By Nick Reynolds
Casper Star-Tribune
Via Wyoming News Exchange
CASPER — Wyoming’s business community and its public education system may soon become closer intertwined thanks to a recent executive order signed by Governor Matt Mead.
The latest executive order will create a new advisory council within the state government focused on finding ways to increase the education level of Wyoming’s workforce between the ages of 25 and 64 years of age. Called the Executive Educational Attainment Council, the group’s creation arrived with the release of 50 recommendations outlined in a new report by the Economically Needed Diversification Options for Wyoming council (ENDOW) to increase the education of the state’s workforce and attract new industry to the state.
According to the resolution’s text, the council will be responsible for coordinating the curricula of both primary and secondary education providers to align with emerging trends in the private sector, with the intent of creating a workforce that is properly trained and to meet the demands of emerging industries. This new council – working alongside representatives from Wyoming’s business community and the legislature – will work to develop plans within a five- and 10-year window to establish a skilled and educated workforce that they hope will help attract the industries needed to help diversify Wyoming’s energy-centric economy.
While conversations between the private sector and public education administrators have been taking place for a number of years, according to Wyoming Department of Education Superintendent Jillian Balow, Thursday’s order ensures that meetings between all key stakeholders in workforce development will be meeting more regularly. This, she added, signifies a real commitment by the state to innovating its workforce and in the process, ensuring accelerated progress in meeting its goals.
The old way of doing things – career fairs where businesses hope recent graduates come in the door with the skills they need – are over. With the Executive Educational Attainment Council now in place, Balow anticipates increased cooperation between industries and the workers they hope to employ. Ideally, those conversations will lead to sets of mutually agreed-upon standards to create the qualified workforce of tomorrow.
“We’re in a much more dynamic economy that requires a much more dynamic workforce,” she said.
In-line with the goals of ENDOW, the newly-formed council will strive for a more educated workforce in which half of the working population achieves some degree of post-secondary education. By teaming with the business community, greater economic trends will be a greater part of the conversation in writing curriculum and informing where the state should invest its funding.
Balow said she does not believe discussions around the dollars and cents of the council’s recommendations will come forward during the upcoming budget season, emphasizing that the real significance of this new council is the state’s commitment to proactive conversations around workforce development.
“It’s a conversation that’s happening nationwide, but I feel we can be at the forefront,” she said. “We’re being proactive, we’re looking forward.”