Educating Our Workforce is a Must by 2020

Sticking with the theme of goals from the Elizabethton’s Vision project, another goal was to have an educated and skilled workforce. In my new role as economic development director for the city, I could not agree more!

Having a well educated and skilled workforce make Elizabethton and Carter County much more attractive to a potential industry or businesses interested in locating here. Part of my job, especially when I’m working on activities for the Carter County Joint Economic and Community Development Board (Carter County Tomorrow), is somewhat similar to selling a used car. My job is to sell Elizabethton and Carter County to potential industries and businesses. If you’re trying to sell your car, you will tell a potential buyer about every little thing you’ve improved in the car. It may be a few new belts, a freshly installed fuel injector, or even simply a new air filter, but you’ll be sure to mention it!

Having an educated and skilled workforce allows me to tell prospective industries that we have the workforce they’re looking for. That we have the talent here locally that can help their business succeed and, in turn, help them succeed. An educated and skilled workforce can be almost as important as having a suitable site for a business to build on.

Looking to a future workforce, a Georgetown University study projects that by the year 2020, 3 out of every 5 jobs will require some type of post-high school education. This could be in the form of a Vocational Certificate from an institution like Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology or an Associate's Degree from a college like Northeast State Community College. To make it better 1½ of those 3 jobs (or 1½ out of every 5 jobs) will require a Bachelor’s Degree or higher from a college like Milligan College or East Tennessee State University.

The Carter County workforce has a little work to do. Currently, 2 of every 5 people have some type of post-high school education while 3 of every 5 people have a high school diploma or less. Another concern is that the highest paying and fastest growing jobs require an Associate’s Degree or higher.

The State of Tennessee has realized this and has last year implemented the Tennessee Promise program to encourage students to seek higher education levels with limited financial investment. The state has also implemented a program called Tennessee Reconnect which is targeted to get adults who have some college education back into the classroom to finish their degrees and to help adults gain new skills from our local TCAT facility. For more information on Tennessee Reconnect, visit www.TennesseeReconnect.gov or visit TCAT here in Elizabethton. What else can we be doing to prepare our workforce to meet future demands? Let’s talk about it!