NAM Employer Spotlight: ThyssenKrupp Bilstein

Manufacturers across the United States are using NAM-Endorsed Certifications to identify better qualified applicants for open positions and improve the skills of their existing workforce. The Manufacturing Institute is now recognizing the efforts of these manufacturers through a series of employer spotlights. Click here to learn more about ThyssenKrupp Bilstein's successes in using the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC) Certified Production Technician training program. ThyssenKrupp Bilstein is a partner in PCW's Advanced Manufacturing Career Pathway Partnership.

United Way wins global honor for PCW

United Way of Greater Cincinnati recently received the Common Good Award from United Way Worldwide in recognition of the work of Partners for a Competitive Workforce.  This award is United Way Worldwide's highest honor awarded for best-in-class impact, innovation and turning outward to the community.  To learn more, click here and see the coverage in the Cincinnati Enquirer here.

UWGC president Rob Reifsnyder (l) and PCW executive director Ross Meyer (r) accept the Common Good Award at the United Way Worldwide Staff Leaders Conference.

Cincinnati leaders participate in Skills Summit

Workforce and business leaders from Cincinnati headed to Washington, DC for the National Skills Coalition's annual Skills Summit for a day of meetings on Capitol Hill with Congressional offices to emphasize the importance of federal investment in skills training to help get America back to work and help employers access skilled workers.

Members of the Ohio delegation meet with Senator Sherrod Brown. From left to right: Julia Abell of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Ross Meyer of Partners for a Competitive Workforce, Senator Sherrod Brown, Liza Smitherman of Jostin Construction, Sherry Kelley Marshall of the Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board, and Kerrie Carte of WSOS Community Action.

During the Summit, the National Skills Coalition honored PCW with the "Taking Care of Business" Award for its efforts to engage business leaders in advocacy.

From left to right: Eric Seleznow of NSC, Ross Meyer of PCW, and Andrea Glispie of NSC. 

PCW featured as best practice by Manufacturing Institute

The Cincinnati region's efforts to develop skilled workers for the advanced manufacturing industry was featured as a best practice by the Manufacturing Institute, an affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers.  Click here to read more.

Cincinnati Enquirer: Roundtable trying to fill IT gaps, jobs

The Cincinnati Enquirer ran a feature story about the new collaborative effort of the CIO Roundtable, PCW, and the Cincinnati USA Partnership to grow the IT economy and develop the pipeline of tech talent.  Click here to read the article.

HCC featured in NBC News Story

The Health Careers Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati was featured in a story by NBC News titled, "Impatient employers step in to educate prospective workers." Click here for the article.

PCW Interview in Cincy Careers

Cincinnati's regional workforce efforts were featured in Cincy Careers 2013, a special publication of Cincy Magazine.  Click here for the article.

Talent Pipeline Director Opportunity

The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, Partners for a Competitive Workforce, and The Strive Partnership have joined together with many other partners to launch the Talent Pipeline Initiative to strengthen career exploration and readiness to prepare students for in-demand careers. The Talent Pipeline Initiative will build on Strive's work driving student achievement cradle-to-career, PCW's work preparing our workforce for in-demand jobs, and the Chamber's focus on growing key industry clusters in our region. Facing a growing shortage of skilled workers, our partners have identified a need to provide more robust career awareness programming, better connect employers with schools, and expand work experience opportunities for our youth. The Talent Pipeline Initiative promises to be a signature community initiative to better prepare our youth for in-demand careers.

We seek a highly skilled professional to develop and lead the Talent Pipeline Initiative. Working through the Cincinnati USA Partnership in close partnership with PCW and Strive, the Talent Pipeline Director will be responsible for all aspects of developing the initiative, including planning, gap analysis, partnership-building, implementation, and reporting. Click here to download the full position description.

Applications are due February 18, 2013 at 5:00pm EST.

PCW Highlighted for Systems Change Efforts

Cincinnati's regional workforce efforts were highlighted as one of two “highly effective systems change efforts” in the Fourth Annual Evaluation of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions. See pages 33-42 in this report for an in-depth analysis of Cincinnati's systems change efforts.

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.