ACTION PLAN
HUMAN CAPITAL
To develop a skilled labor force capable of creating a knowledge-based and innovation-based economy, and that encourages businesses to start, locate, and expand in the region
Retain and stabilize the regional population to provide a sufficient population base to ensure the continuing viability of regional institutions and communities, and to provide sufficient labor force to ensure that the region’s economy can grow and develop. By and large, this is a function of economic opportunity, infrastructure (broadband, utility, and transportation improvements), business climate, cost of living, and quality of life.
| Responsibility | County planning departments and economic development organizations, educational institutions at all levels, training providers, WIB’s, Southern Tier West RPDB |
| Timetable: | Ongoing |
| Funding: | Various local, state, and federal funds; foundation funds |
Examples of potential initiatives/projects:
- Regional marketing activities
- Recruitment of college graduates by local firms
- Career pipeline programs, including internships, mentoring, etc.
- Entrepreneurial development programs
- Displaced worker retraining and job placement programs
- Infrastructure improvement initiatives
- Home ownership programs
Improve regional population demographics, i.e., attract a skilled, younger demographic population, to stabilize and grow the region’s population and labor force, and to reduce the impact of the region’s dependent population demographic.
| Responsibility | County planning departments and economic development organizations, educational institutions at all levels, training providers, WIB’s, Southern Tier West RPDB |
| Timetable: | Ongoing |
| Funding: | Various local, state, and federal funds; foundation funds |
Examples of potential initiatives/projects:
- Regional marketing activities
- Recruitment of college graduates by local firms
- Career pipeline programs, including internships, mentoring, etc.
- Entrepreneurial development programs
- Research and survey what young people want in their ideal community (e.g., cultural attractions, etc.), and work to develop communities consistent with these findings to make them more attractive to a younger demographic
- Develop more scholarship programs
Improve regional educational attainment through enhancing our region’s educational system and services; increasing the percentage of the population acquiring advanced educational degrees at the associate, bachelors, masters and doctoral levels; encouraging the region‘s best and brightest to stay in the region to pursue their careers and lives; encouraging enhanced STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education, leadership, technology-based education, and entrepreneurial education at the primary, secondary, post-secondary, and adult education levels; and encouraging enhanced career development planning early on during education to help guide the younger demographic into careers with futures.
| Responsibility | Educational institutions at all levels, training providers, WIB’s, county planning departments and economic development organizations, Southern Tier West RPDB |
| Timetable: | Ongoing |
| Funding: | Various local, state, and federal funds; foundation funds |
Examples of potential initiatives/projects:
• Encouragement of advanced educational attainment
• Encouragement of vocational education
• Improvements in educational offerings, especially in STEAM, entrepreneurship, and technology
• Leadership training
• Implementation of educational programs that encourage creativity and problem solving
• Promotion of cooperation between local educational institutions
• Investment in colleges and universities in the region, especially public sector institutions
Increase the quantity and quality of human capital through education, workforce training, job training, internships, and other mechanisms, to develop a highly skilled, tech-savvy regional labor force that meets current and future employer needs.
| Responsibility | Educational institutions at all levels, training providers, WIB’s, county planning departments and economic development organizations, business community, Southern Tier West RPDB |
| Timetable: | Ongoing |
| Funding: | Various local, state, and federal funds; foundation funds |
Examples of potential initiatives/projects:
- Encouragement of workforce productivity enhancement programs, including:
- Increased implementation of general and specialized labor force and workforce development and training programs, including skills upgrading, basic training, and literacy programs
- Reduction of workplace substance abuse
- Increased availability of affordable child, elder, and dependent day care
- Increased availability of health insurance and wellness programs to improve workforce health and productivity
- Career talent pipeline initiatives, apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, internships, “soft skills” education, and other job preparation programs, including, for example, career talent pipeline initiatives in strategic industry sectors such as Dream It Do It for the manufacturing industry and iSciWNY for the health care industry
- Encouragement of vocational and non-vocational education and training related to current and future employer-specific and cluster-specific needs, including utilization of the New York State Next Generation Job Linkage Program, encouragement of transferable skills training , and encouragement of training with respect to employment-related use of technology
- Engage business and industry representatives within individual school districts to work with teachers at schools and BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services) in their districts to add rigor and practicality to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) programs
- Establish a sourcing portal for assessment, career planning, job listings, and training opportunities to augment capacities of existing one-stop centers
Focus on building and capitalizing on regionally significant occupational clusters as a development asset.
| Responsibility | Educational institutions at all levels, training providers, WIB’s, county planning departments and economic development organizations, business community, Southern Tier West RPDB |
| Timetable: | Ongoing |
| Funding: | Various local, state, and federal funds; foundation funds |
Examples of potential initiatives/projects:
- Build occupational clusters by encouraging education and transferable skills training related to current
and future employer-specific and cluster-specific needs - General and specialized labor force and workforce training projects
- Build occupational clusters by development of networks between companies and workers in clusters
- Incentivizing occupational cluster development through enhancing benefits of employment in clusters, e.g., insurance, retirement, investment opportunities, purchasing clubs, etc.