Moving Ideas to Action
IEI’s Talent First Economics team took on a variety of activities and initiatives to make connecting and engaging our state’s skilled workforce a reality.
- Issuing a new NC Workforce Trends Report. NC State University economist Mike Walden examines trends in factors that impact the state’s labor market and workforce access for certain subgroups of North Carolinians. View the report here.
- Co-hosting the NC Association of Workforce Development Boards meeting on May 18, 2022. We highlighted data from the Walden report and engaged workforce board members in discussions about disconnected workers in their regions. This conversation helped IEI identify subgroups of workers on which to focus our policy and programmatic efforts. View the meeting summary and key takeaways.
- Convening a task force to develop recommendations. The task force identified policies and programs that can better connect, engage and grow workers in these five subgroups. These recommendations will be discussed at the forum and refined after the event.
- Forming a Community Cohort. IEI will identify five community teams to take part in NC State’s new Workforce Development Leadership Initiative. The cohort teams will develop a set of action planning steps for their communities, drawing from the refined recommendations explored at the Forum.
- Convening regional meetings. Partnering with the community cohort, we will co-host regional meetings to highlight what happened at the Forum. The teams will share their plans, incorporate feedback and consider next steps.