​Promoting Business-Education Connections in Northeast Wisconsin
In 2013, Governor Scott Walker named “development of the workforce” as one of his top priorities. To achieve this goal, the Wisconsin state government advocated for “improving the alignment between the skills needed by private sector employers and the education and job training systems that provide the pipeline of workers." 
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​However, Wisconsin is finding that pipeline running dry. According to the Manufacturing Vitality Index created by the Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance, only 29% of the manufacturing sector expressed difficulty finding talent in 2011. Just seven years later, 88% of respondents are experiencing difficulty finding talent. The 2016 Wisconsin Hospital Association Workforce Report states that “the tsunami wave of retirements has begun to reach the shores of Wisconsin hospitals,” and many health care providers are experiencing significant difficulty in hiring health care workers, especially nurses in specialty areas such as intensive care, obstetrics and surgery. The list of high-need employment sectors goes on and on.
At the same time, our students are finding themselves underprepared for the world after high school. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, only 29% of Wisconsin students are attaining two-year or four-year degrees within that time period. Many of today’s employers are finding our students deficient in the “soft skills”--non-technical skills such as communication skills and attendance--that are so vital to job retention. The US Department of Labor has noted that 65% of today’s grade school students will end up in jobs that have not yet been invented, but many of our students are still hearing the message that immediate four-year college enrollment is the best post-secondary pathway.
While progress has been made in the area of classroom-to-workplace connections (most recently with the adoption of PI26 requiring all Wisconsin districts to embed academic and career planning curricula in grades 6-12), it remains that the Northeast Wisconsin region is in need of a network of industry and education leaders along with powerful web-based tools that allow employers to connect with and cultivate their future talent pipeline in a safe and efficient way.  The goal of CESA 8's Center on Education for Economic Development is to promote business-education connections by:
  • ​Showcasing and supporting the work already being done in the CESA 8 area by our education and business partners
  • Coordinating Academic and Career Planning support from the Wisconsin DPI to CESA 8's 27 member school districts
  • Providing web-based ACP tools showcasing Northeast Wisconsin businesses through the Inspire Northeast Wisconsin website
  • Creating direct classroom-to-workplace connections through the Career Academy Teacher Externship (CATE) Program each summer