OCTOBER 24, 2023 • 8AM – 3PM THE GREAT WOLF LODGE
Today, you are taking part in the conversation with business owners, educators and students about how to inform, develop and build career pathways.
Welcome
BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS: Gather tools to create a talent pipeline. Learn how to develop an on-the-job training program. Understand best practices in developing an internship program. Find out how to use apprenticeships as a recruitment strategy. Nurture community relationships with educators & other business owners.
STUDENTS & EDUCATORS: Get an inside view of a variety of regional businesses who are actively looking for ways to build relationships within their local schools. Learn how to find and apply for all types of apprenticeship and/or internship programs. Talk with business leaders about the importance of participating within their local classrooms and meeting students. BREAKOUT SESSIONS WILL ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: Why Create an Internship – Why do you want to create an internship and how do you connect with education? Best Practices to Solve the Skills Gap – How do you create a structured training plan? How do you develop an internship? How do you develop an internship tool-kit for your business? How do you develop a pre-apprenticeship? Where To Recruit for Interns – How can you maximize your internships? Where can you post and recruit? ROI: The Benefits of Partnering with Education – How can collaboration with education develop interest in your company? How might your organization engage with education through work-based learning?
Event Map 2
Agenda 8:00am Check-In and Future of Work EXPO Chehalis Grand Ballroom 9:00am • • •
Welcome & Announcements David Schaffert, Welcome and Sponsor Recognition William Westmoreland, Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council Cheryl Heywood, Timberland Regional Library, Community Supported Career Pathways
9:40am Break-Out Session 1 How to Retain Your Most Important Asset During Economic Instability: Human Capital Northwest Territory A Connect with Top Talent: Veterans and Transitioning Service Members Northwest Territory B Building Staff Engagement and Youth Talent Pipeline Development with Youth Apprenticeship Northwest Territory C Earn to Learn: Growing Your Employees From Within Your Community Fallen Timbers A Unlocking the Potential of Justice-Impacted Talent Fallen Timbers B 10:35am Break-Out Session 2 The Future of Work is Family-Friendly Northwest Territory A Now You Have an Internship: How Do You Find Talent? Northwest Territory B Building Staff Engagement and Youth Talent Pipeline Development with Youth Apprenticeship Northwest Territory C Mason County Healthcare Partnership Fallen Timbers A Accessibility: The Key to Unlocking A Resilient Workforce Fallen Timbers B 11:20am EXPO/Networking 12:00pm Lunch & Keynote Speaker 1:00pm EXPO/Networking 1:25pm
Break-Out Session 3 The Future of Work is Family-Friendly Northwest Territory A Best Practices to Solve the Skills Gap: How to Create a Structured Training Plan Northwest Territory B Upskilling Your Workforce and Offsetting the Cost of Training Through Training Funds Northwest Territory C Financial Incentives to Building Youth Internships Fallen Timbers A
2:10pm
EXPO/Networking
2:30pm
Closing Remarks 3
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
9:40AM
How to Retain Your Most Important Asset During Economic Instability: Human Capital Northwest Territory A Everyday businesses experience moments of financial instability due to unforeseen circumstances, there are programs to support you and your team. Come learn about how and when you may leverage these programs to retain your employees and navigate resources.
Cheryl Brown Program Supervisor, SharedWork Employment Security Department
Connect with Top Talent: Veterans and Transitioning Service Members Northwest Territory B Are you looking for employees? In this session, attendees will learn how to access the diverse transitioning military talent pool. Learn how to develop valuable internship opportunities to support your organizations’ employment needs and create and maintaining internship opportunities both here the state of WA and across the U.S.
Andrew Garate
Peter Lahmann
Senior Director of Military Transition Programs & Strategic Initiatives, Thurston County Chamber/WorkEx
Apprenticeship Program Specialist, Washington Department of Veterans Affairs
Building Staff Engagement and Youth Talent Pipeline Development with Youth Apprenticeship Northwest Territory C • 9:40AM, 10:35AM Why do you want to create an internship, and how do you connect with education? In this session attendees will learn the value of creating a youth apprenticeship, how to create viable space within organizations for them, and what the next steps are in connecting with regional partners to make them happen.
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Jacquelin Earley
Stacie Vaughan
Human Resources Coordinator, Sierra Pacific Industries
CFO, Vaughan Co., Inc.
9:40AM
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Earn to Learn: Growing Your Employees From Within Your Community Fallen Timbers A Growing our future is a very important aspect of the work I do daily. Creating visibility to jobs needed to run a business (community hospital or regional referral center) is essential when partnering with local schools, colleges, and technical programs. Since the pandemic, it has been in our best interest to find ways we can utilize paid, apprentice-like programs that create long term career opportunities in an earn to learn setting.
Marika Bertolini Project Manager for Outreach and Recruitment, Providence Swedish
Unlocking the Potential of Justice-Impacted Talent Fallen Timbers B In today’s evolving workforce, it’s essential to look beyond traditional talent pools and recognize the vast potential that lies in untapped reservoirs. This session delves deep into one such group: the justice-impacted individuals. Despite facing societal stigma and systemic barriers, many of these individuals possess unique skills, experiences, and perspectives that can be invaluable to businesses willing to offer a second chance.
Leon Ross
Dan Cooling
Program Manager for Reentry Services, PacMtn Workforce Development Council
Chief Program Officer, PacMtn Workforce Development Council
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BREAKOUT SESSIONS
10:35AM
The Future of Work is Family-Friendly Northwest Territory A • 10:35AM, 1:25PM Washington businesses lost over $6.5 billion annually in direct and opportunity costs due to employee child care issues. Employers can strengthen their business by supporting the needs of working parents. Family-friendly policies and employer-supported child care are powerful tools to foster employee loyalty, improve retention, attract top talent, and enable employees to be more engaged in their work. Join us for an interactive session to explore the ways businesses of all sizes can directly and indirectly support the child care needs of working parents and guardians as well as attract and retain top talent essential for business success.
Paige Coleman
Ben Robinson
Program Manager, Family-Friendly Workplaces, Washington State Department of Commerce
Business Finance Consultant, FirstRule Group, Inc.
Karen Langehough
Susan Meenk
Senior Consultant, FirstRule Group, Inc.
HR Expert Consultant, FirstRule Group, Inc.
Now You Have An Internship: How Do You Find Talent? Northwest Territory B How can you maximize your internships? Where can you post and recruit? This session will give you tools to leverage your internship programs in the community and how to make the most of resources available to share the opportunities your organization has available with job seekers.
Christina Chesnut Director of Workforce Development, Thurston County Chamber
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10:35AM
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Building Staff Engagement and Youth Talent Pipeline Development with Youth Apprenticeship Northwest Territory C • 9:40AM, 10:35AM Why do you want to create an internship, and how do you connect with education? In this session attendees will learn the value of creating a youth apprenticeship, how to create viable space within organizations for them, and what the next steps are in connecting with regional partners to make them happen. (See page 4 for presenter information.)
Mason County Healthcare Partnership Fallen Timbers A Recognizing the need to create a pipeline of trained job candidates, Mason Health has partnered with the Shelton School District to outline career opportunities for high school graduates and has begun to build a local workforce. Mason Health provides wraparound support, including part time jobs, benefits, on the job mentorship, transportation costs, tuition, books and fees to support their post-secondary coursework. Learn the techniques this partnership has used to create occupational pathways, resulting in readiness for job placement.
Gretchen Maliska
Dr. Nicole Eddins, PharmD
Director of Career Connected Learning, Shelton School District
Senior Director of Performance Excellence, Mason Health
Accessibility: The Key to Unlocking A Resilient Workforce Fallen Timbers B There is a workforce that is untapped, talented, and ready to work; however, there are barriers in our hiring and employment practices that often do not give us access to these individuals. Employers must have a basic understanding of neurodivergence to effectively recruit and retain neurodivergent workers. Harvard Business Review reports teams that incorporate neurodivergent employees are 30% more productive. Learn how your business can gain a competitive edge by increasing diversity in skills, ways of thinking, and approaches to problem-solving.
Katie McMurray
Lauren Howard
Founder and CEO, Sensory Tool House, LLC
Director of Operations, Sensory Tool House, LLC
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KEYNOTE SPEAKER
12:00PM
Donny Jones EVP and Chief Workforce Officer for the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama and Executive Director for West AlabamaWorks
Donny Jones is the Executive Vice President for the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama and the Chief Workforce Development Officer for West AlabamaWorks!. He is responsible for the daily operations of the Chamber, including financial management and information technology, and manages the contractual relationships with vendors and professional service providers. Donny is instrumental in ensuring that the regional workforce system leverages federal and state resources to develop and grow the necessary K-12 and adult training pipelines to support the current and future workforce. He is a former appointed member of the Governor’s Workforce Council and is currently an appointed member of the Alabama Workforce Board where he serves on the executive committee and Policy Committee, an appointed member of the Governor’s Career 8
Technical Education Task Force to enhance CTE curriculum, an appointed officer for the Alabama Committee on Credentialing and Career Pathways and an appointed member of the Committee for Grade-Level Reading. The Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities awarded Donny the Public Service Award for West Alabama in 2019. In 2022, he received his accreditation as a CCE, a distinction that less than 4% of leaders in the chamber profession hold. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, Tuscaloosa Education Foundation, ACCE Foundation Board, as well as other committees and the American Chamber of Commerce Executives Board. He also worships and teaches at Five Points Baptist Church where he serves as a deacon. He is best known as the husband of Carla, a 29-year educator and father to Carson (23) and Carter (17).
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
1:25PM
The Future of Work is Family-Friendly Northwest Territory A • 10:35AM, 1:25PM Washington businesses lost over $6.5 billion annually in direct and opportunity costs due to employee child care issues. Employers can strengthen their business by supporting the needs of working parents. Family-friendly policies and employer-supported child care are powerful tools to foster employee loyalty, improve retention, attract top talent, and enable employees to be more engaged in their work. Join us for an interactive session to explore the ways businesses of all sizes can directly and indirectly support the child care needs of working parents and guardians as well as attract and retain top talent essential for business success. (See page 6 for presenter information.)
Best Practices to Solve the Skills Gap: How to Create A Structured Training Plan
Upskilling Your Workforce and Offsetting the Cost of Training Through Training Funds
Northwest Territory B
Northwest Territory C
How to evaluate your training needs for your Business? How do you develop an internal training program or partner with an existing program? Apprenticeship, pre-apprenticeship, internships and work experiences; what’s the difference? In this session, attendees will review the best practices for creating and expanding a structured training plan that fits your organization.
For 40 years, Washington business owners have turned to the Job Skills Training Program for affordable employee training programs. This program offers a dollar-for-dollar matching grant to help businesses train their experienced and new employees. Since then, more than 75,000 workers and 1,000 employers have benefited from the program. Learn how your company can take advantage of this program to get exactly the training for your employees that they need.
Christina Riley
Danny Marshall
Founder, Christina Riley Consulting
Program Administrator for Workforce Education, State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
Financial Incentives to Building Youth Internships Fallen Timbers A Why youth internships are increasingly profitable for employers in business and industry? How do I partner with partner with educators and community-based organizations to create a youth internship pipeline? Get the answers to these questions and learn the steps that comes next when developing post- internship career pathways.
Dr. Lorie Thompson
Kathryn Santana
Director, Capital STEM Alliance - Capital Region ESD 113
Career Connected Learning Business and Sector Engagement Specialist, Capital STEM Alliance - Capital Region ESD 113 9
Internship Resources Are you looking for interns? Are you a student searching for an internship? Are you a guardian assisting your student with their internship search? You have come to the right place! This page highlights internship resources to help you find and post internships in the community. Each system has a unique audience to steward the right Employer to Intern match.
ONLINE INTERNSHIP PLATFORMS AWB Washington Workforce Portal: washingtonworkforceportal.org Washington Workforce Portal connects employers, students, and educators to work-based learning opportunities. This resource helps organizations match the skills they are looking for in a work-based learning candidate to students that match those skills. Career Connect WA Career Directory: careerconnectwa.org/directory The Career Connect Washington Career Directory is a search engine for Career Exploration, Career Preparation, and Career Launch opportunities near you. These programs allow students to connect with jobs of their choice and learn what it takes to prepare for those jobs. Handshake: Students: joinhandshake.com Employers: joinhandshake.com/employers Handshake is a free, nationwide platform that helps employers find college students to build their early talent network. Post your internships or find an internship here to access talent in and outside of Washington State. WorkSource: worksourcewa.com WorkSource provides an array of employment and training services to job seekers and employers in Washington. You can post or search for employment on WorkSource for free. YouScience: youscience.com YouScience is a career discovery tool aimed at high school students. It evaluates natural talent and connects talent to in-demand sectors. This resource is currently used by multiple high schools in the region for students to connect with businesses.
For more info, contact Christina Chesnut at (360) 357-3362 or cchesnut@thurstonchamber.com.
Notes
Thank You Sponsors PRESENTING SPONSOR
CHAMPION SPONSORS
ADVOCATE SPONSORS
REGIONAL PARTNERS
EXPO PARTICIPANTS AJAC Association of Washington Business Benefit Solutions NW Big Brothers Big Sisters Cap City Law PS Capital STEM Alliance Dispute Resolution Center of Thurston County Express Employment Professionals Get Reel, LLC Grand Canyon University Great Wolf Lodge Ironwood Strategies
Morningside New Market Skills Center North Thurston Public Schools Olympia Orthopaedics Associates Olympia School District PacMtn Workforce Development Council PacificSource Health Plans Providence Swedish Redline Saint Martin’s University SharedWork SHRM Olympia
South Sound Behavioral Hospital The Evergreen State College Thurston County Chamber Timberland Regional Library Tumwater School District WA State Department of Labor & Industries WA State Department of Commerce Willapa Harbor Chamber of Commerce Yelm Community Schools WorkEX WorkSource