In communities across the country where unemployment is especially high, leaders and policy makers urge workers to upgrade their skills and search for employment in new and growing industries – like wind energy. But often, the jobs aren’t there yet.
Better Bridges Between Economic and Workforce Development
Yes, the world is getting smarter. Technology has enabled us to work in new and different ways: to collaborate, partner, and innovate in the way we do our work. Yet in regional economies, where programs are increasingly reliant on federal and state resources, siloed funding streams systemically impede effective collaboration. Integrated, comprehensive planning can help regions that are looking to bridge that gap. And new tools for practitioners and better research about integrated approaches are emerging.
Data. A collaborative research program between Indiana and Purdue Universities (leads), EMSI and the Rural Policy Research Institute’s Center for Regional Competitiveness created a set of data tools that take a regional approach to innovation-based growth to help identify promising paths to economic growth. While not yet complete, the tool will allow users to create their own region and access federal data all in one place.
Funding Innovation. The same group also created an innovation index to help guide new investments. Innovation was seen as a place where economic developers could broaden their thinking and provide definition for other federal agencies. Further research into human capital qualities that promote innovative growth was also mentioned as a future funding interest.
Linking Industry and Occupational Clusters. The research team from Indiana and Purdue Universities also created maps to help understand local workforce and education clusters to help bridge the gap between workforce and economic development. The maps can show how well the occupation and knowledge clusters strength match industry cluster strength. Location quotient analysis and changes in location quotient analysis maps can be found on their website.
Community Resilience
Another place of intersection is around community resilience. The EDA funded research from the Savannah River National Laboratory Community and Resilience Institute (CARRI) to provide a framework of community resilience. Taking a comprehensive approach to resilience, CARRI is researching communities’ ability to adapt to perceived adversity—in any situation—and suggests a long-term planning agenda to grow social capital between community assets.
We are keen to find ways to enhance our own effectiveness by integrating these new tools and approaches.
Workers or Jobs: Which Comes First?
Thanks to ell_brown for the Flickr photo.
Training vs. Jobs
In communities across the country where unemployment is especially high, leaders and policy makers urge workers to upgrade their skills and search for employment in new and growing industries – like wind energy. But often, the jobs aren’t there yet.
Better Bridges Between Economic and Workforce Development
Yes, the world is getting smarter. Technology has enabled us to work in new and different ways: to collaborate, partner, and innovate in the way we do our work. Yet in regional economies, where programs are increasingly reliant on federal and state resources, siloed funding streams systemically impede effective collaboration. Integrated, comprehensive planning can help regions that are looking to bridge that gap. And new tools for practitioners and better research about integrated approaches are emerging.
Regional Research Symposium
In late October, the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) partnered with the Regional Research Institute at West Virginia University on a Regional Research Symposium (links to presentations). EDA has invested in a number of initiatives that suggest areas where workforce and economic development should be connecting to create comprehensive regional strategies:
Community Resilience
Another place of intersection is around community resilience. The EDA funded research from the Savannah River National Laboratory Community and Resilience Institute (CARRI) to provide a framework of community resilience. Taking a comprehensive approach to resilience, CARRI is researching communities’ ability to adapt to perceived adversity—in any situation—and suggests a long-term planning agenda to grow social capital between community assets.
We are keen to find ways to enhance our own effectiveness by integrating these new tools and approaches.