Workforce Training Keeps Region Thriving
Published Aug 14, 2009
As the Coastal Bend economy continues to expand in size and scope, workforce training and development play a more crucial role than ever before.
“It’s a perpetual need,” says Mary Ann Rojas, president and chief executive officer of Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend. “We want the educational and skill levels of the workforce to grow at the same pace as our industries, and we have measurable results, ways that we can see the return on our investment in terms of training dollars.”
The area’s community colleges, universities and training entities all team up to provide programs for new employees, as well as reeducation and other specialized programs for existing companies. It’s an ongoing, cooperative effort that’s the envy of many other parts of the country, Rojas says.
“We partnered with Texas A&M to help fund a faculty position that expanded their capacity and allowed for 60 additional nurses to be trained there,” she says. “Those are jobs that will stay in the Coastal Bend. We take that kind of high-level approach to looking at our region and all we can do to promote growth by growing our own employee base, and keeping those educated, trained people here.”
The focus is not only on existing employers, but also on industry sectors that are being recruited. This allows for some advance legwork in terms of preparing training and other programs for a new company’s arrival, says Bud Harris, dean of workforce and economic development at Del Mar College.
“The oil and gas sector, and the fabrication area, are high priorities here,” Harris says. “But health care is now a large sector of the Coastal Bend employment picture. So, we’re preparing people for a lot of different types of jobs. We’ve also moved into the avionics area, with helicopter refurbishing and related jobs, and we’re preparing workers for several other emerging occupations.”
That diversification has helped the area’s employment picture remain stable during the current national downturn, but it’s incumbent on the training and education network to stay on top of trends in order to ensure continued growth, he adds.
“We’ve got some major companies that will begin construction of their operations here in the next year to two years,” Harris says. “That will give us two opportunities: the construction phase and then the actual operations phase. One of our strengths is meeting the needs of both existing and new business, and in attracting new business. Our collaborative efforts have made that possible, and they will continue to do so.
Our hiring, training and recruiting people all work together, and we keep employers in the pipeline. There’s no one component to the workforce development and training areas, and we all recognize that. It’s just that critical to our area’s ongoing success.”
Noteworthy
• Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend received the Theodore E. Small Workforce Partnership Award for its collaborative efforts with educators and other entities in the region. Only one board out of 600 is selected for this award.
• Enrolling over 20,000 credit and noncredit students each year and partnering with local industries and military, Del Mar College provides training using cutting-edge technology to ensure the area’s workforce possess the skills employers need now and for the future.
Story by Joe Morris
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