Higher Education Vital to Economic Development, Assistant Labor Secretary Says

           Higher education is crucial to economic revitalization in the Arkansas Delta, and teamwork among many constituencies will also be needed, says Emily DeRocco, assistant secretary for the Employment and Training Administration with the U.S. Department of Labor.

           “Improving and investing in education is a critical challenge for Arkansas and the Delta,” said DeRocco, who spoke to a group of Arkansas legislators, state officials, and other national, state, and community leaders at Mid-South Community College on Friday, Oct. 20.

           “Modern, innovative companies require workers with highly-specialized skills, skills that can only be obtained through a quality education. Not that long ago, a high school education virtually guaranteed a job for life, enough to finance a home and even secure a pension. We know that’s no longer the case. In today’s economy, 90 percent of the fastest growing jobs (and more than half of all new jobs) will require a post-secondary education.”

           Where higher education was once considered a luxury, it is now a necessity, she added.

           “A closer look at those numbers reveals that three-quarters of those fastest growing jobs require not just post-secondary education but a college degree. And two thirds of the high-wage, high-growth jobs will require a full bachelor’s degree.”

           DeRocco, who manages an $11 billion budget that funds the country’s public workforce investment system, came to eastern Arkansas to outline the Workforce Innovations in Economic Development (WIRED) initiative. The goal of WIRED is to transform regional economies by enlisting the collective skills of colleges, companies, government, workforce development, and economic development organizations to research and produce long-term strategic plans that prepare workers for high-skill, high-wage opportunities.

           “The entire region and all of its assets must be brought together to effectively implement a new strategy for the Delta,” DeRocco pointed out. “Once the region is defined, it is critical that a core leadership team be established, and that core leadership team must represent ALL of the major assets of the region.”

           Education, economic development, and the workforce investment system must adapt if they are to meet the needs of their customers because old models of tax breaks and new highways no longer work, DeRocco said. Globalization has changed everything.

           “Globalization is not a one-time event; you are in this for your lifetime,” she said. “The single most important factor globally for companies to consider when deciding where to open a business is the availability of an educated and skilled workforce. If the workforce is not able to produce the high-value goods or deliver just-in-time services, then all the tax breaks and highway improvements will be of no use in the future.”

           “The citizens of this region and the state…can’t make this happen if each group stays in their traditional silos. Part of the transformation is breaking down those silos and working across programs to design an integrated system driven by an economic vision with education from K through gray. That is the vision of our Workforce Innovations in Economic Development. WIRED is all about transformation.”

           In February the DOL awarded $195 million to 13 regions to initiate the WIRED program. The Arkansas Delta Education and Training Consortium (ADTEC) earned a $100,000 planning grant by virtue of being ranked in the second set of 13 proposals (a total of 97 were submitted) and has become part of the Virtual WIRED effort.

ADTEC’s original funding request outlined the creation of Arkansas Delta Workforce Innovations in Economic Development (ADWIRED) that would enhance the economy of 17 counties through training, research and development. Areas of education/training emphasis included advanced manufacturing, automotive manufacturing, engineering, biodiesel fuel production and advanced geospatial technologies as they relate to the transportation industry (Global Positioning System, Geographic Information Systems, and Radio Frequency Identification).

A dedicated team from the DOL/Employment and Training Administration will work with ADTEC to assist in the realization of the original goals.

           “You won’t be alone in this process,” DeRocco said. “As part of the WIRED community, you will have access to the full range of tools, resources, and experts that we have to make available to our regional partners.”

           DeRocco said an honest and thorough accounting of the region’s strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and risks (known as assets mapping) must occur to move the effort forward.

           “It is critical to go through the arduous process of mapping your assets in order to determine your economic future. I know the Arkansas Delta has begun this step. You have identified a set of industries including biofuel, advanced logistics and supply chain management, and advanced manufacturing…. At first glance, these industries, in fact, appear to take advantage of your natural resources and strategic advantages.”

           She said few community leaders understand all of the funding options and opportunities that might be available.

           “We often say, ‘they are here, but they’re hidden in plain view.’ It is a rare community official who knows where all of the federal funding streams run and who has the ability to bring them together and leverage their strengths to really support an economic development vision. This is not just your challenge; it is mine as well.”

           “There is a staggering amount of federal money that flows into communities and regions across this country,” she continued. “I’m very proud of the nearly $6 million in one High-Growth Job Training Initiative grant that we brought to the Delta, absent the knowledge of your strategic vision but knowing it was supporting the potential for great job creation and tremendous worker education and preparation.”

           DeRocco said the DOL is working with nine other federal agencies to maximize resources “to support the economic strategy and vision of our WIRED regions. It is an awesome task. There’s no doubt that this is ambitious plan. We have much work to do at the federal level, but I would tell you in asset mapping that you as the leadership team and strategic partners in the Delta have work to do at the community level as well.”

           She said she welcomed the opportunity to meet with local, state, and regional leaders to discuss economic transformation.

           “I think this is an incredibly important gathering, not because I’m here, but because our nation’s competitiveness, your state’s competitiveness, and your community’s competitiveness really depend on a course of action that I believe you have set right here among this strategic partnership. My staff and I have learned extraordinary amounts about the Delta region and the potential and opportunities here.”

           MSCC President Dr. Glen Fenter said he greatly appreciated Assistant Secretary DeRocco’s insight and understanding of the educational and economic development issues facing the region.

           “We are very excited to have the opportunity to meet with Assistant Secretary DeRocco,” he said. “We certainly appreciate the model she has shared with us. It is important that we all understand the tasks before us and how we can make this happen. We have accomplished a great deal in a short period of time, but we still have a long way to go. But if we can make this happen in eastern Arkansas, it will work for a lot of people in a lot of other places.”