Winning Through Skills: The Power of Work-Ready Communities
1. Cenla Work Ready Network 2012 Summit
February 16, 2012
Larry Good
Corporation for a Skilled Workforce
lagood@skilledwork.org
2. Enormity of the skills gap
The stakes – economic prosperity
Why being a Work-Ready Community matters
What results can you achieve?
3. 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%
4. 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
5.
6. 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
7. Georgia originated
Several other states/regions built own
versions
ACT national Certified Work Ready
Communities initiative just launched
8. National Career Readiness Certificate
Educational Attainment Levels
ACT Job Profiling
Industry Sector Partnerships
9. 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
10. High School graduation rates
Post-secondary degrees
Industry-valued certificates
11. Articulating the skills needed in specific jobs
ACT’s inventory broad & deep across
industries and occupations
Provides a key part of common language
12. 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
16. 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
17. 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
18. 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
