Springdale Chamber highlights workforce training plan  

The Springdale Chamber of Commerce highlights a menu of 10 suggested actions to create a seamless workforce training system that upgrades workplace skills faster and more efficiently. The plan, a product of research performed by Economic Leadership LLC, is a result of a year-long assessment effort that’s a key component of the Chamber’s $2.6 million Ignite Springdale! community and economic development program.
 
Ted Abernathy, president and CEO of Economic Leadership LLC and workforce expert, conducted the research and authored the report titled, “Building a Better Workforce through Community Collaboration and Strategic Actions.” The assessment and report was funded by a $25,000 grant from AT&T.
  
The report’s recommendations rely upon the unique resources enjoyed by Springdale including a large workforce, the city’s robust track record in job creation, and a deep bench of workforce training providers including the state’s second largest school district, the University of Arkansas, Northwest Arkansas Community College, Northwest Technical Institute and SynergyTech. While advancing the workplace skills of all residents is the goal of the report, many of its recommendations focus upon improving the delivery of skills training to Springdale Public School students.
 
“This research confirms Springdale’s dire need for improved workplace skills,” said Perry Webb, Chamber president and CEO. “The concrete steps recommended in this report give our community the opportunity to make significant progress in this area. We have companies ready to expand but can’t because they have trouble finding adequately trained employees. We have a growing workforce whose quality of life can be dramatically improved with a collaborative community effort to improve our skills training. Our leadership in this area and the success we achieve will serve as a template for cities across our state that also struggle with these same workforce issues.”
 
The report recommends 10 actions in which the Chamber is well suited to provide leadership in insuring community implementation. Those recommendations include efforts to improve communications and collaboration between training partners, business and elected leaders, the dissemination of job and skills information to the public through websites, videos and podcasts, an annual skills and needs assessment, expanded work experience for Springdale’s emerging workforce, modernization of vocational options, guidance counselor education and mentoring, legislative solutions where needed and a pathway for those with minor criminal records to earn a spot in the workforce.
 
“Although Springdale’s robust economy is creating significant employment opportunities and the local and regional workforce continues to grow, a mismatch between the supply of labor and the skills demands of business has emerged,” Abernathy notes in the report. He said local employers make “clear that their ability to grow and remain competitive is significantly impacted by their ability to attract and retain workers with the appropriate skills.”
 
“We are not alone,” said Webb. “Cities across this country are struggling with workforce training issues. But our strengths give us an advantage very few cities possess … We have local, engaged educational partners who are eager to collaborate with business to re-define how we prepare our workforce for tomorrow’s workplace needs. We have the tools to make a difference.”
 
“The report, whose implementation will fall under the guidelines of the Chamber’s Ignite Springdale! program gives our community a blueprint for success,” Webb said.