Regional Skills Alignment

Are all of the partners aligned in your region? Do industry, education, training and workforce development resources work together to provide the best possible outcomes?

Regional Skills Alignment Overview

Industry and manufacturing leaders have long maintained the curriculum offered through educational institutions and other training providers needs to better fit the needs of industry. EDSI provides the roadmap for success!

Let us help you take your region to the next level and achieve your workforce development goals. We'll bring key stakeholders to the table to determine gaps between the skills and competencies needed by industry and manufacturing and those covered in existing education and training programs. You will benefit from EDSI's experience and passion for regional skills alignment as we work through a process which includes job task analysis, skills gap analysis, gaining an understanding of employers' most critical skill needs, evaluating current training program offerings, and proposing enhanced curricula, policies and programs to improve outcomes.

You will also benefit from EDSI's utilization of Skilldex, a web application developed to collect, analyze and act on individual and regional skills data like never before.

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Benefits and Outcomes, Just to Name a Few.....

Developing regional skills balance sheets
Determining and documenting common job tasks, responsibilities and associated skills needed for critical regional positions
Connecting employers' skill needs with effective curriculum in the secondary and post-secondary higher education institutions and with private training providers
Identifying and responding to geographic challenges of gaining access to education and training
Developing curriculum concepts and best practices for training
Facilitating job placement based on identified skills, responsibilities and tasks
Developing regional training strategies and customized curriculum
Validating and tracking training effectiveness

Project Spotlight: Oh-Penn Pathways to Competitiveness

The Oh-Penn Interstate Region, with West Central Job Partnership (WCJP) acting as the fiscal agent, was awarded a U.S. Department of Labor and Industry Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF) Grant to support the Pathways to Competitiveness project. Project goals targeting the manufacturing industry in the five-county region of Lawrence and Mercer Counties in Pennsylvania and Columbiana, Mahoning, and Trumbull Counties in Ohio, included the regional development and promotion of manufacturing career pathways and the enhancement of local workforce development efforts.

EDSI was contracted to determine the gaps between the skills and competencies needed by manufacturers and those covered in existing education and training programs. The project aligned employer skill and training needs with training provider curriculum and training programs.

During this project, EDSI surveyed regional manufacturers, training providers and workforce development intermediaries to learn about the manufacturing occupations that are the most difficult to fill, better understand the challenges employers face when trying to fill open job positions with new hires, and determine the correct course of action necessary to overcome obstacles that stand in the way of regional economic and workforce development. EDSI made use of relevant data collected to conduct a Gap Analysis. A final report was delivered, including EDSI's recommendations to improve and align programs to fill career pathway gaps.

Media Coverage

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