Living Cities: State and Metro Collaboration Critical to Increasing Middle-Skill Manufacturing Jobs in U.S. Cities

The Greater Cincinnati region's workforce efforts were featured at a convening hosted by Brookings and Living Cities of state and local economic and workforce development leaders. The Brookings/Living Cities State and Metropolitan Prosperity Collaborative meeting focused on the development of effective cross-sector strategies to increase the number of middle-skill jobs in the growing manufacturing sector.   Here is an excerpt from their report on the meeting:

"Deep Cross-Sector Partnerships – Partnerships like the greater Cincinnati’s Partners for a Competitive Workforce, which brings together businesses, workforce investment boards, chambers of commerce, educational institutions, labor, community organizations, and philanthropic funders is an effective model of a partnership for improved population-level results. Cincinnati’s Partners is also an example of a cross sector partnership using the “one table” approach – a leadership table comprised of key decision-makers representing a wide range of institutions coming together to achieve a better result. This partnership allows them to move beyond fragmented systems to increase the region’s success in decreasing the skills gap."

Click here for the full blog post.

Enquirer Op-Ed: Workforce training key to the recovery

There was an excellent op-ed in the Cincinnati Enquirer from four of our partner manufacturers about the skills gap and the impact of cuts to federal workforce funding. Click here.

Northern Kentucky Manufacturing Study Released

The Northern Kentucky Industrial Park Association recently released the findings of a study about the manufacturing skills shortages in Northern Kentucky. The research involved interviews with a representative sample of manufacturers about their projected hiring needs, as well as focus groups with students, parents, teachers, and dislocated workers about perceptions of manufacturing. The study found significant current and projected demand for skilled manufacturing workers, despite widespread misconceptions of the industry among potential workers. The findings will be used to develop a strategic sourcing plan to address the shortages.  Click here to download the presentation and the report.

PCW on WNKU's BusinessWise

Ross Meyer of PCW and Mary Stagaman of Agenda 360 discussed the 2020 Jobs Outlook with Tom Cooney and Crystal Faulkner on BusinessWise.  Click here to listen.

PCW on the BBC

The BBC World Service broadcasted live from Cincinnati's WVXU about our region's economy and featured the work of PCW in preparing workers for in-demand jobs, especially in manufacturing. Click here to listen online or download the podcast.

Coverage in CinDay Business2Business Magazine

CinDay B2B, a news magazine covering business news in the Cincinnati-Dayton region, has some great coverage of our region’s workforce efforts.  There is an editorial, an op-ed by State Rep. Derickson, and two feature articles.   Click here for the series.

PCW on Channel 12's Newsmakers

Ross Meyer of PCW and Mary Stagaman of Agenda 360 were featured on Channel 12's Newsmakers program to discuss the findings of the 2020 Jobs Outlook Report. Click here to watch the video, or view it below.

2020 Jobs Outlook Released

Our community has a long history of using data to drive action.  Partners for a Competitive Workforce joined together with Agenda 360, Vision 2015, and The Strive Partnership to produce the 2020 Jobs Outlook to provide actionable data to prepare our workforce for in-demand jobs and reach our community's Bold Goal to have 90% of the labor force gainfully employed by 2020.       

 

> Download the report

The 2020 Jobs Outlook forecasts job growth, replacement needs, openings, wages, and the education and training required for more than 800 occupations in our 15-county region. The Center for Economic Analysis and Development at Northern Kentucky University and the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati produced the forecasts for the report using new Bureau of Labor Statistics data. 

Here are the key observations from the report:

1. The Cincinnati region is projected to grow, and remain one of the largest economies of our competitor regions.  We are projected to have 338,632 job openings through 2020, 69% of which are due to replacement needs.
2. Occupations related to healthcare, education, business, finance, and technology are the fastest growing and best paying.  Production, Construction, and Installation, Maintenance, and Repair occupations are also projected to grow and offer strong wages.  
3. Education or training beyond high school is required for well-paying jobs.  Among jobs paying above the median wage, 9 out of 10 will require some combination of post-secondary education, on-the-job training, and/or work experience beyond one year. 

Please visit www.regional-indicators.org for more information about the 2020 Jobs Outlook project.  Here are some quick links to additional resources:  

> 2020 JOBS OUTLOOK REPORT

> TOP 50 IN-DEMAND JOBS

> 2020 JOBS OUTLOOK DATA TABLES

   

This report offers us a new opportunity to work together, aligning employers, educational institutions, and community organizations in preparing our workforce for the jobs of the future. We invite you to join us in this effort.

News Coverage

Business Courier: "New study provides look at local job market in 2020"
Business Courier: "Jobs are out there; skills - not so much"
Cincinnati Enquirer: "Where the jobs are and tools you need"
Cincinnati Enquirer: "Do you have a top job?"
Cincinnati Enquirer: "Region must train for future jobs"
Journal News: "Most future jobs expected to be in health care, education, finance, technology"
CityBeat: "Health Care and Computers Will Top 2020 Jobs Market"

Local Career Pathway Efforts Featured in DOL ETA Report

Our region's career pathway efforts were highlighted in a report commissioned by DOL's Employment & Training Administration (pages 30 and 52).  The Promise of Career Pathways Systems Change and Initiatives provides an overview of career pathways, the six key elements framework and examples of state and local workforce investment systems that are centrally involved in the development of career pathways.

Peter Strange, Chairman of Messer Inc, Speaks About Employer Engagement

Pete Strange, Chairman of Messer, Inc., and member of the PCW Council, speaks at the National Fund for Workforce Solutions on the importance of employer engagement.

PCW Cited in Stanford Social Innovation Review Blog Series

PCW was cited in a four-part blog series in the Stanford Social Innovation Review on the efforts of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation to support "backbone" organizations to advance collective impact. Click here for the series: Understanding the Value of Backbone Organizations in Collective Impact.

Local Efforts Featured in Bloomberg News Article

The career pathway programs developed by the Health Careers Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati were featured in a national article by Bloomberg News on employers investing in incumbent worker training. Here is the article: Companies Say 3 Million Unfilled Positions in Skill Crisis.

Tri-State Workforce Partnership Earns National Award

 CINCINNATI (6/29/2012) – Partners for a Competitive Workforce received the Chairman’s Award for Exemplary Workforce Collaborative during the National Fund for Workforce Solutions’ second annual meeting June 19 at the downtown Hyatt Hotel.

The partnership, managed by United Way of Greater Cincinnati with major support from National Fund for Workforce Solutions and local funders, was recognized for its demonstrated success and progress in supporting workforce partnerships, implementing a well-defined systems change strategy, engaging key stakeholders, and putting in place a sustainable strategy.

“Partners for a Competitive Workforce was recognized as an exemplary collaborative because of their achievements in transforming how low-wage workers acquire the skills they need to obtain good careers,” said Fred Dedrick, National Fund for Workforce Solutions executive director. “They are a leader in this work and their ambitious goals move the field forward.”



“Our partners that have come together through Partners for a Competitive Workforce are proving that when many organizations join together across sectors, across the region to tackle the skills gap, we can achieve breakthrough results for employers and workers,” said John Prout, chair of Partners for a Competitive Workforce and president and CEO of TriHealth, Inc. “This national award is a great recognition of the strength of our partners.”

The Chairman’s Award is presented to a collaborative that has a clear vision and follows a clear regional workforce development strategy. The collaborative must also use labor market information and other intelligence on the regional economy to shape and form its strategy.

The focus of the National Fund’s annual meeting, which convened roughly 250 employers and practitioners from 32 regions across the country, is to recognize and build on the success in the National Fund Collaboratives and Partnerships sites. Participants engaged with employers, learned new ideas to promote systems change, recognized exemplary performance and shared lessons learned among the National Fund programs.



 

Prout and Dedrick Op Ed: Worker training key to local economy

John Prout, chairman of Partners for a Competitive Workforce and President/CEO of TriHealth, Inc., and Fred Dedrick, Executive Director of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, authored an op-ed that ran in the Cincinnati Enquirer on June 18, 2012 titled, "Worker training key to local economy." Click here for the article.

"Cincinnati is showing how communities can address a local mismatch between what skills employers need and the available workforce...Data coming out of Cincinnati show that training programs can be developed that both deliver a return on investment to employers and create career paths for workers...The Cincinnati response is not the full answer to the national skills gap problem. It is proof, however, that communities can develop their own answers. That’s what it is going to take to get this economic recovery moving."

WCPO: Unique job training preps people for construction work

WCPO Channel 9 ran a great story on the pre-apprenticeship training program run by Urban League and Allied Construction Industries, both partners in the Construction Career Pathways Partnership.  Click here or see the video below.

Health Careers Collaborative Featured in CareerSTAT Guide

CareerSTAT is an initiative of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions to document and endorse the business case for investments in frontline hospital workers and to establish an employer-led advocacy council to promote investments that yield strong skill development and career outcomes for low-wage, frontline hospital workers. The HCC's Bill Lecher of Cincinnati Children's and Alan Jones of UC Health (retired) serve on the CareerSTAT Leadership Team. Check out the CareerSTAT Guide: CareerSTAT: A Guide to Making the Case for Investing in the Frontline Hospital Workforce (2012)

Local Leaders Present at National Association of Workforce Boards Forum

Leaders from the Cincinnati region presented on local best practices at the national conference of the National Association of Workforce Boards in Washington, DC.

• Reaching Our Youth about Career Pathways, presented by Sherry Kelley Marshall of SWORWIB, Jeff Weber of Workforce One, and Bart Brown of Indiana Region 9
• Collecting and Using Common Data to Drive System-Wide Continuous Improvement, presented by Sherry Kelley Marshall of SWORWIB, and Ross Meyer of PCW

Pete Strange Op-Ed: “Skills gap is keeping workers jobless"

Pete Strange, Chairman of Messer Inc. and member of the PCW Council, authored an excellent op-ed in today’s Business Courier, titled “Skills gap is keeping workers jobless.” The op-ed calls for Congress to invest in workforce, and highlights our work. Click here for the op-ed.

SWORWIB and Health Careers Collaborative featured in U.S. GAO Report

The Southwest Ohio Region WIB and the Health Careers Collaborative was featured by the U.S. Government Accountability Office as one of 14 national best practices in collaborations between workforce boards and employers. Click here for the full report (see page 42 of the PDF for the Cincinnati case study).

Cincinnati Featured in Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Article

The National Fund for Workforce Solutions, which supports the work of PCW, was featured in an article in the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's quarterly journal "Cascade." Cincinnati was one of two sites highlighted in the article. Click here for the article.

Partners' Executive Director Joins National Skills Coalition Leadership Council

Ross Meyer joined the 2012 Leadership Council of the National Skills Coalition. National Skills Coalition is a broad-based coalition working toward a vision of an America that grows its economy by investing in its people so that every worker and every industry has the skills to compete and prosper. Representing over twenty states, the 62-member Council features some of the Coalition’s leading members from a broad cross-section of stakeholders including community-based training organizations, colleges, public workforce agencies, unions, employer associations, and advocacy groups.

Enquirer: Factory careers are where it's at

Efforts of local manufacturers to develop the next generation of skilled workers was highlighted by the Cincinnati Enquirer. Click here for the article.

Partners on WVXU Impact Cincinnati Show

WVXU's Impact Cincinnati show on January 19 focused on unemployment and options for job seekers.  Partners Executive Director Ross Meyer was a guest, along with Janet Harrah of NKU and Sarah Brown of Project Connect.  Click here for the podcast.

Employers First, Partners Featured in Agenda 360 Community Update

The launch of Employers First and Partners for a Competitive Workforce was featured in Agenda 360's 2011 Community Update.

NKY Manufacturing Partnership Awarded State Grant

A group of Northern Kentucky manufacturing companies has developed a plan to address the shortage of qualified workers. The Northern Kentucky Industrial Park Industry Partnership has been awarded a $65,000 grant from the Kentucky Office of Employment and Training to help implement the program. Partners for a Competitive Workforce is a partner in the grant, and Janice Urbanik will assist with implementation.

For coverage of the grant award in the Cincinnati Enquirer, click here.

Partners Featured in Cincy Careers Magazine

The work of the Greater Cincinnati Workforce Network, recently renamed Partners for a Competitive Workforce, was featured in Cincy Magazine's special issue, Cincy Careers.  Click here for the article or the full issue.