On April 19, 2012, HCPED hosted the 5th Industrial Executives Forum at Blue Ridge Community College. The discussion centered on future workforce development needs and how the community could address workforce concerns. The Forum brought two concerns to the surface: 1) a desire to elevate the visibility of manufacturing as a viable career path and 2) the need to better connect with the Henderson County Public School System to reach students prior to making career planning decisions. Given these issues, the Partnership’s Existing Industry Committee has spent time with community stakeholders and industrial leaders identifying interest levels in various strategies as it relates to coordinating a specific approach to connecting industry and the K-12 system.
On April 18, 2013, Pete Szelwach, Existing Industry Committee Chair and Plant Manager for Clement Pappas, will address the progress of the group at the 6th annual Industrial Executives Forum. Szelwach will start the program by following up to last year’s discussion and identifying how HCPED, industry partners, the Henderson County Public Schools and Blue Ridge Community College have been working to identify future workforce opportunities. Additionally, Szelwach will address the results of the “Connecting Industry and Work Based Learning” survey that industrial employers recently completed. According to Szelwach, “we have two needs to address through this committee, the future workforce needs and how to develop our current workforce. The results of the survey and forthcoming meetings with Henderson County Public Schools will better align the needs with opportunities.”
In addition to this presentation, the Partnership has assembled two outstanding panel discussions. Topics for conversation will include 1) Retaining Top Talent and Attracting your Future Workforce, and 2) Managing a Business in Transition, which will cover items that relate to succession planning, creating exit strategies for retiring or outgoing key personnel, ESOPs and outside investment.
Registration and networking will begin at 8:30 am. For more information on the forum or to RSVP, please contact Josh Hallingse at 828-692-6373 or [email protected].