So many misunderstandings about manufacturing get tossed around that sometimes Cathy Swindell feels like she’s swimming against the tide. As director of industry services for Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) in North Carolina, she works with local industry day in and day out to help them meet the challenges they face — whether it’s staffing […]

As the 50+ demographic grows among college student populations, campus administrators continue to engage these students in retooling and upgrading their skills in order to reenter or remain viable in the work place. The BACK TO WORK 50+ (BTW50+) initiative and its recent spin-off, BTW50+ Women’s Economic Stability Initiative (WESI), have proven effective in engaging […]

NURSE 1-2-1, a new collaborative program developed by the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UWGB) and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC), is launching this fall with an initial class of 24 students. The program brings together nursing educators and teaching healthcare technologies to create a single, cost-effective nursing program to meet growing healthcare demands — both […]

Nearly 1.5 million retail workers in the United States have limited English proficiency. The National Immigration Forum, through its New American Workforce program, is offering a new project that is helping employees in the retail industry sharpen their English language skills and access better career pathways. The project is called Skills and Opportunity for the […]

Jason Keeton had felt the boom and bust of the natural resources sector during his 10 years as a crane operator at AK Steel. But this bust was permanent. “I just felt it in my gut,” said Keeton, 37, of Staffordsville.  AK Steel, an Ashland, Ky.-based steel manufacturing facility, idled its operations in December 2015 […]

California is the nation’s primary driver of job creation in the field of global trade and logistics (GTL). Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s two largest ports, are gateways to the Pacific Rim economies. And with easy access to freight services via the Alameda Corridor, Southern California is a key logistics hub for more […]

Many community college leaders are seeing the positive impact providing a global education can have in their community. Much of it boils down to economics: student employability, the ability to live and work successfully in diverse environments, and the prosperity of local communities. In response, some community colleges have created innovative and promising practices for […]

Karen Wosczyna-Birch is still feeling the “Wow!” effect of the first Greater Hartford Mini Maker Faire in Connecticut. “The excitement that you feel at these maker faires is contagious,” Wosczyna-Birch said. “It really captures the attention of little kids up to senior citizens.” The Regional Center for Next Generation Manufacturing (RCNGM) that she leads organized […]

In Howard County, Maryland, 18.2 percent of residents are foreign born and 22.5 percent speak a language other than English at home. This has created a demand for interpreters. Nationally, job growth for interpreters and translators is growing faster than average, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. About 17,500 new jobs will be […]

There are more than half a million unfilled jobs in information technology across all sectors of the economy. In March 2015, President Obama announced the TechHire initiative to expand local tech sectors by building tech talent pipelines in communities across the country. This past June, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded 39 grants totaling $150 […]