Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona (ECoNA) — The Power of Workforce Visualization

Good afternoon,

How can a community better plan for its workforce needs?

Given the increasing complexity of our economy and the difficulty of obtaining reliable data, it can be challenging for policymakers, businesses, and educators to plan for future growth.

That challenge is being addressed by the Arizona Education and Workforce Visualization Project, part of the Arizona State University / Helios Decision Center for Educational Excellence.

The director of the Decision Center, Dr. Joe O’Reilly, will be presenting on the tools from the visualization project at an upcoming meeting of ECoNA’s Advisory Council.

By 2030, it is estimated that the state will need in excess of a half million more trained workers, especially in high-skill, high-growth, high-wage job areas.

Using the tools provided by the visualization project, local policy leaders can identify growth opportunities. It also helps community colleges and universities, by identifying what skills will be in greatest demand in their region, and helps growing businesses determine if a community or region has a sufficient supply of workers with the skills they need to expand.

Individual workers can also benefit from this visualization tool. For example, workers holding lower-paying jobs or those at risk by automation can learn of pathways that build on their existing skills and lead to higher-quality jobs.

If you are not a member of the Advisory Council but would like to sit in on this session and learn more about the work the Arizona Education and Workforce Visualization project is doing, please email me. The meeting will be at 2 pm on October 17.

Sincerely,

Gail Jackson

President & CEO

Economic Collaborative of Northern Arizona