August 15, 2014 ACCE Convention 2014 - Cincinnati

Alisha Benson VP of Education & Workforce , Greater Spokane Incorporated

Executive Director, Spokane STEM Network

Our Future Workforce:

Addressing the Skills Gap & Talent Equation

The OTHER Washington

232 miles 18 miles

Spokane is NOT a suburb of Seattle

P/4

Education Attainment

Talent…Talent…Talent

By 2020, two-thirds of job opportunities will

require some level of post-secondary education

Our post-secondary completion rate in Spokane

County is 40.4%

Why is this a priority in our region?

Source: Lumina Foundation; US Census Bureau

Lumina Foundation

To increase the proportion of Americans with high-

quality degrees, certificates and other credentials to

60 percent by the year 2025.

ADOPTED by GSI Board of Trustees on September 23, 2013

GSI’s Education & Workforce Portfolio:

Linking Business & Education

Connect

Committees

Drive

Programs

Advocate

Partnership &

Support

K-12 Education Roundtable Teaching the Teachers Local/Regional – K-12

Public School levies &

Bonds

Spokane STEM Network

Priority Spokane

Higher Education

Leadership Group (HELG)

Explore Your Future/Career

Exploration

(2013 final year)

State – K-12 & Higher

Education (Buildings, Levy

Equalization, Funding,

STEM)

Access2Experience

Industry Roundtables –

Manufacturing, Aerospace,

Health Industry

Clean Technology

NEW

Business AfterSchool

Federal – Pell grants,

student loans, early

learning, GME,

NIH/research funding,

agriculture research funding

etc.

FIRST Robotics

Cyberpatriots

Work 101 – high school

internship program

Pharmaceutical &

Biosciences Building

Excelerate Success

(Cradle to Career)

Education & Workforce Timeline

1998: Higher Education Leadership Group (HELG) established by Chamber with five university and college presidents and fifteen business leaders. Its focus was to link higher ed to economic development, research growth, marketing of the region, and diversity. 2003: HELG helped to launch the Spokane Alliance for Medical Research. 2005: K-12 Education Roundtable established by Chamber with public and private schools, modeled after HELG 2007: Spokane Regional Chamber and Economic Development Council merge to become Greater Spokane Incorporated (GSI).

2007: GSI launches Teaching the Teachers (T3), interactive continuing education workshops that allow educators and businesses to have a dialogue on skills, importance of curriculum and pathways to employment in those fields

Teaching the Teachers (T3)

• Interactive professional development opportunities for middle and high school educators and businesses to have a dialogue on soft skills, how curriculum directly correlates to jobs, and pathways to employment in those fields.

• Targeted high-growth; high-demand fields with a focus on STEM.

Since 2007 inception: • 850 educators • 20 different school districts • 21,000 students indirectly

served • 50+ businesses

Education & Workforce Timeline

2009: Priority Spokane adopts educational attainment as its first priority after a series of community task force meetings.

Education & Workforce Timeline

2011: Washington STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) is founded with the priority of establishing STEM networks around state. Nearly 30 percent of the fastest-growing occupations in the next decade will require at least some background in STEM. 2012: Spokane is chosen as one of three communities to be supported in establishing a STEM network; GSI agrees to host the STEM network as part of its Education & Workforce priorities.

Why STEM?

• WA ranks #1 in the concentration of STEM jobs

• By 2018 we will see a 24% increase in STEM jobs – 7 percentage points above the national average

• 50,000 jobs will go unfilled by 2017

• WA ranks 4th for technology based corporations but 46th for participation in science and engineering graduate programs

Source: WA STEM/WA Roundtable

Education & Workforce Timeline

• 2012: GSI partners with Riverpoint Academy, Spokane Valley Tech and Spokane Area Workforce Development Council to launch Work 101, an internship program where area employers provide youth a meaningful worksite learning experience

• 2 year pilot – August 2012-August 2014

• Focus on STEM – biomed, engineering, computer science • 144 work based experiences created • 28+ businesses engaged • 200 students provided experience

Education & Workforce Timeline

• 2013: Work 101 partnership includes the launch of Access2Experience (A2E) • Online platform created by Spokane-based entrepreneur, Tyler Lafferty,

dedicated bridging the gap between industry and education. • Tool provides a space for businesses to highlight their organizations and

connect seasoned professionals with classrooms, students, and career-seekers in worksite learning environments.

• 110 Business Professionals • 119 Educators • 175 facilitated speaking requests

• 2013: GSI Board of Trustees sets Education Attainment vision of 60% with post-secondary degrees and certificates by 2025.

• 2014: GSI launches Business AfterSchool, a series of industry week open house events for students, educators, parents and community organizations

Business AfterSchool

• A series of industry week open house events for students, educators, parents and community organizations that provide on-site awareness of Spokane's high-demand industries highlighting new technology, research, development and innovation. • Launched in February 2014 • 5 industry weeks: Engineering (February), Health Care (April),

Manufacturing (October), Agribusiness (November), Computer Science (December)

• So far: only Engineering & Health Care • 15 Businesses • 270 students • 42 educators • 39 parents • 115+ business professionals

Leadership Learnings

• Incredible opportunity for Chamber to convene, connect, drive, and advocate

• Work is built on relationships • Takes time – important to start • Change happens at the speed of trust • Productive struggle • Focus on business driven strategies • Find your champions • Celebrate success • Constantly challenge yourself to think at a

systems level

Thank you! Questions?

Alisha Benson VP of Education & Workforce

Greater Spokane Incorporated (509) 321-3608

abenson@greaterspokane.org