Workforce Development

Registration is Open for the 2nd Annual Bridging Business and Workforce Development Best Practices Conference

This is a reminder to mark your calendars and to get registered if you aren’t yet! The Centralina Workforce Development Board and the Re-Employment Bridge Institute (RBI) 2nd annual best practices conference titled Bridging Business and Workforce Development is quickly approaching!

This exciting conference will be held on Thursday June 7 – Friday June 8, 2012 at the Embassy Suites Conference Center in Concord.

The focus of the upcoming conference is to bring together private business with workforce professionals who provide services to displaced workers, the unemployed and the underemployed in response to the identified needs of business. Opportunities will be afforded to participants to remain current on innovative initiatives, idea exchange, and networking with colleagues.

Anyone who is interested in learning best practices in bridging the needs of business with workforce development is welcome to attend! The 2011 Conference had over 300 attendees from all over the nation come together to network and discuss best practices. The positive response from those that attended the event was overwhelming and many left demanding another conference for 2012. Here are just some of the comments from the previous conference:

“The Reemployment Bridge Institute is true to its name because it bridges the gap between employers and workforce development so that we are speaking the same language,” said Karen Adams, Manager of the Iredell County JobLink Career Center. “The sessions partner employers and workforce development professionals to provide information, tips, and views applicable to the commitment we as workforce development professionals make daily to enhance services to our customers, the employers and potential employees. Attending the RBI conference offered me the chance to identify the areas where I could bridge the gap and supplied the tips to enhance the relationship with my customers.”

“Finally, a workforce development conference that engages business. Nick and his team did an excellent job bringing businesses to the table to give their perspective on workforce issues and concerns,” said Reid Baker, Catawba Regional Council of Governments.

One addition this year to the conference is a featured pre-conference workshop conducted by John Metcalf, a senior member of the firm Thomas P. Miller and Associates. Metcalf is nationally recognized for his work in creating innovative integration strategies for workforce development at the community level.

Metcalf’s fast-paced pre-conference workshop will prepare participants to create a workforce delivery system to meet the needs of area businesses. Participants will leave with an outline of what it will take for their workforce system to transform itself into a more demand and quality driven system.

Interested in attending? Registration is now open for this great event! The nominal cost for this two day event is $125, if you want to attend the pre-conference session with the conference the cost is $175. You can register at www.reemploymentbridge.com or by contacting Erin Ploplis at (704) 216-7202 or by e-mail at erin.ploplis@rccc.edu.

The Re-Employment Bridge Institute is also seeking sponsors and exhibitors for their exciting and ground breaking conference! There are wonderful benefits to being a sponsor or an exhibitor for this event. For more information please click here. For more information on this please contact Erin Ploplis at (704) 216-7202 or by e-mail at erin.ploplis@rccc.edu or at www.remploymentbridge.com. And thanks to the Gaston Workforce Development Board, one of the first sponsors to sign up for this year’s conference.

The RBI is a teaching/learning institute based in Kannapolis and is funded by a two-year grant from the Centralina Workforce Development Board and the NC Department of Commerce. The Re-Employment Bridge Institute has enrolled over 1,000 business and workforce development professionals through its initial conference, workshop series and community-based consultations. The RBI is committed to sharing best practices among workforce professionals especially in addressing the needs of business.

The Centralina Workforce Development Board was a partner for the 2011 conference and is proud to be a partner again for the 2012 event. Please continue to look to the Centralina WDB monthly E-Newsletter for updates on this exciting conference. For more information on the 2012 Re-Employment Bridge Institute Conference or on the Centralina Workforce Development Board, please contact Emily Clamp at (704) 348-2732 or by e-mail at eclamp@centralina.org.

The Three P's

Centralina Workforce Development Board 2007 Retreat
The 3P’s:  Prepare -  Position - Partner

Futurist Ed Barlow and Marketing Consultant Celina Shands Gradijan, conducted a 1 ½ day  intensive Centralina Workforce Development Board (CWDB) retreat in May 2007, to engage Board members to look at the future and its implications on workforce development.  Several key  foundational concepts were introduced to the Board.

1. We are into a time of incredible structural change in the world, as we know it, from which no one is exempt, including the CWDB, its customers, and key stakeholders. This structural change requires that the CWDB understand the critical importance of an “in-depth” look into the future. There are eight definable areas of structural change which are occurring that need to be examined by every organization: continuum of change, globalization, the economy, the environment, new science and technology, demographics, organizational structuring and human resources.
    
2. Key priority areas and desired states need to be identified and reviewed within the context of these structural changes, or an organization will face the prospect of being irrelevant.
3. The business of workforce development boards will need to change dramatically in terms of the attitudes and skills of its members, associated staff and partners; its ability to position its important mission and communicate it externally; and the strategy to engage partners within the community that can advance their mission through funding and other in-kind support.

The eight areas of structural change provided a foundation for the CWDB retreat, to further identify strategic directions. 

The Board is looking to shift some of its key priorities in the areas of

1. programs and services;
2. funding;
3. board governance;
4. board recruitment and development; and
5. marketing and communications.

Let us hear from you. Community input is welcome around our Board’s priorities and funding.  Centralina businesses can weigh in on our online survey at http://www.centralinaworks.com.