Economic conference may address ‘System loop’ and skills shortage

An upcoming statewide video conference may hit upon a formula Glen Fenter says is showing practical and real results for West Memphis and other economically-challenged areas of the Arkansas Delta.

The Arkansas Economic Issues Breakfast Series will hold its third session Aug. 18, which will focus “on matching the needs of business and industry with the skills of the Arkansas workforce.” The program is coordinated by and will be available for viewing at the Institute for Economic Advancement at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the Center for Business and Economic Research in the Walton College, the College of Business at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, the Delta Center for Economic Development at Arkansas State University, the Economic Research and Development Center at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, the University of Arkansas at Monticello and Southern Arkansas University.

The breakfast series begins at 7 a.m. Contact the institution near you for more event details.

Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research in the Walton College and Michael Pakko, chief economist and state economic forecaster for the Institute of Economic Advancement in Little Rock will provide the latest data and trends about the state’s economy. That will be followed by a discussion among the seven sites about workforce readiness.

DELTA WORKFORCE
Fenter, president of Mid-South Community College in West Memphis, has witnessed the school grow from less than 100 students in 1993 to potentially more than 2,200 in the fall 2010 semester. The growth was fueled by community support for a higher millage and by MSCC staff and faculty pushing for more programs they believed would produce a more skilled workforce.

About 10 years into rapid MSCC program and enrollment growth, the conventional wisdom began to shift toward the need for a greater percentage of a population to hold a four-year degree. The information available in 2003 showed that a person with a college degree earned on average 62% more than a person with just a high-school diploma. And state economic development officials began to preach the need for Arkansas to boost its four-year degree population if the state was to reach its goal of diversifying the job base and raise average incomes.

That pressure was especially felt in West Memphis. In 2005, only 12.8% of people in Crittenden County held a four-year degree, well below the Arkansas average of 16.7% and the national average of 27%. In nearby Cross County (Wynne), the rate was 9.9%, and down to 9.6% in St. Francis County (Forrest City).

‘SYSTEM LOOP’
In late 2005, Arkansas Northeastern College, East Arkansas Community College, MSCC, and Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas partnered to form ADTEC. Arkansas State University-Newport joined in July 2006. The 12-county partnership was kickstarted with a $5.935 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor in March 2006. That was followed by a $5.1 million grant from the Department of Labor to create the Arkansas Delta Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (ADWIRED) program underneath the ADTEC umbrella.

By April 2009, ADTEC and associated programs had received more than $36.12 million in federal, state and private grants to push a new workforce model. Programs created include the training of more than 8,000 area workers in advanced manufacturing techniques, more than 200 in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) training and $5.594 million in state funds to create the ADTEC Regional University Center.

“You don’t need to be a university and all that goes with that to provide training from diesels to health care or up and on to a (four-year) degree,” Fenter said.

Fenter and heads of the other ADTEC partners pushed to connect certificate programs and associates’ degrees with a “system loop” that tied the needs of business and industry, the demands of higher education and convenience for students and adults eager to continually upgrade their education level.

It’s the “system loop” that Jim Purcell, director of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, says is important. He said said in the 1980s and 1990s, “access” was the primary policy driver in Arkansas higher education circles. Today, access is important, but the new focus is on creating a “seamless” system that allows students of any age and background to maximize their time and money. The political appointee praised his boss, Gov. Mike Beebe, for making the connection between education and economic development a top priority.

SKILL SHORTAGES
Deck, with the UA Walton College in Fayetteville, said the state must find a way to balance resources and “have a two-front attack” that supports two-year programs and the four-year university system. But she says anecdotal evidence is growing that employers have open positions they can’t fill because available — i.e., unemployed — workers don’t have the necessary skills.

“That’s appalling when we have such high unemployment rates,” Deck said, adding that as “the generations turn over, we are seeing more of a missing set of skills,” from health care to power-line workers. Deck, an employee of a four-year institution, said the two-year programs are best at addressing immediate skill shortages.

“You cannot overstate, I cannot overstate, how important it is for us to have a fully functioning two-year college system. That is the place we can be the most agile in meeting and addressing that (skill shortage),” Deck said.

That being said, Deck quickly reminded that Arkansas remains 49th in the percentage of population with a four-year degree.

“We still have to drive home the message that 4-year programs are important. … But, there is an entire spectrum, and this is what most high school students don’t know, that the spectrum of jobs is so huge that we and they can’t even imagine,” Deck said, bringing the discussion back to addressing the skills shortage. “We have to continue training people to ensure we have a safe and effective infrastructure, that our health care system and its infrastructure runs smooth. Many of the services that those knowledge-based jobs deliver are for naught if the infrastructure doesn’t work.”