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http://www.umassd.edu/ppc Twitter: @Mike_Goodman Framing the Massachusetts Workforce Challenge Michael D. Goodman, Ph.D. Professor of Public Policy Executive Director, the Public Policy Center (PPC) University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Co-Editor, MassBenchmarks http://www.umassd.edu/ppc Twitter: @Mike_Goodman

Our central competitive advantage is the talent and innovative capacity of our people

Our population isn’t growing fast enough the old fashioned way Source: Population Estimates Program, UMass Donahue Institute

We rely on foreign born workers to keep our workforce growing Source: (2016) Clayton-Matthews, A. & Nakosteen, R. “Economic Strength Girds Massachusetts in a World of Economic Uncertainty” MassBenchmarks, Volume 18, Issue 2, pp. 5-13.

STEM workers are in high demand in a wide variety of STEM and non STEM settings

Postsecondary education is increasingly a prerequisite for a living wage outside the skilled trades

Focus on: Improving access to postsecondary education

Focus on: Reducing barriers to labor force participation

Focus on: Developing the so-called “soft skills”

Focus on: The very different needs of our regions and labor markets

Focus on: Closing the Educational Achievement Gap Inadequate educational opportunity not only wastes much needed talent, it also denies economic opportunities to working families and low-income communities Source: The Massachusetts Education Equity Partnership