Adapting high schools for the future of work
In an open letter to state policy leaders, XQ explains how high school curriculum can change to better prepare students for future jobs and automation.
Posted November 07, 2018
Points of View
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A Young West Michigan?
Each year the U.S. Census Bureau releases detailed population estimates at the county-level, illustrating how local populations vary across the nation by age, race, ethnicity, and gender. These estimates are vital to gleaning more about our local communities, while also enabling us to quantify the diversity of the region and the potential size of the labor force with respect to age. In this post, we’d like to look briefly at what the age composition of the West Michigan region looks like and how it’s changed over the past five years.
Posted November 01, 2018
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Why IDs are a barrier for Returning Citizens
Obtaining a state ID can be difficult for many leaving the criminal justice system. Learn more about this issue and what other states have done to address it.
Posted October 30, 2018
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Connecting employers, workers, and educators to strengthen hiring
A U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation blog post explains tools that employers can use to address talent pipeline concerns, such as TPM.
Posted October 24, 2018
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Labor Force Diversity in West Michigan
Although they are often derived as a simplified look at the health of the economy, the unemployment rate and labor force participation rate of a region are among the most pervasive indicators of economic prosperity that we utilize. While both of these indicators have continued to improve in West Michigan since the end of the Great Recession in 2009, it is important to note that progress has not been dispersed equally among all members of our community. In this post, we will look at pockets of high unemployment and low labor force participation rates across racial and ethnic groups.
Posted October 18, 2018
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HireReach is Moving Forward
Learn more about HireReach and what is in store for the initiative’s next phase.
Posted October 16, 2018
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How communities can utilize Opportunity Zones
Brookings explains how local leadership in Cleveland has worked to utilize Opportunity Zones to promote business growth in their communities.
Posted October 10, 2018
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Early Literacy in West Michigan: 2017-18 MSTEP Scores
MSTEP scores for the 2017-18 academic year were released this past month, containing math and reading proficiency rates for third-graders across the region. When combining the reading proficiency rate for a school district with their proportion of economically disadvantaged students, a startling trend emerges that could impact youth across West Michigan.
Posted October 04, 2018
