Economic Spotlight: More than a Face Lift By Cleve Poole
I’ve said it in this column before – Economic Development is a “three legged stool” – the attraction of new business and industry, the retention and expansion of existing industry and workforce development. Of the three, workforce development is most important, as without skilled workers, we cannot attract new jobs nor keep the ones we have. In Alabama, there are a lot of different groups of folks who are involved in the workforce system. There are training providers – AIDT, ATN, Alabama Community College System, four year institutions, the k-12 school system, Career Centers, plenty of private vendors and many others. There are the Career Centers and others who try to match workers with available jobs. Finally, there are the workers themselves and the business and industry that hire them. There are lots of moving pieces, a lot of overlap and duplication of services, a whole lot of money being spent to service the job seekers and job providers and a lot of frustration with a system that isn’t working nearly as well as it should. The system
needs upgrading. Everybody involved has to be better at spending taxpayer dollars, and has to be more effective at making sure that the job providers can find and retain skilled workers. The good news is that there is a lot of momentum in State Government to overhaul the existing system – a “face lift” if you will – to create a more streamlined and effective Alabama Workforce System. Governor Bentley has consistently listed “jobs” as his most important priority for the state, and he has aggressively taken steps to address the problems in the existing system by putting business people in charge of making the needed changes. The Alabama Workforce Council (AWC) was created a couple of years ago to “help Alabama develop a sustainable, topnotch workforce that is competitive on a global scale.” The AWC is required to submit a report on their work to the Governor every year (the most recent report can be found here http://tinyurl.com/awc20152016). The report promotes the creation of a “one-stop-shop” for all things having to do with workforce development, job
search and hiring. Further, “a new, unified and universal brand for the Alabama Workforce System should be created and implemented.” The result, once completed, will be one place that workers can go to find training and jobs and, using the same resource, job providers can find skilled labor to fit their needs. A face lift for the system is not enough, because a traditional face lift doesn’t change what’s going on inside, just what’s on the outside. At this point, it is much too early to know how the final product will look, but we can be sure the end product will be much different than the system looks today. But, even more than looking differently, it will be different – more streamlined, less wasteful and duplicative, more efficient and better able to meet the needs of the people of Alabama; more than a face lift – a workable, sustainable, successful system. n Cleve Poole serves as the Vice President of Economic Development and Legal Affairs at Pioneer Electric Cooperative.
Energy Efficiency Tip of the Month Avoid placing lamps or TV sets near your room air-conditioning thermostat. The thermostat senses heat from these appliances, which can cause the air conditioner to run longer than necessary.
Source: energy.gov
8 APRIL 2016
www.alabamaliving.coop