Creating Sustainable Places: Workforce Development
The Creating Sustainable Places initiative includes efforts to expand the region's workforce intelligence system , incorporating job access into a regional system that links workforce training to growing economic sectors. MARC, the CSP partners and others — including public workforce investment boards, community colleges, unions, the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and others — are working together to design a more integrated workforce development system that will:
- Focus skills training on the emerging needs of area employers, particularly on those in priority clusters such as advanced manufacturing and information technology.
- Expand Access to Jobs. The Creating Sustainable Places initiative will help residents, particularly those who are currently underemployed, gain access to expanding job opportunities across the region.
- Encourage employers to consider location and facility‐design options that foster broader transportation choices, sustainable development practices, and increased access to jobs.
These efforts will build on workforce development initiatives already underway in the region. MARC received a $500,000 Walmart Foundation grant to help develop a Regional Workforce Intelligence Network (RWIN) and build sector-based partnerships.
RWIN helps local agencies by providing information on existing and future jobs in the Kansas City region; and identifying job skill requirements, skill gaps, training needs and opportunities for economic growth. This work is an extension of MARC’s role in economic and demographic research.
The sector-based partnerships promote a greater understanding of existing partnerships and workforce needs in the Kansas City region. Key sectors include biosciences, health care, energy and allied manufacturing.
For more information about MARC's workforce development initiatives, contact Victoria Ogier, 816-701-8308
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