Students to Workforce Movement

An important topic for Laramie County is addressing workforce needs through education.

“We are responsible for creating our desired workforce as a community.” shared Vice President of the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, Stephanie Meisner-Maggard.

The business community and the education sectors need to work towards solutions to strengthen tomorrow’s workforce. A panel mixed with educators, policy makers and industry discussed their perception of how their various sectors help with economic growth and advancements, as well as the challenges they face.

Key take-a-ways from the Pancakes & Politics event presented by Townsquare Media & MHP includes:

• Work to develop and encourage all kinds of career pathways; baccalaureate, technical tracks or military
• Computer science proves to be a baseline for all fields
• Soft skill development has altered because of new family dynamics and because of technology
• Technology education is needed regarding appropriate use and best practices to advance their education
• The Cycles of Poverty can help align educators, employers and workers when helping individuals with finding career opportunities
• Employers need to raise the bar when hiring, rather than just filling a position with just anyone wait to find a quality candidate and work to have them achieve higher performance levels
• If you expect from employs soft skills and certain levels of professionalism then work towards these best practices as employers
  • Example: If someone applies for a position notify them when the position is filled rather than no message at all.
• Expose children to non-traditional fields and perhaps fields which are not a dominate for our area, early exposure may help guide their career track
• Partnerships need to be formed between private industry and the education system to strengthen career education and to develop natural mentor-ship opportunities for students

Watch the full video below.