Grow the Economy and Workforce — Invest in People
Springfield, Massachusetts has become ground zero for demonstrating a new demand-driven approach to growing the economy and workforce.
Just last month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston announced that the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Corporation, located in Springfield, MA, was one of eight jurisdictions throughout the Commonwealth awarded a “Working Cities Grant” to connect job seekers to multiple industry sectors based upon their skills.
And today, MGM Resorts International, which will open a world class hotel and gaming facility in Springfield, MA in the Fall of 2018, has announced a new culinary training partnership with Holyoke Community College and new gaming school that will be opened in Springfield to invest in the local workforce.
MGM has begun posting the descriptions of future opportunities and their requirements to inform the local workforce of what skills and credentials individuals will need to be hired in 2018. Students and jobseekers interested in culinary jobs can log onto http://mgmresorts.skillsmart.us/springfield today to see what jobs will be available and can then take advantage of programs like the partnership announced between Holyoke Community College and MGM. This gives students time to train and gain valuable experience that will strengthen the region’s hospitality industry.
This innovative approach is underway in Springfield because the community has recognized that it can grow a stronger workforce for the region when they understand the needs of industry and align education to help the workforce get there.
Employers like MGM are working with all of the stakeholders in the community — local education providers, community-based organizations, local businesses, students and jobseekers — to make each stronger and build the local workforce. By using SkillSmart’s platform, MGM has identified the skills it needs for each position it will seek to hire. This allows each jobseeker an opportunity to build an individual profile and see how their skills match the positions they’re interested in. If they don’t have all of the skills they need, they are linked to training provided by local education providers and community-based organizations to acquire those additional skills to make them more competitive for these opportunities.
By better understanding the skills and hiring requirements of local employers like MGM, it is easier for residents of the community to identify the skills they need to be hired. This also gives local education partners, like Holyoke Community College, the ability to adapt curriculum to meet these requirements, which makes the education process more efficient and cost-effective. Overall, this allows all of the stakeholders to work more effectively and to grow the local economy by making the right investments in people to make the community more successful.
