One Voice | Government Advocacy for the Metalworking Industry

Talent attraction, development and retention is today's economic imperative.

It is the bridge that connects the innovation "push" coming from our research labs and private and public universities across the commonwealth with the technology "pull' coming from our technology centric companies and advanced manufacturing enterprises.

It is the differentiator that sets the commonwealth of Massachusetts apart from other states looking to compete in a global economy that continues to evolve and change at geometric proportions.

In Hampden County, committed private-sector companies representing all critical business and industry sectors, secondary and post-secondary educational institutions, workforce and economic development entities and a dedicated alliance of community based organizations are "partnering for solutions" that facilitate the design and implement of workforce development interventions that respond to this economic imperative.

The Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, the county's workforce development board, serves as the intermediary to convene the regional partners and facilitate dialogue and deliberation that is focused on results and measurable outcomes. The partnership is industry led, and decision making is driven by analyzing current workforce and economic data and reviewing labor market trends that influence the development of collaborative interventions.

The Healthcare Workforce Partnership of Western Massachusetts and the Regional Advanced Manufacturing Alliance conducted in partnership with the Western Massachusetts chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association are two of the regional partnerships that are driving the implementation of workforce strategies and programming to ensure that these two critical industry sectors will have the talent they need to remain competitive.

The one-stop career centers in Holyoke and Springfield are implementing new strategies to respond directly to the business needs of our employers while ensuring that our region's job seekers have greater access to a continuum of career pathway programs augmented by an array of services and supports to ensure employment retention.

Read more here.