Last week, more than 80 people from around the region representing business, labor, government, education, and workforce development came together to provide input at the Talent and Innovation forum held at SEMCOG’s Downtown Detroit office.
This event was one of three forums, convened by SEMCOG and the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition, to gather ideas for Southeast Michigan’s Economic Development Strategy update. Hundreds of ideas were offered to help grow and leverage talent and innovation to further the region’s economic growth. Among the many interesting ideas suggested:
- Make filling the “skills gap” a priority to help regional competitiveness and further economic growth.
- Develop sustained investment in education and training by all stakeholders.
- Expose students and others to an array of career “possibilities,” build awareness of skills required to perform these jobs, and provide sustained education and training to develop skills needed to fill these jobs.
- Give students hands-on learning opportunities and a solid foundation in math and science.
- Encourage a culture of calculated risk-taking to spur innovation and entrepreneurship.
- Promote business education partnerships, including more corporations “adopting” schools to help develop a future workforce, as well as prepare students for careers in high-growth industries.
- Prepare individuals for workplace success by focusing on developing life/soft skills throughout the education process.
- Develop a meaningful, relevant, and practical education system that exposes students to a broad range of training, careers, and resources for higher education, high-demand occupations, entrepreneurial opportunities, and apprenticeships.
Other opportunities to provide input
To find out about future opportunities to provide input, check out SEMCOG’s Economic Development page and upcoming editions of Regional Update. Stakeholders can also provide input by taking the Pulse of the Region survey on SEMCOG’s website.
Find more information on SEMCOG and MAC’s existing Talent efforts here.
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