Serving the Citizens and Businesses of the New Orleans Region To current and prospective students, Delgado’s value is not found in its aggregate impact, but in its promise to each individual. Citizens across the region are provided the opportunity to develop practical skills close to home, the chance to jumpstart careers in high-demand fields and to capitalize on an affordable education in a variety of traditional subjects. For these students, the education provided by Delgado can greatly improve their potential lifetime earnings and quality of life— outcomes that ultimately enhance the quality of life for all individuals in the New Orleans metropolitan area. For the regional business community, the suite of skills-training programs offered by Delgado plays an essential role in addressing the region’s most pressing workforce needs, particularly in potential growth industries. Recently the area has faced a set of seemingly contradictory problems— high rates of unemployment
Louisiana Workforce Commission, the most recent data
and a high number of job vacancies. According to the
suggest that the New Orleans regional labor market had over 22,000 job vacancies (Q2 2008) and a 5.0% unemployment rate (April 2009). Occupations with the highest numbers of vacancies included those in the trade and transportation industry, educational and health services, and leisure and hospitality. These same industries, along with others such as advanced manufacturing and creative media and design, have been identified by the regional economic alliance Greater New Orleans, Inc. as economic sectors primed for growth in the New Orleans region. With its extraordinary array of geographic, industrial and cultural assets, there 4