1. Strategies in Educational and Workforce Development
Southern Economic Development Council Conference
August 1, 2016
Presented by
Jennifer Littlejohn
Director of Communications
GMACWorkforce

2. GMACWorkforce
Solving the Skills Gap

3. Overview
In October 2014, the Memphis and Shelby County Regional Economic Development Plan—prepared in collaboration with the Brookings Institution Policy Program—identified the “creation of opportunity by improving workforce skills and access to career jobs, benefiting both businesses and residents throughout the region,” as one of four aspirational goals.
Key findings of this initiative included the fact that “persistently low levels of educational attainment pose a formidable barrier to the regional economy’s potential to grow and diversify”.
The need to “build a next economy workforce by creation of a more effective pipeline of higher-skilled workers, tailored to new growth sectors, and driven by employers to secure better jobs and opportunities for more workers” was identified as a core strategy of the plan.

4. Overview Continued
In late 2014, the Greater Memphis Alliance for a Competitive Workforce (GMACWorkforce) was established as the priority initiative for the Memphis and Shelby County Regional Economic Development Plan to support the vision that “employers have the talent they need to compete and people have the skills they need to get good jobs”.
The mission of GMACWorkforce is to close the skills gap by:
Driving better alignment of training and education programs with employers’ skill requirements; and,
Delivering innovative new strategies and tools to help Memphis citizens successfully navigate career pathways.

5. Our Core Functions Address employers’ short-term hiring needs
Generate ‘best in class’ workforce trends data
Strengthen education alignment to promote a pipeline of skilled workers for the future
Create enthusiasm for local career opportunities and provide a roadmap for accessing them
Leverage private dollars to bring in more state and federal funds

6. ADDRESS EMPLOYERS SHORT-TERM HIRING NEEDS1
ADDRESS EMPLOYERS SHORT-TERM HIRING NEEDS
Integrated Team of GMACWorkforce, WIN, and Chamber Staff
Over 350 Companies Engaged
Developed a new Sector Council that will represent the metal fabricators
Working with TCAT and ConAgra Foods to establish an Apprenticeship Program
Working with Southwest to create a program to train Medical Device Finishers
Working with the Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) to develop a new Sector Council
Assisted Southwest and Dyersburg community colleges to collaborate in an effort to assess and training Unilever’s maintenance employees.
Assisting WIN and the post-secondary schools in providing skilled candidates for local companies

7. GENERATE ‘BEST IN CLASS’2
GENERATE ‘BEST IN CLASS’
WORKFORCE TRENDS
Document, analyze, and publish regular data on local hiring trends, employer skill requirements and labor supply. Be the “go to” source for this data.
Develop GMACW 1st Annual Report for Labor Demand-Side and Supply-Side Data Collection and Analysis—12/31/2015—Supports Supply- Side Programmatic Decisions
Develop and Deploy Employer Client Management System that will Provide Continuous Improvement Data to Annual Report

8. CREATION OF RELEVANT CAREER PATHWAYS
STRENGTHEN EDUCATION ALIGNMENT TO PROMOTE A PIPELINE OF SKILLED WORKERS 3
CREATION OF RELEVANT CAREER PATHWAYS

9. Development of Targeted Pathways
STRENGTHEN EDUCATION ALIGNMENT TO PROMOTE A PIPELINE OF SKILLED WORKERS 3
Development of Targeted Pathways
Supported by Engagement with:
Medical Device Council
Logistics Council
Manufacturing Council
Initial Targeted Pathways:
Machining Program Aligned with NIMS Certifications
Process Control Technology Aligned with PTEC Certifications

10. Dual-Enrollment in Workforce Programs/Courses
STRENGTHEN EDUCATION ALIGNMENT TO PROMOTE A PIPELINE OF SKILLED WORKERS 3
Dual-Enrollment in Workforce Programs/Courses
- MOST IMPORTANT -
Primary Entry for High School Students into Workforce Pathways
Provides Mechanism to increase Student Semester Credit Hours for Post-Secondary Institutions
Secures Pipeline into Post-Secondary Workforce Programs

11. STRENGTHEN EDUCATION ALIGNMENT TO PROMOTE A PIPELINE OF SKILLED WORKERS3
K-12 Engagement
IRT/CRT Deployment in Shelby County School System
TCAT-Memphis/Collierville High School Project
TCAT-Memphis/Bartlett High School Project
TCAT-Memphis/Trezevant CTE Center Project
Good Will Excel Charter School Project
Expansion of Charter School on ASU Mid-South Campus
Dual Enrollment Expansion for Southwest Tennessee Community College
Support for Crosstown Charter Schools with William R. Moore College of Technology and TCAT-Memphis

12. Creation of a Career Pathways Navigation System4
CREATE ENTHUSIASM FOR LOCAL CAREER OPPORTUNITIES & PROVIDE ROADMAP FOR ACCESSING THEM
Creation of a Career Pathways Navigation System
Connect employers, educators, employment counselors, students and job seekers using leading edge technology. A systematic process matches job seekers' interests to career pathways, job seekers' skills assessment and skills gaps to recommended training and recommended job opportunities.
Web-Based with Mobile Application
Assesses job seekers skills and aptitudes
Links to employer skill requirements
Directs job seeker to education/training provider to fill skill gaps

13. LEVERAGE PRIVATE DOLLARS TO BRING IN MORE STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDS5
LEVERAGE PRIVATE DOLLARS TO BRING
IN MORE STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDS
Spearhead effort to bring in more outside resources to support workforce innovations, while ensuring GMACW operations are fully funded.

14. MemphisWorks Career Pathways Navigation System
Demo, Video & Update

15. Shared Common Database
Career Counselor
Community Stakeholder
Job Seeker
Employer
Educator
Explore careers
Find local jobs/interns
Build resume /portfolio
Apply for jobs
Find qualified applicants
Deliver/track training
Internal reporting
Promote career pathways
Track student learning/skills
Live classroom in workforce
Help students w/ jobs- interns
Advertise institutional capabilities
See where the jobs are
Identify skill levels / gaps
Focus students on workforce needs
Used data for grant requests
Resource for workforce
Tool to track effectiveness
Change culture & expectations
Promote jobs in Memphis

16. Better Recruitment Greater Outreach to Promote Jobs to more candidates
Better Resumes- Skills verification badges, video resumes, result- based portfolios of work
Better Tools for Intake of Resumes- Improve the ability of Memphis Employment Counselors, College Counselors and other Employers to support management of applicants

17. Better Information & Reports
Better Tools for Analyzing Activity & Community Skills base including a dashboard that reports aggregated and drill-down data of:
# of job posting views
assessed skills
new program graduates
Tools include messaging to:
connect directly with job seekers
send survey questions to candidates

18. Shared Database Between Educators and Employers
The MemphisWorks Career Navigator will provide a shared database for Employers and Employment Counselors to see detailed reports by user, location and other criteria.
Reports include profiles of job seekers:
viewing jobs
applying to jobs
viewing training programs
enrolling in training programs

19. Career Navigator Promoting Work in Memphis

20. Hundreds of Videos, Links to Training, Memphis Job Postings

21. Demonstrating Great Career Pathways in Memphis

22. **Visit GMACW.COM to View Our Annual Report**
Stay In Touch With Us
Facebook|Twitter|Instagram: @Gmacworkforce
Facebook|Twitter|Instagram:
@MemphisWorks
Web:
Office: (901)
**Visit GMACW.COM to View Our Annual Report**