MARC News

ReMARC: Regional Workforce Summit Connects Workforce Partners

June 22, 2011

More than 100 representatives from economic development organizations, chambers of commerce, colleges and universities gathered at Liberty Memorial June 21 for the first-ever Regional Workforce Summit. The summit, presented by MARC and KCP&L with funding from Walmart, was the official launch of the Regional Workforce Intelligence Network of Greater Kansas City (RWIN).
A skilled workforce is essential to the attraction of new capital to the Kansas City region and to the continued development and growth of existing commerce. To help develop a skilled workforce, timely labor market information can provide the basis for better informed strategic decisions regarding the allocation of resources for workforce and economic development. RWIN is working to accomplish this through a variety of initiatives.

• The Monthly Workforce Indicators Newsletter, launched in April 2011, is distributed on a monthly basis to provide the most up-to-date labor market information and analysis for the Kansas City area. The indicators include employment and unemployment rates, help wanted information and key labor market information for each of RWIN’s targeted industries.
• A Business Outlook Index will be produced by collecting data from a monthly business confidence survey. Results will be included in upcoming issues of the Monthly Workforce Indicators newsletter. The survey will provide the region with a sense of how confident the business community is in the regional economy and give advanced notice for when businesses may be looking to expand their workforce.
• RWIN’s Sector Partnership Development efforts have focused on four key sectors: transportation logistics, advanced manufacturing, health care and biosciences. Work is now underway to develop new partnerships between educators and employers in supply chain and advanced manufacturing industries.
• The Greater Kansas City Employer Survey Report, released during the summit, is a snapshot of local employers’ anticipated future workforce needs

All of this information and more will be featured on www.kcworkforce.com, which will be launched in July. The website will give RWIN members, its partners and the general public access to timely data in order to analyze the current and forecasted future of the Greater Kansas City workforce.

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