achieve goal of 50% of adults who have a post
secondary degree by 2020
• Establish a college-going culture in schools and your
organizations
• Supporting students to complete post secondary
degrees

23. What’s Next?
• Strategic Planning
• Expansion to 4-year colleges/universities
• Public Awareness – Importance of college
completion
• Adult friendly institutions