State leaders highlight partnership between key business, education groups to address Kentucky’s workforce needs – The Bottom Line

Leaders of key state agencies and organizations underscored the critical importance of collaboration between business and education sectors to develop a sustainable and effective workforce system that is responsive to the needs of Kentucky businesses and citizens during a meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Economic Development and Workforce Investment Thursday.

The Statewide Workforce and Talent Team (SWATT), which includes the Kentucky Economic Development Cabinet, Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet, Kentucky Department of Education, Kentucky Chamber, Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), and Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), shared the group’s unified efforts to develop a streamlined workforce development system that delivers actionable solutions for the Commonwealth.

The group has four key goals:

• Business-centric: Adopt an industry-focused, data-driven approach to address workforce challenges.
• Coordination: Improve communication and confidence among workforce entities.
• Workforce Strategies: Deliver impactful solutions to companies tailored to industry demands.
• Employer Relationships: Foster and maintain strong ties to address workforce needs.

“The common goal we all have is for employers to get the resources they need and help Kentuckians find employment. It all starts with the employers. They’re the job creators,” said Education and Labor Cabinet Secretary Jamie Link.

Since the group’s inception, Link said the main question has been how to increase Kentucky’s workforce participation rate.

Kentucky Chamber President and CEO Ashli Watts said the Chamber has placed a major focus on solving employers’ workforce needs through policy and programs. Watts said that if this problem persists, the Commonwealth’s economic momentum will slow.

“We found that 75% of businesses in Kentucky are struggling to find the talent they need for their open jobs,” Watts said. “We’re hoping these seeds we’re planting with SWATT, where our key partners are meeting monthly and communicating about businesses we’re working with, and triaging the workforce needs of employers in Kentucky, will sustain through any administration.”

Kentucky Economic Development Secretary Jeff Noel emphasized that the Commonwealth is at a crossroads, and the best way to navigate the path forward is by implementing systemic change through key partnerships.

“We have attracted a lot of jobs here. But jobs are changing, and the world is changing. To truly make an impact with over 150,000 employers, it is all about systems and processes. In order to create systemic change, those processes have to be in place, and these partnerships are critical to do that,” Noel said. 

Each leader shared that every business has different and diverse needs, and each member of SWATT is represented to provide different but streamlined solutions to respond to those needs.

“This SWATT framework helps reduce redundancy and duplication across the state, and it improves the intake of companies who are choosing the Commonwealth either to locate, to expand, or mostly importantly to stay here,” said KCTCS President Dr. Ryan Quarles.

Through collaboration and communication, Link said SWATT is working to ensure employers know what the services that are available to them and why it is critical to have one point of contact to best serve businesses. The group also emphasized they want to be a resource for the General Assembly as they create policies and determine how resources are allocated.

Addressing the development of Kentucky’s current and future workforce, CPE President Dr. Aaron Thompson shared how higher education plays a significant role in SWATT.

“You cannot build and sustain an economy without a highly educated workforce. As we recruit businesses, we need to make sure we’re giving them what they need now, but what they will need in the future,” said Thompson.