Enhanced workforce strategy needed to win the jobs war

By Jonas Peterson

Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Nevada is engaged in a war for jobs.

The good news is that we’ve won some significant jobs battles recently. Game-changing companies are choosing Southern Nevada to invest billions, hire thousands of trained workers and claim ground for the new Nevada.

However, the war is far from over, and our competition is preparing for future battles with weapons far more powerful than low taxes, favorable climate or financial incentives. They’re building an army of highly skilled workers.

If we’re going to win future jobs battles, we urgently need an upgraded people strategy and more ammunition for regional development authorities that serve on the front lines. Let me explain:

In today’s global economy, most high-value companies value workforce above all else. At the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, my team and I see this daily. The businesses we fight to win over want a skilled workforce that exists or can be quickly trained to meet their needs. They want regional workforce strategies that are driven by private-sector leadership. And they expect our team to be able to quickly assemble competitive training programs that will help fill any workforce gaps.

Unfortunately, despite the good intentions of many, we’re at a disadvantage. The scarcity of existing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workers means we’re fighting uphill. Too often our workforce sights are not focused on the jobs of tomorrow. Our basic ammunition — job-training programs — is in short supply. And even when training programs are available, our front-line soldiers — regional development authorities — are not fully equipped to quickly aim and fire.

Given the stakes of this war, I’m encouraged by the governor’s emphasis on education and workforce development in his recent State of the State address. I’m encouraged by the formation of a new Office of Workforce Innovation, charged with “developing a strategy for the cooperation and collaboration among all stakeholders focused on workforce development.” And I’m encouraged by the level of private-sector engagement Nevada’s Board of Education and Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation recently displayed as they pursued, and won, two highly competitive workforce grants.

Along with the governor, other groups such as Brookings have had the foresight to see these battles coming. In their 2014 report, “Cracking the Code on STEM: A People Strategy for Southern Nevada,” the Brookings team outlined the need for a new people strategy for Nevada. They built the case for a robust STEM strategy and meaningful private-sector engagement through our regional development authorities.

The stakes are high, but I’m confident this is a war we’ll win. I’m confident because Nevada’s public, private and educational leaders have quickly adapted to changing battlefield conditions in the past. When economic development needed to be restructured in 2012, we worked together to make it happen. In 2015, when the governor outlined a series of reforms needed for K-12 education, we found a way.

This time, we simply have to enhance our workforce development strategy to stay ahead of the competition.

If we’re successful, we’ll establish thriving industries that support our families and claim even more ground for the new Nevada. I urge our state leaders to create an enhanced workforce strategy that fully integrates job training with economic development and supports a vision for a STEM economy.

Jonas Peterson is president and CEO of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance.