Maury Alliance Begins Workforce Alignment Study
The Maury County Chamber & Economic Alliance (Maury Alliance) is conducting a workforce alignment study to explore labor market competitiveness and to identify opportunities to align resources and maximize the region’s workforce assets. The information gathered through the study will provide a deeper understanding of the workforce challenges faced by regional employers and identify opportunities to meet their future talent needs. Boyette Strategic Advisors (Boyette) has been engaged to conduct the study.
The study, known as Align Maury, will include data mining and analysis to identify the quantifiable workforce resources in the region, along with significant stakeholder engagement to validate data findings and explore other issues related to workforce availability and quality. Stakeholders for the project will include employers, education/training partners, and both high school and post-secondary students in the region. The Boyette team will conduct interviews and discussion forums with some stakeholders and will develop a series of online surveys for an even broader reach into these key groups.
“Workforce is a critical driver in virtually all site location decisions and has been identified as a key initiative of the Alliance’s Advance Maury five-year strategic plan,” said Wil Evans, President of the Maury Alliance. “This analysis and alignment project will give our team the tools and data necessary to demonstrate Maury County’s ability to meet the workforce demands of both our current and our future employers.”
In addition to the data analytics and stakeholder engagement findings, Boyette will also develop a Comprehensive Training Matrix that will identify all regional training resources, how they align with occupational demand, and determine opportunities to maximize the training resources to best meet employer needs. The Matrix will be completed using an Asset Mapping process, as well as Boyette’s Workforce Training Inventory tool to collect data on topics such as enrollment, program capacity, and completers from educational institutions and programs.
“The data analytics and stakeholder input will inform a series of innovative recommendations to enhance the Maury County regional workforce,” said Del Boyette, President and CEO, of Boyette Strategic Advisors. “Additionally, we will work closely with the Alliance team to establish a workforce task force that will pursue implementation of the recommendations.”
Those recommendations will address a variety of topics critical to supplying a competitive workforce. These topics will include addressing any skills gaps, defining career pathways, determining skills transferability opportunities, and training for high-demand occupations. In addition, the report will include marketing and communications strategies for promoting the Maury County regional workforce.
“Our team is eager to begin this process that will explore workforce availability; skills attainment and qualifications; commuting patterns; and occupational demand,” Evans said. “The resulting insight and recommendations will sharpen our competitiveness by enhancing our workforce programs and resources.”
The project will be launched in mid-July at a kick-off meeting and preliminary stakeholder discussions, with the report being completed in approximately four months. The Boyette team will then work with the Alliance to jump start the implementation process. A website is being created to provide additional information about the project and easy access to stakeholder surveys. The site is expected to go live on July 15 and can be found at www.AlignMaury.org.