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Talent Pipeline Experts Share Strategy at Annual Meeting

Left to right: NC Chamber President & CEO Gary Salamido, VP of Workforce Development at CCCC Margaret Roberton, GBA Strategic Initiatives Director Vincent Ginski

Celebrating the launch of the NC Chamber Foundation Institute for Workforce Competitiveness, two graduates of the Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) Academy participated in an Annual Meeting panel to share best practices for building skilled talent pipelines. “Success-sharing” is a key goal of the new workforce institute, and the NC Chamber was excited to showcase the good work of two TPM Academy graduates: Gaston Business Association (GBA) Strategic Initiatives Director Vincent Ginski and Vice President of Workforce Development at Central Carolina Community College Margaret Roberton.

TPM Experts are Translators: Connecting Employers and Educators

To propel partnerships between employers, community colleges, and workforce groups, the NC Chamber Foundation and U.S. Chamber Foundation offer the TPM Academy. Participants of the academy are employers, education providers, local chambers, business associations, and economic development groups. They utilize the TPM model, a method that places an employer’s talent needs front and center to launch “collaboratives” between business, education, and community groups. This demand and data-driven approach is designed to close skill gaps using supply chain principles.

Collaboratives Amplify Business Voice to Name Pain Points and Priorities

Vincent and Margaret discussed how they’ve implemented TPM strategies and created collaboratives in their communities to address workforce shortages. Vincent successfully united 24 manufacturers in the Gaston region to submit critical data on their labor needs and skill gaps as part of a manufacturing collaborative. Collaboratives, as opposed to advisory groups, position the employer as the decision-maker who identifies their most pressing talent challenges. A collaborative amplifies the voice of many to name the need, creating a shared value and accountability model for the group. Employer-sourced data is also helpful for vital “wrap-around” services that strengthen talent pipelines and workforce priorities such as childcare, transportation, and housing.

Incorporating her learnings from TPM training, Margaret convened local employers and economic and workforce development organizations in her region to form a manufacturing collaborative, the Central Carolina Manufacturing Institute, through Central Carolina Community College. The institute’s work began with hosting a range of manufacturing employers across Chatham, Harnett, and Lee counties for an exploratory meeting, where they offered insight about pain points for their talent pipelines. Margaret’s team also invited representatives from the NC Manufacturing Institute to share success stories for an initiative responding to a similar need. These initial meetings created a solid cohort of manufacturers focused on collaboration to close skill gaps and raise awareness for manufacturing careers.

Industry Collaboratives Help Educators Push Resources to Meet Demand

From a provider perspective, understanding talent demands across a broad workforce sector greatly assists in making strategic decisions. Educators can push limited resources where the greatest demand has been identified. Collaboratives drive targeted responses to talent supply shortages and reflect the dynamics impacting workforce ecosystems.

The Institute for Workforce Competitiveness will train and champion more TPM experts like Vincent and Margaret to develop and deliver local/regional talent pipelines in specific industries and occupations statewide. The Institute will continue to engage employers, educators, and workforce experts in every community to spotlight solutions and determine how these proven programs can be replicated across North Carolina.