Investment in Business Champions seeks to narrow skills gap in Great Lakes States
NEW, REGIONAL INVESTMENT SEEKS TO NARROW SKILLS GAP IN GREAT LAKES STATES
Business Champions, Inc. Awarded Grant to Help Businesses Improve Policies That Will Boost Local Workforce
Denver – Recognizing the need for more Americans to obtain postsecondary credentials that match future job openings in the region, Business Champions, Inc. is working with local businesses to strengthen their engagement in developing workforce policies. With a $100,000 grant from The Joyce Foundation, Business Champions is seeking to partner with Great Lakes businesses and business leaders to help them educate federal and state policy makers about their workforce needs.
This funding comes at a critical time when more businesses are demanding a better educated and trained workforce. In fact, according to a new survey released by Business Roundtable, half of the business executives surveyed said that the gap between their needs and employees’ skills is serious enough that it affects their productivity.
Business Champions will help close the skills gap by working with key business leaders, who currently invest in their workforce and produce good jobs, and can influence new thinking, strengthen political will and shape new policies so that more Great Lakes workers earn degrees and credentials to fill available jobs.
“Improving the quality of our workforce is an economic development imperative that requires strategic leadership and action from the business community,” said Scott Thiss, business leader and trustee of the Minnesota System of Colleges and Universities. “In Minnesota, we are seeing that solutions require innovation and new kinds of partnerships that bring employers, colleges and communities together for results. The work of Business Champions helps to ensure that business engagement leads to real progress and results.”
Launched in January, 2009 with funding from Lumina Foundation for Education, Business Champions, Inc. mobilizes the influence of business leaders so that more Americans earn degrees and credentials after high school. Their primary strategies include:
- Building business networks to share best workforce development practices
- Convening leadership forums
- Conducting research and analysis to understand which learning models are most effective
- Providing technical assistance to help businesses work for policy changes that will assist in shaping new opportunities in their communities and states
“Improving the quality of the U.S. workforce and expanding opportunities for people to earn valuable credentials cannot be done by educators or government working alone,” said Mary Gershwin, President of Business Champions. “Business leaders who produce good jobs, invest in their workforce, and contribute to civic advancement in their communities are uniquely qualified to influence changes that will close the skilled workforce gap by expanding access and success in higher education.”
Business Champions, Inc. collaborates with other leading organizations in its business engagement efforts, including the Institute for a Competitive Workforce of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Corporate Voices for Working Families, The Workforce Alliance, The League for Innovation, The American Association of Community Colleges, The Council for Adult and Experimental Learning and Excelencia in Education.
The work of Business Champions in the Great Lakes region will continue to develop productive partnerships and alliances among business, philanthropic foundations, local and state government agencies, employers, chambers of commerce, educational institutions, service providers, and workforce investment boards. www.businesschampions.org.
The Joyce Foundation supports efforts to protect the Great Lakes, to reduce poverty and violence in the region, and to ensure its residents good schools, decent jobs, a strong democracy, and a diverse and thriving culture. www.joycefdn.org