New Partnership Aims to Prime Iowa’s Workforce Pipeline

DES MOINES, IA – Gov. Kim Reynolds, the presidents of Iowa’s community college, and the Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI) signed a new agreement on February 28 that aims to grow work-based learning opportunities for businesses and students.

With more than 1,500 members in 99 Iowa counties, ABI serves clients and partners statewide, and many of its members partner with Iowa community colleges in workforce training and program development. Work-based learning involves a variety of opportunities for high school students, including job shadowing, apprenticeship, internships and career coaching, that introduce students to careers in high-demand areas.

"ABI and Iowa’s community colleges have many priorities in common; but perhaps none more so than the skilled workforce needed to grow our business partners and Iowa's economy, which in turn lifts the well-being of Iowa families,” said NICC President Liang Chee Wee, Ph.D., at the February 28 signing event of the new agreement. Dr. Wee was among several leaders invited to speak at the ceremony. Dr. Wee serves as chair of Iowa’s community college presidents and co-chair of a Future Ready Iowa Alliance committee.

"This signing today is to formalize our common focus on increasing work-based learning collaborations to prime our workforce pipeline,” added Dr. Wee. “Through affordable, quality, accessible and up-to-date education and training, we meet the needs of our communities. Most importantly, ABI and the 15 community colleges, through this consortium, affirm our strong and unwavering support of Governor Reynolds' Future Ready Iowa strategic initiative."

The Governor's Future Ready Iowa's goal is that 70 percent of all Iowans will have earned a post high school industry recognized certificate or other credential, or two- or four-year college degree that meets employer needs by 2025. More information about Future Ready Iowa is available at www.futurereadyiowa.gov.

Featured

  • Springfield Breaks Ground on $53.7M Pipkin Middle School Rebuild

    Construction is underway on a new, state-of-the-art Pipkin Middle School in Springfield, Mo., a major step in Springfield Public Schools’ (SPS) long-term facility improvement plan, according to local news. The $53.7-million project officially broke ground in early June, following years of planning and community input aimed at modernizing aging infrastructure and addressing student capacity concerns.

  • ProTeam Launches GoFit 6 HEPA Backpack Vacuum

    Technology leader Emerson recently introduced the new ProTeam GoFit 6 HEPA backpack vacuum, according to a news release. The vacuum was designed to capture 99.97% of particulates down to 0.3 microns—including atmospheric hazards like lead dust, mold spores, and other particulates—through an advanced filtration system.

  • California High School Starts Construction on New CTE Building

    Analy High School, part of the West Sonoma County Union High School District (WSCUHSD) in Sebastopol, Calif., recently broke ground on a new Career Technical Education (CTE) Building, according to a news release. The 15,000-square-foot facility will offer specialized facilities for students in engineering, welding, culinary arts, agricultural sciences, and design thinking.

  • modern college building with circuit and brain motifs

    Anthropic Introduces Claude for Education

    Anthropic has launched a version of its Claude AI assistant tailored for higher education institutions. Claude for Education "gives academic institutions secure, reliable AI access for their entire community," the company said, to enable colleges and universities to develop and implement AI-enabled approaches across teaching, learning, and administration.

Digital Edition