Workforce Development

Allied Health Sollutions Summit a Great Success!

The Competitive Workforce Alliance's Allied Health Regional Skills Partnership Allied Health Solutions Summit was a great success!  The first annual Allied Health Solutions Summit was held in Concord, NC on Tuesday July 15, 2008 at The Embassy Suites, from 9:30 am to 3:45 pm.

The Allied Health Solutions Summit had over 100 attendees that included employers, educators and workforce development professionals from across the region and the state.  It brought them together to hear from others who have successfully planned and implemented regional collaborations that have increased worker recruitment and developed allied health career pathways that have promoted worker retention and satisfaction.

The Summit opened with a welcome from David Hollars, Centralina Workforce Development Board Executive Director and Allied Health Regional Skills Partnership Workforce Intermediary.  David outlined the purpose of the Summit and introduced the guest speakers.

Patricia Fera from the Workforce Investment Board in Will County in Illinois and Jennifer Stasch from the Workforce Board of Northern Cook County in Illinois discussed their collaborative efforts in working with 9 workforce boards in the 11 county Chicago metropolitan region and how they succeeded in addressing workforce, training, and career development issues.

Joanna Pokaski from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston spoke to the group about how a major hospital created and implemented career ladder programs that worked.  She also discussed the rewards and challenges of creating new training programs and why employers should invest time, resources, and dollars into workforce development.

For the afternoon sessions participants could choose between two sessions.  The session titled "Systems Change: One Step at a Time," took an inside look at some of the metropolitan Chicago region's successful projects and showed how their challenges were resolved, how partnership were forged, and the lessons they learned along the way.

The "Prescription Filled: A Cure for the Pharmacist Shortage" session allowed participants to hear from a panel of six business and workforce partners from the Winston-Salem area who discussed their newly created solution to address the pharmacist shortage.

The closing session allowed attendees to complete a survey to indicate what were the best lessons learned.  Attendees also asked final questions of the presenters and were encouraged to sign up to participate in future meetings of the Allied Health Regional Skills Partnership.

The Allied Health Regional Skills Partnership Solutions Summit was generously sponsored by Carolinas HealthCare System, Novant Health, Integra Staffing, Bankston Partners, and the Competitive Workforce Alliance.  Workshop, break and lunch sponsors were Rowan Regional Medical Center, Charlotte Radiology, Stanly Regional Medical Center, Central Piedmont Community College, and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

The Competitive Workforce Alliance would like to thank the wonderful guest speakers, the sponsors, and all of the individuals who participated in the first annual Allied Health Solutions Summit.  For more information on this groundbreaking initiative or to join the Allied Health Regional Skills Partnership please contact Emily Clamp at (704) 348-2732 or by email at eclamp@centralina.org.

Competitive Workforce Alliance Allied Health Regional Skills Partnership to Host First Annual Solutions Summit

The Competitive Workforce Alliance's Allied Health Regional Skills Partnership is set to host their first annual Allied Health Solutions Summit in Concord, NC on Tuesday July 15, 2008 at the Embassy Suites, from 9:30 am to 3:45 pm.

The Allied Health Solutions Summit will bring employers, educators and workforce development professionals from across the counties together to hear from others who have successfully planned and implemented regional collaborations that increase worker recruitment and develop career pathways that promote worker retention and satisfaction.

One of the highlights of the Summit will be speakers from all over the nation who have successfully implemented their own Allied Health Partnership that has sustained itself.  Speakers include Patricia Fera from the Workforce Investment board in Will County in Illinois and Jennifer Stasch from the Workforce Board of Northern Cook County in Illinois among many others.

The Competitive Workforce Alliance consists of the Centralina, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Gaston, Western Piedmont and Region C Workforce Development Boards in North Carolina as well as the Catawba Regional and Pee Dee Workforce Investment boards from South Carolina.

The Allied Health Regional Skills Partnership is a consortium comprised of employers, economic, education, workforce development and economic development professionals and training providers that will meet regularly to create strategies and programs that will continually assess, prioritize, and respond to the workforce training needs of employers in the allied health industry.  Its mission is "to assure that the region has the allied health resources necessary to meet the healthcare needs of its citizens."

If you would like to attend the allied Health Solutions Summit on Tuesday July 15, 2008 at the Embassy Suites in Concord you should register right away!  For the first 150 attendees the registration fee is only $30.00, but after the first 150 the fee will go up to $115.00.  So be sure to register now!

To register please click here.

To read more on the Allied Health Solutions Summit please click here.

Businesses Identify Skill Gaps in Region

Employers across North Carolina are concerned about the quality of workers they are currently hiring.  A statewide skills survey conducted by Business Service Representatives from North Carolina's Workforce Development Boards and compiled by the Centralina Workforce Development Board revealed employers are generally satisfied with the quality of preparation provided by the state's community college system by noted several issues with the current and emerging workforce.

Some 65% of companies surveyed indicated they regularly reject applicants due to lack of skills and noted a lack of workers with good computer, customer service, and communication skills.  Skills in machining, welding and various health-related fields also rated as being in short supply now and in the future.  The survey included data from 335 companies who employ between 10-999 employees.  About 39% of the respondents were from manufacturing firms, followed by health care and community services at 11.3%.  All primary sectors of the business community were represented in the survey.

Survey questions were designed to determine if there was a statewide skills shortage and also document future skills needs.  Questions were also included to probe employers' assessment of new hires and issues surrounding the recruiting process.  Respondents noted on one open ended question that they are experiencing a general lack of work ethic among the emerging workforce, coupled with weak basic skills.

David Hollars, Centralina Workforce Development Board executive director, recently stated that "this survey demonstrates the importance of an adequately trained workforce and underscores the need for the Career Readiness Certification programs now underway at the community colleges and JobLink Career Centers in our region.  North Carolina must address the identified skills gaps now if our workforce is going to compete in the global economy."

Other findings noted in the survey were:

• 63% of respondents indicated say they are willing to participate in a public forum designed to address specific workforce training issues.
• 77.2% of employers use the local newspaper to recruit workers followed by word of mouth at 76%.
• 33% of employers provide little or no training for their employees.
• 46.2% of respondents realize there are skills shortage issues and are increasing efforts to retain their current workforce.

The Business Services Representatives responsible for deployment of the survey and data collection represent the 24 Workforce Development Boards who are responsible for workforce policy development and service delivery in North Carolina's 100 counties.  For more information on the Skills Gap Survey please contact Vail Carter at (704) 348-2710 or by email at vcarter@centralina.org.