Pott Co Strategic Workforce

PCEDC – Six Workforce Issues (Goals, Objectives & Strategies)

1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Strategic Workforce Implementation Plan - Table of Contents Goal #1 – Employability Skills ………………………………………....................................... Pg. 3 Goal #2 – Career Clusters & Pathways…………………………………………………….…... Pg. 5 Goal #3 – Talent Attraction & Retention …………………………………………………….…. Pg. 7 Goal #4 – Employ The Disenfranchised And Individuals With Disabilities ...……….…….... Pg. 8 Goal #5 – Child Care Services ……………………............................................................... Pg. 9 Goal #6 – Education & Training Legislation……………………………………..……............ Pg. 10

Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors President: Kevin Fateley, Wildcat Creek Fun and Fitness Vice-President: Nancy Burton, BBN Architects Treasurer: Douglas K. Springer, KS State Bank Past-President: Charles White, Bank of the Flint Hills Jeff Wick, Wamego Telecommunications Company, Inc. Dr. James Drouillard, KSU Animal Sciences and Industry Greg Rusk, Caterpillar Work Tools, Inc. Terry Force, Force Land Surveying Jane Wiltse Pringle, Bayer Construction

Michael Smith, Westar Energy Dr. Darrel Stufflebeam, USD 323 Chris Eichman, Midwest Concrete Materials

Joe Thomas, Custom Wood Products Ex-Officio: Robert Reece, Pottawatomie County Administrator

Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation Staff Executive Director: Jack Allston CECD, FM, IOM, HLM Executive Assistant: Jessica Venneberg

PCEDC – Six Workforce Issues (Goals, Objectives & Strategies)

2

Goal #1 Employability Skills Goal: Bring the entire county through the ACT / National Career Readiness Certificate Program and engage business, government, economic development, and education in the entire process to enhance the current workforce by ensuring that 99% is workforce ready and employable.

Objective A: The promotion and the development of the ACT WorkReady System, which offers a common language to identify skills gaps and provide training to improve scores and enhance employability by leveraging the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC), issued by ACT. The certificate is a portable, evidence-based credential that certifies essential skills needed for workplace success. 

  

Strategy 1: Continue to test all high school juniors on ACT Work Keys so students can earn the NCRC by taking three Work Keys assessments: Applied Mathematics, Locating Information, and Reading for Information at each high school one time per year.

Strategy 2: Ensure that all students who earn NCRC are registered with Kansas Works and with ACT. Strategy 3: Continue to strive towards enhancing scores of all students with options in Key Train, which provides a self-paced curriculum to help individuals fill their skills gap.

Strategy 4: Work with educators on Key Train and its applied workplace skills application defined by the Work Keys system. KeyTrain helps people master the applied workplace skills measured by assessment systems such as Work Keys, including applied mathematics, reading for information, and writing skills. o

Applied Mathematics *

o

Applied Technology – Electricity

o

Applied Technology – Mechanics

o

Applied technology – Thermodynamics

o

Applied Technology – Fluids

o

Business Writing

o

Listening for Understanding

o

Locating Information *

o

Reading for Information *

o

Teamwork

o

Workplace Observation

PCEDC – Six Workforce Issues (Goals, Objectives & Strategies)

3



Strategy 5: Strive to have all schools work with Soft Skills Suite, which is part of the Career Ready 101. The Soft Skills Suite is a set of five self-paced training courses focusing on behaviors and attitudes that affect job performance. Offered online for both desktop and mobile devices, courses help individuals gain knowledge and close the skills gaps hiring managers most frequently report. o

Interpersonal and business communication

o

Problem solving and critical thinking

o

Working productively in a team

o

Assisting customers effectively

o

Developing good work habits and workplace discipline

Objective B: Engage stakeholders at all levels both inside and outside the county that are business leaders, human resource managers, elected officials, workforce providers, and educators in a Business Education Workforce (BEW) Roundtable.   



Strategy 1: Hold Workforce Roundtable sessions yearly to address key workforce issues, critical new developments, and workforce opportunities.

Strategy 2: Garner support from Pottawatomie County Commission and have them sign a proclamation for a Work Ready County (WRC).

Strategy 3: Continue to attend ACT Work Ready Academies for leaders who want to move aggressively forward into this 21st century approach to work-readiness and economic development. The Academy is a 12-month, performance-driven program used by state and local WRC leadership teams to initiate, deploy, and drive carefully tailored county efforts.

Strategy 4: Use ACT WRC as a ‘docking station’ for our county to ‘plug into’ and connect our existing, or new, workforce initiatives. The process includes ‘on boarding’ of counties to PCEDC’s WRC initiative and to ACT.

Objective C: Engage a minimum of 30 employers both in and outside the county who use the ACT Work Keys System to transform hiring practices to identify applicants with essential skills.  



 

Strategy 1: Visit with a minimum of 60 employers about the Work Ready and NCRC System and how it can benefit their hiring platform.

Strategy 2: Encourage employers to use the ACT NCRC, which is a portable, evidencebased credential that documents essential skills needed for workplace success, by recognizing gold and silver scores with the NCRC. Strategy 3: Encourage getting the appropriate people at companies involved: Executives (program sponsor, decision maker), Human Resources, heads or representatives of major departments.

Strategy 4: Assist companies that use the ACT NCRC, recommend for some or all positions, and evaluate individuals for hiring and/or promotion.

Strategy 5: Expose area employers to ACT national job profile Work Keys data by common occupations in high demand industry clusters.

PCEDC – Six Workforce Issues (Goals, Objectives & Strategies)

4

Goal #2 - Career Clusters & Pathways Goal: Enhance career cluster awareness, implement career pathways throughout the Pottawatomie County area, and develop targeted clusters which coincide with the concentration of industry in the region.

Objective A: Involve key stakeholders in industry to be active with the schools in educating our youth about career opportunities.  





Strategy 1: Develop programs where businesses visit classrooms and discuss their businesses, what they look for in employees, and commitment to the community.

Strategy 2: Encourage job shadowing and develop a mechanism to encourage job shadowing through the Chambers of Commerce, yet, understand laws with regard to how much shadowing can be done legally.

Strategy 3: Keep the communication between Business Education Workforce and Human Resource Management Network (HRMN) of Manhattan at a high level by sharing information monthly on career fairs, classroom visits, industry tours, as well as Work Keys achievements.

Strategy 4: Ensure human resource managers from the information technology, graphic arts, machinery and equipment manufacturing, and construction industries are gainfully engaged with school districts.

Objective B: Continue promotion of dual enrollment throughout the county with state and technical colleges to improve the educational outcome of students.  





Strategy 1: Promote dual enrollment with Senate Bill 155 and offer added weight for dual enrollment coursework in GPA calculations.

Strategy 2: Encourage dual credit coursework to be made available for technical positions such as health care, information technology, CAD and graphic arts, welding and machining, as well as several others at Manhattan Area Technical College and Washburn Tech.

Strategy 3: Ensure adequate bandwidth is available so that students are able to take dual credit classes online or through distance learning / two-way video-conferencing so that students and post- secondary instructors can interact in real time.

Strategy 4: Deliver hybrid approaches, whereby a post-secondary faculty member is the online instructor of record while a high school instructor ensures that the student is making progress and provides additional instruction as needed.

PCEDC – Six Workforce Issues (Goals, Objectives & Strategies)

5

Objective C: Build a strategic program designed to erase the stigma of career and technical education, and enlighten faculty and parents on social and economic benefits.   



Strategy 1: Gather a task force that will address post-secondary stigma and is responsible for developing programs that will enhance technical career awareness.

Strategy 2: Conduct regional polling research on the perception of technical workers, technical colleges, and wage/salaries of graduates of technical colleges.

Strategy 3: Replicate Washburn Tech’s National Signing Day at Highland Community College and Manhattan Area Technical College whereby students sign agreements with press and parents in attendance.

Strategy 4: Build and develop programs for teacher externships where teachers earn college credits and get paid for summers and holidays. Highlight participation with public relations and social media exposure.

Objective D: Help individuals improve workplace skills by fostering individual and organizational success through skills development. ACT Career Curriculum, comprised of KeyTrain, Soft Skills Suite, and Career Ready 101™, is a comprehensive learning system focused on knowledge and abilities important for success in the workplace. 





Strategy 1: Adapt and utilize Career Ready 101, a comprehensive program that brings together courses from both KeyTrain and the Soft Skills Suite. It also offers users an integrated approach to exploring careers and their skill requirements, and builds life literacy through lessons about financial awareness, job searching, and more.

Strategy 2: Adapt KeyTrain courses to help users reach foundational career readiness, enhance cognitive skills, take part in introductory modules based on the National Career Clusters Framework, and provide the management and support needed to keep a program running smoothly.

Strategy 3: Adapt ACT Soft Skills Suite, a series of courses to help individuals improve skills critical for on-the-job success, including: interpersonal and business communication, problem solving and critical thinking, working productively in a team, assisting customers effectively, and developing good work habits and workplace discipline.

PCEDC – Six Workforce Issues (Goals, Objectives & Strategies)

6

Goal #3 - Talent Attraction & Retention Goal: Develop a collaborative marketing effort amongst the three regional Economic Development Corporations and educational institutions in the region to market to a talented workforce and recruit and retain young workers.

Objective A: Work closely with Kansas State University (KSU) Human Services Department on the Dual Career Partner and Relocation Support program, ensuring that trailing spouses of KSU faculty and administration can be productive employment. 



Strategy 1: Inform Pottawatomie County firms and members of the Human Resource Management Network (HRMN), a SHRM Chapter, of the Dual Career program and its ability to attract outside talent.

Strategy 2: Work with KSU Human Services Division to ensure a large number of employers are using the Dual Career system. This database can instantly communicate with others in the community to share opportunities and resume materials, or to ask questions.

Objective B: Work on a regional basis to develop marketing materials and strong web site information for people contemplating a move to the Manhattan MSA. 

 

Strategy 1: Attend and staff the Regional Chambers and Economic Development Organizations Workforce Technical Advisory Groups (TAG). (Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce, Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce and Wamego Chamber of Commerce). Private sector representatives to the TAG should have strong talent recruitment experience.

Strategy 2: Compare all marketing materials and methodologies used to currently recruit talent by each organization.

Strategy 3: Examine all current methods of recruitment and potentially form a Talent Recruitment Consortium of existing employers, KSU, and key other stakeholders.

Objective C: Draw more attention to internships by setting up a program or location with educational partners, such as KSU and area high schools, where prospective employees can apply for internships in the Greater Manhattan area (a one-stop shop). 

 

Strategy 1: use the HRMN website and other websites to list potential internships and job opportunities with KSU and regional high schools to filter students that are interested in interning.

Strategy 2: Work with employers in the region to tap into the huge pool of post-secondary students in this region and keep them in the area after degrees or certifications are earned.

Strategy 3: Encourage regional employers to offer post-secondary paid internships and high school student internships when feasible (generally summer programs).

PCEDC – Six Workforce Issues (Goals, Objectives & Strategies)

7

Goal #4 - Employ The Disenfranchised And Individuals With Disabilities Goal: Promote opportunities and capabilities for individuals with disabilities, ex-offenders, and funding for agencies that support the economically disadvantaged and disenfranchised so that the available workforce can be expanded in the Manhattan MSA. Objective A: Expand the base of available workforce by examining methodologies to better understand and extrapolate individuals that have issues that normally prevent meaningful employment.  





Strategy 1: Educate employers about working with employees and potential hires that have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and other mental disabilities, including being bi-polar.

Strategy 2: Use KSU Occupational Practical Training (F1) student visas to bring foreign base students into the workforce for up to two and a half years or more. Emphasize visa extensions in science, technology, engineering, and math careers.

Strategy 3: Examine multi-culturalism in the Manhattan MSA. Look for avenues to enhance diversity, including restaurants, temples, and mosques. Look for avenues to enhance opportunities for black Americans and Latinos at Fort Riley assimilating into the area workforce.

Strategy 4: Work closely with the Generating Opportunities to Attain Lifelong Success (GOALS) Program, designed to help eligible Kansans receiving food assistance navigate pathways to successful careers that pay living wages and enhance the potential workforce base in the county.

Objective B: Form Interagency Regional Task Force to develop programs that will benefit disadvantaged and expose employers to benefits of hiring disadvantaged/disabled, ex-offenders, legal immigrants, etc. 



Strategy 1: Begin non-formal coalition / consortia of entities, such as Three Rivers, Big Lakes, Community Health Ministries, Kansas Works, Kansas Department of Commerce Alternative Work, Circles, Vocational Rehabilitation Services of Kansas, Department of Children and Family Services, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) representatives.

Strategy 2: Hold an annual “Disability Employment Week”. Involve Kansas Works for accurate accounting and build a strong campaign resulting in real hires and setting yearly hiring goals.

PCEDC – Six Workforce Issues (Goals, Objectives & Strategies)

8

Goal #5 - Child Care Services Goal: The development of new and creative programs to enhance the availability and affordability of day care for children from birth to five years.

Objective A: Establish a Day Care Task Force to work on critical issues and identify weaknesses in day care in Pottawatomie County and the state of Kansas. The task force will include day care providers, county health department, clergy, elected officials, and key business development supporters.  



Strategy 1: Seek additional methods of funding to enhance the number of certified / licensed day care workers. Funding may include the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA).

Strategy 2: Develop a methodology to calculate the demand for day care services in the county which should include parents that are not working due to inability to find day care services or prohibitive cost.

Strategy 3: The Task Force will work to develop a comprehensive day care website / clearinghouse for businesses to better inform employees on day care options.

Objective B: Keep day care providers aware and exposed to all programs that can enhance business planning and entrepreneurship.   

Strategy 1: Make day care centers aware of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for business planning.

Strategy 2: Expose day care providers to Network Kansas Programs, such as the Kansas Ice House enhancing entrepreneurial mindset, the E-Community Loan, and others.

Strategy 3: Discuss day care services with large institutions or businesses that can benefit directly by having employees take advantage of day care.

PCEDC – Six Workforce Issues (Goals, Objectives & Strategies)

9

Goal #6 - Education & Training Legislation Goal: Support educators, administrators, and board members who seek to produce successful students who will compete in the global economy. The county and state must provide adequate funding to cover increasing costs and changing student needs, and to meet higher workforce expectations.

Objective A: To produce successful students who will compete in the global economy, PCEDC must support adequate funding to cover increasing costs and changing student needs, and to meet higher workforce expectations.   





Strategy 1: Support legislation in which the state pays for what it requires schools to do as part of “base” funding for all districts, including costs that rise each year.

Strategy 2: Support programs and legislation to balance increased local funding options with increased state equalization aid.

Strategy 3: Maintain the successful at-risk funding system based on economic disadvantage and other factors, improve instruction through professional development and mentoring, and promote innovation.

Strategy 4: Support efficiency and encourage cooperation, services sharing, consolidation, and efficiencies, balanced with local needs and priorities with all five school districts in the county.

Strategy 5: Emphasize that state tax cuts should not reduce school funding especially when Pottawatomie County is experiencing massive shortages in talent and when improving education is vital to the economic health and quality of life for the state, communities, and individuals.

Objective B: Seek new funding for critical programs that enhance development between agencies involving education, business, and workforce providers.  



Strategy 1: Support SB 155 and all efforts to enhance dual credit, including transportation between technical / community colleges, as well as to support distance learning efforts.

Strategy 2: Seek to help fund Career Ready 101 programming through the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Innovation Act (WIOA) and work closely with local representatives of WIOA. Strategy 3: Seek additional funding for strong career programs including agriculture, mechanics, information technology, computers, graphic arts, and computer aided drawing, as well as infrastructure necessities.

PCEDC – Six Workforce Issues (Goals, Objectives & Strategies)

10

Objective C: Encourage strong local school boards that make the best decisions to meet the unique needs of their communities and are accountable for results. Assist in having local leaders that value their students and schools, and work to ensure their success and recognizing the positive effects that high performing schools have on their communities. 



 

Strategy 1: Help to increase public understanding of educational issues and support for improvement and strengthen involvement of parents, higher education, employers, and communities through strong, accountable boards.

Strategy 2: Support local policy and funding choices unless the school persistently fails to demonstrate improvement. Oppose new requirements without clear evidence of effectiveness and funding for additional costs.

Strategy 3: Encourage the promotion of flexibility in educational programs, accountable to local boards and state accreditation.

Strategy 4: Encourage the strengthening of board and administrator management flexibility, while maintaining core employee rights.

###

PCEDC – Six Workforce Issues (Goals, Objectives & Strategies)

11