AdvantageWest-North Carolina
The AdvantageWest Workforce Development Plan (2001)
AdvantageWest-North Carolina, the Western North Carolina
Regional Economic Development Agency, administers a region encompassing
a large area of 23 mountainous western counties. Realizing the
importance of creating and sustaining a quality workforce,
AdvantageWest initiated a project that would help the region retool its
labor force to prepare for jobs in the New Economy. The agency
commissioned Market Street to facilitate and develop a Workforce
Development Plan for the central 10-county AdvantageWest region
centered around Asheville.
In the planning process, a detailed
assessment of the core area's labor market was supplemented by an
inventory of the most significant workforce training providers in the
entire 23-county region. The labor market assessment component profiled
the economic and demographic trends of the region's workforce and
clarified the area's current situation and economic prospects.
Extensive community input, including a telephone survey of employers
and stakeholders, focus groups, and interviews, provided qualitative
information to complement the assessment's quantitative data.
Key
issues that were identified in these analyses included: the lack of
basic worker skills and work ethic across all levels and sectors; the
need for a workforce development system that anticipates current and
future employment needs; a more coordinated and integrated system of
workforce development; the need for a serious and comprehensive
strategy to address issues that affect workforce quality but are not
directly related to training and education; and maximization of the
existing workforce, retention of younger residents, and recruitment of
a skilled, diverse labor force to complement current residents.
In
order to effectively address these key issues and develop a competitive
workforce in the central region, Market Street recommended that
AdvantageWest implement a Workforce Development Plan oriented around
five strategic goal areas:
- Enhanced Employability/Work Readiness Skills
- A Proactive Capacity/System to Train Workers directed at augmenting community college workforce development systems
- A Coordinated/Collaborative Approach for regional workforce programs
- A Human and Supportive Services component focused on development of
child care, transportation, post-employment services and affordable
housing solutions
- An Expanded Workforce aimed at broadening the size and scope of the local labor pool
At
the end of the eight-month process, benchmarks and measures to assess
implementation progress complemented these strategic goals and action
steps.