National Visibility, Economic Benefit Result of Workforce Pathways

The Central Corridor Anchor Partnership has a demonstrated track record of fostering workforce pathways from communities into local Anchor institutions. The expanding national visibility of this work is accompanied by a growing interest in and attention to the Partnership’s development of a sustainable workforce pathways model through Scrubs Camps, C3 Fellows, and its new Nursing Initiative.

C3 Fellows has created over $600,000 of economic benefit to the Central Corridor

The Partnership’s ambitious workforce development initiatives have created impressive added value and economic benefit to the Central Corridor. To date, the C3 Fellows program has created over $600,000 of economic benefit. Over 225 Central Corridor students have participated in the C3 Fellows program. These students earn nearly $5 more per hour compared to their peers while gaining valuable networking opportunities working and interning part-time with Corridor employers.

 

 

CCAP’s career pathways workforce model mirrors recommended best practices

According to the 2017 Report to the Legislature from the Governor’s Workforce Development Board, chaired by Fairview partner Laura Beeth, Minnesota is facing a labor shortage across an array of industries due to inadequate training, education, and career experience of job applicants. The report notes that as many members of the current working population retire, Minnesota’s industries are left with more openings and fewer applicants, less qualified applicants, and more applicants of color than ever before. The best practices recommended in this report mirror the Partnership’s strategies of intentional investments in alternative career pathways, partnerships with private sector leaders to connect workforce pipelines, linking education and employment through apprenticeship programs, and building a workforce pathway beginning with high school students and continuing through to full time jobs and careers. Educating and diversifying Minnesota’s workforce is key to the state’s economic success.

In the next five years there will be over 6,500 health care job openings in the Twin Cities  

The Partnership’s development of a Nursing Initiative apprenticeship program is an intentional effort to grow its workforce pathway model. It is also a direct response to the 3,250+ four year BSN nursing jobs that will become available in Minneapolis and Saint Paul over the next five years.  This collaborative program supports racially and ethnically diverse RN nurses from the Central Corridor to earn BSN degrees.

Following presentations by Augsburg President Paul Pribbenow and Fairview System Director of Talent Acquisition Laura Beeth at the fall 2016 Anchor Institution Task Force Conference in New York City, the Partnership was invited to submit an article on its workforce and other initiatives to the conference journal. Fairview’s involvement on the national stage, including recognition by the White House for its commitment to hire youth workers and award of a federal grant to fund nursing apprenticeships, has brought additional exposure to the work of the Partnership.

The message is clear: the Partnership’s workforce development focus rides the cutting edge of career pathways programming in the nation, and will only become more important as our Anchor Partners look to hire more members of Minnesota’s increasingly diverse population.