This year’s Community Success Forum will be a presentation of the latest Regional Skills Analysis (RSA); a survey of nearly 1,000 businesses across the greater Triangle region from Michael Hogan, Economic Development Analyst at RTI International. The study uncovers short and long-term hiring needs of local businesses, the training and education levels employees need for jobs of the future, and whether employers are planning on expanding their workforce or not. Through the data, we can tie together those needs into a strategy to create an effective cradle-to-career talent pipeline strategy for policy makers to implement. After sharing the latest data, experts will compare that information against previous surveys from 2017 and 2020, and contrast our local survey data against other regions of the state. After sharing insights of the RSA, staff will share how the Chamber works with regional policy makers and the business community to adapt to needs identified in the survey, and what plans they have to work off the latest data.

To apply this data to the way that students are being prepared for the workforce, we will have a keynote presentation from NC State University Chancellor Randy Woodson. In this presentation, Chancellor Woodson will connect the findings from the RSA to applications in the education sphere.

After the keynote presentation from Chancellor Woodson, a panel of local experts from regional industry and the education sector will discuss among themselves their reactions to the data, and give their recommendations on how we can adapt to benefit from this new information. Confirmed panelists include:

• Aaron Hines, Manager of Human Resources for the East Division of Martin Marietta
• Padma Kolanukuduru, Vice President of Human Resources at Fidelity Charitable
• Dr. Nicole Reaves, Executive Vice President and Chief Programs Officer at Wake Technical Community College

This event will give you premier access to the latest labor force data and connect you with the people best situated to take advantage of it. Be sure to join us and be a part of the conversation.