For Immediate Release

Date:                March 6, 2009

Contact:            Office of Government, Policy and Public Relations

Phone:              (303) 318-8004

Fax:                  (303) 318-8070

Web:                www.coworkforce.com

COLORADO TO FOCUS ON “SECTOR STRATEGIES” IN REBUILDING THE ECONOMY

(DENVER) -- With no issue more important to Colorado than its economic recovery, policy makers in communities across the state are focusing on a recent approach to workforce development called “sector strategies,” currently being utilized by about 20 states under the leadership of the National Governors Association and the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce.

The basic idea, explains Donald J. Mares, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, is to address the workforce needs of specific industries, often concentrating on specific occupations, and always engaging employers to design customized solutions.  “It calls for employers, educators, economic developers and a variety of other stakeholders to build partnerships that connect the unemployed and the underemployed with careers in growing industries.”

Workforce professionals and representatives from higher education, industry, economic development and community-based organizations came together in February at the first annual Colorado Sectors Academy in Denver.  During the event, they examined how sector-focused economic development could address the issues that are essential in strengthening regional industries and providing quality jobs, particularly for low-income and at-risk job seekers and advancement opportunities for incumbent workers as well.

Among the key messages of the event:

§         Colorado’s diversity of industries has helped shelter the state from the most severe ravages of the recession.  Emerging from the downturn will require that diversity continues to grow and expand.  Pursuing sector initiatives in a coordinated, strategic way can play a significant role in ensuring that happens. 

§         Jobs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics have become increasingly central to U.S. economic competitiveness and growth.  As the need for high tech workers continues to grow, the sector strategies approach will prepare Colorado to meet the demand.

§         In the next two decades, over 1 million workers are expected to retire.  The impact of that “brain drain” can decimate local economies that are not ready for the future.  Sector initiatives can address the problem from a strategic approach, across industries and geographic distance.

§         Colorado is fueling a significant portion of its economic growth by attracting workers from other states, a strategy that seems unlikely to work in the long-run.  Sector initiatives offer a promising model to recruit, retain and support local workers to meet industry needs.

Local Workforce Centers will be key players in tackling these economic challenges.  That’s something of a new way of doing business, Mares says, because public employment offices have historically devoted their efforts to addressing short-term needs.  “But today, Workforce Centers are directly linking their efforts to business results and earning recognition as a partner in economic development,” he says.  “As we move our communities forward, we have to continue to move the Workforce Centers up a notch as well.  They are aligning themselves with other stakeholders in rebuilding Colorado’s economy.”

He adds that even in the midst of a major economic downturn, the time is right to begin planning for Colorado’s economic future.  “While it is not easy to predict just how long a full recovery will take, the best response to the immediate and future economic challenges we face is to create a workforce system that spreads opportunity.  Positioning ourselves for the future cannot wait.”

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For more information about Colorado’s Sector Initiatives, go to http://www.e-colorado.org/ and click on “Sector Resources.”