By Randy Yagiela
Director of Align Lenawee, Development Director | Lenawee Now
Lenawee Now began in 2016 to focus on building a talent pipeline between students, parents, educational organizations and employers to sustain our local economy. We knew that filling local jobs with skilled and talented employees was our number one economic development challenge. Recognizing that developing talent is more important than infrastructure and other traditional economic development resources is a big part of our evolution.
Michigan’s Department of Talent and Economic Development held meetings around the state in 2018 and provided this projection: There will be 811,055 high-demand career openings through 2024 in Michigan.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas J. Donohue recently stated that “The United States is fundamentally out of people.” His assessment summarized trends that impact the nation’s supply of talent needed to fill current and future job openings:
- A limited workforce. U.S. births have dipped to a 30-year low. The downward trend began in 1959 and continues today.
- The increasing rate of retirement of the Baby Boomers. Beginning in 2012 the rate rises through 2030.
- The increasing substance abuse epidemic that is touching all walks of life in our nation.
- Rapid technological innovations, requiring specialized skills through a combination of experience, credentials and / or college degrees, and
- Worker demand for flexibility and work-life balance, the preference of employees to enjoy a higher level of quality in life outside of their workplace.
Our Align Lenawee Talent Consortium was started with a grant from the USDA and has been further funded by state grants that promote regional collaboration on building talent and workforce initiatives and programs. In 2018 we designed and hosted a regional conference on the best practices to hire and train employees for current job openings. This year Lenawee Now is tasked with an analysis of the region’s workforce challenges and the creation of plans that will reduce and limit what we believe is a workforce disruption in Michigan and the nation. That work will be reviewed by our regional economic development partners, and then provided to the state with recommendations for funding and policies which will sustain and grow skills that match the needs of Michigan employers.
The Align Lenawee Talent Consortium is now growing with the inclusion of major partners including employers who need jobs filled and our educators who are building the skills of our current and future workforce. We are focusing on collaborative action with these stakeholders that will produce more credentialing opportunities which match students obtaining career and technical education with local employers need for talent. This is the key to us growing and sustaining our economy.